The Acolyte Episode 3 Review
The third episode of ‘The Acolyte’ pushes audiences into a flashback, revealing part of what happened on Brendok and to twins Osha and Mae all those years ago. It introduces fans to a new interpretation of the Force, and attempts to guide audiences as to the fact that the Jedi aren’t as noble as they seem. But, it’s only part for a reason. Just like the reveal the Osha was in fact a twin was spotted a mile away, ‘The Acolyte’ doesn’t make any attempt to hide the fact that audiences are witnessing just one perspective on what happened, and these events will almost certainly be recontextualised later down the line.
This episode is presented as the whole truth of what happened on Brendok, with the girls growing up under the witches’ care, learning to wield the Force in their own way. Before long, the Jedi come to settle an unknown quarrel, and enforce Republic law on a non-Republic planet. The Jedi break in, though, much to the dismay of her sister, Osha wants to leave with them. This causes Mae to lock her sister in her room and allegedly burn the place to the ground, but it’s extremely clear that other events overtook her. The Jedi were able to rescue Osha far too quick, and Mae likley didn’t start a huge fire.
This is takes a whole episode to establish, and yet it’s clear there’s more to come. The episode would have been better to sprinkle the flashback back in earlier episodes, or, give the full picture of what happend. As it stands, the third episode is woefully boring, and in parts hard to watch. It derails the present day plot, where it was just picking up speed.
There is an attempt to introduce a new clan of witches to the ‘Star Wars’ canon, and it fails. They have a different interpretation of the Force, calling it a thread, and explaining that messing it can have unforseen effects on destiny. At first, it seems like the episode is setting up a group that admires and understands the Force, but believes it shouldn’t be messed with. There’s a group that exists in High Republic era of canon that would tie into this, the Path of the Open Hand. While the Hand was destroyed by the Jedi, splinter factions remain. It would bring the Open Hand to live-action, and explain why the Jedi were hunting them.
Instead, this episode is content with simple witches, who, at least on the face of things, same like largely reasonable people, yet claim their practices are not tolerated by the Jedi. Why this is so isn’t revealed, leaving the audiences to wonder. It’s just a mix of weird chanting and tolerable beliefs. Something else about the group that doesn’t make sense is the presence of Osha and Mae. Their lack of a father is called out by Sol (who keeps his calm and caring personality, elevating him to the ideal of a Jedi – Lee Jung-Jae is still great) , setting up the mystery for future episodes to pick up on. What isn’t hinted or laid out is the girls’ place. The witches call them special, but this is said without an inkling of an understanding why.
Overall, the fronloading of the past is mundane in its execution, failing to introduce interesting ideas to the table. It grinds the modern day narrative to a halt, and because of the gaping holes the episode leaves means that audiences will once again be dragged back. Hopefully when that does happen the full picture is presented, instead of vague notions of both sides not really being in the right.
