Editor’s note: The below contains spoilers for Episodes 1 and 2 of The Acolyte.
The Acolytehas only just premiered, but it’s proving to be a truly unique entry in the Star Wars universe. Part of that is the setting;The Acolyteis set in the era of theHigh Republic, which is set a hundred years before the events ofStar Wars: Episode I — The Phantom Menace. But it also puts a new, more personal twist on the conflict between the light and dark sides of the Force with the major reveal of the first episode, “Lost/Found.” The story, which originally seemed to focus on the Dark Side acolyte Mae (Amandla Stenberg), will also focus on her twin sister Osha (also played by Stenberg). Osha is a former Jedi turned mechanic who gets swept into the story when she’s mistaken for Mae, who is hunting down and killing Jedi. What’s most surprising is thatthe marketing forThe Acolyteall but hinted at this plot twist in advance.
The Acolyte
The Acolyte is a mystery-thriller that will take viewers into a galaxy of shadowy secrets and emerging dark-side powers in the final days of the High Republic era. A former Padawan reunites with her Jedi Master to investigate a series of crimes, but the forces they confront are more sinister than they ever anticipated.
The biggest revelation about Osha’s existence was dropped duringa promo spotreleased the week beforeThe Acolyte’s premiere. Most of the footage from that promo is focused on Mae’s battle against the Jedi, but it also features a brief snippet of a scene where Osha is confronted by her former master, Sol (Lee Jung-jae). Anyone who turned on closed captions for the promo would have immediately learned Osha’s identity, which later showed up on aStar Wars subreddit. But this wasn’t the first time thatThe Acolyte’s marketing hid the twist in plain sight. Anofficial poster forThe Acolytefeatures Mae and Osha in the background, all but confirming the twin sisters' role in the narrative.
Even series creatorLeslye Headlanddropped a nugget of information that hinted at the presence of twin sisters. In an interview withThe Hollywood Reporter, Headland laid out her inspirations for the series, which includedRashomon,Frozen, andKill Bill. It’s theFrozenconnection that is the most interesting, as that story focused on sisters Anna (Kristen Bell) and Elsa (Idina Menzel) and their strained bond due to Elsa’s powers over ice causing her to be isolated from others.The Acolytefeatures a similar set-up:Mae and Osha are sisters separated by an element of nature— in this case, a fire that killed their family and left Mae presumed dead. UnlikeFrozen,both sisters have a connection to the Force, though in Osha’s case, that connection seems to have lessened after she left the Jedi Order.
‘The Acolyte’s Big Twist Still Hits Hard
Even if promos and posters might have revealed the big twist inThe Acolyte, “Lost/Found"still does a great job of building up the eventual reveal. The opening sequence sets the stakes astronomically high, as Mae tracks down and manages to overpower Jedi Master Indara (Carrie-Anne Moss). It’s a shocking way to open the series, but what’s even more shocking is the hard transition to Osha waking up aboard a starship.
In fact, a great deal of time is spent with Osha, which givesThe Acolyteplenty of time to hint that she might actuallybean assassin of the Dark Side. Being on a moving starship would give her a concrete alibi and a way to reach her targets, while her backstory of leaving the Jedi Order is similar to Dark Side usersincluding Asajj Ventress. It isn’t until later that the connection to Mae is revealed, whichmakes the twist that much stronger. In a day and age where trailers seem to give away the best plot twists in every film and/or television show, the fact thatThe Acolytemanaged to do it and still keep the surprise mostly intact is a minor miracle.
‘The Acolyte’ Continues To Explore Themes of Family Within Star Wars
The fractured bond between Mae and Osha also continues a trend offamily bonds playing a major element in Star Wars. Of course, there’s the fact thatDarth Vader (James Earl Jones) is really the father of Luke Skywalker(Mark Hamill); the prequels are dedicated to Vader’s (Hayden Christensen) fall to darkness, which was sparked by the fear that he’d lose his wife Padme (Natalie Portman). Rey (Daisy Ridley) is the granddaughter of Emperor Palpatine (Ian McDiarmid). Themes of found family also resonate throughout the franchise; the crew of the Ghost forms a makeshift family that lasts throughStar Wars RebelsandAhsoka.The Acolytetakes a different approach by exploring Mae and Osha’s connection to the Jedi, and the different paths it drove them down.
Both sisters are carrying traumafrom the fire that took their family; Osha’s inability to let go of this trauma is what caused her to depart the Jedi Order. In Mae’s case, she seeks revenge against the Jedi who were present, including Sol. In contrast, Osha still has a bond with Sol as she’s able to convince him that she’s innocent, and he brings her along on the mission to apprehend Mae.
Even their connection to the Force plays a central roleinThe Acolyte.Osha has recurring visions of Mae as a child, which tips her off to the fact that Mae is still alive; it’s also a sign that even if she left the Jedi, the power within her hasn’t. Stenberg even recently discussed how she feels both sisters embody the spiritual traditions that have been at the heart of Star Wars. “I thought a lot about the concept of Yin and Yang — because that is such an influential force on the Star Wars universe, Eastern philosophy and religion,”she told Variety. “And these characters are kind of physical manifestations of that.”
Future episodes ofThe Acolytelook to further explore the history between Mae and Osha, and, hopefully, will have bigger surprises in store — or even manage to keep them hidden in plain sight.
New episodes ofThe Acolyteare available to stream Tuesdays on Disney+ in the U.S.
