The Acolyte Season 1 Episode 5 Review: Night

The fight for Osha and Mae amps up to a thousand on the latest episode of this captivating series. The Acolyte Season 1 Episode 5, “Night,” shows the Jedi facing off against The Master on Khofar.

While Star Wars has always been really great at staging lightsaber battles between the Jedi and those they pursue, Sith or otherwise, something about the battles during this episode really stands out. For the Jedi and this unnamed Stranger, the fight isn’t just physical but mental as well.

Finding out who is behind the mask only takes away half the intrigue we continue to have about this character. I’m going to be completely honest and own up to the fact that I don’t know too much about early Jedi lore, but something tells me this guy is significant overall.

The Master With No Name

I appreciate that when we finally see The Stranger without his helmet, he’s a character we’ve seen before. That makes everything all the more exciting.

He managed to not only fool us, but Mae as well. She trusted him as her friend and companion, not as the master she loathes and fears.

Taking a dive into that dynamic is interesting enough because all this time, we’ve been informed that The Stranger wants Mae to kill a Jedi without a weapon. We’ve been led to believe that the targets themselves have been chosen by Mae, but what if it was a combination of Mae and The Stranger?

It’s very apparent that he knows exactly who these Jedi Masters are, from Indara to Torbin to Sol. What still remains and keeps us interested to tune in for more is the true nature of his connection to the Jedi Order and these particular people.

An interesting thing to note is, The Stranger, or Qimir, clearly doesn’t hold much respect for non-humanoid individuals. This is made most apparent when he kills Jecki and asks, “Is that what you called it?”

There is an underlying racial throughline that could be explored more deeply, but for now, it’s enough to say he’s a very close-minded, cynical individual. Qimir might own up to his darkness while encouraging Sol to do the same, but in the same breath, he isn’t willing to show any sign of respect for anyone who isn’t similarly aligned with him.

It is also important that we note exactly how he speaks about what he aligns himself with. He never calls himself anything but does mention that the Jedi would classify him as “Sith.”

We should take note of that because, once again, it brings back the previously addressed concept that the Jedi’s way of looking at the world is very limiting. Viewers are constantly told that the Jedi Order are the “good guys” and that they believe in doing what is right, yet they hold so many secrets and are likely to stereotype instead of individualize.

The Downfall of Sol

For the past few episodes, The Acolyte has heavily implied that Sol has been lying for years about what happened on Brendok. He keeps telling Osha that he will tell her the truth but always adds a stipulation for when that truthtelling can occur. 

To the point that at the ideal moment for Sol to confess everything, he once again hesitates. In the first two episodes, I had a fondness for Master Sol because he seemed like a Jedi who went beyond the rules about emotional attachment and cared for Osha. 

However, the more time passes and the more information we are given, the more I am not inclined to trust him. Now, here he is, the last standing Jedi from this mission, thoroughly upset that The Stranger would kill Jecki since she was only a child. 

Luckily, Qimir points out a major concern many Star Wars fans have had for years. The Jedi Order is more than willing to put children in harm’s way and train them for battle—that is until these children die, and then they demand retribution.

The more time we spend with Master Sol, the more we see just how complicated and messy he is, and the Jedi Order, for that matter. The writers have done a great job of presenting him as this deeply flawed but well-intentioned individual, which allows us to look more critically at the legend of the Jedi Order.

Now that Mae has taken over her sister’s identity and gone off with Master Sol, are we going to see him reach his demise once and for all? Or will he think he’s talking to Osha and tell “her” the truth about Brendok, giving his character more sympathy or less, depending on how the conversation goes?

Whatever happens, it is clear that the events on Khofar will remain with us, Master Sol, Osha, Mae, and probably Qimir, for a very long time. It’s been a while since Master Sol has led a mission of this magnitude, and for him to lose all the Jedi he took with him is going to break him even more than the events involving the twins clearly did years ago.

The Technical Genius that is “Night”

It isn’t very often that an episode of television, that takes place at night, can be admired and revered for its lighting design. More often than not, TV shows run into the problem of not giving scenes enough light when they take place in darker corners, underground, in forests, or at night. 

Thankfully, The Acolyte doesn’t have that problem. Somehow, everything is still visually crisp despite the darker lighting, which makes the addition of lightsabers and flashlights all the more pronounced.

Add to that the choreography of all these fight scenes, this episode is one of the best that Star Wars has ever produced. It isn’t very often we get multiple Jedi saber battles during one episode of TV, but “Night” manages it without diminishing the impact of each battle sequence.

Whether we are watching the big fight scene with all the Jedi and The Stranger at the beginning or any of the smaller, one-on-one battles that come later, the staging of each plays out like a beautifully tragic dance.

Each loss of Jedi life is felt on an individual scale, but none more so than Yord because of its unexpected nature and Jecki because of the overkill. The fight sequences that lead to each demise are well-blocked, and we feel glued to the screen in an effort to catch every move, big or small. 

When Yord and Qimir face off with no weapons, it truly feels like Yord might get the upper hand. Which is what makes his ultimate demise one that causes us to gasp out loud. With Jecki, we can sort of see something going wrong the minute she takes on The Stranger one-on-one, but we aren’t expecting him to split his saber and kill her so aggressively.

At the end of the day, this episode is well-shot and perfectly choreographed, and the lighting and sound make every moment feel like the most important moment.

 

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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