The Acolyte Recap: Star Wars Prequel Lays Out a Compelling Mystery in Double-Episode Premiere
Showrunner Leslye Headland described Star Wars: The Acolyte as a “fresh entry point,” and that’s exactly what she delivered in the first two episodes, which premiered Tuesday on Disney+.
Set in the final days of the High Republic era — before the events of The Phantom Menace — the mystery thriller tells the original story of a former Jedi reuniting with her master to solve a string of murders, confronting a darkness they hadn’t anticipated along the way.
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Episode 1 leapt right into action with Amandla Stenberg’s Mae, a Force-sensitive assassin, confronting the Jedi Master Indara (played by Carrie-Anne Moss) over a yet-to-be-revealed grudge. Mae then turned her attention to the other patrons, drawling Indara into a one-on-one fight that ended with Indara’s death.
We then met her identical twin sister Osha, a freelance mechanic working aboard a freighter. The Jedi Knight Yord Fandar (Chicago Fire and Russian Doll’s Charlie Barnett) dropped in to question her over Indara’s murder, with their friendly conversation revealing that Osha chose to leave the Jedi Order on her own accord. Though she maintained her innocence about the recent killing, a witness eyed her at the scene, giving Yord no choice but to take her in. You see, most were unaware that Osha was a twin, and the few who did thought Mae died in a fire on their home planet years ago.
Aboard the ship headed to Coruscant for trial, Osha had planned to leave her fate to the Jedi but crash-landed alone on an icy planet thanks to a prison break by her fellow inmates (who were then re-captured by the Jedi).
Elsewhere, Jedi Master Sol (Squid Game’s Lee Jung-jae) wasn’t convinced that Osha killed Indara since he remembered her as a devoted Padawan. His colleague Vernestra (Rebecca Henderson) granted his request to take a small team to bring her in, and he chose Yord and his apprentice Jecki Lon (Logan’s Dafne Keen) for the job.
A chat with Jecki yielded more intel on Osha and Mae. Mae started the fire that killed their entire family and Sol, who was posted there, took Osha as his Padawan after rescuing her. He believed Mae was dead because he watched her die. Given that she’s alive, though, something’s amiss.
Sol caught up to Osha on the snowy planet and believed her when she again pleaded her innocence. That was evident in Episode 2 as she walked freely around his ship rather than in handcuffs.
Elsewhere, Mae’s next target brought her to a local Jedi temple on the planet Olega. Like Indara, she confronted Master Tobin about unfinished business and demanded that he attack her. But the sleeping Jedi didn’t budge, not even as she hurled her knives and failed to penetrate the invisible shield — a Force barrier? — preventing her from touching him. As another checked on the commotion, she fled with the intent of coming back later.
Back on the icy planet, Sol was convinced that Mae was still alive and Osha was innocent, and a suspicious Yord warned that they could be working together. The crew then learned of the attack on Master Torbin from Vernestra’s hologram and got the approval to investigate.
Mae returned to the temple with a poison created by her accomplice Qimir (Manny Jacinto) and gave Master Torbin two options: confess his crime to the Jedi Council or receive the forgiveness he sought from her via that vial. He chose the latter, opening his mouth for the first time in a decade to say, “I’ve been waiting for you… Forgive me, we thought we were doing the right thing.” He drank, and dropped dead right there.
Osha was the first to find him — Mae fled by then — and was almost blamed for the murder. But Yord, who’d been following her, cleared her name by confirming that Torbin was already dead when she discovered the body. Osha then posed as her sister to get more information from Qimir, who told them he was meeting with her later.
In a debate that spoke to the Jedi’s core ideology, Sol insisted on confronting Mae alone, urging Osha to let her go of her grief and desire for revenge against her sister. While he couldn’t save Mae back then, he hoped to do so now. But as Osha pointed out, Mae looked to kill all four Jedi who were stationed on their home planet for a yet-to-be-revealed reason, including him. In response, Sol simply asked her to have faith in him as well as her sister.
As with the others, Mae attacked Sol first, trying and failing to disarm the skilled Jedi Master. Sol, in turn, took all her knives and looked into her mind, learning that even she didn’t know the identity of her new master. Whoever it was had gone to great lengths to conceal themself.
Mae’s quick thinking, drumming up sand as a distraction while cornered by Sol and Yord, helped her escape. And although Osha was hot on her trail, she again evaded capture when Osha took aim with a blaster and missed.
Qimir then offered to make it up to Mae (after selling her out) by helping her escape to Khofar, a forest retreat in the Outer Rim. That was the home of her next target, the Wookiee Jedi Master Kelnacca.
In a final shot, two lost scavengers stumbled upon his crashed ship and were quickly scared away with the hairy being’s mighty roar. Kelnacca, it seems, wasn’t a fan of trespassers.
What did you think of Star Wars: The Acolyte’s double-episode premiere? Grade it below, and then share your thoughts in the comments.
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