On The Acolyte, we’re seeing the Jedi when they are (arguably) at their strongest in Star Wars and … it certainly is something. We’re seeing how their strict rules restrict them from doing the work they need to, and well, it means there is really only one good Jedi among them.
In episode 6 “Teach/Corrupt,” we get to see a story split between the twins: Mae (Amandla Stenberg) with Master Sol (Lee Jung-jae) and Osha (Stenberg) with Qimir (Manny Jacinto) on an unknown planet. But that doesn’t stop the Jedi Order from messing with them. Vernestra Rwoh (Rebecca Henderson) is going to find Sol and help him (despite her hatred of flying), and her actions are a bit suspect.
Vernestra is letting a Padawan question Master Sol’s intentions, and she isn’t really giving him any reason not to. Fan theories are connecting her lightsaber whip with the scar on Qimir’s back that we see in the episode. All of this proves one thing to me: Master Sol is the only good Jedi this show has.
The Jedi are far from perfect, even if they see themselves as such. They are a people who take children from their parents to train them, shut themselves off from connection with others, and pretend like they are better than everyone else. Never forget when Obi-Wan Kenobi (Ewan McGregor) said that “only a Sith deals in absolutes,” which is an absolute!
They are hypocrites, and what we are seeing with Master Sol (a lot of the same reasons why people love Qui-Gon Jinn, played by Liam Neeson) is someone who isn’t going to let the Jedi Order tell him what to do. He is going to do what he thinks is right, and it, in turn, shows the flaws of those around him.
Master Sol embodies what it means to be a Jedi
In every group Sol finds himself in, he is still trying to take on the legacy of the Jedi. When he is on Brendock, (from what we’ve seen) he is trying to just make sure Osha and Mae have the training they could use to be the best Jedi. When they are on Kohfar, he wants to protect Kelnacca. He is distraught due to the death of his Padawan, Jecki (Dafne Keen). Sol took what happened there as his own fault.
The Jedi being about checks and balances isn’t great for them. They are not the government, and yet, at this point in their history, they think they are outside of it. So Sol doing what his heart and gut tells him is right to do makes him one of the only Jedi I trust right now.
Obi-Wan Kenobi and Sol remind me a lot of each other. They are two men who understand the importance of the rules of the Jedi but they don’t let other Jedi dictate what is and is not right. They use the Force to let them understand, and it makes Sol the only Jedi on The Acolyte that I trust.
