Editor's Note: The below recap contains spoilers for The Acolyte Episode 3.
The Big Picture
- Episode 3 delves into Mae and Osha's tragic past on Brendok, setting the stage for future developments.
The Acolyte
introduces intriguing new lore about non-Jedi Force users across the galaxy.- Kogonada's unique directorial style shines in this episode, adding a fresh perspective to the franchise.
Following the fast-paced two-episode premiere, The Acolyteis slowing things down this week, and throwing things back to the past. Set sixteen years before the main storyline, Episode 3, written by Jasmyne Flournoy and Eileen Shim, introduces audiences to eight-year-old Osha (Lauren Brady) and Mae (Leah Brady) and their witchy origins on Brendok. As we near the midway point of the season next week, The Acolyte isn’t wasting any time in revealing the truth about what happened to the twins on Brendok—or, at least, the truth from a certain point of view. This episode paints the tragedy in a light that is at odds with Mae’s recollection, which provides the series with an opportunity to entirely rewrite what we have been led to believe about the Jedi involvement in the deaths of the coven.
Episode 3 also marks the first of the two episodes that Kogonada directed for the series, and it sets an exciting precedent for what’s to come with his second episode. Best known for his critically acclaimed films Columbus and After Yang, the filmmaker began his career making in-depth and wildly popular video essays about some of the most influential filmmakers. While he has his own distinct voice as a filmmaker, you can feel the unmistakable influence of creators like Ozu, even here in Star Wars. The only flaw of Episode 3 is that it does, unfortunately, follow the depressing trend of simply being too dark. When there’s so much vibrancy and beauty in this coven of witches, it seems counterproductive for the lighting and editing to be so grim. Still, one can’t completely fault The Acolyte for walking the path first established by shows like Ahsokaor even Game of Thrones.
'The Acolyte' Spins Twin Threads in Episode 3
The episode opens with young Osha communing with the beautiful flora and fauna on Brendok, deep in the woods and far away from her village. That quickly becomes a friction point when Mae tracks her down, worried that they’re going to get in trouble with their mothers. Where Osha is gentle in her use of the Force, Mae quickly shows her darker tendencies as she begins to hurt the small winged creature that Osha was toying with. The Acolyte is making it clear where the twins stand when it comes to the Light and Dark side of the Force, but it’s not hard to imagine that the series might be setting up a twist, where the sisters, once again, go in diverging directions. This brief conversation between the sisters also sets up a major plot point for the episode: Osha doesn’t want to go through with the upcoming ascension ceremony.
As Osha and Mae make their way back to their village, they are intercepted by their mother Koril (Margarita Levieva) who is livid that the girls slipped out of the village. She’s clearly worried that they’re being watched—and she’s right to be concerned. As she herds the girls back home, Sol (Lee Jung-jae) is watching them from behind a tree. As noted child thieves, it’s entirely unsurprising that the Jedi would be watching a pair of Force-sensitive twins. When they return to the village, Koril speaks with Mother Aniseya (Jodie Turner-Smith) about her concerns regarding the Jedi, but Aniseya is not as worried about them, as her focus is more so on preparing their girls for the impending ascension ceremony. Ahead of the ceremony, Aniseya resumes teaching Osha and Mae about the threads of destiny, which seem to be the coven’s interpretation of the Force. The Thread combines all living things, just as the Force does.
The series does something quite cool here, though it’s a little more surface-level in its execution. The Jedi, particularly during this era, feel strongly that they are the arbiters of how the Force should be used and who should be free to use it. The thought process is that they’re protecting the galaxy from bad actors who might use the Force to harm, but really, they’re treating the Force like a religion that requires its members to be indoctrinated into the faith from childhood. The coven on Brendok are powerful Force users, and the fact that they are training children in their practices poses a threat to the Jedi. The High Republic novels have done an excellent job of showcasing how the Jedi work as the blade of colonizers for the Republic, and here we see how they are also forcing, what amounts to religious conversion, on those who practice a similar, but different faith. And there are hints towards this, as Aniseya alludes to the persecution the coven has faced due to their “dark, unnatural” powers, which led to their seclusion on Brendok.
While the episode opens with Osha using her abilities quite well, the training with their mothers showcases how much stronger Mae is when compared to her sister. But even though they’re both gifted children, they are still children and the two quarrel with each other instead of focusing on their training, much to their mothers’ chagrin. It’s here that Osha starts expressing even more doubts about the path laid out ahead of her. Unlike Mae, she doesn’t want to be part of the Ascension, and she doesn’t want to become a witch like their mothers.
'The Acolyte' Episode 3 Explores an Ascension Gone Wrong
The ascension ceremony is a truly stunning sequence. From the vocalizations and ambiance that felt torn straight out of a music video for Clannad to the unwavering faith on display within the coven, the ascension ceremony is far more beautiful than anything we’ve witnessed with the Jedi. Where the Jedi act as though the Force demands trials and tribulations to climb up the ranks, the Thread seems to flow more freely, with an emphasis on the power of many versus the power of one. And therein lies one of Osha’s main issues with her upbringing: This emphasis on the collective is at odds with her desire to be an individual. She says it throughout the episode, but it’s clear in everything she does: she simply doesn’t want to be exactly like her twin. She wants to be her own person. So, when it comes time for the twins to take their vow and Mae-ho ascends without any issues, it’s less of a surprise that Verosha hesitates when asked to take her vow. Yet, it seems the threads of fate already have something else in mind for Osha.
Before Mother Aniseya can convince her daughter to complete the vow, the Jedi crash the party. She quickly instructs the girls to remain quiet and hidden while the Jedi are present, concealing them behind the gorgeous robes the coven wears. But who has ever heard of hiding a Force-sensitive child from the Jedi? Master Indara (Carrie-Anne Moss) does try her best to keep things civil between the Jedi and the coven, but Mother Aniseya doesn’t take lightly to the doublespeak at play. The Jedi claim that they believed Brendok to be uninhabited, yet they’ve come in search of children they alleged to be hidden within their coven. The Jedi are concerned that the coven is training children, which is directly against the Galactic Republic’s laws. Mother Aniseya is quick to point out that they exist outside of the Galactic Republic, but that doesn’t seem to change their feelings about the matter. Master Indara asks for the children to come out of hiding, and Osha steps out from the shadows without a single beat of hesitation. She’s eager to meet the Jedi—to learn about people, places, and ideas that exist outside of her small existence.
Osha is introduced to Master Sol, and it feels quite a bit like Anakin Skywalker (Jake Lloyd) meeting Qui-Gon Jinn (Liam Neeson) for the very first time. While the show makes it clear that Mother Aniseya and Koril are the girls’ mothers, the Jedi ask where the father is, which could be a plot point that arises down the road. It is entirely possible that the girls were conceived without a father being present (after all, Star Warsis a fantasy set in space) but the comment seems far too pointed to not come up again — especially when a precedent has already been set with Anakin’s immaculate conception.
Sol presents Osha with his lightsaber to try out and suggests that she would make a good Jedi, which is met with disappointment from both her mothers and her sister, but Osha remains far more excited about this prospect than she was about the ascension. Their tender moment is cut short by Aniseya using her power to essentially torture Torbin (Dean-Charles Chapman) as a means of getting the Jedi to back down from their dreams of taking her children. Despite the open hostility, the Jedi and the coven come to an agreement to allow the twins to be tested to see if they would even be well-suited to become Padawan. Aniseya reluctantly agrees to bring the girls to their camp the following day, though it’s clear that she doesn’t intend to make it easy for the Jedi.
'The Acolyte' Episode 3 Reveals the Deception of the Jedi
Mother Aniseya instructs the twins to deceive the Jedi during their testing, and Mae has no issue with following this direction. While Mae is inside the ship being tested, Osha is looking around the campsite curiously, and she seems quite intrigued by the resident Wookiee Jedi, Kelnacca (Joonas Suotamo). When it is time for Osha to be tested, she does attempt to follow her mother’s direction. As Sol quizzes her about what’s on his datapad, she pointedly lies about what she sees, until Sol catches on. To the Jedi’s credit, or perhaps just to Sol’s credit, he does ask Osha what she wants, which seems to be a question that she isn’t entirely used to being asked.
After their testing, Aniseya speaks with Osha about her interest in leaving with the Jedi. It isn’t an easy conversation for either of them, but it does seem like Aniseya wants the best for her daughters, even if that means letting one of them go. So much of Episode 3 has an emphasis on choice, and once again, that concept is brought up during this conversation. Aniseya explains that destiny isn’t made for anyone, it’s a choice that is made by the individual. “If you want to pull on the Thread, then pull it.” Osha ultimately decides that she wants to leave the coven and become a Jedi, though Aniseya is careful to caution her that it is still a matter she needs to take up with the rest of the coven before the plan is finalized. But, disaster strikes before those plans can even be made.
When Osha tells her twin about her decision, Mae is incensed in a way that is rather shocking for a young child. Mae declares that she would rather kill her sister than allow her to leave the coven, which is a rather extreme reaction. It’s on par with Anakin’s (Hayden Christensen) violent overreaction to the loss of his mother in Attack of the Clones. Mae snatches up Osha’s sketchbook, where she’s been drawing the Jedi emblem, and sets it on fire before locking her sister inside her bedroom. Mae leaves, presumably to enact the ensuing violence against the coven—but we never see her actually commit the atrocities that are later pinned on her.
The final moments of Episode 3 will leave the audience with a lot of questions about how everything went down in the coven. After escaping from her burning bedroom, Osha’s path leads her to her sister, who is standing on the other side of a collapsing bridge. Like every other bridge in the Star Wars universe, this is yet another example of an OSHA violation, with an Osha present to witness it! As Sol comes to try to save both sisters, Mae admits to murdering their mother, which Osha simply doesn’t want to believe. Admittedly, killing everyone to keep the Jedi from taking Osha does seem like a gross overreaction, which may be exactly why Mae is working her way through murdering each of the Jedi present that night.
Mae ultimately “falls to her death” before Sol can save her, and Sol turns his attention to getting Osha out of the burning building before they meet a similar fate. As they’re rushing out of the building, Osha bears witness to the total destruction of the coven. Both of her mothers have been senselessly murdered, as has the entire coven. While the episode doesn’t blatantly establish whose point of view we have witnessed, it does seem to suggest that we’re seeing Osha’s perception of that night. As of yet, it’s hard to tell how accurate this tragedy is, but there does seem to be some hints that we might eventually see what really happened. Mae may have been shown as being gifted, but it’s hard to imagine she leveled an entire coven in quite so little time.
Where Does This Episode of 'The Acolyte' Leave Osha?
Unlike last week’s episode, Episode 3 doesn’t wrap up with a tag to tease where things are headed next week, but it’s safe to say that we’ll likely reunite with Kelnacca on Khofar as Mae continues her quest for vengeance. Here, we’re left with Osha being taken in by the Jedi, which sets her on the path we were told about in Episode 1. With all the new questions this episode will leave audiences with, it will be interesting to see how The Acolyte answers them. Hopefully, we will continue to see flashback looks into Osha and Mae’s upbringings, especially now that the Jedi seem at least a little complacent about what happened at the coven. (At least, from a certain point of view.)
The Acolyte
Mae and Osha's traumatic childhood presents more questions than answers.
- Episode 3 smartly establishes Mae and Osha's backstory on Brendok.
- The Acolyte introduces new lore about non-Jedi Force-users in the galaxy, setting up new threads to explore down the line.
- Kogonada brings his own unique directorial vision to the franchise.
- The episode's visual beauty is lessened by the dark color grading.
The Acolyte is streaming now on Disney+, with new episodes releasing weekly each Tuesday.
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