A Recap of ‘The Acolyte’ Episodes 5 & 6

Written by Michael Lee

*All Media used in this article is courtesy of Lucasfilm Ltd. & Disney

Video Featurette: Across Generations - Video Courtesy: Walt Disney Pictures

‘The Acolyte’ Episode 5 Recap: “Night”

The episode begins immediately after the events of the previous one, with Osha waking up to her surroundings after being knocked out by Force push from the mysterious Master. She wakes up to find the Master and several Jedi engaging in lightsaber combat, with the Master decimating most of the Jedi, seemingly without any effort. It is here we see some of the Jedi get their lightsabers shorted out from the Cortosis metal emblazoned on the Master’s cuffs. After defeating most of the Jedi, The Master attempts a pursuit of Osha, throwing his lightsaber at her, only to be quickly blocked by Sol.

Yord and Osha manage to escape to leave Sol behind to engage with the Master. The cloaked Master asks Sol if he remembers him, but Sol doesn’t, adding he ‘senses something familiar’. The two engage in combat. Mae emerges from Kelnacca’s quarters only to be caught up in a surprise attack from Jecki Lon. The two tussle in sort of a pseudo- fist-fight as Jecki attempts to arrest Mae for the death of several Jedi. Sol begs the Master to show his face, but the Master denies him this, only for The Master to quickly disappear into nothing.

Osha and Yord question the identity of the Master, with Yord saying that his existence cannot be explained, that he ‘gets into your head and stays there’. Yord encourages Osha to escape with him back to their ship, as Sol has ordered her safety. Jecki and Mae continue their dispute, with Jecki noticing that Mae took Kelnacca’s lightsaber. Jecki pauses, sensing a disturbance in the Force, and pulls her lightsaber, bringing it down upon the Master’s saber as the two engage in combat.

The Master is impressed with Jecki, encouraging that Mae can learn something from Jecki. The Master brings upon his Cortosis metal on Jecki’s lightsaber and it short-circuits for a moment until Jecki brings out Kelnacca’s saber as backup, now wielding two lightsabers against the Master’s one. As the two continue in their battle, the Master disappears once again.

Yord and Oshsa are gaining ground further away from the battle, until Osha instructs Yord to turn off his saber, to avoid attracting the insects that inhabit the forest. The Master takes this time to gain ground on Mae, who is trying to escape. The Master and Mae engage briefly, only for Mae to escape again. Sol and Jecki surprise the Master and engage in combat with him once again. Osha hears her name whispered in the forest and begs Yord to go back to them, as they are also about to be pursued by a swarm of insects.

Sol and Jecki gain the upper-hand against the Master, with Jecki knocking off the Master’s mask. But the Master overpowers Jecki, revealing another lightsaber blade, killing her as she attempts to parry his first attack. Osha returns only to see Jecki murdered in cold blood. The Master is revealed to be Qimir, which surprises everyone, including Mae.

Sol asks Qimir who he is, but he ‘has no name’ and ‘people like you would call me a Sith’. He explains he wants freedom to wield power without Jedi interference. He wants a pupil, an acolyte and explains his failure with Mae, telling them that he’s been revealed and he will have to kill them all. He argues that he doesn’t make the rules; the Jedi do. Yord appears suddenly and tries to take the upper-hand, but Qimir breaks his neck, killing him instantly.

Mae attempts to run but Osha subdues her, as Sol and Qimir engage in hand to hand combat. Sol gains the upper-hand with his lightsaber to Qimir’s neck. Osha doesn’t think Sol should kill him and Sol agrees, silently. Qimir asks Sol what he’s done to accept his own darkness, which puzzles Sol. Sol then expresses the Jedi Code as his reason for pulling back, but Qimir expresses his disinterest for the Jedi’s rules. Osha engages her droid’s light and sticks it onto Qimir’s back, only for the insects to carry away Qimir.

Mae then stuns Sol so that the two can speak alone. The two argue with each other's choices in life, both confused by the path the other has decided to take, at odds with each other's inherent philosophies. Mae is enraged with Osha and knocks her unconscious. She steals Osha’s clothes and uses a lightsaber to cut her hair to Osha’s length. She poses as Osha in front of Sol, who takes her back to their ship, not knowing it’s actually Mae and not Osha. Qimir has now freed himself from the insects and discovers Osha there, unconscious. The episode fades to black.

‘The Acolyte’ Episode 6 Recap: “Teach/Corrupt”

The episode begins with Osha awaking on an unknown planet in the chambers of the Master, formerly known as Qimir. Though Qimir is not there as she awakes, she finds the abode to be his home, more or less, with cooking equipment and personal effects strewn about. Qimir has healed Osha, seemingly through The Force. She discovers Mae’s backpack and withdraws one of Mae’s spears to search the island to kill Qimir.

On Khofar, Sol attempts to send a distress signal to the Jedi Temple, but the signal is weak and unable to transmit. Mae makes her way around the ship still disguised as Osha, though Bazil, the tracker, realizes her deception. Mae attempts to murder Sol from behind, but Sol senses her presence and tells her, as Osha, to take the wheel as he attempts to fix the broken transmission signal. Sol is grappling with himself and the events that transpired on Khofar, clearly shaken by the brutality of the murdered Jedi. Meanwhile, Bazil has Pip, Osha’s droid she stuck on Qimir and he powers Pip on through an energy source aboard the ship.

Qimir visits a serene pool on the unknown island planet and Osha is in slow pursuit. As Qimir disrobes, Osha makes for his lightsaber, only for Qimir to tell her to turn it on, even though his back is still turned to her. Osha threatens Qimir, but he isn’t interested in violence, offering her lightsaber form techniques. The two discuss their relationship to the Force and Qimir’s intentions, with Osha assuming Qimir will kill her. They discuss her relationship to Sol and her history in the Jedi arts, but Osha is more intent on listening than she is speaking.

Mae docks the ship at a landing grid and Sol embraces her, thanking her for saving him and that he intends to turn himself into the High Council for reasons we are not privy to. Sol asks Mae (he still believes her to be Osha) to see if she can possibly fix the broken transmission, as he was unsuccessful.

Meanwhile, Vernestra is speaking to a hologram from a Senator friendly to the Jedi Council, informing her that a Senator Ranncourt is gaining support and that he and his colleagues will vote for an external review of the Jedi Council. Vernestra is concerned that since Rancourt is not a friend of the Jedi, that the review will go poorly. The hologram of the Senator informs her he believes there’s nothing for her to worry about. He believes this is because Rancourt is struggling for higher power.

She is then interrupted by another Jedi and excuses the Senator, only for the other Jedi to inform her of Sol’s broken message. They gather that Sol’s team was wiped out, but have little to no context as to why. Vernestra has the Jedi gather a ship and a rescue crew immediately as they plan to travel to Khofar.

Osha and Qimir walk the beach and he reveals he used to be a Jedi. Qimir offers the ship to Osha, telling her she can make it before sundown. He also offers her a meal, to which she silently agrees. Aboard the ship, Mae suffers a surprise oil attack from Bazil and Pip. Though harmless, Mae resets Pip to factory settings and finds him a new body, asking Pip to run a check on the power system.

Osha and Qimir are back at his abode and the two discuss in the ways of the Jedi and the semantics of the Force, how the Jedi are narrow minded and too concerned with semantics. His source of the Force comes from emotions, not manipulation and Osha informs him that is the path to the Dark Side. Qimir attempts to reason for his murder of the Jedi, asking Osha why she is no longer a Jedi. Osha becomes emotional, withdrawing Qimirs lightsaber, threatening his life. She, however, withdraws.

Mae, still disguised as Osha, attempts to get Sol to tell her the truth about what happened that night on the planet Brendok. Sol is solemn, he is attempting to understand how he didn’t sense Qimir’s true intentions. They are interrupted when the ship’s power is suddenly restored. Mae attempts to make contact by way of transmission, but Sol stuns her, after figuring out she is really Mae and not Osha. When Mae awakes, Sol promises her that he has spent sixteen years attempting to figure out what he’d say if they were ever reunited.

Vernestra and the other Jedi arrive on Khofar and find their way to the place of battle. The ground is littered with Jedi corpses and her and another Jedi deduce it was a lightsaber that killed them, not the surrounding insect swarm. Both of them agree it must be a Fallen Jedi, and the other Jedi suggests it being Sol, to which Vernestra argues the severity of that accusation.

Back on the unknown planet, Osha sees Qimir’s repaired mask and places it on and breathes through it slowly, but nervously, with the sound echoing the breathing of the infamous Darth Vader as the screen fades to black.