The Acolyte Recap: Mae’s Master Has Entered the Chat — But Who Is He?
Mae (played by Amandla Stenberg) didn’t know her sister Osha (also Stenberg) was alive before their confrontation on Olega. The shock of that lingered in Tuesday’s episode of Star Wars: The Acolyte as she set out to kill her next target: Kelnacca (Joonas Suotamo), who found sanctuary on Khofar, a forest retreat in the Outer Rim.
The hour revealed that Qimir (Manny Jacinto) served the same master who, according to him, liked to collect people. Having been to the remote planet before, the skilled smuggler served as Mae’s guide. But Mae was not so sure about the mission, which we learned was assigned by her secretive master as a final test.
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“Your final lesson is one you teach yourself,” she recalled of his instruction. “You will kill a Jedi without a weapon.”
Mae found the task impossible after failing to do so with Jedi Masters Indara (Carrie-Anne Moss) and Tobin. To help calm her nerves, Qimir fetched some water nearby.
On Coruscant, the Jedi reviewed footage of Mae with concern that she was well trained and had already killed two of their own. Vernestra (Rebecca Henderson) suspected that Mae was only a small part of her master’s larger plan, which was too concealed for the Jedi to see. Having determined that Mae was trained by a Jedi, she moved to bring her in and pull Kelnacca out of the field.
Sol (Lee Jung-jae) pushed to be the one to retrieve Mae, but Vernestra felt that he was too emotionally involved. She also wondered why Sol didn’t tell her there was a chance Mae could have survived that fall on Brendok, and he was so sure that no one could have survived it.
After changing Vernestra’s mind, Sol urged Osha to join him. He firmly believed there was still good in Mae, especially after seeing her eyes soften when he mentioned that Osha was still alive. Osha agreed to go but wasn’t sold on the idea of her sister’s redemption given that she was a murderer.
On Khofar, the Jedi began their search for Kelnacca, who hadn’t returned their correspondence in over a year. Along the way, Osha asked Yord (Charlie Barnett) to kill Mae if her sister didn’t surrender like Sol hoped. After hesitating on Olega, she didn’t think she was capable of that. But Yord had faith in Sol, suggesting that the Jedi Master brought her for a reason.
Later, as they were deep into the forest, Osha disturbed an umbramoth — a giant flying bug — which Sol easily killed. And as Osha lamented her fatal mistake, Jecki (Dafne Keen) called it an honor to witness something transforming into the Force. That’s also when we learned more about Osha’s split from the Jedi. She couldn’t accept death like they were supposed to and still harbored resentment toward her sister (as well as grief for also missing her).
Elsewhere, Mae ensnared Qimir in a trap, having changed her mind about the mission. Her loyalty was always with her sister, who she just found out was still alive, and not her cloaked master. She planned to surrender to Kelnacca and give herself over to the Jedi. But as Qimir warned, her master would kill her for the betrayal.
Mae made it to Kelnacca’s makeshift house, only to find the Wookie dead from a lightsaber wound to the abdomen. That’s when she, along with the Jedi entourage circling outside, sensed a dark presence. Her master was there.
The masked figure appeared behind Osha, drawing his red lightsaber. The Jedi then charged, but he easily knocked them back with his powerful telekinetic ability — just as the episode ended. Game on.
Any guesses as to the identity of Mae’s master? Sound off below!
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