‘The Acolyte’s Best Twist Was Right in Front of Us the Whole Time

Editor’s notice: The beneath comprises spoilers for Episodes 1 and a couple of of The Acolyte.

The Acolyte has solely simply premiered, however it’s proving to be a really distinctive entry within the Star Wars universe. A part of that’s the setting; The Acolyte is about within the period of the High Republic, which is about 100 years earlier than the occasions of Star Wars: Episode I — The Phantom Menace. But it surely additionally places a brand new, extra private twist on the battle between the sunshine and darkish sides of the Pressure with the main reveal of the primary episode, “Misplaced/Discovered.” The story, which initially appeared to concentrate on the Darkish Aspect acolyte Mae (Amandla Stenberg), will even concentrate on her twin sister Osha (additionally performed by Stenberg). Osha is a former Jedi turned mechanic who will get swept into the story when she’s mistaken for Mae, who’s searching down and killing Jedi. What’s most stunning is that the advertising and marketing for The Acolyte all however hinted at this plot twist prematurely.

Did ‘The Acolyte’s Advertising Spoil Its Greatest Reveal Forward of Time?

The largest revelation about Osha’s existence was dropped throughout a promo spot launched the week earlier than The Acolyte‘s premiere. A lot of the footage from that promo is targeted on Mae’s battle towards the Jedi, however it additionally includes a transient snippet of a scene the place Osha is confronted by her former grasp, Sol (Lee Jung-jae). Anybody who turned on closed captions for the promo would have instantly discovered Osha’s identification, which later confirmed up on a Star Wars subreddit. However this wasn’t the primary time that The Acolyte‘s advertising and marketing hid the twist in plain sight. An official poster for The Acolyte options Mae and Osha within the background, all however confirming the dual sisters’ function within the narrative.

Even collection creator Leslye Headland dropped a nugget of data that hinted on the presence of dual sisters. In an interview with The Hollywood Reporter, Headland laid out her inspirations for the collection, which included Rashomon, Frozen, and Kill Invoice. It is the Frozen connection that’s the most attention-grabbing, as that story centered on sisters Anna (Kristen Bell) and Elsa (Idina Menzel) and their strained bond on account of Elsa’s powers over ice inflicting her to be remoted from others. The Acolyte includes a comparable set-up: Mae and Osha are sisters separated by a component of nature — on this case, a fireplace that killed their household and left Mae presumed lifeless. Not like Frozen, each sisters have a connection to the Pressure, although in Osha’s case, that connection appears to have lessened after she left the Jedi Order.

‘The Acolyte’s Huge Twist Nonetheless Hits Exhausting

Even when promos and posters may need revealed the large twist in The Acolyte, “Misplaced/Discovered” nonetheless does an incredible job of build up the eventual reveal. The opening sequence units the stakes astronomically excessive, as Mae tracks down and manages to overpower Jedi Grasp Indara (Carrie-Anne Moss). It is a surprising option to open the collection, however what’s much more surprising is the exhausting transition to Osha waking up aboard a starship.

The truth is, an excessive amount of time is spent with Osha, which provides The Acolyte loads of time to trace that she may really be an murderer of the Darkish Aspect. Being on a transferring starship would give her a concrete alibi and a option to attain her targets, whereas her backstory of leaving the Jedi Order is just like Darkish Aspect customers including Asajj Ventress. It is not till later that the connection to Mae is revealed, which makes the twist that a lot stronger. In a day and age the place trailers appear to present away the perfect plot twists in each movie and/or tv present, the truth that The Acolyte managed to do it and nonetheless preserve the shock largely intact is a minor miracle.

‘The Acolyte’ Continues To Discover Themes of Household Inside Star Wars

The fractured bond between Mae and Osha additionally continues a development of household bonds taking part in a significant factor in Star Wars. In fact, there’s the truth that Darth Vader (James Earl Jones) is really the father of Luke Skywalker (Mark Hamill); the prequels are devoted to Vader’s (Hayden Christensen) fall to darkness, which was sparked by the concern that he’d lose his spouse Padme (Natalie Portman). Rey (Daisy Ridley) is the granddaughter of Emperor Palpatine (Ian McDiarmid). Themes of discovered household additionally resonate all through the franchise; the crew of the Ghost types a makeshift household that lasts via Star Wars Rebels and Ahsoka. The Acolyte takes a distinct strategy by exploring Mae and Osha’s connection to the Jedi, and the totally different paths it drove them down.

Each sisters are carrying trauma from the fireplace that took their household; Osha’s incapacity to let go of this trauma is what prompted her to depart the Jedi Order. In Mae’s case, she seeks revenge towards the Jedi who had been current, together with Sol. In distinction, Osha nonetheless has a bond with Sol as she’s capable of persuade him that she’s harmless, and he brings her alongside on the mission to apprehend Mae.

Even their connection to the Pressure performs a central function in The Acolyte. Osha has recurring visions of Mae as a toddler, which ideas her off to the truth that Mae continues to be alive; it is also an indication that even when she left the Jedi, the facility inside her hasn’t. Stenberg even lately mentioned how she feels each sisters embody the non secular traditions which were on the coronary heart of Star Wars. “I assumed quite a bit concerning the idea of Yin and Yang — as a result of that’s such an influential pressure on the Star Wars universe, Jap philosophy and faith,” she told Variety. “And these characters are form of bodily manifestations of that.”

Future episodes of The Acolyte look to additional discover the historical past between Mae and Osha, and, hopefully, may have larger surprises in retailer — and even handle to maintain them hidden in plain sight.

New episodes of The Acolyte can be found to stream Tuesdays on Disney+ within the U.S.

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