Chris Connor reviews the sixth episode of Star Wars: The Acolyte…
The Acolyte’s fifth episode considerably upped the stakes and answered some questions, namely who the ‘Sith’ is. It was one of the most action-packed Disney+ Star Wars episodes to date with only Master Sol, Mae and Osha making it out of the brawl alive. The show’s sixth episode ‘Teach/Corrupt’ is slower and more reflective which is only natural coming after such an all out action episode. This episode juxtaposes Mae’s situation in disguise as Osha on Sol’s ship with the real Osha who is now on a mysterious planet with Qimir/Tthe Stranger.
This episode expands on some of the themes that the show has been moving towards, namely that the Jedi aren’t necessarily the trustworthy gatekeepers of peace they pretend to be as it is revealed the stranger was once a Jedi himself, cast out of the order and setting him on the path he now finds himself on. He tries to convince Osha that she is not so different, look at how quick the order were to find her guilty of a crime she didn’t commit.
The design and visuals of the planet they are on are reminiscent of Ahch-To from Star Wars: The Last Jedi and there are certainly some other parallels elsewhere from Qimir’s distrust of the order, revealing at the end they may have turned on him. This expands on the subtle hints of Kylo Ren’s score from Michael Abels in the previous episode.
Sol meanwhile is trying to get a signal to the order about the massacre on Khofar, while planning his next move. The order arrive, to find the slain Jedi including Yord and Jecki. Obviously by the events of The Phantom Menace, the Sith haven’t been around publicly for a millennia so the show will have to explain how this remains the case among other things in its final two episodes.
With just two episodes remaining, there are several loose threads for The Acolyte to resolve, with its short runtimes and no word yet on a second season, this seems a tall order. ‘Teach/Corrupt’ is a steady episode that sets the stage for the conflict to come while raising further questions about the order’s connection to Qimir and how they treated him and whether Osha will turn to the Dark Side.
Chris Connor
