With the major cliffhanger at the conclusion of Episode 4, it seemed that the intended “weekly discussion” that Disney was hoping would ensue would be about the identity of the Sith and excitement for the upcoming battle. I did see some of that, but it was overshadowed by a lot of conversations about the relationship of Canon v Legends, George v Disney, Ki-Adi Mundi’s birthday, etc… If you’ve followed me or my work on this website, you know that I’m a BIG EU guy. The movies made me love Star Wars, but the EU made it a near-spiritual and inseparable part of my life. I have poured into countless Novels, Comics, and Games from the ever-vast storyline that is now dubbed “Legends” by Disney. Even amidst my great love and preference for that time and universe, I still maintain to hold a healthy mindset about the state of things, both then and now.
Under the unique headship of George Lucas, whenever he added new information to Star Wars, the EU always adapted to try to respect what he said and made. No, he didn’t consider the EU to be top-level definitive Star Wars or part of his personally written canon that he wanted to keep consistent, but he checked off on every single big-picture story and said of the EU, “I do try to keep it consistent. The way I do it now is they have a Star Wars Encyclopedia, so if I want to come up with a name or something else, I check to see if it’s already been used… They try to make their universe as consistent with mine as possible.” George and the EU had a very symbiotic relationship because he knew how much it meant to the fans, it made him a lot of money, and he did genuinely think that there were some great ideas in it that he pulled from (and also some bad ideas that he did not like). Did you know that George took from the EU: Aayla Secura from the “Republic” comic series, Double-bladed lightsabers from the Old Republic “Tales of the Jedi” comic series, the name “Coruscant” from Zahn’s Thrawn trilogy, Lightsaber blocking force lightning from “The Last Command”, etc. He skimmed through the comics from time to time as he didn’t have enough bandwidth to read novels entirely, but his creative team would come to him with general checklists such as: “Are you okay if someone writes a backstory on Yoda?” “No” “Are you okay if we make a game about Darth Vader having a secret apprentice in between 3 and 4?” “Yes” “Are you okay if Luke marries Mara Jade” “I guess, but I don’t know if I really like that” (paraphrasing quotes and answers here). All in all, some things he approved of immediately, some he outright declined, and some he needed to peruse more and never got around to a definitive answer. The mysterious mind of the Maker!
George personally created Darth Bane and the Rule of Two. He also made Darth Plagueis a Muun instead of a human. He was heavily involved with the storyline direction of Shadows of the Empire. Dark Horse wanted to kill Quinlan Vos but George told them to keep him alive. George also wrote the prologue in the “Shatterpoint” novel. So to outright say that “George didn’t consider the EU to be Star Wars at all” isn’t accurate, and neither is saying he held it to the same level as his movies. Again, they maintained a relatively symbiotic relationship. Compare that to how Disney has handled it, and I think you can see that perhaps they misjudged how much a large sect of the fanbase still treasures the EU, even to this day. 10 years ago, when Disney “decanonized” Legends, they stated, “…all aspects of Star Wars storytelling moving forward will be connected. Under Lucasfilm President Kathleen Kennedy’s direction, the company for the first time ever has formed a story group to oversee and coordinate all Star Wars creative development. ‘We have an unprecedented slate of new Star Wars entertainment on the horizon’… This is just the beginning of a creatively aligned program of Star Wars storytelling.” In retrospect, this seems to be nothing more than PR talk as almost immediately their shows and books started contradicting each other. They hired movie directors who didn’t know who Darth Plagueis was. The entire Sequel Trilogy was written one by one without a plan… No, the EU was never perfect in terms of continuity either. I would venture to say that it is impossible for any franchise so large to be perfect. But there was symbiosis at one time, whereas now I see more of a parasitic relationship. Disney wants to skim off the top of Legends without committing to faithfully telling the stories, harming both their ability to truly have free reign while also upsetting longtime fans. Changing Mundi and the nature of Cereans, extending the life of Vernestra and the nature of Mirialans, these don’t seem to be decisions that are well crafted by a cohesive story group. They are cameo scenes made without much thought toward a larger lore.
Anyway, Acolyte Episode 5 was good. Let’s get into it.
Pacing and Structure
Like last week, with the intro and credits removed we are left with 27 minutes and 4 seconds of scenes here. A whopping 12 seconds longer than last week and still placing it in the bottom of the barrel for live-action show runtimes. I’ve made this point nearly every week so I don’t see a reason to continue in depth the same critique. Sub-30-minute runtime = very bad. It is nearly impossible to tell a quality storyline in an 8 episode season with these weekly releases. Outside of the lightning flash episode length, the pacing is quite good for the middle segment. The action sequence plays out in an intriguing manner, and the whole middle 15 minutes I was glued to the screen. Unfortunately, as soon as the fighting stops we are wrenched into some excruciatingly slow scenes of Mae and Osha that drag this section down once more. Overall, the pacing was better than in previous weeks, but still flawed in major ways.
The episode opens from the perspective of Osha recovering from unconsciousness as we miss the events immediately following the force push. We’ve missed a little bit of the battle as some Jedi are already dead, but within a minute we’re back into the action. Again, this whole idea felt like a contrivance for the purpose of weekly TV rather than something that felt natural in the momentum of the show, but from there on out we’re treated to a mostly great sequence of events. From the callback to the beetles making previous scenes feel more worthwhile, to the setup for the next episodes with new plot points, this episode is structured quite well in its placement in the season. I fear another looming flashback episode is once again going to derail the momentum we just built up, and I’m hoping it won’t consume an entire week like last time and perhaps simply be integrated into ~10 minutes of another “present-day” episode. Future structure aside, this episode did a solid job of organizing the fight into chunks, though it did struggle massively with balancing A/B plots and transitions, but more on that later.
Dialogue and Writing Quality
The dialogue was a small step up from previous weeks, though not anything great, perhaps the best of the season so far. That might be a bit telling as this was the episode with the least delivered lines… However, some of the conversations between Sol and Qimir did well at creating tension and intrigue. Though I still can’t call the dialogue “good”, because it continues to come off as a tad pretentious, as if it’s pretending to say something really deep and philosophical/meaningful, but it doesn’t hold up to logical scrutiny. Or perhaps its significance once again relies on future episodes to expound upon its meaning. Qimir carried the the episode with some haunting lines referring to Jecki as an “it”, Yord’s description of Qimir’s fighting style was well-phrased, but the conversation between Mae and Osha once more proves to be the lowest quality of the episode, delivering the 4th “What have you done?!” from Osha so far…
This episode is lighter on writing in favor of a long action sequence, but even amidst the battle, we see some story and character development. The highlight of this battle to me was the unique situation of Qimir attempting to both kill the Jedi who are attacking him in order to preserve his identity, as well as trying to kill Mae who is a third party who knows too much and is simply trying to escape. This plot setup led to some great moments of storytelling inside the battle itself and is a great example of how fights don’t just have to be solely for the sake of action. The best fights are multi-layered with intrigue and situations that complicate a standard 1v1 whack 'em duel. The writing of different characters intervening and the multiple situations occurring at once was done fabulously. The decision to execute key characters here was a bold move. I want to say I love it, and I can say I wholeheartedly approve of the brutality of the Sith that created the most shocking moments in the episode, I also feel slight disappointment that we are losing some characters that were barely scratching the surface of development. While the violence and deaths were well-directed in and of themselves, I didn’t feel any loss at seeing the deaths of these characters aside from a loss of interest in their previous scenes. I was only at the very beginning stages of starting to connect with the primary side characters, and now they’re gone. I would say the fault of this is more in the pacing and short episodic structure of the show rather than the writing decision to kill them.
As I heavily suspected since episode 1, the reveal of Qimir was unsurprising to any degree. The show marketed itself as a “mystery crime drama”, but I have not been the least bit surprised by anything that has occurred so far. The mysteries have all been very obvious in your face reveals, the lead-ups to resolutions have been more blatantly confusing than interesting, and I think this show would have been much more successful if it was written as a 2-part “action thriller”. With Qimir revealed as Mask Sith, we still are left with questions about his placement in the Rule of Two. Or perhaps he even has ties to another force cult, such as the Knights of Ren (did anyone else catch the Kylo Ren theme motif playing as he encountered Osha at the end?). His line delivery to Sol left this open-ended enough that future episodes could take it in multiple directions. However, I am not left greatly anticipating the answer in excitement, but I am merely peeved that we have watched ~63% of this show and still cannot say we have even seen a Sith yet. A much more exciting premise for the Acolyte would’ve been one where Qimir is the main character and we see everything from his perspective. Mae/Osha seems quite irrelevant to my interest in anything happening in this show.
Speaking of, the writing whiplash continues in the Twindom. I have no idea where they are going with those characters. The final stand-off between Osha and Mae could have used another pass (or five) in the writer’s room. Mae’s character continues to be unintelligible, somehow going from wanting to kill Kelnacca and all the Jedi, to wanting to surrender to the Jedi, to wanting to escape the Jedi, to wanting to live happily ever after with Osha after trying to burn her alive as a child. The show clearly wants to show us what “really happened” at a later point, so while the “Twin swap” isn’t a bad idea on paper, it doesn’t feel like it has enough consistency to generate intrigue because both characters are complete wild cards. There is barely a difference between their motivations since they both 180 every single episode. What is the distinction between them at this point? I am also left baffled as to how Sol can’t sense a difference between Mae and Osha, nor can he see the giant tattoo on Mae’s forehead… I suppose Sol is battered and unbalanced right now, but still, it seems quite obvious that “Osha’s” behavior has changed and it’s strange that Sol was so easily duped (and Basil smells the difference and is going to start squawking). The other writing critique would be the beetles easily overwhelming Qimir and flying him away. It felt extremely awkward and contrived as a way to extend the plot beyond its natural conclusion at this moment, and Qimir’s sudden onset of ineptitude to remove a flashlight off his back after murdering 7 highly trained Jedi did not add up. Overall though, the writing served to create a great battle sequence but didn’t measure up to that greatness in the moments of quiet.
Production Quality and Creative Direction
While some of the aforementioned forestry props are once again notable distractions, the VFX intermixed with the battle scenes very smoothly. The lightsabers shorting out looked realistic, the force pushes through walls and plants had great use of practical effects and CGI, and the progressive dirt and grime on the actors reflected the progression of a grueling battle. The ash-like material falling from the sky contrasted with the red dirt at the feet helped make this forest feel less like Earth. While the setting itself was small in scale, it utilized itself perfectly and made the most of what the area had to offer. The beetles picking up Qimir would be the one Red “X” I’d throw on this episode’s visual quality, but aside from that, everything looked great visually.
Dare I say this was the best lightsaber fight I have seen in live-action since May 19, 2005? I’ll be upfront here, the choreography was really good. I wouldn’t say it rivaled the Nick Gillard-directed Prequel battles, but it was the closest thing I’ve seen to them from Disney so far. I would say the Sequel Trilogy lightsaber battles were atrocious, so I suppose the only comparable duel would be Ahsoka v Baylan, but this certainly beat anything in that show. The use of the environment in the battle was incredible, with people flying through doors, foliage, the Sith’s unsettling movements around the forest, and the switches between lightsabers and hand-to-hand made for thrilling changes of pace. Not only was the setting properly utilized, but the lightsaber moves themselves were fast, coordinated, acrobatic, and executed with intent. There were a few moments where I could see gaps in what a character “should” do and their actor waiting on some cue to move, but those moments were few and far between. I was highly impressed with the visceral use of violence, especially in the kill moves. I did gasp at the brutality of Qimir against Jecki, which is the first time in a LONG time that Star Wars violence has made me do that. This whole fight sequence was a massive step in the right direction for Disney, and Christopher Clark Cowan should be commended for his action directing here, as well as major props to the actors involved in the training. This battle felt like Star Wars. I wish it were the standard for action scenes rather than the exception at this point, but what a great new standard it set. Here’s to hoping we see more of this choreography crew in future projects. I also want to credit the fantastic addition of cortosis from Legends, the integration into a suit of armor was a great creative twist to a traditional battle.
I’m not exactly sure where to place this critique because I don’t know who is handling this aspect, but someone at Disney/Lucasfilm desperately needs to go to wipe transition school. These lightning-fast wipes right in the middle of battles are unbelievably jarring, so much so that they genuinely make me laugh out loud when I see how bad they are. Two times we have Sol start to run at Qimir and out of absolutely nowhere, a 0.5-second wipe transition follows his back and cuts to some other slow-moving scene. It’s bewildering as to why this is happening. I know Star Wars is infamous for wipes, but certainly, someone is looking at WHEN those wipes occurred in George’s movies, right? How are they getting dropped in these episodes in such amateurish ways? The post-production editing is sloppy to the degree of seeming like a joke. That’s harsh, but I have no other way to describe it. I work in the TV industry personally (documentaries, sports, commercials), and using fast wipes between 2 active concurrent fights back and forth is… childlike. There was another circle swipe that simply vanished a few frames early and seemed like a visual glitch. It’s like the editing team was sent a “Trasnisiton quota” a week before release and realized they had come up short and hastily went through this show and dropped some into completely random places. It’s bad. I saw this happen at the end of the Mandalorian season 3 as well, some of the worst wipe transitions I have ever seen. So it’s a recurring problem that seems outside the writers’ ability to prevent. Something is going on with their mutually shared editing team that needs to be corrected ASAP.
Performances and Characters
Manny Jacinto stole the show with his unmasked Qimir. His casual portrayal of murder and mayhem was expertly performed. He truly embodied both the mystery of the dark side user as well as the strength of one. Major props to his choreography in battle and the dedication he put into perfecting this segment. I am more excited to see him on screen again than anyone else in the show based on his performance. Another standout was an excellent effort made by Dafne Keen as Jecki. Her movements in action were incredible, especially for her age. Extremely impressive, and while I was not so impressed by her regular line deliveries, she gave a perfect final act for her character that will leave a lasting impression on my perception of this show. Sol continues to excel at delivering emotions as we see a new unbalanced side of his character. Sadly, I say this nearly every week, but the deliveries from Mae/Osha are the stand-out weak point in the show. There is barely a detectable facial performance given, and the lines do not feel like they’re coming from an in-universe character. I know it’s not aided in any way by the whiplash character “development” they’ve had, but anytime these two are the main focus of a scene it never ceases to be the worst part of the episode. Amandla doesn’t have good chemistry with… herself, and even the videography of these scenes is poorly done as the two are almost never in a frame together. The acting and directing around their relationship are not good at all.
Qimir - Even with one of the most obvious reveals I have ever seen, this character instantly became the most intriguing person in the whole show. Every interesting question now revolves around him. Is he really a Sith? Master or Apprentice? Why does he want a new acolyte? What’s his background story? How does he know so much about Sol?
Sol - After my previous concerns that he was becoming too one-dimensional, I was glad to see a new side of him in this episode. It was a great decision to show his distress and “break” him to an extent. I am truly not sure if he will recover or continue to unravel, so I am happy to see that this character has depth beyond empathy.
Mae/Osha - I am lumping them into the same category now because these two are truly indistinguishable to me. Their motivations can change on a dime, sometimes they love each other and want to sacrifice their life to save the other, sometimes they hate each other and try to kill the other, sometimes they want to faithfully serve their friends, sometimes they want to betray their friends. Now that they’re role-swapped, it’s just as believable that Osha turns dark and Mae turns light? Again, it’s not a bad idea on paper, but the characters needed to have individual consistency before now for it to be executed well. Additionally, these characters are both exceptionally weak in the force, consistently beaten by almost everyone in the show. I half expected Qimir to offer Jecki a place at his side instead of Mae or Osha. Neither has shown abilities to be greater than a standard Jedi youngling, so I’m not sure why Qimir is so interested in them.
Other characters? - With no Yord or Jecki moving forward, all we have left is… Vernestra? That’s a really weird writing decision to only have 5 named and voiced characters at this point in the show. Sol, Qimir, Mae, Osha, Vernestra. Those are the only action figures left. I am hoping for a big new Sith reveal soon. There were signs of a David Harewood casting for the show, so I’m hoping that’ll be Tenebrous. Sooner, rather than later would benefit the story.
Conclusion
Rating: 7.1/10 (I’d call it “Good”, but not “decent” or “great”)
Pros:
Best live-action lightsaber choreography in ~20 years
Qimir stole the show with new character intrigue and Jacinto’s performance
Didn’t shy away from big character deaths and Sith violence
Cons:
Lack of an intriguing primary protagonist
A couple of confusing plot contrivances (Qimir and beetles, Sol can’t recognize Mae)
Continuously terrible runtimes, episode structure, and editing
Best scenes:
- Qimir v Jecki
- Qimir mentally breaks Sol down
- Qimir’s casual depictions of Sith violence
Worst Scenes:
- Mae and Osha talking on a hilltop with more character nonsense occurring
- Sol getting duped by fake Osha with a giant forehead tattoo
- Qimir gets confused by a flashlight and carried away by beetles