Episode 7 of The Acolyte is here to fill a heap of gaps that have, until now, been kept secret. From creator Leslye Headland, the series takes place during the High Republic era of Star Wars, starring Amandla Stenberg as the powerful Force-sensitive twins Osha and Mae. This episode also features the return of Lauren Brady and Leah Brady, playing young versions of Osha and Mae, respectively. From the beginning, with the “Previously on…” segment, The Acolyte’s latest episode puts our focus back on Mae and Osha’s backstory, their witch mothers, and Sol’s involvement in Brendok’s destruction.
Qimir (Manny Jacinto) and his big reveal took center stage with the two prior episodes. After Mae disguised herself as Osha, departing on a ship with Sol (Lee Jung-jae), Osha was left with Qimir, the supposed Sith who seemed to make Osha the next subject of his influence. Sol, however, saw through Mae’s disguise, restraining her and demanding that she listen to the whole story he’s been hiding. Now, we have another flashback episode on Brendok, promising to at last reveal what led to its devastation. That, of course, comes with Easter eggs and references to wider Star Wars lore. Let’s dive in.
The Jedi Investigate Signs of Life After The Great Hyperspace Disaster
“A hundred years ago, this planet was cataloged as lifeless,” Indara (Carrie-Anne Moss) reminded an exasperated Torbin (Dean-Charles Chapman), who had grown restless on Brendok. She continues, clarifying that the planet should be devoid of life “because of a hyperspace disaster.” Although she said “a” instead of “the” hyperspace disaster, Indara is referring to The Great Hyperspace Disaster, which would fit right into the timeline. Accusers of broken canon, be silenced! In the Star Wars universe, The Acolyte takes place around the year 132 BBY, roughly a hundred years before The Phantom Menace. Another hundred years before The Acolyte, in 232 BBY, was The Great Hyperspace Disaster. First detailed in the novel The High Republic: Light of the Jedi, The Great Hyperspace Disaster occurred when a freight transport collided with the ship of a marauder group when traveling through hyperspace. The crash sent debris hurling through space, creating a devastating shrapnel effect.
“It’s Not Wise to Upset a Wookiee”
“It’s unwise to insult a Wookiee’s cooking,” Indara cautions Torbin when he suggests he’d rather not eat what Kelnacca (Joonas Suotamo) has made. This calls back to the first Star Wars film, A New Hope, in which Han Solo (Harrison Ford) offered a similar sentiment. Aboard the Millennium Falcon, as C-3PO (Anthony Daniels) and R2-D2 (Kenny Baker) are engaged in a game of dejarik with Chewbacca (Peter Mayhew), Han advises the droids to let Chewbacca win the holochess match. “Let him have it,” he says. “It’s not wise to upset a Wookiee.”
A Force Vergence Explains the Mystery of Brendok
Part of the Jedi’s mission on Brendok is to investigate a possible Force vergence that’s been detected. In this episode, Indara aptly describes a vergence as a “concentration of Force energy centered around a location.” Vergences have appeared throughout Star Wars canon, and they vary widely in size and even the type of location in which they occur. The Jedi Temple on Coruscant is believed to have been a vergence so strong it allowed Chancellor Palpatine (Ian McDiarmid) the ability to conceal his extreme Force sensitivity. Anakin Skywalker himself served as a vergence, as did Luke Skywalker’s lightsaber, offering vision to Rey (Daisy Ridley) when she came into contact with it. The spectrum of potential within a Force vergence is vast. “A vergence could create life, like what we see on this planet,” Sol says. “It’s a power that should be studied, protected. Nothing could be more important to the Jedi.” We finally have an answer as to how Brendok’s witches were able to create Osha and Mae through immaculate conception.
Osha and Mae’s Symbionts Set Them Apart From Luke and Leia
The parallel between the Skywalkers and the twins, Osha and Mae, grows stronger when Torbin reads the results of the twins’ blood samples. They exhibit extremely high M-counts, unsurprisingly, meaning they contain an unusually great number of microscopic, Force-sensitive midi-chlorians within them. Torbin goes further, analyzing their symbionts and discovering that they’re identical. Not to be confused with a fungal creature in Star Wars called a symbiont, Torbin is referring to the name given to the parties involved in symbiosis. In Force-sensitive beings, the midi-chlorians and the host they live within are the symbionts in the relationship. The symbiont readings, even between twins, should vary. An identical symbiont reading is “impossible without some kind of manipulation,” Torbin says. This makes a glaring distinction between Osha and Mae and the Skywalker twins, Luke and Leia. This identical result tells the Jedi that Osha and Mae were artificially created — one consciousness split in two.
Mother AniseyaForeshadows Order 66
“Someday, those noble intentions you all have will destroy every Jedi in the galaxy,” Mother Aniseya (Jodie Turner-Smith) warns Sol. She’s foreshadowing, knowingly or not, the tragic events of Order 66 in Revenge of the Sith, in which the Jedi Order collapsed and the vast majority of Jedi throughout the galaxy were murdered by the order of Darth Sidious. The witches, Qimir, and The Acolyte as a whole have been consistently alluding to the sinister nature of Jedi dogma, but never so clearly as Mother Aniseya referring to the Jedi’s near-extinction to come.
‘The Acolyte’ Plays Kylo Ren’s Theme Music Again
The Acolyte has been playing Kylo Ren’s theme music periodically throughout the series, and the latest episode plays it for a third time. First, the music played as Qimir healed an incapacitated Osha’s wound, and it could be heard again during the end credits of Episode 6. The placement of these Easter eggs seemed to indicate a specific tie between the twins and Qimir, possibly alluding to a Force Dyad. However, with the music playing again, this time during the battle between Sol, Torbin, and a possessed Kelnacca, the placement muddies whatever reference is being made.