The Acolyte It’s never been entirely clear what kind of Star Wars story it’s telling. Is it about an ex-Jedi, a Sith reborn, an important origin story, or just a quick little adventure to introduce the world to the High Republic in live-action? The real answer probably lies somewhere in between, but we’ve got a few more episodes to go before we know for sure.
Although it certainly seems like the show is about to end by the end of episode 5, the series actually consists of eight episodes in total.
[Ed. note: The rest of this post contains slight spoilers for Star Wars: The Acolyte.]
The Acolyte started with a simple question: Who’s killing all these Jedi? That question was answered in the first episode, though. Since then, it’s raised concerns about a mysteriously masked master of the Force, Force-sensitive covens, the right of a Sith guy to practice the dark side in peace and teach it to other people, the daily life of a Wookiee Jedi exile, and more. But by the end of episode 5, all of that is pretty much wrapped up.
Instead, the final three episodes of the series (which total about an hour to 90 minutes if you look at the rest of the series) seem to be about Mae and Osha switching places. Up until now, Mae has been a pretty clear embodiment of the dark side of the Force; she’s driven by her anger and strong emotions, she tries to kill her sister, and one way or another, the fire she sets kills everyone she loves. Meanwhile, Osha is the model of good behavior on the light side – even if she’s no longer a Jedi. She trusts the Jedi and their way of doing things, she seems to want to avoid violence, and she certainly doesn’t approve of Mae’s quest for revenge. But that doesn’t mean either character has to stay that way for the entire series.
Who knows, maybe this is a set-up for a side-switch between the two, with Mae joining the Jedi and Osha joining the Dark Side – an anti-redemption story arc could be a nice change of pace for modern Star Wars. Or maybe, after Osha is captured, Mae will be forced to join the Jedi to defeat her master? Either way, the series needs three more episodes to get going.
