‘The Acolyte’ Finale Proves the Show Never Had a Continuity Issue
The Acolyte concluded with an explosive season finale that paved the way for a second season and silenced anyone accusing it of having a continuity problem with the rest of Star Wars canon.
Spoilers for the finale ahead!
In the last episode, Osha (Amandla Stenberg) contemplates embracing the dark side with Qimir (Manny Jacinto), while Sol (Lee Jung-jae) has Mae (Stenberg) restrained aboard his ship after telling her the truth about what happened to her coven. Meanwhile, Jedi Master Vernestra Rwoh (Rebecca Henderson) is back at the Jedi Temple on Coruscant, desperately trying to get in control of the crisis breaking out with Sol, Qimir, and the twins, and it’s not long before all three parties head to Brendok for a final confrontation. Sol intends to take Mae to Brendok to find proof of the Force vergence to present to the Jedi Council. However, Mae breaks free from her restraints and crash-lands on the planet ahead of him.
Qimir and Osha then arrive on Brendok and split up, each hoping to find Mae first. Soon, Qimir and Sol come face-to-face and resume their fight from Khofar, while the twins reunite and Mae tries to explain to Osha what happened to their mother.
The Acolyte finale settles a continuity debate
Eventually, Qimir, Mae, Osha, and Sol have a standoff, with Sol finally coming clean to Osha that he killed her mother. However, he tries to justify not telling her or the Jedi Council the truth. When he tries to use the excuse that he loves her, she cuts him off. Embracing the dark side, she Force-chokes Sol to death. Afterward, she tries turning on Qimir, charging at him with Sol’s blue lightsaber. However, she’s startled when the Kyber crystals in the lightsaber begin bleeding, changing the blade to the tell-tale red glow of the Sith.
Qimir and the twins are interrupted by the arrival of Rwoh, who quickly senses Qimir’s presence, confirming she was his Jedi Master before he became a Sith Lord. Instead of confronting Rwoh, Qimir and the twins reach an agreement. Since Mae went back on her arrangement to be Qimir’s “acolyte,” Osha will take her place. Meanwhile, Qimir wipes all Mae’s memories from age eight onwards so that the Jedi cannot use her to find Osha. Qimir and Osha then depart, going back to Qimir’s headquarters on an unnamed planet, while Mae is taken into custody with the Jedi.
Despite Rwoh piecing together what happened on Brendok and becoming aware that her former student-turned-Sith is active, she tells the Jedi Order a different story. She tells the Jedi Council a story that wholly erases Qimir and Osha’s role in the conflict, claiming that Sol killed all of his companions on Khofar to keep his crimes against the witch coven on Brendok a secret before taking his own life. Her story ensures the Jedi have no idea of the Sith or Force vergence.
The fact that she lied to the Jedi Council confirms that there is no continuity issue with The Acolyte. Viewers who were looking for things to complain about claimed to have found a continuity error as they questioned why, in The Phantom Mance, the Jedi believe the Sith to have been extinct for centuries, despite the presence of a Sith Lord in The Acolyte, a hundred years earlier, while some of the same council members were already living.
Now, The Acolyte has put that question to rest by demonstrating that Rwoh kept the presence of the Sith a secret from the Jedi Order. It appears there was only one fellow high-ranking Jedi Master she told of the issue. After meeting with the Council, Rwoh seeks advice and aid from none other than Master Yoda. The Star Wars icon has a non-speaking cameo, with his presence seemingly confirming how the Jedi Order conspired to keep the rising threat of the Sith a secret for decades.
Meanwhile, Qimir and Osha return to their mystery planet, confirming they may have become something more than master and apprentice as they hold hands while watching the waves. However, the threat of the Sith is even bigger than Rwoh is aware of, as viewers get the briefest glimpse of Darth Plagueis hiding in a cave on the mystery planet and surveying the pair, suggesting he is Qimir’s Sith Master. Ultimately, The Acolyte ends on a strong note, fixing any continuity issues and leaving the door wide open for season 2 after introducing two of the most exciting characters possible, with Yoda and Darth Plageuis’ major surprise cameos.
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