‘The Acolyte’s Mother Koril Bears a Connection to a Powerful Star Wars Villain

The Acolyte episode 3, “Destiny,” delves into Osha and Mae Aniseya’s (Amandla Stenberg) origins. Interestingly, one of their mothers, Mother Koril (Margarita Levieva), bears a connection to the Star Wars villain Darth Maul.

The episode reveals that Osha and Mae are not typical children. They were raised in a coven of Force-sensitive witches, including their mothers, Mother Koril and Mother Aniseya (Jodie Turner-Smith). As young girls, they were encouraged by their mothers to follow the way of the witches, although Osha expressed doubt about their rituals. Mother Aniseya and Koril are fearful of their daughters potentially leaving the coven, especially since they created the girls in some forbidden manner. The mothers confirm that the girls have no father, raising suspicion that they were created by the Force itself, as in the case of Anakin Skywalker.

However, while Anakin was sired by the Force because he was allegedly the “chosen one,” this doesn’t appear to be the case with the twins. It seems they were intentionally created by Mother Aniseya in a way the Jedi would disapprove of. The feeling that something dark went into their creation is elevated by Mother Koril’s connection to a powerful Sith.

Who is Mother Koril?

Mother Koril is an original character created for The Acolyte, so not much is known about her outside of the show. As mentioned above, she is one of Osha and Mae’s mothers. While Mother Aniseya created the girls, Mother Koril was one who physically carried and gave birth to them. Although they share the girls, the mothers’ parenting styles are very different. Mother Aniseya is warm, caring, and open to giving the girls a say in determining their futures. Meanwhile, Mother Koril is much colder, harsher, and stricter, holding the girls to exceedingly high expectations and disapproving of some of their childish tendencies.

She is especially hard on Osha because she recognizes the girl isn’t wholly devoting herself to learning their ways. Mother Koril is also against Osha having a say in whether she goes with the Jedi and claims children aren’t capable of making decisions about their future. However, she does allow Mother Aniseya to have the final say in such matters. Additionally, it feels like her coldness comes from a place of love and a deep desire to protect the girls.

It’s likely viewers noticed that Mother Koril bears a resemblance to Darth Maul, given the markings on her face and horns protruding from her head. The resemblance isn’t a coincidence, as both Mother Koril and Darth Maul are Zabrak. Zabraks hailed from Iridonia and Dathomir and are a near-human species that evolved to survive the harsh terrain of their native planets. Although Darth Maul turned to the dark side and became a Sith, not all Zabraks were Siths. However, the species does have strong ties to dark magic. On Dathomir, female Zabraks were known as Nightsisters, who practiced dark magic and ruled over the male Zabraks.

The Acolyte doesn’t specify where Mother Koril is from, and it’s unclear how she and her fellow witches ended up on the near-barren planet of Brendok. However, the coven on Brendok appears to be separate from the Nightsisters of Dathomir. It remains to be seen who these mysterious witches are and what kind of magic they utilize, but Mother Koril’s connection to Darth Maul and the Nightsisters of Dathomir could be hinting that the dark side of the Force is at play.