The Acolyte Season 1 Finale: Adequate finale caps off mixed bag season of Star Wars television

The Acolyte Season 1 finale features the same strengths and weaknesses present throughout the season.

A majestic lightsaber duel and some strong performances battle the uninteresting twin storyline and puzzling character choices.

The season finale takes place mostly in two settings. On Coruscant, Vernestra attempts to handle the political ramifications. The rest of the episode is a collision course on Brendok, with Mae and Sol facing off against Osha and Qimir separately.

The lightsaber battle between Sol (Lee Jung-jae) and Qimir (Manny Jacinto) is the best duel in the Star Wars franchise since the prequels. Jae and Jacinto have stood out with nuanced performances throughout the series. In The Acolyte Season 1 finale, David Harewood delivers one of the best performances in the series as Senator Rayencourt. He disagrees with the Jedi’s lofty perch and easily pokes holes in the Jedi worldview.

Unfortunately, the other storylines in The Acolyte Season 1 finale fall flat. Between Osha’s lack of development and Mae’s waffling, there’s little to no reason to care about the twins’ storyline. Osha’s descent to the Dark Side is too fast. She’s fully committed to being Qimir’s apprentice in less than two episodes. Even Palpatine’s temptation of Anakin in the prequels took more time to develop. Mae comes out the better of the two sisters in the finale. She has always held onto her sister too tight. In the finale, she chooses to let her sister go.

Sol’s downfall as a character is startling. The idea of depicting a morally murky Jedi is compelling. Unfortunately, when Sol admits his terrible act on Brendok, he doesn’t come across as remorseful or tell the whole truth. Yes, there was a Vergence on Brendok, and the Jedi investigated the strange phenomenon. However, his reasoning for visiting the coven was that he wanted a Padawan. Maybe Sol would have explained it, but he’s not allowed to.

The Acolyte isn’t a terrible show. There are good action scenes and performances. Unfortunately, in this era of Star Wars, where Andor is one of the best-written shows on television filled with intelligent characters, The Acolyte fails to measure up. Overall, The Acolyte is better than Book of Boba Fett but falls below Andor, The Mandalorian, Ahsoka and Obi-Wan Kenobi pecking order.

After the overview and ranking of The Acolyte season 1 finale  6 out of 10 (Above Average), let’s explore the twins’ journeys, Sol’s descent and politics on Coruscant. The Acolyte is streaming on Disney Plus.

Diverging Paths

Mae and Osha begin on a collision course in the finale but take different paths by the end.

The episode begins with Mae and Sol on the ship heading to Brendok. Mae stuns Sol and temporarily escapes to the planet’s surface. Meanwhile, Osha is eager to reach Brendok as well. Her goal is to stop Mae from killing Sol. Qimir reluctantly goes with her.

Everything about Osha’s character is frustrating. When Osha sees Mae on Brendok, where Mae sets the fire, Osha refuses to hear anything Mae says. She attacks Mae and their physical battle begins. Mae uses a Jedi ship arriving to escape.

Mae shows more character growth in this episode than Osha throughout the season. After Sol confesses, Mae wants Sol to answer for his crime instead of revenge.

With the Jedi bearing down on her, Osha and Qimir, Mae chooses a different path from the one she went down 16 years prior. Mae had a big issue with letting her sister go as a child. In the season finale, she chooses to have her mind wiped so Osha can escape and lead the life she wants as Qimir’s apprentice. Vernestra and the Jedi take Mae to Coruscant.

Mae’s redemption in the episode was nice, but it would have been even stronger if she’d stayed on that path instead of switching from light to dark, seemingly on a whim. Osha’s arc is just awful.

Sol’s fate in The Acolyte Season 1 Finale

Jung-Jae is great, but the writing does the character of Sol no favors. Sol is supposed to be a wise Jedi Knight but is easily duped by Mae on his ship, enabling her escape.

On the plus side, the lightsaber duel between Sol and Qimir is terrific. The series does a great job combining the fast pacing of the prequel with martial arts. The duel features wire work more in common with Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon than Star Wars. Trust me that is a significant compliment and why anyone who enjoys action should give The Acolyte a chance.

Sol pretty much dominates the battle with Qimir. However, the fight stops when Mae appears. Sol admits to killing their mother. Instead of apologizing, he doubles down on the presence of the Vergence as justification for his actions.

Osha force chokes Sol to death. I believe the idea of the scene was to show Osha boiling over with rage. Unfortunately, the execution is lacking. There’s no buildup of emotion present on Osha’s face. Similar to her confrontation with Mae, Osha doesn’t allow Sol to apologize. Then, Mae urged her sister to allow Sol to stand trial before the Jedi Council. As Osha is choking the life out of Sol, Mae just stands and watches Sol die.

Sol’s confession is also hollow as he doesn’t admit how important finding a Padawan was to him. He was probably looking for a reason to die, so he didn’t want to offer anything in his defense. I’m not looking forward to a new season of the show, which will undoubtedly double down on the twin storyline.

Philosophical Battle on Coruscant

Vernestra is surprised by Senator Rayencourt. She tries to explain that the situation is small and under control. However, Rayencourt is a gifted interrogator. He pokes holes in Vernestra’s story and tells her an investigation is underway. For Vernestra and Jedi’s sake, she better have a suspect by then.

In addition to the current Jedi crisis, Rayencourt reveals his vendetta against the Jedi. He calls out the Jedi for their unchecked power use and impossible attempts to restrain emotions. Harewood is an excellent addition to the cast. Outside of a mid-credit or tease, I don’t love introducing new characters in the season finale. The character in question could be saved for the following season or incorporated earlier.

In The Acolyte‘s case, revealing Rayencourt earlier in the series as the politician baring down on Jedi would have given Vernestra and Sol a political villain to face off against as well as more of an impetus for why Vernestra is trying to keep a lid on the situation. Through no fault of Rebecca Henderson as an actor, Vernestra has been the most boring character in the series. The inclusion of Harewood brought out the best performance from Henderson yet.

The rest of Vernestra’s actions are a bit puzzling. She arrives on Brendok, pieces together what really happened and senses her former Padawan Qimir on the planet. Vernestra takes Mae to Coruscant and reveals she wants Mae’s help tracking down Qimir. Mae doesn’t even remember having a sister which Vernestra uses to her advantage. Vernestra takes a page from Indara’s book. She puts all of the witch and Jedi murders on Sol. The episode ends with her talking to Yoda.

The Acolyte Season 1 Finale Final Thoughts

The Acolyte concludes with thrilling action and the introduction of a promising new character but falls short in character motivation and the twin storyline, which is the least interesting part of the series.

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