Star Wars: The Acolyte: Episode Six: Teach / Corrupt

[Dave]

Qimir takes Osha to an unknown planet where he dresses her wounds. He claims to be a former Jedi who was betrayed by his master, drawing parallels to Osha's past. She is wary of him, but eventually agrees to try on his helmet which is made from the lightsaber-blocking metal cortosis. On the Jedi ship at Khofar, interference disrupts Sol's attempts to contact the Jedi Council; a partial message about losing his whole team makes it to Coruscant. Sol asks Mae to help fix the ship's power, still believing her to be Osha, and she is attacked by Bazil. Mae overpowers him and resets the power. She tries to get Sol to tell her the truth about what happened on Brendok, but her wording reveals to him that she is not Osha. When the ship's power is restored, Sol stuns Mae and leaves with her just as Vernestra and a small band of Jedi arrive to investigate his message. They find the massacre and suspect that a fallen Jedi is responsible, with one Jedi suggesting that only Sol would be powerful enough to kill so many. When Mae wakes, Sol says he will tell her the truth about what happened on Brendok.

Some are calling this episode 'The Parent Trap' given that the twins swap places in a similar way to the popular Disney film. There is a little confirmation of things, but otherwise not much happens of much substance, and it is another short episode. There are a lot of hints that the exposition of both, why no one has heard of Qimir and his disappointing Jedi Master, or what actually happened on Brendok that began all this, are coming soon. Sol obviously has regrets about what happened on Brendok. There is a story here, it's just taking a while to eke it slowly out.

 

[Parson]

Mostly I saw this episode as an examination of what makes good and what makes evil. Both were pointing to flaws in those who would normally be seen on one side of the equation or the other. In the end it seems to boil down to this, while the Jedi say the right things they are often found to be doing the wrong things, while the Sith see that the only things that are good are the things that benefit me.

Secondly, I thought some new ground was broken. Qimir believes (or maybe pretends?) that the power of the force is multiplied through the use of a padawan or Acolyte. "Two is greater than one." And as far as I know the Jedi doctrine of taking a padawan is so that the next generation may be trained sometimes at considerable cost to the master.

Thirdly, I loved the title of this episode Corrupt/Teach which I think draws out the tension of the episode nicely. Both sides believe that the other side is "corrupting" the acolytes, while their side is "teaching" them.


***Is this the beginning of the Sith? I don't know enough of the lore to even hazard a guess.

 

[Culhwch]

***Is this the beginning of the Sith? I don't know enough of the lore to even hazard a guess.

No - the Sith date back millennia at this point in the timeline, they've just thought to have been dealt with by the Jedi.

 

[Dave]

Before he killed them didn't Qimir say something like, "you would know me as Sith", and they appeared to be familiar with the term.

 

[Parson]

"you would know me as Sith"

I understood that as "you would will know me as Sith."

 

[Dave]

I understood that as "you would will know me as Sith."

I'd have to listen to it again. You might be right. Like you, I'm not very familiar with the several "millennia" of history of Jedi and Sith that others seem able to quote as evidence.

 

[Parson]

I'd have to listen to it again. You might be right. Like you, I'm not very familiar with the several "millennia" of history of Jedi and Sith that others seem able to quote as evidence.

What I am meaning to say is that I hear the world as a will.

 

[Fiberglass Cyborg]

I don't know the detailed history of the Star Wars galaxy. However, there's a game called "Knights of the Old Republic" which is about a Sith / Jedi war some 4,000 years before the events of "The Phantom Menace." "The Acolyte is supposed to be set about 100 years before "The Phantom Menace."

 

[Phyrebrat]

1) the Sith are far older; the rule of two is more recent however and comes from Darth Bane. Up till that point (and the Sith War) there were many.

2) thirty minute episodes are not fit for purpose. The editing and structure of this show is horrendous.

3) If they still wanted to do 30 min live action episodes, I believe the show would’ve fared better — or been better served — if it had been preceded by a six or seven season animation like The Clone Wars. Then had live action afterwards.

 

[Culhwch]

3) If they still wanted to do 30 min live action episodes, I believe the show would’ve fared better — or been better served — if it had been preceded by a six or seven season animation like The Clone Wars. Then had live action afterwards.

Only six or seven?

I agree, the episodes are far too short and not paced terribly well. They may have been better off going for six episodes closer to the hour mark.

 

[Culhwch]

I'd have to listen to it again. You might be right. Like you, I'm not very familiar with the several "millennia" of history of Jedi and Sith that others seem able to quote as evidence.

I'm no expert on that period, but it is mentioned in The Phantom Menace so it's not exactly some hidden lore. The man himself from a few episodes back, Ki Adi Mundi, says the Sith have been extinct for a millennia, indicating an even longer history.