Episode 8, the last episode of the "season", I doubt there is going to be a second one for multiple reasons I talk about latter on but none the less this has been one hell of a ride in terms of feelings and turns. Episode 8 does gave answers to some questions but at the same time opened new questions for what you might think is the door open for a second season, this episode was filled with action, drama, and some much needed character development, as well as some annoying plot holes. I was never a Star Wars fan but it has been the multiple TV series that got me hocked, might be a good or bad thing for the franchise because some people might get in through the wrong concept as more pure blood Star Wars fans would think, but I have to admit that after watching The Acolyte I'm on the Sith side, this episode is filled with Dark Side stuff that kept me wondering and its when I found some of its plot problems.
This episode was filled with a lot of information and one of the biggest revelations was that Darth Plagueis is actually part of the story, this is something I saw many people online mentioning as I had no idea who he was but now with just a bit of more data makes me wonder if he is Palpatines master and that part of the story is already known then how far they can extend The Acolyte story before it becomes limited but the most important part of this is without changing the lore and keep pissing off OG Star Wars fans. For someone like me who is not fully invested into Star Wars I would not mind and would not even realize when it happens but then again its not healthy for me or the series since I think that's the main reason there wont be a second season. Throughout the season there were allusions and references to the Sith and it wasn’t until now that we get to see them with Darth Plagueis been hiding and training Qimir and probably Osha on latest episode?, and he has been waiting for the right time to come out.
It is a well known Sith doctrine that there can only be two, a master and an apprentice, this rule gives a time limit to characters like Qimir who is the current apprentice. Since Darth Plagueis is the master, it means that between Qimir and Osha, one has to be eliminated to balance the force, this also makes way for possible power struggles and conflicts in the following seasons, if the series continues on to have more seasons.
In my opinion Osha has been one of the most interesting characters and her character development throughout the series has been great and in this episode, we can see how she is fully Dark Side from how she talks and her clothe but the moment that confirm this narrative is at the end she is able to use the hate to turn the light saber crystal red, this scene represents her total conversion into a Sith and it is a rather frightening demonstration of the dark side’s potential. An epic moment on the episode in my opinion, take it from someone who has never seen it happening. I think that even though this has probably been the worst Star Wars TV series I still have got feedback from people who read my posts saying they have enjoy the show, this brings in new viewers and will potentially watch other Star Wars TV series after The Acolyte. Osha’s personality has changed a lot, from an ambiguous and indecisive person to a strong Sith’s apprentice.
The Episode Breakdown
The episode resumes when Osha puts on the kurtosis helmet and shows her dark side but could not really control it as the helmet boosts her power but at the same time it puts her through a lot of emotional stress, after all that the main source of power, feelings, what Jedi try to avoid and Sith keeps telling them over and over will never be able to do, this scene is quite significant for the rest of the series because it shows the conflict between order and disorder in her character. Latter on Mae drops some bombs on her telling her that she actually never failled Jedi training because in fact it was Sol who failed her not really for hiding the truth but was never able to teach her or channel how to control her emotions, in fact he was the reason for those emotions.
We also have Sol and Mae still waiting in the orbit for the arrival of Qimir and Osha, it was logical to look for them where everything started. This is quite evident in this particular episode as Sol character becomes more complex and even sinister as he shares the real story that happened 16 years ago, his actions and the reasons he gives for them make him a more layered character, between the good guy and the bad guy, I think if Sol have survive his battle with Osha he might turn Sith at some point, he could not hold back his feelings anymore.
The episode also includes a good fight between Qimir and Sol, one of my favorites to be honest because for the first time they fight with same conditions and nobody to interrupt showing how Qimir is not as powerful as Sol, which also demonstrates Qimir’s rather rough manner of fighting. This battle is a highlight, offering a dramatic and a very cinematographic sequence in the episode, the choreography of the fight scenes and their pacing are excellent and this particular fight is among the best.
The final scene of the episode has Osha fighting Sol, this was quite shorter but I get it we cant just have a two scene episode, Osha ends up killing Sol. This is crucial because it makes her a Sith and marks her transformation into the dark side. The imagery of her using Sol’s light saber to kill him is significant, as this is her accepting her destiny as the dark one, also very ironic how she kills the man who was her Jedi master and its his blue light saber that she turns red, all the antonyms going opposite directions from apprentice to murder and from blue light saber to red.
After the battle, Vernestra Rwoh feels Qimir’s presence and understands the scale of the danger she and her friends are facing, another situation that raise even more questions because we know they are related but we still don't know how things ended up between them. Her character development is also quite interesting as she deals with the information and the threat of the Sith, at the same time hiding information to the senate but when so many died specially when Sol died she was not able to hide it anymore and had to report it but in her own words, once again lying to everyone, not very Jedi of her.
Second Season a Reality?
The Unanswered Questions
Although the episode answered some of the questions, it raised many more questions that left me wondering, for example some of them very basic like the motives for Mother Aniseya choice to separate Mae and Osha into two different entities are not well explained, was she just experimenting without any real reason?. This plot point is probably one of the most important as it gives meaning for the twins to exist but it was never elaborated on. The series has established quite a few interesting questions, but it is unclear whether they will be answered in the second season.
It is one of the most costly series ever made with a reported budget of $180 million with such high cost makes me wonder whether Disney is willing to spend a lot of money for a second season and whether this investment will pay off with new subscribers to Disney+, after the amount of backlash and low scores on rating sites I doubt the results were positive.
Even after all the cliff hangers I felt this was a perfect last episode to close on the climax of the show with many twists and turns, as well as the character’s transformations specially from Osha and Qimir, one from light to dark and the other from padawan to master. The confirmation of Darth Plagueis, Osha’s change and the relationships between the characters made the show interesting to watch, it kept suspense all through the episodes although some times it felt over the top at constantly interrupting Sol before he confess. This episode was a good conclusion of the season that was focused on the darker aspect of the Star Wars universe, almost like this entire series was to promote the Dark Side but not really, like they were holding back, if only the had put more effort on Qimir and Osha as the main characters instead of relying so much on four Jedi that they were going to kill anyways specially two that almost did nothing like Kelnecca and Torbin.
