STAR WARS WOW: THE ACOLYTE 103
The Witches of Brentok! The Jedi Do Not Steal Children(-ish)! And Queer Force Users (FINALLY)!
Lots of juicy stuff new stuff in episode 103: Half of the backstory of Osha and Mae. Some interesting new possibilities for the Force (including queer Force users). And even though we know that the Jedi did something real bad long ago with Mae and Osha’s family, this episode also acts as an attempt at reclamation of the Jedi as an order.
The Witches of Brendok
Fans of the animated Star Wars universe will know of the Nightsisters, a group of Force sensitive women who use the Dark Side in magical-like way, but are not Sith. The Mandalorian brought the group into the live action universe with the introduction of Morgan Elsbeth, the nightsister who Ahsoka Tano hunts for information about the whereabouts of Thrawn—and who then in Ahsoka helps Thrawn to return to the Star Wars universe proper.
It’s not clear that the Witches of Brendok are part of the same group. They definitely seem less evil-ish than the Nightsisters. Their core value is community. In fact, that’s the central tenet of their interaction with the Force, which they call “The Thread.”
Head witch Mother Aniseya says their ways are not like the Jedi: “Some call it a Force and claim to use it, but we know the Thread is not a power you wield.” But the very next thing she does is wield the Thread to try and push first one and then two other sisters, who use it to try and hold their ground. She also talks about “pulling the Thread, change everything,” which again seem pretty wield-y if you ask me.
But her demonstration is leading to something she calls “the power of many,” which seems to suggest some kind of communal interaction with the Force totally unlike anything we’ve seen the Jedi ever do.
The Jedi Do Not Take Children…
One of the things that’s fascinating about this period in galactic history is that even as the Jedi are supposedly the shining lights, there has developed a myth that they have to combat that the Jedi are child-stealers.
For us watching, of course, that’s not a myth, but a main critique of the Jedi. Yes, Anakin said he wanted to go with the Jedi, but nothing about the way in which that decision happened felt right or consensual.
But what’s intriguing is that in this prior age, it seems like that actually is at least kind of a myth. Children are required to be tested, but then they are given a choice. And for the first time, Star Wars gives a good explanation as to why they might want to go. Actually, a couple: They don’t feel like they fit in where they are, and they feel called to this other destiny. (The episode is actually titled “Destiny.”)
It’s a very X-Men take on being a Jedi. And I think it’s an effective and meaningful explanation as to why the Jedi come for kids. At home on their own planets they’re outsiders; their powers make them feel alone and scared. But with the Jedi they can be with other kids who are just like them and trained by Professor Charles Xavier the Jedi.
…But they Do Still Require Them Never to See Their Families Again, Sorreeee.
This is the part of the Jedi recruitment program that remains from prior versions that we’ve seen, and it also remains baffling. I get it, Spiritual detachment, Big galaxy, Lots of work. But there’s just no version of telling parents and their children that they will never see each other again that isn’t horrific and just plain bad.
Almost certainly that’s got something to do with whatever actually happened to the Witches of Brendok.
Shades of Anakin
The first two episodes introduced a pair of Force-sensitive twins, which immediately brought to mind Luke & Leia and also to some degree Rey and Kylo. (Also, for fans of the Expanded Universe, Han & Leia’s kids, Jaina and her brother Jacen, who eventually became a Sith Lord.)
But episode 3 brings out an unexpected Anakin connection: like li’l Ani, who was supposedly a vergence in the Force and the Chosen One destined to yada yada, Mae and Osha were not conceived in the normal way. The girls, Mother Aniseya tells the Jedi, have no father. And in private she and her partner Mother Koril, who carried the children to term, discuss the fact that Mother Aniseya herself created the children in some way that would make the Jedi very unhappy. That seems to suggest that Mother Aniseya pulled the Thread (aka manipulated the Force) in some problematic way.
Will this somehow finally shed light on how Anakin himself was created, a story that has never been told? Or what that whole vergence/Chosen One prophesy thing meant?
Star Wars does love to use new stories to fix old problems and expand the universe…
Frontloading the Backstory
The standard play when it comes to a big backstory is to tease it for most of a season and then reveal it near the end. Done well, it’s a very effective strategy for keeping your audience interested. The danger is, if the reveal of what happened isn’t more than what fans expect and have spent the last few months coming up with, the series ends up feeling like a disappointment or worse, a betrayal.
The Acolyte doesn’t fully change the playbook here. I don’t care what the Jedi are saying, there’s no way Mae is responsible for all of that fire, or the seeming death of the coven. But it does us give an awful lot of the childhood story of Osha and Mae. It’s also revealed enough already about the Jedi who were there to make it clear, they did something wrong.
I think those are really smart choices. It trains us to put aside our puzzle box instincts and instead see this as the family drama that it actually is.
Quick Takes
—Based on the fact that the skies over Brendok have a moon situation going on that mirrors the “o” of “Acolyte” in the opening credits, I’d expect to see more of Brendok going forward.
—Who’s your favorite Jedi? I’m 1000% in on this guy.
—If you didn’t catch the main image Osha drew, you might find it interesting…
—The Witches of Brendok are a persecuted group of Force-sensitive women run by a queer couple—the first openly queer Force users in the Star Wars universe (come join us, Ahsoka!)—one of whom is a person of color.
Hey Star Wars trolls, think you can intimidate writers and actors into silence? They’ll just write you into the story.
Happy Pride, !%#!%!.
See you next week!