The Acolyte season one has wrapped up, with the longest, and arguably best, episode streaming on Disney+ on July 16th. The ending revealed a major character, who has been rumored to be a part of the series for some time. It also killed off a fan favorite, gave viewers some answers, and left the audience with just enough questions to have them hoping for a season two.
Warning: Spoilers Ahead for The Acolyte Season One Finale
For many Star Wars fans, The Acolyte has been hit or miss. There was a lot of story to tell in just eight episodes and because of the nature of the secrets, we spent a lot of time reliving flashbacks more than once. Still, the finale proved that this series has done a wonderful job with the lightsaber fights and exploring the gray area in between the dark and the light side. The mystery aspect did not always work, but it was still often intriguing.
The finale sees Osha snapping when she learns the truth about who killed her mother. She is overcome with emotion and force chokes Sol in what is arguably one of the coolest and most shocking scenes in the entire season. Her darkness consumes her, going so far as to turn the lightsaber she picks up from blue to red. Before going with Qimir to train, both Mae and Osha agree it is safer for Mae’s mind to be wiped.
This is done and she is left behind to be found by the Jedi. A strange decision because they easily could have taken her along, but maybe their thought process is the rule of two, who knows.
In the final moments of The Acolyte episode 8, Vernestra Rwoh goes to see her master. That master turns out to be Yoda, someone who was highly speculated to be a part of the series before it came out. Fans just get a glimpse of the back of his head, but everyone knows that head from a mile away. This softens the blow, at least a little bit, of Sol’s death. Sol quickly became a fan favorite. After losing Yord, this is a tough pill to swallow.
You could say that this was brilliant writing, however, ripping away characters that the fans cared so much about. It has us eager for justice. Both killers live – Qamir and, shockingly, Osha. We are all now wishing for a season two so that we can see them brought to justice. For those of us that dig the dark side, it will be exciting to see them working together.
At the end of the episode, Vernestra lies to the council, claiming that Sol has done this all on his own. She says that after the massacre of the Witch’s coven, he snapped under the pressures of keeping it a secret, and ultimately killed his fellow Jedi and himself. Of course, viewers know this is not the case. It seems Vernestra did this in order to protect Mae and Osha.. but why? Another mystery to explore in a season two, should we get it.
Yoda is not the only exciting reveal of the finale, however. In the middle of the episode, we see what appears to be Darth Plagueis in the shadows on Qimir’s mystery island, leading us to believe that he is the one who trained him. Surely we will see more of him if The Acolyte continues with another season.
Overall, this season was hit or miss, up and down, but it delivered on some incredible action sequences, and even though the mysteries did not always work, there are enough questions left open to have us wanting a season two to get some answers. With Yoda and Darth Plagueis now in play, anything could happen.
The Acolyte season one is now streaming in its entirety on Disney+. While a season two has not
been greenlit yet, we cannot imagine that doesn’t happen after the way this finale wrapped up.
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Tessa Smith is a Rotten Tomatoes Tomatometer-approved Film and TV Critic. She owns Mama’s Geeky, but also is a freelance writer. Tessa has been in the Entertainment writing business for more than ten years and is a member of several Critics Associations including the Critics Choice Association. Her passion for film, television, video games, and comic books started when she was a little girl and has only continued to grow.