The Acolyte marks its halfway point with a disappointingly shorter episode that still manages to pack a punch full of terror, mystery, and a deep desire to do and be better.
The rest of this article contains spoilers for episode 4 of The Acolyte.
“I fear Mae is only a small part of her Master’s larger plan,” Jedi Master Vernestra Rwoh confides to Jedi Master Sol. “A plan that is difficult to see. Some sort of shift. Something to tip the scales.”
Warning Signs
Following episode 3’s flashback to Osha and Mae’s childhood, “Day” brings us back to the present and the fallout from the events on Olega. While Mae and her elusive partner, Qimir, are set to confront Wookiee Jedi Kelnacca on the planet Khofar, the Jedi Order continues to debate what, if anything, they should do about the situation.
If this kind of debate sounds familiar, that’s because it should.
Throughout the promotion leading up to The Acolyte premiere, showrunner Leslye Headland continuously explained how this story connects to the prequels. It’s meant to explore how the same Jedi Order that once defeated the great Sith could allow one amongst them while being none the wiser. How the same organisation that was meant to foster peace could fall so easily into war.
The path to destruction, it seems, is not heeding the warnings ringing throughout the Force.
Vernestra, a character pulled from The High Republic book series, is a special example of this. Having lived through a terrible plot to destroy the Jedi one-hundred years earlier, Vernestra knows her people are not infallible. But she is also intimately familiar with what can happen when attachments go too far. Though she is only in this episode for a few moments, she clearly struggles with finding the proper balance between wisdom and a healthy dose of fear. She is at her most “book Vernestra” in these scenes, and that sets the tone for the remainder of the episode.
That Night on Brendok
In my review of the first two episodes, I noted that a “theme of two” seemed to connect elements throughout. We see this continued in “Day” with, of course, Mae and Osha Aniseya.
In the past few episodes, we’ve learned that not only do Mae and Osha have quite different understandings of what happened on their home planet Brendok the night they were separated, but that there is definitely more to the story than what either of them know. The result of this is both twins having different ideas about what to do when they find out the other is alive.
Osha, who believes Mae is responsible for their family’s deaths, wants her sister brought down even if she can’t do it herself. However, Mae, who spent the past 16 years believing Osha was dead, decides her loyalties lie with her sister rather than the mysterious Master whose teachings she’s followed.
These two paths fit in well with the “theme of two” and promise intriguing stories. Unfortunately, due to a combination of a shorter runtime and fleeting character work, Mae’s path is not nearly as fleshed out as Osha’s.
A True Jedi
Throughout the episode, we see Osha struggle with how her decisions have affected both her life and the lives of those around her. Her struggle seems to point her path regarding Mae back toward herself. Does she blame Mae, or is Mae an outlet to avoid blaming herself?
Episode 3 showed us that Osha wanted to leave with the Jedi when they confronted her family on Brendok. Mae’s sense of abandonment at Osha’s choice led to Mae starting the fire that Osha assumed destroyed her life. “Day” continues from this and presents an Osha who doesn’t trust her connection and calling to the Force.
When she connects with an umbramoth (a large, bug-like creature) through the Force, the creature awakens and attacks the Jedi group, leading to its death. Later, Osha confides to Jedi Padawan Jecki Lon that she’s upset about what happened.
“I was able to sense that creature,” she says, glancing away from her companion. “But I disturbed it. And now it’s dead.” As they continue, Osha adds, “I could never accept death as a true Jedi should.”
Combined with her family dying as a result of the Jedi appearance on Brendok, Osha’s statement here adds to the idea that maybe she doesn’t view her connection to the Force as a gift. Maybe she views Mae’s sins as her own.
Though Sol promises to later explain why she shouldn’t blame either herself or Mae, Jecki offers some much more pertinent advice. “We’re not defined by who we lose,” she insists after questioning Osha’s definition of a ‘true’ Jedi. “We’re defined by what we survive. And you’ve survived a lot.”
If this is true for Osha, then it stands to reason this could be true for Mae, too.
Loyalty and Trust
Like I said, Mae’s character arc this episode feels a bit underdeveloped, despite the fact that we see her make a huge decision about her path. Now that she’s had time to accept that Osha is alive, Mae chooses to not only part from her loyalty to her mysterious Master, but also betray her partner Qimir at the same time.
My biggest criticism of this episode is that we don’t get to see Mae make this choice. We don’t get to dive into her reasonings and watch her decide that, despite the 16-year separation, her loyalty belongs to Osha above anyone else. Despite this, there are moments where the depths of Mae’s situation shine clearly with the pain of manipulation.
As Mae races to turn herself in to Kelnacca and finally find a place alongside her sister, her Master steps in to show just how much of Mae’s life he controls. There won’t be an easy way out of this, and it’s terrifying to watch Mae realise this.
Indeed, the end of the episode fuels this terror, with Mae’s Master wielding his red lightsaber against Osha and the Jedi as Mae watches from Kelnacca’s hut. Mae’s choices might seem hasty this episode, but I have a feeling we’re about to dive much deeper into her character in the coming weeks.
And the first question she has to answer is whether her loyalty to Osha will hold up when faced with the terrifying presence of the Master who claimed her loyalty for his own.
New episodes of The Acolyte air every Tuesday at 9pm (EST) / 6pm (PST) on Disney+.
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