Die Another Day

The Acolyte Episode 4 "Day"

SPOILERS HAVE (NOT) BEEN EXTINCT FOR A MILLENNIUM

After last week’s episode, the kind of lore-heavy flashback one might have found in Lost (it felt to me like “Across The Sea”), we return to the real-time events of a longer time ago, in a galaxy even further away. “Day,” the fourth episode of The Acolyte, is as lush with tantalizing detail as it is with dark forest foliage.

Take, for example, the opening sequence, where we peek into Kelnacca’s isolated hovel…before we shockingly lose that beautiful Wookie forever. His private lair is scrawled with the symbols from the Coven of the Thread. This is not just a Jedi Loner, this is a Jedi has lost faith, or even taken up a new faith as a form of penance. He is living in the past - and it’s just about to catch up with him.

Or the presence of Ki-Adi-Mundi as a part of the Jedi Order, visually bridging the gap between The High Republic and The Prequel Trilogy. (It’s useful that not all species have the same lifespans!) I love that in this sequence he ironically agrees not to inform the High Council of what’s going on, even though he’ll someday effectively be a part of it.

Or the fascinating exchanges between Qimir and Mae, trying to tease out the meaning behind The Master’s “Final Lesson.” Qimir is cagey as ever about his relationship with this masked Master, who he says “collects people.” Qimir is either Renfield, a Red Herring, or The Master himself. And wouldn’t that be very Palpatine of him, a seemingly innocuous figure, standing in front of the very people looking for him? This was also the first time I realized that '“killing a Jedi without a weapon” might have a different syntax. Could it mean, in fact, killing an unarmed Jedi, not killing a Jedi while unarmed?

Or the moment where Sol, after staring into the forest, has a memory that inspires him to make a key admission: that when he and Osha collect Mae and have her safely aboard the ship, he will “explain everything.” What could he mean? (Rubs hands together!)

“Day” is shot like an adventure, with Peter Jackson-esque sweeping shots and punctuations of danger, but it’s actually character-driven episode, dialogue-based, using the hike into a Wookie’s Heart of Darkness as a frame. There’s no wasted motion or unclear beat: in about 30 minutes, big things happen, mostly in the dialogue. Mae decides to reject the Master now that she knows her sister is alive, Kelnacca is killed in a way that frames Mae, and we get a cliffhanger worthy of a Republic serial. And aren’t serials, more than Dune or The Wizard of Oz or Kurosawa, really the central text of Star Wars?

Yes, that cliffhanger was gasp-worthy. But more than that, it announced this as the first of a two-parter, promising quite the showdown. The Jedi are about to face The Stranger (as he’s called in the stunt credits) and if the trailers are to be believed, it’s not going to go very well for them. Perhaps it’s only The Power of Two that can save the Jedi!

Oh wait! Sorry! I meant!

One thing I love about The Acolyte is something deceptively rare in Star Wars series: I have no idea what’s going to happen to these characters. We know the fate of Andor; we’ve spent a lot of time with Ahsoka and know, at least, she won’t be around by the time we hit the Sequels; we’ve known Obi-Wan Kenobi’s fate since 1977; and while I don’t know for sure what will happen to Mando and Grogu, they’re increasingly interlinked with the larger Star Wars story and The New Republic. Mae, Osha, Sol, Kelnacca, Jecki, Yord, Indara, Qimir, Torbin, The Coven, My Best Friend, The Stranger (someone online said Smile-o Ren and I think that’s a scream) are all part of a story that feels distinct and self-contained. It’s a joy to watch Leslye Headland and her team peel back the onion (The Glass Onion?) of Osha and Mae week by week. This series isn’t Rebels Season 5, Rogue Minus One or Episode III 1/2. It really is The Acolyte Season 1, and that’s incredible.

New pet theory: what if this is a new in-canon origin of the Rule of Two. Wouldn’t it be quite a twist if Osha and Mae became a pair of Dark Side devotees? And, even though I’m still relatively sure the Master is Qimir, my wife suggested an interesting alternative: what if the Master is actually a Mother? Mother Aniseya? Mother Koril? Why couldn’t it be a member of the Coven who somehow survived be under that wretched mask?

For all the “this breaks canon!” blather (it doesn’t, and honestly, canon is a little silly), my impression is that Headland is a superfan, and has something she’s aching to add to the background of the Sith. It feels like we’re about to get a fuller taste of what she’s cooking in her cauldron and I can’t wait.

Now, who among my readers will take my bet that Episode Five is titled “Night?”