Star Wars: The Acolyte episode 3 delves into Mae and Osha’s complicated past, giving us the foundations of their conflict. Here’s our review.
Before we dive into The Acolyte episode 3, just a disclaimer that these reviews will include mild spoilers for the episode in question but will discuss previous episodes with heavy spoilers. So if you haven’t seen The Acolyte episodes 1 and 2, you might want to watch those before reading what we have to say about episode 3.
Still here? Excellent. On with the show!
The Acolyte got off to a wobbly start last week with two episodes. The new Star Wars series was sold as a darker, more violent entry into the franchise and one that would feature more Siths than we’ve seen before. The first two episodes gave us no indication of that and, in all honesty, episode 3 doesn’t give us much hope that The Acolyte will somehow diverge from the usual Star Wars path.
The third episode, titled ‘Destiny’, is set 16 years before the series’ main timeline and is set on Brendok, the home planet of Mae and Osha (played by Amandla Steinberg as an adult). As you’ll know by now, Mae is the force wielder who’s been murdering Jedis left, right and centre, and her sister Osha is dragged into it by her former master, Sol (Lee Jung-jae).
Mae and Osha, as we find out, belonged to an all-female coven of witches who’ve been exiled to Brendok. They seem to be able to use the Force, or as they call it, the Thread. Mae and Osha’s two mothers are keen for the girls, the only children in the coven, to perform a sacred ceremony they call the Ascension, but the Jedi interrupt the proceedings, wishing to whisk the kids away and train them to be Jedi.
Mae, who will grow up to be an angry, murderous woman, wishes to stay with the coven, stating that Brendok has everything she needs from life. Osha, on the other hand, wants to explore the galaxy, believing there’s more to this world than Brendok. It’s a simple but effective conflict between the sisters.
Read more: The Acolyte episodes 1 & 2 review | A wobbly but promising start
Over the course of the episode, we get more insight into the sisters’ mindsets and their abilities. It feels rare to get an episode this early on such a high-profile limited series that is solely focused on giving us backstory and motive. It’s a real treat, even if Leslye Headland’s series is still far from subtle with its symbolism.
There’s one particularly interesting piece of information revealed in the episode. With no men around, the obvious question is, how did Osha and Mae come to be? It seems that Mother Koril (Margarita Levieva) carried the babies, while Mother Aniseya (a majestic Jodie Turner-Smith) “created” them. We hope to find out more about this, but it’s a very cool concept.
Destiny is also directed by Kogonada, the visionary director behind After Yang and Columbus. Like those films, there’s a sense of tranquillity and stillness to this episode of The Acolyte. There’s barely any action, no lightsaber wielding and nary a hint of violence, which makes for a nice change in a show like this.
There’s still a gnawing feeling that we’re not being given what was sold to us. I’m still fearing, as I did last week, that The Acolyte will succumb to a very traditional Star Wars narrative. While we won’t spoil the ending of the episode here, it also suggests that The Acolyte plays things safe rather than explores new avenues of the galaxy.
I’m still intrigued by The Acolyte. The cast remain excellent; Lee Jung-jae is still the standout, bringing so much warmth and empathy to the series. Lauren and Leah Brady, playing young Osha and Mae respectively, are also very impressive in this episode and I hope they show up again, although that seems unlikely.
We’ll be back next week with another deep dive into the new episode of The Acolyte. May the force be with you until then.
The Acolyte is streaming now on Disney+.
