It’s time for the penultimate episode of The Acolyte, where some questions will get answers and others get even more mysterious. This episode, titled “Choice,” gave us a new perspective on events we’ve already seen in the series. We get to see the events of 16 years ago when Sol and the other Jedi discovered Osha and Mae on Brendock, but this time from the Jedi’s perspective. But is this retread with some new additions a good use of a penultimate episode? Let’s dive into it and find out.
SPOILERS FOR EPISODE 7 OF THE ACOLYTE
As I already mentioned, this episode is set at the same time as episode 3, but this time from the Jedi’s point of view. We learn they were on Brendok searching for something called a vergence. A vergence is a natural nexus of the Force centred around a place, object, or person. This type of Force energy could be used to create life and boost the power of nearby Force users. Sol (Lee Jung-jae), Indara (Carrie-Anne Moss), Kelnacca (Joonas Suotamo), and Torbin (Dean-Charles Chapman) have been searching for this vergence for weeks, and Torbin is anxious to get back to Coruscant. This is where this episode links up with Episode 3, with Sol finding Osha and Mae (Amandla Stenberg) and, subsequently, finding the witch coven. The rest of the story beats are pretty similar, with the twins getting tested, a fire breaking out in the coven, and most of the witches dying.
I was sceptical whether another flashback episode would accomplish much in terms of the overall story, but my scepticism was misplaced. Even though we already knew how this story plays out, the new story details shown here made it feel more complete. First of all, I called it that Sol had a part to play in Aniseya’s (Jodie Turner-Smith) death, but to be fair, if I saw a witch start to turn into black smoke and go for a kid, I’d probs stab them too. Doesn’t excuse it, but I could see the thought process. I’m excited to see how Osha will react to this news (it’ll probably push her towards Qimir, and she’ll become the acolyte like I predicted).
I also found it really interesting how a perspective shift reframes the entire vibe of this story. Before, the Jedi came off as intruders and a threat; from their point of view, they were just trying to help some kids. And on the flip side, the once peaceful coven now looks like a full-on creepy witch cult that is definitely up to some sketchy shit. It added more complexity to this story and its characters, which I thought was neat.
Speaking of characters, this episode gave us some interesting character moments and answered some season-long questions about these people. The most interesting by far was the added depth to Sol’s character, which I adored. Besides stabbing Aniseya in the chest (again, not a good thing, but I can see why he did it), we also learned that he really wanted a padawan. So much so that he was adamant about taking on Osha as his pupil even before she decided to leave. In this regard, he’s no different to Qimir (Manny Jacinto), and Osha is, funnily enough, the student they both want. Sol’s padawan desire also extends to the big reveal that he chose to let Mae fall to save Osha, making Mae’s hatred for Sol even more valid. These events paint Sol as a morally grey character with faults that have essentially set the story of this series in motion, and I can’t wait to see how his story ends (he’ll probs be dead).
We also finally got a better understanding of the three other Jedi that were on Brendok. Indara is actually a lot more rational and cool-headed than I thought, being the one who sees the situation with the twins the clearest. She was against going into the coven to take the children, which was honestly the right call, all things considered. Young Torbin was a bit whiney with his constant complaining about wanting to return to Coruscant, but this pushed him to make rushed decisions with dire consequences and explains why he was so willing to take his own life.
I also really liked that we saw how Aniseya (and possibly Qimir) fights Jedi in their own mind. It created tension, and I hope we see a bit more of it in the finale. We also finally saw Kelnacca in action, although not under the best circumstances. Kelnacca gets possessed by the coven and fights Sol and Torbin (which explains Torbin’s scar). This was an awesome fight and just tells me that we need more Wookie Jedi throwing hands in future projects.
One of my biggest grievances with this episode and the series has been how inconsistent the visuals have been. Some scenes look stunning, with beautiful environments or badass fights. On the other hand, there’ll be some of the jankiest CGI I’ve seen in recent years. Using this episode as an example, Brendok looks great with all the different types of foliage and overgrown structures. The conflict in Torbin’s mind, when Aniseya tries to influence him, is trippy and cool. And that final lightsaber fight was very entertaining. But then you have the speeder bikes, which look like they were taken from a late PS3 game (not terrible, but not good). It’s these things that, while not overly prevalent, catch my eye more often than not and take me out of the episode. My hope is the money saved with the janky CGI will be put into the final episode, which will hopefully look incredible.
Episode 7 of The Acolyte was an intriguing penultimate episode. While I was sceptical of a flashback episode being the second last, there were a lot of good moments that curbed my scepticism. We got some answers, but there are still a few questions that will hopefully be resolved in the finale.
My last big-brain theory is that Osha and Mae are gonna become one person (the vergence) and then join Qimir. I don’t know how they’ll merge (become the black mist stuff, or one will die), but I got a feeling in my bones that it’ll happen. Fingers crossed, the finale sticks the landing, so keep it locked to Couch Soup for more Star Wars content to feed your hungry nerd soul.
Have you seen Episode 7 of The Acolyte? What did you think? Did Sol do the right thing? Let us know in the comments where we can all agree we need more Wookie Jedi fights.
