The Acolyte seems prepared to explore new corners of the Star Wars universe. It's a welcome addition to a franchise that increasingly feels limited to a handful of names, places, and events. With the show's third episode, it continues its bizarre mix of fascinating and questionable creative decisions. There's a lot about this series that won't be revealed until the credits roll on its final episode, but in the meantime, "Destiny" has plenty of new information to ponder.
Almost every aspect of the Star Wars franchise experiences a wide variety of portrayals. Stormtroopers look like bumbling fools in one light, but their polished armor represents terrifying violence in another. Jedi are a bit more complicated. The original trilogy pitches them in retrospect as the legendary heroes that stood for all that was good in the galaxy. The prequels raised unpleasant questions about their competence and judgment. The Acolyte has teased some big reveals about the Jedi Order, but the show is still hiding a lot.
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Where did Osha and Mae come from?
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Episode Title |
"Destiny" |
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Director |
Kogonada |
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Writers |
Jasmyne Flournoy and Eileen Shim |
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Release Date |
June 11, 2024 |
"Destiny" takes place over a decade before the events of the first two episodes. The vague incident on Brendok will define the rest of the series, and this episode sheds some light on the subject. Osha and Mae are eight-year-old twins undergoing an intensive training process with the group of Force-sensitive witches that raised them. Their mothers, Aniseya and Koril, have differing opinions on how to raise them. Osha and Mae behave like real kids, in that they're easily distracted, flighty, prone to outbursts, and hard to pin down. Osha is dissatisfied with her life among the witches. She dislikes her home's isolation, but she also can't stand sharing everything with her sister/only friend. Osha wants to see the galaxy, and she'll take any opportunity to leave Brendok. Mae, on the other hand, loves every aspect of life as a witch. She wants nothing more than to take her mother's place and live happily among her fellow mystics. Their clash leads to a conflict that drives the episode.
Osha and Mae travel outside the walls of their hidden fortress, earning Koril's ire. They attract the attention of young Jedi Knight Sol, who follows them to their home. Osha and Mae attend training with Aniseya. She teaches them about the "Thread," her coven's unique perspective on the mystical inner energy that binds all living things. When called upon to demonstrate its power, Mae excels, and Osha cowers. That evening, Mae and Osha are expected to attend the ascension ceremony and become sworn witches. Mae expresses excitement, while Osha panics, driving a wedge between the twins. Aniseya assures Osha that their life is the only option. She explains that the Jedi exiled their people for using the Thread against their wishes. While the kids debate the Jedi's moral direction, Aniseya interjects that this struggle is about access to power. At the ascension, Mae happily takes her vow. Osha follows her lead with some apprehension, but four Jedi arrive to break up the ceremony.
What do the Jedi do on Brendok?
Sol, Indara, Kelnacca, and Torbin interrupt the coven's ascension ceremony. They exchange threatening dialogue, acknowledging the grim realities of the Jedi presence. Though the coven tries to hide Mae and Osha, they gradually blow their cover and reveal themselves. The Jedi express concern at the idea of witches training kids, but Osha seems very receptive to their wisdom. Sol immediately reaches out to young Osha, letting her hold his lightsaber. He proposes testing the twins, offering Osha a way off this planet. They leave with the promise of conducting tests the following day. This sparks an intense debate in the Coven, primarily between Koril and Aniseya. Aniseya insists that they take the test, confident that the Jedi would bring nightmarish consequences upon them if they acted otherwise. Koril reveals that she carried Osha and Mae, but Aniseya retorts that she created them. Koril insists that the Jedi would be unhappy to learn how she created them, leaving that question open for the viewers.
The following day, Osha and Mae leave to take their test. Aniseya encourages them to fail on purpose to stay on Brendok. Mae agrees, forcing Osha to promise to do the same. Osha takes the test, but the Jedi quickly realize that she's only pretending to get wrong answers. Sol notes that the test is usually applied to three- and four-year-olds, sharing his experience and the fear he felt at that age. Osha willingly succeeds with a ton of prompting, but Mae becomes furious. She rats her sister out to Aniseya, but their gentle mother sends Mae away. Aniseya comforts Osha and assures her that her wishes will be considered. Osha wants to be a Jedi, even drawing their symbols in her notebooks, but she seems most excited about the idea of having other children to talk to. Mae declares that she'll stop Osha by any means necessary. She seals Osha in their room and lights a fire. The blaze rapidly spreads, but Osha escapes her room. Sol appears to save the twins. Mae appears to fall down a massive ravine into fire. Sol leads Osha out of the coven's fortress, past a mountain of seemingly dead bodies, none of which have any notable burns. Osha awakens aboard the Jedi ship, leaving Sol to explain what happened. She's devastated, but the promise of a new life with the Jedi seems to calm her slightly. Back on Brendok, Mae wanders around a familiar tree, looking for her sister.
"Destiny" may have raised far more questions than it answered. Creator and showrunner Leslye Headland cited Akira Kurosawa's Rashomon among her influences. There's a ton about the events that scream "unreliable narrator," leaving much of the truth yet to be revealed. The Acolyte took an interesting direction with its flashback episode, but fans will have to wait and see how it pays off.
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