Chris Connor reviews the third episode of Star Wars: The Acolyte…
The Acolyte, which brought the High Republic era of the Star Wars universe to life in live-action, showed plenty of promise in its first two episodes, introducing us to an assortment of new worlds, new Jedi and an intriguing central mystery around the twins at its centre. The third episode takes us to Brendock, the homeworld of Osha and Mae, 16 years before the events of the show to date.
It is perhaps surprising to give us an entire flashback episode so early on in the show with the first two episodes doing a good job of introducing us to these new worlds and concepts. While the first two episodes travelled to multiple planets, this episode solely takes place on Brendock, showing us the childhood of Mae and Osha, raised by Mothers Ansieya and Koril. At the heart of the episode is an ascension ceremony to test the girl’s powers and whether or not they will join their planet’s coven community, hidden behind a fortress build into the planet’s rocks.
Star Wars has been bringing elements of force magic into play more and more in recent projects with the Nightsisters of Dathomir featuring in Ahsoka and the Fallen Order game series. The coven here feels different and further showcases the shows more nuanced depiction of the force and good and evil. We also see facets of George Lucas’ Prequel lore brought to life in a clearer way with the twins seemingly born from the force itself, something teased by Palpatine in Episode III.
Framing the episode mostly from Mae and Osha’s perspective means that when the four Jedi arrive and offer to train them we get the pair’s differing takes on what this will mean for their futures. Osha is tired of being held back, wanting to explore the galaxy while Mae is happy to be raised in her homeworld. It will be interesting to see if we see more of the pair’s interim years in flashbacks, Mae training to destroy the Jedi with Osha training as one herself.
While the central narrative raises some interesting dynamics, there are some drawbacks some of the dialogue feels very stilted and wooden, of course not something entirely new for Star Wars but this robs some of the most interesting moments of their power. After three episodes there is still some question as to why Mae would target the Jedi, with plenty of the series to go this will no doubt be answered in the coming weeks hopefully making the show’s narrative flow a little more clearly.
While uneven and not without flaws, The Acolyte’s third episode builds on the ideas teased in its opening two episodes, providing answers to some questions and posing further ones in the process. The coven community is an interesting addition to the Star Wars world and further deepens our understanding of the force and how different communities see it, while also making the moral positioning of both sides murkier.
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Chris Connor
