The Acolyte Episode 5 Review
This review contains full spoilers for Star Wars: The Acolyte Season 1, episode 5.
Well, holy crap, huh? The fifth episode of The Acolyte completely blew up the show we’d been following so far, not only revealing the identity of Mae’s Master but also mercilessly dispatching Jedi left and right, including central characters on this series, in a way seldom seen in this franchise away from the confines of Order 66.
Earlier this week, I saw some fans joking around on X/Twitter about how all those unnamed, mostly silent Jedi from last week were almost certainly going to be meeting their end tonight, going full red shirt as the Master unleashed his power. And indeed, that was exactly what happened.
It initially felt like a rather amusing example of main character plot armor, as Sol, Jecki, and Yord were literally the only three Jedi to survive the initial encounter with the Master. Except then, suddenly, Jecki got killed too, brutally stabbed over and over again by the Master! It was very tragic and sad to be sure, but it certainly felt like that had to be everything for major deaths this episode – until Yord got his neck snapped and was taken out too! This was a huge shock, deftly playing against expectations. Our main crew for this show had been Sol, Osha, Jecki, and Yord and now half of them are gone, like that, with three episodes of the show still left to go. After so much build up, the Master truly needed to make an impact as a credible threat and wow was that the case here.
This breathless episode also revealed the identity of Jeki and Yord’s murderer: Qimir is the Master (Yes, I know our sleeveless villain says he has no name, but that being the case, I’m sticking with Qimir for the time being). This was pretty much what most viewers had come to expect from this mystery. However, the predictability of the reveal is balanced in a couple of ways. It’s happened with three episodes to go, so it’s not like they were trying to make the Master’s identity some huge finale gotcha. On top of that, Qimir’s conversation with Osha in the aftermath, incredulously asking her if she truly didn’t already suspect, deep down, that he was her Master, feels like an acknowledgement from the writers that if you were paying attention, you could figure it out.
After so much build up, The Master truly needed to make an impact as a credible threat and wow was that the case here.
For much of its runtime, episode five was essentially one prolonged action sequence broken into smaller fights, as all of the Jedi gathered on Khofar tried to stop Qimir to no avail. There were a lot of terrific, very well choreographed beats throughout the many fight sequences, showing the awesome skill of various combatants. Ultimately, Jecki was no match for Qimir, but she gave it her all, getting in some rather cool moments, especially when she used Kelnacca’s lightsaber to fight with two blades at once.
Even before he began cutting down the main cast of the series, Qimir was pulling off some amazing and undeniably impressive moves, including when he stabbed one Jedi through with his saber, then used the Force to pull a second Jedi towards him, piercing both at the same time like he was Jason Voorhees stabbing through that couple in Friday the 13th Part 2. Sol, in turn, got some appropriately badass moments here, from deflecting Qimir’s lightsaber as it hurtled through the air, to the intense sequence, following Yord’s death, where he and Qimir fought without their lightsabers, almost any pretense of Jedi civility pushed to the side as Sol violently punched and kicked his opponent.
Qimir finally said the word ‘Sith’ in this episode, but he did so in an intriguing manner, declaring “I have no name but Jedi like you might call me Sith.” So rather than a full Sith zealot, it sounds like Qimir is more about renouncing the Jedi’s teachings, realizing the Sith’s ways are the ones he relates to more. As had been established in earlier episodes, where he was still posing as a goofy lackey, Qimir truly believes the Jedi overstep their bounds, declaring he wants “the freedom to wield my power the way I’d like.” This very much feels hand in hand with the depiction of the witches of Brendok, who also felt the Jedi saw their path as the only correct path, wanting to control the way everyone uses the Force.
It’s all wonderfully complicated, as Qimir is obviously unhinged and a murderer, but we’re now getting multiple examples of how the Jedi’s strict systems set in motion others who would see them as the enemy and push back hard. Of course, Qimir bringing up the Sith to Sol now means we’ll have to see how and why Sol doesn’t pass this information on to others who would spread the word. It feels very unlikely Sol will make it out of this series alive, that’s for sure, with Qimir in fact directly warning “They see my face, they all die.”
We’re now getting multiple examples of how the Jedi’s strict systems set in motion others who would see them as the enemy.
Of course, he also stressed his desire to find an Acolyte and how he found Mae to be a failure in that regard. We know Qimir won’t be the last Sith (or Sith-esque) Force user, of course, so presumably either he or someone who carries on his teachings needs to survive this series. This episode, and how it shook up the entire dynamic, has me now highly suspecting that person will end up being Osha, who is found by Qimir at the end of this episode. Hell, who knows, it could even be Sol who falls to the Dark Side. But given how the series began, with these two twins on different paths, it feels like Osha, now on the cusp of learning the full truth about whatever it is Sol and the other Jedi did, yet still yearning to once more use her powers, is ripe for a new Master to take her under his wing.
Other thoughts
I didn’t really care about Yord as a character, though his death sure was surprising and effective, but poor Jecki! Well before she was killed in the episode, I realized I was concerned for her, when she was first fighting the Master on her own and clearly struggling. Great work by Dafne Keen in her brief stint in Star Wars, making this a likable character. It’s a shame to see her taken out so soon. And hey, she was pretty awesome bashing Qimir’s helmet open like that before she met her sad end. While Keen was probably around 18 when she filmed The Acolyte, it wasn’t clear how old Jecki was meant to be. Here we learn she must have been relatively young, with Sol angrily telling Qimir “She was a child!” after she’s killed. Qimir’s pointed reply, “You brought her here,” hits home, especially after the Ashoka series used Ariana Greenblatt to play The Clone Wars-era Ahsoka to underline just how young she was during those events. The Jedi repeatedly bringing kids into combat is, well, not a good look to say the least. Bazil is somewhat annoying – just a little too much as a would be “cute” character – but the episode ends with the implication that he’s going to figure out Mae has switched places with Osha. Once more, I suspect that ship is not going to make it back to Coruscant. Speaking of Mae’s ruse, it feels inevitable this would occur, since it’s kind of the rule of having twins on your show, especially when they’re on opposite sides of a conflict. It’s hard to say if it makes sense that Sol wouldn’t be able to figure out what was going on just using the Force. It’s been established that a Jedi can sense someone familiar in their midst, like Vader with Obi-Wan, but Osha and Mae are both Force sensitive identical twins. Perhaps they read the same to Sol? It’s a bit of a stretch but I think it works. Mostly. I should acknowledge the episode’s third death, Pip the droid. Though it felt like with Pip, there’s at least some chance he could get a revival. Yord got in a rather clever move just before his death, using Qimir’s helmet, established earlier as being able to block lightsaber blades, as a shield. This looks to be the live-action debut of Cortosis, a metal which is not only resistant to lightsabers, but also briefly shorts them out – explaining this happening repeatedly to those fighting Qimir in the episode. Manny Jacinto was clearly having a blast getting to go all out as an unstoppable Sith. My early concerns, as it began to feel likely he was going to be the Master, were that I liked Qimir as a more truly evil scoundrel type and would miss that element if it were pushed to the side. It helps that Qimir still gets to be just a little funny and continues to evoke some of the same attitude we’d seen established for the character, in a way the likes of Palpatine, Vader and Maul don’t. It was a fun beat when Sol asked Qimir why he risked discovery and he pointed out, “Well, I did wear a mask!” Last week I noted similarities between The Master’s helmet and Kylo Ren’s. In this episode, Kylo Ren’s theme is briefly played near the end, when Qimir finds Mae. Is there a more direct connection between these two characters? Perhaps something to do with the Knights of Ren? Will Tasi Lowa seek revenge for Yord’s death? Or will she remain The Forgotten Padawan?After tonight’s episode, I sincerely hope we, as a society, can move on from ever again arguing about how old Ki-Adi-Mundi should be. Probably not, granted, but it would be nice…
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