The Acolyte Finale Review

Holy crap! okay so spoilers obvi but THAT WAS SO GOOD

I'm going to rewatch the whole series soon and can't wait to see more foreshadowing and stuff (ie. always one but born as two). This is very similar to the force dyad we see in Ben Solo and Rey but instead of both coming over to the light we have a trust in the dark. I don't necessarily doubt her character choices but I do find it interesting that after finding out about Sol, Osha immediately trusted Qimir to train her in the way of the Sith. (Also if u didn't know Sol is Spanish for Sun and Qimir is Arabic (kind of) for Moon which I think is a really cool detail). I think the whole show is a really interesting examination of what we know as the light and dark sides of the force- and Osha who up until the end lives somewhere in between. I really hope we get a second season where we can see more of Mother Aniseya's abilities-- how she created Mae/Osha and what exactly "The Accension" process would have been. My absolute favorite part of the episode was the bleeding Kyber Crystal. It's fantastic visual parallel and demonstration of Osha's turn to the Sith. And it's just really cool to watch. I saw a Forbes article criticizing Osha's seemingly lack of expression as she kills Sol and I disagree with the author. During this whole sequence Osha's whole world, everything she'd thought she'd known since she joined the Jedi, is crashing down. She is a 20 something year old girl who is seeing her parental figure admit to killing her mother. He admits to lying to her for most of her life. For all of Osha's time with the Jedi she had been told to suppress any negative feelings about the death of her people, about the loss of her sister. And now she's let the flood gates open. She doesn't want an apology, she doesn't want excuses, she just wants Sol to stop talking. Stop trying to make things better because you can't. Osha's connection to the force has revealed itself when she can finally access her past and release that lifetime of turmoil. In addition to the force choke, early on in the episode and at the end of episode 6 we hear Osha's deep breathing through Qimir's helmet. All traits reminiscent of Vader, foreboding the rise of the empire a century before its rise. Oh also speaking of references wdym that was Darth Plagueis. Like how did everyone figure that out. I thought it was Grievous idk. Anyway. Going back to Osha's alliance to Qimir, I really enjoy the symbolism of that yellow tree. Not only visually compelling contrast, yellow often symbolizes energy. What is the force if not energy? Now, let's talk about Vernestra. She is incredibly smart as a politician and a leader. Although morally dubious, she prevented a Jedi collapse. She was compassionate towards a mind-wiped Mae and protected her. And then, in the last moments we see Qimir and Osha on the dawn of the New Sith, and Vernestra going to her master, the one constant in all eras of Star Wars, Yoda.