The Acolyte Summary by the Hobbit. This post contains affiliate links, you can find out more on our policies page or in the disclaimer at the bottom of the blog.
Know Before You Watch The Acolyte
Series: The Acolyte
Rating: TV-14
Age Suggestion: 12+
Running Time: Varies by episode. 30-50 minutes
Release Date: February 21, 2024
Where to Watch: Disney+
Based on: Star Wars
Warnings: Perilous situations; multiple deaths. Loss of parent. Your standard action-adventure movie, suitable for hobbits about 12 and up.
Background for The Acolyte
The period of time immediately before the nine movies is known as The High Republic. While there have been books and comics dealing with this era, this is the first live-action. We, being outside the story, know that Sith are operating in the background. We also know that by the time of the first prequel movie, a Sith has thoroughly infiltrated the Republic and the Jedi are not aware of this – and at times seem to refuse to recognize the danger. How did this happen? We begin to get a few clues in The Acolyte.
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The Acolyte Summary (Contains spoilers)
A Jedi is murdered and the hunt for the killer leads to surprising revelations. We examine some of what was happening about 100 years before the prequel movies began.
In this review, we will look at some similarities between this series and some of the events in The Rings of Power. To make these comparisons it is necessary to give an overview of the entire series. So, you get full spoilers. We will also recap some from season one of The Rings of Power.
To summarize in chronological order, rather than episode order:
The planet Brendok was wiped virtually clean of life in the Great Hyperspace Disaster. It has remarkably sprouted back to life, and a group of Jedi investigate. This investigation reveals a small colony of “witches” (force users who are not Jedi). Among them are two mysterious children, Osha and Mae. The Jedi test the children and find they are not only force sensitive, but are identical genetically.
One of the Jedi, Sol, is desperate for a padawan. He latches onto Osha and ultimately he kills Osha’s and Mae’s mother. The rest of the witches perish in the fight with the Jedi. It appears Mae perishes, but Sol saves Osha. Instead of reporting this to the Jedi council, the four Jedi decide that the politically expedient thing to do is blame Mae for starting a fire that killed everyone.
Years later, Osha has left the Jedi and is a mechanic. Mae suddenly re-appears and starts to track down and kill the four Jedi. Osha is originally blamed. In a confrontation on Khofar it is revealed Mae has been trained by a rogue force user known only as “the Stranger” (note that in the final episode we see Sith lord Darth Plagueis and we assume “the Stranger is his apprentice). In this confrontation, multiple Jedi are killed and Mae leaves with Sol, thinking she has tricked him into believing she is Osha. Osha, in turn, leaves with the stranger.
We all wind up back on Brendok. Sol confesses he killed Osha’s mother – but resolutely continues to say it was the right thing to do. Osha kills him and leaves with “the Stranger”, but only after he wipes Mae’s mind clean. Vernestra Rwoh, a Jedi master who was following Sol, decides (shades of the earlier decision) that the politically expedient thing to do is blame the dead Sol for all that happened.
That was a lot, and the series, of course, has greater detail and more twists and turns. But this is enough for our discussion.
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So What Does This Have to do with Elves and Dwarves and Numinor?
In both series, we see a couple of key similarities.
Politics and power: The prequel trilogy made it clear that the Jedi were heavily involved in politics. And while the High Republic is a “golden age” we can see that using politics to maintain power is clearly in the Jedi arsenal. An undercurrent at times, it is clearly seen in the cover-up of the events at Brendok – both the original event and the final event. In a similar way, we see politics playing into the decision, in episode 1, to send Galadriel away. This is further cemented in Gil-Galad’s use of Elrond to obtain mithril.
Both of these show strong utilitarianism at work – the end justifies the means. This philosophy does not comport well with Jedi ideas. The elves have a checkered past with it – going all the way back to Feanor, and the kinslaying, when he kills other elves to pursue Morgoth to Middle Earth. In both of these particular cases, lying is a central component
Obsession: In The Acolyte we have one person, Sol, who, for reasons not fully explained, fixates on the need to “save” Osha and Mae. Part of this may be the Jedi belief that other Force users were inferior if not evil. Part of this may be that he has been reminded that he is not ready for a student. Ultimately he “saves” neither one. At the end of his life, he still believes he did the right thing in murdering the girl’s mother. This is clearly outside the Jedi’s moral code – yet Indara covers for him. One wonders why the killing of an entire race on Brendok did not raise concerns.
Season One of “The Rings of Power” has Galadriel’s obsession with Sauron as a major plot, starting with the opening sequence. Similar to Sol, she is willing to kill in an indiscriminate manner. However, by the end of the first season, she has to confront that she is becoming dark and then is finally confronted with the fact that she helped Sauron survive.
So in both, we see obsession. In one case it remains unabated; in the other, the character must confront it (and, we will probably continue this in season two).
One final note – both have a “Stranger”. You can watch Season Two of The Rings of Power here
The Acolyte Discussion Questions
- Where do you see “the ends justify the means” in society and culture?
- If you are in school – where do you see it there?
- Where do you see it in religion?
(note – there is no correct answer here. All sides accuse the other of doing this. I personally know where I see it more, but it is frequently done regardless of side. This is meant to get you to reflect.)
4. Which character did you identify with the most in The Acolyte?
5. If you had a lightsaber, what color would it be?
Thanks for reading The Acolyte Summary. We hope you have enjoyed this. We will post updates during season two and are looking forward to Skeleton Crew as well.
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