(courtesy IMP Awards)
The story
So that was a LOT! Still on the largely jungle planet of Khofar where the bugs are so big you’d need a lorry full of insect repellent to keep them away, and yes, a lightsaber or two, we witnessed the arrival of Mae’s master who came dressed in a Gimp mask made of cortosis which can apparently disable lightsabers and who made ———- SPOILER AHEAD !!!!! ———- quick and bloody work of everyone in the Jedi landing party save for Sol (Lee Jung-jae) and Osha and Mae (both played by Amandla Stenberg). So, sadly we bid farewell to taciturn, rules-obsessed Yord (Charlie Barnett) and Sol’s young padawan Jecki Lon (Dafne Keen) who fought valiantly, as did their peers, but who were no match for Mae’s master’s ability to move like a balletic blur and leave death and devastation in his wake. And, yes, if you were wondering, the master turned out to be ———- SPOILER AHEAD !!!!! ———- Mae’s stoner companion Qimir (Manny Jacinto) who was not the slacker smuggler he appeared to be. His arrival as the Jedi were trying to get Mae to surrender – Mae, by the way, was able to give up her life of murderous revenge when Qimir finds her and makes it clear that, like trying to leave the mafia, you don’t quit the Sith – meant that suddenly the tables were well and truly turned. While the Jedi fought valiantly, they were cut down one by one by Qimir who made it abundantly clear that he wasn’t about to bow to the Jedi and that he wanted the right to use the Force his way. Even if you are pro-Jedi and not a fan of dark evil, as this reviewer is, there’s something compelling about that argument. The Jedi, while well intentioned, have like many established religions, ossified somewhat so that maintaining the orthodoxy matters more than letting some flexibility and wiggle room in. Sure, you don’t want someone like Qimir doing whatever the hell they like because it all looks rather fatal 100% of the time, but nor do you want unthinking authoritarian imposition because that is precisely where twisted souls like Qimir will fester. Still, sticks up their proverbial or not, the Jedi didn’t deserve to die like they did and nor Osha deserve, after she rejected Mae’s entreaty to forgive and forge an alliance of two, to have her identity swapped with her sister, which means she is now at Qimir’s mercy while Mae is in a perfect position to kill Sol should she so choose. Quite where it all goes from here is gloriously up in the air, but you can imagine it won’t be easy for either Mae or Osha who have a long way to go to get any kind of resolution, if that’s even possible at all.
The verdict
With a body count approaching levels in the average Die Hard or John Wick movie, episode five of The Acolyte was a bloodbath of epic proportions. But what stands out, quite apart from THAT reveal, is how while the episode went big on the action sequences, and they were expansive as hell as well as being balletically impressive and terribly beautiful, it also never lost sight of the emotional impact it would have. After all, a number of main characters including Yord Fandar and Jecki Lon bit the dust, and while Sol survived and he and fake Osha got to fly off planet to fight another day – watch your back mate! – it came at a great cost, something “Night” didn’t minimise with its action-heavy narrative. It also gave us insight into Mae’s emotional state and that she genuinely loves her sister who, and fair enough here since she did try to kill her in a fiery hell, doesn’t exactly LOVE her back. The episode very cleverly suggested the bond is still there, and you could see Osha waver in the face of Mae’s heartfelt pleas for reconciliation, but that an awful lot of cosmic water has flowed under the Force bridge and that coming back from that won’t be easy, if it’s possible at all. And finally, while some people have criticised the way in which the mystique of the Force and the Jedi have been diluted by us seeing a lot of them, the way Star Wars is blurring the lines but not completely between binary good and evil to add some moral grey into the mix, and in this case, position the Jedi as a little too controlling for their own good, is to be applauded. Life is rarely as clean cut as Star Wars would have us believe, and while it needs to keep a fairly clear cut line between good and evil since the franchise depends on that moral clarity for its old-fashioned 1950s movie serial storytelling, throwing some sophistication into the way that’s represented is a good thing.
Star Wars: The Acolyte is currently streaming on Disney+