‘The Acolyte’ Ending Explained: Did That Sith Lord Finally Appear?
Note: The following story contains spoilers from “The Acolyte” Episode 8.
Star Wars’ first live-action leap back into The High Republic era has come to an end with the finale of “The Acolyte.”
The Amandla Stenberg-led series explored the emergence of the Sith and the dark side after years and years of successful Jedi rule. The Jedi have been at the height of their power for some time, but the finale hints that might not be the case for much longer. Here’s what you need to know about “The Acolyte” Episode 8.
How did “The Acolyte” end?
With Mae (Stenberg) learning the truth about Sol (Lee Jung-jae) killing the witch coven that raised her, and Osha (Stenberg) sensing her sister killing her former master without a weapon, like Qimir (Manny Jacinto) wanted. It was a race back to Brendok.
As is often the case, the four got separated with Qimir and Sol facing off in another well-choreographed fight scene in the same courtyard where the Jedi killed Mother Aniseya (Jodie Turner-Smith) 16 years before. Meanwhile, Mae was trying to appeal to Osha, who’d been lied to for years by Sol about their mother’s death. Soon enough everyone was fighting.
Sol eventually got the upper hand in his duel with Qimir, but right as he’s supposed to strike the Sith down, Mae appeared and disarmed the Jedi knight. Instead of killing her like Qimir wanted, Mae tossed his saber away, cracking the kyber crystal within and telling Sol to admit the truth. He does so, but not before trying to spin it into him doing the right thing because Mae and Osha aren’t actually sisters, they’re the same person. Mother Aniseya was able to tap into the vergence in the Force on Brendok and create life — a familiar skill to many “Star Wars” fans.
Sol’s admittance to killing Aniseya is overheard by Osha and instead of listening to his pleas, Osha finally learned how to kill a Jedi without a weapon and it’s a skill we’ve all seen before. She uses the Force to choke Sol to death and in the process bleeds his lightsaber’s kyber crystal from blue to red.
While all this was happening, Vernestra (Rebecca Henderson) arrived on the planet. Her Jedi begin hunting for the “sisters” while she discovers Sol’s body and senses Qimir, who she’s surprised to learn is alive.
The twins managed to escape outside of the coven’s stronghold but don’t get far before Qimir found them. The Jedi were hot on their heels and in order to ensure Mae’s safety, Osha agreed to leave with Qimir and train in the dark side if he’ll erase her memory of both of them. He complied and the Jedi discover Mae, but don’t learn much from her.
The season ended with Vernestra lying to the Senate and the rest of the Jedi council. She put all the blame for the incident on Brendok firmly at Sol’s feet. She doesn’t mention the twins, doesn’t mention sensing Qimir, none of it. She does however ask Mae for help in tracking down the two — who are seen off preparing to train together — before finally turning to Jedi Master Yoda with a plea to talk one-on-one.
What is a Vergence in the Force?
Sol revealed in the finale that Osha and Mae are the same person. Mother Aniseya used a vergence in the Force on Brendok to create life from nothing, which explains why the rest of the coven revered the pair so much.
A Force vergence is a uniquely powerful, yet naturally occurring concentration of the Force. Often that means that extreme interactions with the Force can occur in these areas.
Other places in canon that featured vergences include the Jedi Temple on Coruscant, the planet Jedha which was mined to create the Death Star and then destroyed in “Rogue One.” The cave Luke enters in “Empire Strikes Back” happened to be a dark side vergence.
What is Kyber Crystal Bleeding?
When Osha killed Sol with a Force choke, she was holding onto his cracked lightsaber and managed an event called “bleeding.” Bleeding a kyber happens when a dark side user bends the crystal to their will while channeling some serious dark side power. It doesn’t bode well for Osha’s future that she was able to do this.
A Force user can also purify a bled kyber crystal. Most famously, Ahsoka Tano purified two bled crystals, which is how she ended up with her white lightsabers.
Unanswered Questions for Season 2
There was a lot resolved in the Season 1 finale, but it’s clear Disney is hoping to continue “The Acolyte” (the show has not been officially renewed for Season 2). Here are the biggest questions still up in the air:
Who was the man in the cave?
Likely the biggest dangling thread is who was watching Qimir and Osha leave for Brendok at the beginning of the episode. Gnarled hands, creepy red eyes, dark hood, it’s hard not to make an assumption it’s Darth Plagueis. That theory gained even more traction later on when it was revealed Osha and Mae were given life from nothing through the Force, which we heard was a particular obsession and skill of Plagueis in “Revenge of the Sith.”
“It’s not a story the Jedi would tell you,” Palpatine tells Anakin in Episode III. “It’s a Sith legend. Darth Plagueis… was a Dark Lord of the Sith so powerful and so wise, he could use the Force to influence the midichlorians to create life. He had such a knowledge of the dark side, he could even keep the ones he cared about from dying.”
He continues, “he became so powerful, the only thing he was afraid of was losing his power. Which eventually, of course, he did. Unfortunately, he taught his apprentice everything he knew. Then his apprentice killed him in his sleep. It’s ironic. He could save others from death, but not himself.”
So the real question now is: Sid we potentially see Plagueis, and is Qimir actually a young Palpatine and the apprentice who killed Plagueis?
What’s Qimir’s connection to the Knights of Ren?
“The Acolyte” definitely wants us to be drawing a connection between Qimir and Kylo Ren. Not only is his whole vibe, from his clothes to his helmet to his fighting style, reminiscent of the Knights of Ren — an elite group of dark side warriors — but motifs of Kylo Ren’s theme from the sequel film series play a number of times when he’s on screen.
How are Vernestra and Qimir connected?
It seems likely that Vernestra trained Qimir at some point in the past. Vernestra is old, but Qimir has constantly hinted that he’s much older than he looks. Also those scars we saw on his back certainly look like they could have come from Vernestra’s lightsaber whip.
What is Yoda’s role?
We only see the back of his head in Episode 8, but it looks like Yoda will have a bigger part to play in a potential second season. How he factors into the series isn’t clear yet.
All episodes of “The Acolyte” are now streaming on Disney+.
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