The Acolyte Spoiler Recap: Destiny
How are we feeling Acolyte fans? Last week’s stunning two-episode premiere led to a week of speculation that felt like the kind of hype I haven’t felt since the sequel trilogy era. The High Republic era is truly so beloved to me, and I cannot believe we have a series that matches the excitement I feel for the books, and not just that, but asks the same complex questions that the book does. If last week set the stage on a galactic murder mystery, then Episode 3, “Destiny”, packs a tightly-woven, emotional punch that proves this show is unlike anything Star Wars has ever done — and I mean that in the best way.
The episode opens on the lush world of Brendok, 16 years ago, where a young Osha is sitting under a bunta tree, testing her burgeoning abilities on passing insects. She doesn’t stay alone for long, as Mae joins her soon after, telling her she always knows to look for her here when she can’t find her anywhere else. While Mae doesn’t like her sister running off alone and sitting under a “dangerous” tree, she clearly has no qualms about the danger she presents to the environment, testing her own skills on the same insects, and doing it so efficiently it freaks Osha out.
Mae stops when Osha asks, though you get the sense she would have kept going if her sister hadn’t been there, then urges her back home for the “Ascension” ceremony, something Osha doesn’t want to do, but which Mae is eager to partake in, especially with her sister. The two recite the same poem Osha heard in her vision last week, and the more I hear it, the more I think it’s not necessarily about being twins, but about a connection deeper than that…a Dyad perhaps?
And no, you weirdos, this is not me saying all dyad relationships are necessarily familial — if that even is what this is — just that some CAN be. In this case, its twin sisters, and a century from now it’s romantic soulmates. Concepts like this can contain multitudes who knew?
Their trip home is not entirely uneventful as they’re caught by Mother Koril, a Dathomiri woman who obviously cares a great deal about the two of them, and is alarmed that they snuck out of the fortress to the woods, since it’s unsafe. Her fears are not unfounded. As soon as the three turn to leave, we find they weren’t alone after all, as Master Sol was watching through the trees.
Back inside the fortress, Koril takes the girls to the rest of their coven, and is every bit the disappointed parent, telling them they can’t have any sweets until after the ceremony that night. Koril’s brand of strict parenting is undercut by the arrival of Mother Aniseya, whom the girls call “Mama,” and who is obviously the more indulgent parent. And yes, she and Koril are their literal mothers - the title isn’t just a coven honorific where Osha and Mae are concerned. That becomes stunningly clear a second later when, after the girls are dismissed, Koril and Aniseya step away to speak privately in an alcove. Koril assures Aniseya that she didn’t see any of the Jedi while out there, but she is still worried the planet may not be a safe haven for their coven, especially if Osha keeps leaving the fortress. Aniseya is less worried, but Koril thinks she’s being too lenient with the girls, Osha in particular.
In their common room, Aniseya leads the girls in a training session, with the coven watching. She tells them about the Thread that connects all living beings to each other and the world around them, explaining that some see it as a Force to be “used” rather than for the connection it is. I remember when the trailer for this series dropped, and her title of “mother” combined with her wardrobe and some choice sentiments Aniseya holds about power in the galaxy - which we will get to later - there was speculation that this coven was an offshoot of the Path of the Open Hand from Phase 2 of the books. Having watched the episode now, I don’t think that’s strictly true, as they don’t have the same qualms about “using” - really the only word I can think of - the Force, though for the witches their “use” of it seems more like an extension of their connection to the world around them, as opposed to a manipulation for their own purposes.
Aniseya demonstrates how two or more using their connection to the Thread together can strengthen their connection, but because Osha and Mae are eight-year-old siblings, they get into a tussle rather than listening to what their mother is saying. Aniseya has enough, and perhaps taking a leaf out of Koril’s disciplinary book, knocks them both on their asses to prove a point. She orders them to block her attack, and while Mae succeeds, Osha struggles to do the same. The training session is cut short when a strange noise in the hallway distracts them. But if they’re all in here…
Aniseya takes the girls back to their room, and tries to figure out what’s troubling Osha. Mae tries to brush it off as nerves about the Ascension, but Osha counters that she doesn’t want to do the Ascension at all, and doesn’t even think she wants to be a witch. Mae is aghast that her twin doesn’t share her wishes. Aniseya makes them hold hands and tell the other that she loves her - the Force-witch version of a get-along shirt I suppose. She then adds that for all that the wider galaxy seems great right now, it is a hostile place for women like them, with their abilities. We already saw hints of this earlier in The High Republic books, with the Jedi having specific ideas about who can and cannot use the Force, and we see later in the saga that the Nightsisters are all but forced underground in the late days of the Republic. There’s something to what Aniseya is saying, even if Osha still doesn’t look convinced.
That evening, the witches prepare for the ritual outside, while the girls get ready inside. Osha sketches in her little sketchbook but slams it shut when Mae tries to look. Mae is upset that Osha doesn’t share everything with her the way Mae shares with her sister, until Osha finally says that she wants to have her own things separate from what she shares with her twin, something Mae doesn’t get at all. Mae’s attachement to Osha makes sense, both as a twin, and also by virtue of being the only two children in the coven, and even on the planet, but already we see that her attachment to her sister is not manifesting in a healthy way. Not to give the Jedi any credit right now, especially considering what’s about to follow, but there is something to be said for a healthy expression of attachment versus an unhealthy one. Unfortunately for them, things are about to go from bad to worse.
The coven begins the Ascension ritual, a beautiful hypnotic dance that culminates in Aniseya arriving to lead the proceedings. She reminds them all, and by extension tells the audience, that the coven was sent into exile for their “dark” and “unnatural” abilities - from where I wonder? Jedha, where all the various Force-using groups congregate? - and were on the verge of extinction until the twins were born. The ceremony tonight is to seemingly induct them into the coven formally, giving them the same markings Aniseya has on her forehead. Mae enthusiastically accepts her place in the coven, and is given the marking. But as Osha reluctantly accepts as well, the ceremony is cut short before she can receive her marking. The Jedi have arrived.
The coven gather together, hiding the girls among their ranks, as Sol, Kelnacca, Indara, and her Padawan Torbin arrive. Indara claims they didn’t know there was anyone there, something Aniseya doesn’t believe. The truth quickly comes out as Indara reveals their concern is that the coven is training children, something that is against the laws of the Republic. Two things here: first, as Aniseya points out, Brendok is not a part of the Republic. Second…a Jedi is telling someone it’s unethical and forbidden to be training a child is…well it’s certainly something, isn’t it? Koril lies and says there are no children among the coven, but Kelnacca senses them, and Osha comes out to see the Jedi.
Sol greets Osha, and at Indara’s prompting, Mae comes out to join them. Sol notes the mark on Mae’s head wasn’t there earlier, inadvertently revealing that they’ve been watching them all along. The coven is worried that the Jedi have come to take their children, and Sol protests that the Jedi “do not take children”, a concept so hilarious I don’t know what to do with myself.
True, they’re not exactly throwing them in cloth sacks and absconding into the night. And true, some families, particularly those in the Republic might see their child’s abilities and want them to pursue Jedi training for the best chance at a meaningful life. However. For all that there are so many individual Jedi that I love - Sol included - there is something so tremendously sinister about this scene. I don’t mean to minimize very real-world struggles by comparing them to a show about space wizards. But there is something so unsettling about watching a group of “outsiders” insinuate themselves among a group to scold them for teaching their children “forbidden” practices, only to turn around and within the space of a breath suggest - read, threaten - to take the children away and teach them permitted practices instead. It’s hard, when you live in Canada like I do, to not see a parallel in a religious order suggesting they ought to take children away from their home and tradition and community in order to educate them “correctly”. The fictional circumstances will never come remotely close to the real-life horrors they’re drawing a parallel to, but that’s not to say the parallel isn’t there at all.
While Mae is horrified at the Jedi’s presence, Osha is fascinated, and wants to take Sol up on his offer to test her to see if she can join the Jedi order. But the witches have had enough, and they warp Torbin’s mind, telling Indara they’ll only undo it if the Jedi leave. Osha is insistent that she wants to take the test, and Indara tells Aniseya that the Jedi have the right to test potential students. I wonder if Indara can hear herself, or if she’s so lost in the sauce of the Jedi Order that she doesn’t even realize what she’s saying. Aniseya doesn’t seem to buy that this test is only done with parental permission, but she can sense that Osha earnestly wants to do it, and tells the Jedi they’ll bring Osha by the next day. Sol insists that both girls be brought for testing - again, please listen to yourselves - and Aniseya agrees, though how much agreement can really be had when its made under duress?
The twins are sent to bed, and Aniseya gathers her advisors. Koril is all for marching into the camp and killing the Jedi, but Aniseya counters that they should let them test the girls, if only because Osha wants to do it. Koril still protests, and it’s here we get a better sense of where the girls came from. Koril is the one who carried them, but Aniseya is the one that created them. The “how” of their creation isn’t elaborated on, but from what Koril is suggesting, it’s not something the Jedi are going to be pleased about if they find out. We know Anakin Skywalker was presumably created by the Force itself - no, you weirdos, that panel in the comic was a nightmare and not some canon way for you to claim that Reylo is incest - so it’s interesting to consider that outside the confines of the Jedi Order, such a thing can also be done intentionally.
One of Aniseya’s advisors points out that the Jedi test is scored as a pass/fail, and if they want the girls to stay they just have to encourage them to fail. The next day, Aniseya tells the girls to just say the opposite of whatever they feel in their heart when asked a question, and that will lead to a fail. Mae embraces the idea immediately, and tells Osha she will stop the Jedi if they try to take her sister away. The two hold absolute views of the Jedi, good vs. bad, but Aniseya tells them this is beside the point, and is more about the Jedi dictating who can and cannot use power. Aniseya suggests that maybe Osha’s desire to become a Jedi will change, much in the way that their hunting methods change across the seasons. Osha points out that the method changes - poison vs. bows and arrows - but the idea remains the same. To her, she is still tapping into this power the coven knows she has, but in a different way from her sister.
The coven takes the girls to the Jedi’s ship, and Mae enters to take the test first, reminding Osha to lie when it’s her turn, even though Osha doesn’t want to. When Osha goes in for her test, Torbin takes a blood sample, and then the test itself begins, the same test Anakin takes in The Phantom Menace, where he has to identify objects on a screen. Osha begins by lying about what she sees on the screen, and even though Sol knows what she’s doing, he tells her she’s right. He catches her trying to cover up her lie, and realizes that she was told to fail the test. He asks her what she wants, and presents an idea of what training at the temple will look like, namely a place full of her peers.
They resume the test, with Osha telling the truth this time, and when she leaves Mae can tell right away. Back at the fortress, Koril suggests that Osha was mind-tricked into passing the test but Osha insists she did it because she wanted to. Because she wants her own life, and to explore the galaxy on her own terms. Mae lashes out at hersister, and Koril carries her out, leaving Osha with Aniseya. Aniseya tells her that if she wants to go, and pull on the Thread, then that is her choice to make. Osha tells her she wants to go, and Aniseya says the coven will take her wishes into account.
Osha packs her bag to leave, but is stopped by Mae, who snatches her sketchbook away and locks her in their room, telling Osha she’ll kill her in order to stop her from leaving. Mae sets the sketchbook on fire and as Osha looks for a way out, we hear the lantern shatter - but importantly, do not see Mae drop it - causing the whole hallway to catch fire. Osha just manages to escape, hears the coven screaming from the access tunnels, and and makes it to a large cavern in time to see Mae, and also in time for everything to start falling apart around them. Mae tells Osha their mother is dead, before the platform under her gives way and she falls. Sol arrives just in time and manages to catch Osha in time and usher her out, but not before she finds the entire coven gathered together, dead, with Aniseya dead somewhere closer to the front.
Osha wakes up on the Jedi’s ship, and Sol explains that they’re headed to Coruscant and that Mae started a fire that killed everyone and destroyed everything. He offers to train her as his Padawan once they get to Coruscant. Back on Brendok, Mae is still alive and makes her way to the bunta tree, this time alone.
Most of the episode is fairly straightforward, but the most interesting thing about this final sequence is what we see versus what we don’t. We see there is a fire, we hear Mae started it, but we don’t see her start it. We hear the witches screaming, but we don’t see them die. We see Sol arriving in time to save Osha but we don’t know what alerted him to the problem in the first place. Obviously this is a piece of a larger mystery that will no doubt build out over the course of a season, especially since the actual “someone is murdering Jedi” isn’t actually much of a mystery when we know who is doing it and why.
If The Acolyte is overall a love letter to the prequels, “Destiny” feels like a love letter to the sequel trilogy, particularly The Last Jedi. Besides the idea of two people being inextricably linked through the force, the biggest parallel is in the question of truth and perspective. The big tension in The Last Jedi, on the Force side of the plot, anyway, is that both Luke and Ben have varying accounts of what happened the night the temple burned down, and the truth exists somewhere in the middle.
So far, we have one account of what happened the night the fortress burned down, with the Jedi believing it was Mae. But we also have Mae’s belief from Episode 1 that the Jedi attack people who are unarmed, meaning she likely blames the destruction of her home on the Jedi. If the Jedi are Luke in this situation, placing the root of the problem in the hands of someone full of darkness, and Mae is Ben Solo (there’s my one overt reference for the week), placing blame on an institution that sought to bend potential to its whim, then where does the truth lie? For me, I think it’s Darth Tooth-Mask - or, possibly Tooth-Mask’s master, since I think the current Dark Tooth-Mask is Qimir - who is responsible for the fire.
He’s the Snoke in this situation, the one manipulating a natural inclination towards a darker bend. If Mae’s possessiveness is any indication, the dark side has had its grip on her for a while. If we want to take this dyad idea a step further, perhaps in creating the girls in the force, the two are the embodiments of the powerful light and powerful dark that Snoke mentions (it might have been Palpatine, I try not to think about 90% of TROS if I can help it, but I know that line is in the ST somewhere). Whether this was intentional or not remains to be seen.
What did you think? Did Mae really start the fire? Will we have another prolonged flashback next week?
The Acolyte airs new episodes every Tuesday night. The first three episodes are streaming now.