Season 1, Episode 5 of the Disney Plus series The Acolyte, titled “Night,” is directed by Alex Garcia Lopez and penned by Cameron Squires and Kor Adana. The episode begins with the Sith fighting the Jedi, killing all but leaving Sol (Lee Jung-Jae), Yord (Charlie Barnett), and Jecki (Dafne Keen) alive. The Sith is armed with a cortosis helmet and bracer, which disables a lightsaber for a few seconds if hit. Additionally, the helmet prevents powerful Force users from reading the Sith’s mind. The Sith later turns and tries to hunt down Osha (Amandla Stenberg), but is stopped by Sol, who tells Yord to take his former padawan to safety.
Jedi vs. Sith
Sol stays behind to duel the Sith until he is bested and knocked down. The Sith then begins searching for Mae, despite having hunted Osha first. Later, Mae tries to escape but is intercepted by Jecki, who defeats and cuffs the acolyte before being ambushed by the Sith. Mae escapes, the Sith chases her to kill her, and Jecki follows alongside Sol to arrest the two for their crimes.
Later, Yord tries to escort Osha back to the ship for safety. Osha decides to stay behind to help as she is worried for the safety of Sol and Jecki, who are like a father and a sister to her. Since she hasn’t been a Jedi for a long time, Osha decides to help out by using forest bugs that are technically giant violent bees.
Qimir is the Sith
The Sith catches up to Mae but is forced to duel both Sol and Jecki. Jecki is about to get the upper hand after knocking the helmet off the Sith’s head. Furious, the Sith uses his second hidden lightsaber to quickly kill Jecki, revealing his identity as Qimir. Qimir mocks Sol, the Jedi Code, and Jecki’s death, which infuriates the Jedi Master. However, Sol backs down when Qimir captures Mae and holds her at lightsaber point.
Mae being held hostage forces Sol to back down, allowing Qimir to speak with the Jedi. Qimir admits he might look like a Sith due to his dark side affinity, but explains his motivation to use the Force as he wishes and desires a pupil to follow his ideals. Before Qimir can elaborate, Yord ambushes the Sith but fails and is killed via a neck snap. Yord’s death alongside Jecki’s enrages Sol, causing him to give in to anger and hate, pummeling an enthusiastic Qimir.
Qimir is joyful to see a Jedi Master break his Jedi demeanor but is angered when Osha intervenes and reminds Sol he is a Jedi, not a murderer. Sol backs down and turns off his lightsaber, disappointing Qimir, who shows no care for his own life as long as his goals are achieved. The forest bugs then arrive to kill Qimir, and Osha tries to escape with Sol, but the latter is stunned unconscious by Mae, who uses a powerful stun gun.
Osha and Mae
As morning comes, Mae attempts to reconcile with Osha. However, Osha does not forgive Mae for siding with a dark sider, which resulted in the suffering and death of her Jedi friends. Osha tries to arrest Mae but is defeated after a brief skirmish. Mae gives up all hope of reconciliation and decides to escape the world by disguising herself as Osha. Mae cuts her hair to fit Osha’s hairstyle, takes Osha’s clothes, and heads to Sol’s location.
Sol wakes up from his unconscious state, grief-stricken over the deaths of Jecki and Yord. He also remembers how Qimir criticized him for being a hypocrite for not telling Osha the truth about what really happened on Brendok. All the trauma, shock, guilt, and pain cloud Sol’s judgment, and he overlooks a returned “Osha,” who is actually Mae in disguise. Sol decides to tell “Osha” the truth of what really happened on Brendok and takes her to his ship to head to the world.
Qimir find a new Acolyte
Qimir survives the forest bug attack and leaves unscathed. He returns to collect his cortosis helmet and dark cloak before seeing an unconscious Osha, stripped of her white civilian clothing. The Sith is overjoyed that Osha is left behind for him to use and mold as his new acolyte before he continues his hunt for Sol and Mae to keep his identity hidden. Qimir takes care of Osha and tends to her wounds.
The fighting choreography in this episode is amazing and very visceral. This episode highlights how threatening the Sith became under Darth Bane’s teachings of the Rule of Two, allowing even one Sith to best at least nine Jedi in a duel. Qimir could still be a Sith apprentice to Darth Tenebrous as Canon’s version of Darth Venamis, who is yet to face Darth Plagueis. Since Star Wars: The Acolyte is a mystery thriller with horror elements, it is likely the story will end with Plagueis killing Qimir and using Osha or both the twins as his lab rats during his scientific studies to understand midichlorians. Plagueis’ end goal is to learn how to manipulate the midichlorians enough to create life, and studying how the twins were unnaturally born may be the key for him to achieve this.
Why does Qimir refer to Jecki as “it”? The reason is that Sith teachings require apprentices or acolytes to see everyone and everything as an object or a tool. This deprives any Sith of affection, compassion, or love for others, replacing these emotions with a view that all life exists to serve them and the aspirations of the Sith Order. This is what Darth Plagueis taught Darth Sidious in the Star Wars: Darth Plagueis novel, which is one of the reasons Sidious became an uncaring psychopath despite already being one before meeting Hugo Damask in person.
Rating: 9/10