The Acolyte Season 1 Episode 3 Review: Destiny

By giving a bit more backstory on Osha and Mae, The Acolyte Season 1 Episode 3, “Destiny,” shows viewers that they must look at all sides of a situation. More often than not the narrative centers the Jedi as being the model of propriety and peace.

However, what if, from another perspective, they are seen as disturbers of the peace? After all, the witches on Brendok aren’t harming anyone, and what they are teaching the girls mirrors the teachings of the Jedi.

So, why then does Master Indara believe they are superior and know better how to train the girls? Seeing it from Mae and Osha’s coven allows viewers to see the Jedi more objectively.

Is Osha Wrong For Wanting to Be Jedi?

From Mama and Mother Koril’s perspective, the girls should follow in the footsteps of the witches who came before them. However, it is glaringly apparent early on that Osha doesn’t follow the grain with any of her teachings or her family dynamic.

In fact, Osha reminds us of the early years of some of our favorite Jedi throughout history. She has an inquisitive nature that wants nothing more than to explore the galaxy beyond her home world.

It’s disheartening to see most of the coven encourage Mae’s behavior while shunning Osha’s. From a kindness and openness standard, Mae is acting more immature and obnoxious than Osha, yet Mother Koril only has negative words for Osha.

Mae has every right to want nothing more than to participate in the ascension to become a witch in the coven. But that means that Osha also has the right not to want that.

While the coven, point blank, believes the Jedi are wrong and don’t know what they are doing with the power yielded from the universe, who’s to say the coven isn’t also wrong? After all, everything Mama tells the girls in their lesson is more or less the exact same as what the Jedi teach, they just call the power the “force” while the witches call it a “thread.”

By forcing their teachings onto the girls, especially when Osha expresses a desire to experience other things, the coven is toeing the line between willing participants and being a cult. There is still the question of whether or not Mama would’ve prevailed in the end and let Osha go.

Mae Sets the Fire, But At What Cost

Even at a young age, Mae already displays more negative tendencies than Osha in how she interacts with the thread around her. At the start of the episode, we see her interacting with Osha outside of the fortress, and she’s angry that her sister would want to spend time away from her.

It’s a level of anger that is reminiscent of Anakin Skywalker before he went completely to the Dark Side. I talked earlier about how the coven’s teachings are similar to those of the Jedi, and that holds especially true for Mae.

The most significant difference, though, is that the coven doesn’t ask their disciples to pull away from their anger. Instead, they encourage the harnessing of all emotions into the power yielded through the thread. 

Mama constantly tells both girls that they can harness the power of many once they submit themselves to the witch’s way. This shows Mae’s motivations more so than anything else. While Osha’s choice of the Jedi shows her kind and inquisitive spirit, Mae’s desire to become a witch shows her thirst for power and control.

That control breaks down the minute Mae realizes her twin sister wants nothing to do with her or their family. She wants to keep her sister close because she loves her, but doesn’t realize that by pushing back against Osha’s desires she is pushing her away completely.

We see this loss of control when Mae locks Osha in her room and then starts a fire within the fortress. While it does prevent Osha from running off, it also kills their whole coven.

So, the question remains, was the one worth the price of many?

How Does Everything Tie Together

The Acolyte does a great job of giving us enough information to understand each twin’s view of the world. However, it still keeps the question open about how the events on Brendok relate to why Torbin so willingly killed himself.

Sure, we now understand why Mae is targeting these four Jedi. She believes that their presence on her home planet all those years ago cost her everything. What she still doesn’t seem to take responsibility for is her part in the events.

And to what extent were the Jedi involved in the death of the coven? After all, when we see Sol rescue Osha, they pass by a gathering of the coven, all members deceased. 

There is a possibility that the fire killed all of them, but there still remains an air of mystery regarding the Jedi. At present, it still feels as though Master Sol is holding back information, and Torbin’s last words were, “We believed we were doing the right thing.”

So, what exactly did those four Jedi do on Brendok? Not only that but in what way were their actions that of a peaceful entity?

At the end of the day, this show continues to intrigue us by giving just enough information to keep us coming back for more. We need answers and it seems we will only be getting them a little bit at a time.

 

 

What did you think of this episode of The Acolyte? Share your thoughts in the comments below!

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The Acolyte airs Tuesdays at 9/8c on Disney+.

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