With the first season out of the way, The Acolyte has plenty of juicy threads to pick up on in a possible second season. Whether it’s how Yoda will react to the whole situation, the future of Osha’s journey to the dark side, or what happened in Qimir’s past — there are plenty of deliberate cliffhangers to speculate about.
But there are a few more questions pertinent to this season that I felt were left dangling. Whether purposefully left ambiguous or not, these are the five questions still rattling around in my head over a week out from watching episode 8 of The Acolyte — some of which I wish had been explored in more depth.
What was really happening with the Ascension?
Episode 3 introduced lots of lore and backstory behind the witch coven — many of which was new to us. They had mystical powers, interesting cultural practices, and a mysterious secret about how the twins were born at the center of it all. The vergence is behind that, as we learn later, but the Ascension ritual itself remains a puzzle. The only thing stated about the Ascension was that it was some type of initiation rite.
But I really thought we were going to learn more about the Ascension, regardless of whether it was malicious or not. After all, it was the main reason Master Sol and Torbin invaded the castle that night. Was it important that Mae got marked but Osha didn’t?
In the end, I think the Ascension was really just there to represent a choice for Osha to make, but it still would have been helpful to learn a bit more, even just to know whether Master Sol was justified in barging in.
What was Qimir’s connection to the coven?
From what we know by the end of the finale, Qimir (or The Stranger) appears to have a connection to Master Vernestra Rwoh (the bald green Jedi) as her former pupil. That’s fascinating in its own right, but we didn’t end up learning how Qimir first came upon Mae. It feels like the kind of thing we could learn in a comic (or potentially in a hypothetical season 2), but as of now, we don’t have an explanation for how Mae ended up connected to Qimir.
This would have been helpful to see, especially since the nature of their relationship is a bit unclear in the first half of the season. Before it’s revealed that he is a dark side Force user, Qimir is portrayed more as a friend to Mae. Did he know about Osha before they meet? Was his goal all along to get to her? Did he stumble upon her or seek her out? How much did he know about what happened at Brendok? I could see some of that get explored in future storytelling, but I would have loved to get a better feel for their relationship before his big reveal.
There was also the throwaway line in episode 6 that was never addressed about his Jedi training. When asked if he was trained to be a Jedi, he responds that it was “a really long time ago.” Now, it could just be that Qimir is referencing his own childhood. Padawans are trained at a very young age, and assuming the character is around the same age as the actor, Qimir could have left the Order as much as 20 years earlier. Or that could have been a wink toward the fact that his supposed master is known for his ability to manipulate the Midi-chlorians to create — and extend — life.
Don’t forget — his former Jedi master, Vernestra Rowh, is over 100 years old, leaving plenty of time for Qimir to have been Rowh’s Padawan in the distant past.
What happened to Mother Koril?
Throughout the course of the show, we were meant to be suspicious of Mother Koril. She’s clearly represented the dark side within the witch coven, perhaps at first just because she was a Zabrak. She looks scary, which even Master Sol seems to think. We all thought she was being set up as The Stranger going into episode 5, and when that didn’t happen, plenty of people even thought she might be the Sith Master pulling the strings. The hints grew even stronger in episode 7, when she encourages child Mae to embrace her anger before burning down the castle.
But in the end, she ends up being a bit of a red herring. She’s an instigator in the fight on Brendok for sure — and you could certainly argue that she’s responsible for the tragedy that ensues. But she’s not our Sith Lord. At least, not yet.
Mother Koril disappears in a puff of smoke, which appears to teleport her away from the fight. It lines up with what we’ve seen of other witches in Star Wars, most notably, the green smoke in Clone Wars by Mother Talzin. Furthermore, she’s not ever seen among the dead bodies of the coven, nor does she appear in the timeline thereafter.
When asked by The Nerdist about another time the smoke magic is used, showrunner Leslye Headland said the following: “What she is doing is what Jecki says in episode four, that it’s an honor to see anyone transform into the Force. I believe that Aniseya is transforming herself and Mae into the Force in a way that doesn’t kill them.”
According to that explanation, Mother Koril was transforming into the Force without dying. In other words, Koril very well may be alive and well — and when you consider the cameo of a certain Darth Plagueis — her role in future storytelling could end up being pivotal.
What is the true nature of Osha and Mae?
It’s teased over and over throughout the series, and when the answer finally comes in the season finale, it feels like only the tip of the iceberg. Now, there’s certainly nothing wrong with that — it’s practically a tradition in Star Wars at this point.
But in the case of this show, the vergence lore is crucial. Personally, I liked the reveal around the vergence. Master Sol’s interest in the vergence on Brendok feels like a worthy explanation for many of his actions. Not only was he concerned about the safety of Osha and Mae, he was also aware of the larger threat to the galaxy that such a vergence could be. From his perspective, these weren’t just Force witches doing their own thing — this was toying with a dangerous amount of power. Even if the coven itself was more innocent in its exploration of the vergence, that doesn’t mean a more sinister force from the outside might not be drawn to such power.
In a lot of ways, Sol’s concern about Brendok parallels the opposite decision that Luke Skywalker is tempted to make in The Last Jedi with Ben Solo (but ultimately doesn’t, of course).
Unfortunately, because it’s left for the very end, the reveal that the twins are actually a single being split into two doesn’t have as much impact as it should. Part of that is because the show never explores what that means — at least, not explicitly. Clearly the two are connected, but the fact that they aren’t actually sisters feels like more of an afterthought. This may be explored in future storytelling, but developing why this matters more would have made the revelation more impactful.
How much did Yoda know?
People are a bit freaked out about the final shot of this series. Instead of being excited about the cameo of our little green Yoda, the events of The Acolyte have made us worried about the canon repercussions of bringing Yoda into the story in this way. Us fans have a high view of our favorite Jedi Grand Master, and the idea that he may have known about the Brendok cover-up is rubbing people the wrong way.
After all, he doesn’t correct Ki-Adi-Mundi in The Phantom Menace when he states that “the Sith have been extinct for a millennia.” People are worried that it forces Yoda to either be ignorant of Vernestra’s lies or willingly manipulative toward the rest of the Jedi Council.
To me, though, it only opens up the idea for more storytelling possibilities. Yoda does get curious when Qui-Gon Jinn says he discovered a vergence surrounding Anakin in The Phantom Menace — and is quick to point out the Rule of Two. Fleshing out what exactly Yoda knows and what might convince him to keep a secret has tons of story potential and could really set up the events of The Phantom Menace in a big way. It’s exactly that type of lore building that shows like Clone Wars leaned into to great effect.
I’m mostly just concerned that Yoda doesn’t seem to appear much younger in The Acolyte, which is 100 years before The Phantom Menace. I was at least expecting him to have a bit more hair.
The Acolyte is streaming on Disney+.
