And just like that, it comes to an end.
The Acolyte Episode 8, “The Acolyte,” delivers on being the second best episode, as far as events that played out, while still having the question “why?” be asked for others. “The Acolyte” even provides a part of a scene that slides into one of the coolest things we’ve seen.
But would a review be a review without some critiques — those are always the best to start with! The scene that is simply confusing is the end (yes, spoilers ahead) when Mae (Amandla Stenberg, The Hunger Games) has to get her memory wiped. Um, people, there’s a ship right there that helped Osha (also Amandla Stenberg) and Qimir (Manny Jacinto, The Good Place) escape; why can’t Mae join in on the fun? Why is the only option to wipe her memory? Yes, of course, having her tag along could be seen as the easy way out of the mess they got into. But it would make for a strong Season 2, where they’re going against the Jedi together.
However, the intriguing change of fate that came out of this random twist of events is Mae and Osha switching spots from where they were at the beginning of the season. Mae is now with the Jedi and will fully trust them, as Osha did with Sol (Lee Jung-jae, Squid Game). Osha is now with Qimir, learning from him and will seemingly be going against the Jedi, as Mae did. While this change in sides is something that’ll be interesting to see, the chance to have the twins (although, we now know they’re the same person) team up and be united at last is a storyline that would’ve also been appreciated.
While Mae’s memory needing to be wiped has no logic, there’s one other part of this entertaining show that just didn’t add up — the role of how fans should feel about Sol and the Jedi. In the beginning, it feels as though Sol and the Jedi are more so in the right, through their eyes and viewers’ eyes. Yet as time goes on, now everyone’s just mad at the Jedi — why is that? Mae is the one who started the fire, which led to Sol thinking Osha was in trouble, making him act on irrational feelings. Also, in The Acolyte Episode 8, Sol doesn’t apologize for what he did; he simply says it was the right thing to do. Where has his guilt gone?
It’s nice to see Sol get more in touch with his darker side, even if it’s not turning fully to the dark side. But becoming someone who won’t apologize to the person who means the most to him and would rather die saying what he did was right is the opposite of character growth. It’s the character growth that Jedis can have that makes an already great character become one of the stronger characters in the show.
Sadly, that’s the end of Sol, unless there are more flashbacks in a possible second season. He was a character that seemed on top of the world — someone who was untouchable and could never be killed, as stated in the “Destiny” review. But that assumption is clearly wrong. Killing Sol off goes to show Leslye Headland, the show’s creator, isn’t afraid of making big moves. Let’s just hope a Season 2 will be greenlit to give her more chances to create intense fights, especially with no fear of taking characters in certain directions.
Speaking of fights, Sol and Qimir’s fight is the second-best of the season, behind their first lightsaber fight, which might be one of the best in history. The fight in this episode is ranked only behind the one in “Night.”
Yes, Qimir’s baby lightsaber is cute and will hopefully not be the only time one is shown like that, but that’s not why their fight slides into the second-place lightsaber fight slot of the season. The fight shows the tension, powerful moves made, and leads to something much anticipated (and it’s shocking it has taken this long to finally get made into a show): the bleeding of a kyber crystal.
It is known that this is how a saber gets the red coloring, but to physically see it happen is on a whole new level. Seeing it happen in what you could say is real-time goes to show Osha’s true desires and finally puts a stop to her being a character that doesn’t really stick to a side. She always acted similar to who she was surrounded by, as stated in the “Night” review. But with Episode 8, Osha has finally become a dynamic character who will hopefully get the chance to truly show us what she’s capable of in another season.
The Acolyte Episode 8 proves the wait is worth it to see some cameos, get a few paths resolved, and have new paths drawn. The show as a whole is able to keep it interesting, to the point where coming back episode after episode can be enjoyable and, of course, it provides answers while also making new questions.
Now, those cameos are something else. The one with Yoda… let’s just say to take a listen to the Pop Break Podcast on the finale, because he’s there simply to get fans to beg for a Season 2. And it’s no shock everything happened without him intervening or possibly not knowing about it, even though he’s this great and powerful Jedi – just watch everything else he was in.
The real cameo is something that needs more than the few seconds received for Darth Plagueis the Wise. Did he help create Osha and Mae, or did he learn from the witches to create life? Does he work with Osha to find out how? There are so many questions surrounding him that just need to be answered. If anything comes from The Acolyte, it has to be Darth Plagueis and him in Season 2, or his own spin-off limited series.
While there’s so much more than can be said, Episode 8 rounded The Acolyte off in a way where it needs a second season. And with all the foundation built, Season 2 will blow viewers away. Fingers crossed it actually happens. If it doesn’t, it could work as a one-off show, but there’s still so much unresolved.
The Acolyte Episode 8 and the entire series is now streaming on Disney+
