‘The Acolyte’ Episode 5 Recap

Editor's Note: The recap below contains spoilers for The Acolyte Episode 5.

The big picture

• Episode 5 of
  the acolyte
  features epic lightsaber duels and high-octane action.
• The Master's identity is revealed.
• The final act creates a compelling new conflict for Osha and Mae.

We have officially crossed the halfway point for the acolyteand that's really where the fun begins, especially if you were waiting to see the Jedi take on the ominous Master, though that much-anticipated battle was no exception. a surprisingly high body count. From the beginning, Leslie Headland's series hasn't been afraid to attack the Jedi we've come to love, and Episode 5 is certainly no different.

“Night,” aptly titled after last week's “Day,” opens with Osha (Amandla Stenberg) and his adorable droid PIP waking up to what can only be described as a living nightmare. Lying in the dust where the Master threw her last week, one of the first things Osha sees upon waking is the twisted body of a dead Jedi, and this is only the beginning of the horrors that lie ahead for her He follows the sounds of clashing lightsabers and discovers that most of the Jedi who came to Khofar with them have been killed during their impromptu raid, and Yord (Charlie Barnett) is about to suffer the same fate. Fortunately (for now), his life is saved thanks to Osha's quick thinking, though the Master's focus on his direction is only a brief respite for the remaining Jedi.

Mae (Stenberg) also watches in horror from Kelancca's (Joonas Suotamo) at home while his Master starts after his sister. Ground (Lee Jung-jae) is there to save the day, but Mae seems to have plans of her own as she grabs Kelnacca's lightsaber and heads out to presumably lend a hand. As Sol orders Yord and Osha back to the ship they came from (an order Yord follows, despite his own desire to stay and fight), Mae confronts Sol's padawan, Jecki (Daphne Keen), who is eager to see Mae arrested for her crimes.

Who is “The Master” in “The Acolyte”?

After four episodes of theorizing about WHO “The Master” might be, Episode 5 finally delivers a twist that most viewers probably saw coming. But before the big reveal in the episode's central act, the acolyte continues to tease the audience with the obvious answer. When Sol and the Master face off, the Master taunts Sol: “Don't you remember me?” On the surface, it seems like the Master is trying to disarm Sol, make him question where their paths crossed in the past, and it works, to an extent. Sol seems more perplexed that a Master would hide his face from his pupil, but the Master is quick to throw this at him. After all, isn't Sol hiding something from Osha about what? really Did it happen to Brendok? A mask doesn't always have to be a literal thing.

After defeating Sol, the Master locates Mae, where Jecki has handcuffed her and decides to use Jecki's loyalty as a new lesson for Mae. For a Padawan, Jecki holds his own against the Master. They engage in a pretty epic lightsaber battle, the coolest of the episode, featuring double-bladed fakes and a truly impressive display of skill from Jecki. But when Mae escapes into the woods, the Master watches her, leaving Jecki in the dust. When the Master catches up with Mae, he is quick to point out that she is “weak” and a “disappointment”, but his verbal assault is interrupted by Sol and Jecki who sweep in to save Mae.

This is where tragedy finally strikes. When Sol and Jecki launch their attack on the Master, it seems as though Jecki has once again gained the upper hand. After she brutally removes the Master's mask from her head, the Master runs his lightsabers through Jecki, not once but three times, cutting it off at its best. As his body falls to the forest floor, the Master is revealed to be Qimir (Manny Jacinto), who has now easily claimed the title of the most popular Sith in Star Wars history. Sorry Darth Vader, Kylo Ren and Darth Maul; your winning streak has come to an end.

Sol is understandably devastated to see his young padawan brutally killed by the squirrel man who let Olega go. Qimir mocks Jecki's death by referring to it as an “it”, but makes a good point by alluding to the fact that it's Sol's fault, and the Jedi's, for bringing a child into a fight like this. As Sol tries to get to the bottom of Qimir's motivations, Qimir holds Mae close to laser saber, expressing a sentiment I alluded to after episode 3. While his actions may be those of a villain , Qimir tells Sol that his motivations are fueled by the desire to exercise his power as he sees fit, without the Jedi interfering. It will be interesting to see if this is a theme that continues throughout the acolyteas it is a defining aspect of The High Republic novels and his clash with the Nihil as well. Qimir eventually tells Sol that the Jedi would probably refer to him as “Sith”, which, sorry nerds, still doesn't destroy any of the established canon in The Phantom Menace. Do you really think the Jedi would let anyone find out about the Sith when they didn't even tell the High Council about Mae? Qimir even scoffs at this notion as he says that he must kill everyone who has seen him because the Jedi say he cannot exist.

Throughout the episode, we see the Master, Qimir, absolutely destroy the Jedi in combat. He is quick to use the Force to rally the Jedi so he can deliver a fatal two-for-one and somehow he is able to deflect his lightsabers with his armbands and helmet. We've seen material that is capable of withstanding the heat of a lightsaber, but this metal does so much more than Beskar has ever been shown to do. This is much more likely to be cortosis, a material that can cause lightsabers to essentially short out. First introduced in Legends, the material has appeared in more recent canon stories, such as Doctor Aphra.

Who dies in episode 5 of 'The Acolyte'?

Elsewhere in the forest, Osha hears the voice of Mae's younger self as this whole conflict begins, and realizes that the Master is going to kill everyone. She and Yord quickly return to offer help, unaware that another tragedy is about to strike. Yord charges in, lightsaber armed and ready to finish off his foe, but Qimir effortlessly deflects the blow and kills Yord. There's an ironic tragedy in the fact that Yord, who has been so noble and tenacious for these first five episodes, didn't even get a noble death. He didn't die in an epic lightsaber duel. His neck was broken like a branch.

Mae uses this as another opportunity to run, but Osha stops her escape by hitting her with a stun blast. Sol and Qimir engage in another fight, but this time it's a mix of hand-to-hand combat, which is honestly very Star Wars-sexy, and Osha stops Sol from killing Qimir. As Sol holds his lightsaber to Qimir's throat, Qimir plants seeds of doubt in Osha's mind about her former master, alluding to a darkness in Sol that he has not accepted. However, Osha is not so quick to save Qimir; she only has others plans in mind on how to bring him down. With PIP's help, she draws them the giant bugs from the last episode, and they take them to Qimir, kicking and screaming. It's honestly an incredibly hilarious and totally on-brand Star Wars moment, and a reminder that this franchise can be deliciously silly when it wants to, even after it's done with two fan favorites.

“The Acolyte” wraps up with “Parent Trap” in episode 5

As Osha questions Sol about what Qimir meant by the “darkness within him”, Mae wakes up and throws the blaster at Sol, stunning him and leaving the sisters to settle their differences. ground. Mae is convinced that her sister has been brainwashed, but she hopes that she can help deprogram her and make her see the truth. The pair embrace, with Mae asking her sister to choose her, but Osha, as Sol said in episode 4, isn't ready to let go of the trauma of what happened to them as children . Osha still sees her sister as the girl who supposedly they murdered her family and tried to kill her. When the embrace comes to an end, Osha tries to stop her sisterdetermined to go ahead with the Jedi's plans to arrest her, but Mae isn't about to let that happen.

Mae uses the Force to knock out her sister and steal her identity. In a twist that everyone should have seen coming from a series featuring a pair of identical twins, Mae uses Yord's lightsaber to cut her braids so they are the same length as Osha's, and steals the clothes of his sister, before trotting off to meet Sol, pretending to be his former padawan. Sol seems to sense that something is wrong, but after all they've been through, he's more interested in getting out of Khofar. However, it seems that Bazil, with his adorable nose for tracking, might realize that it's Mae they're traveling with, not Osha.

As the episode draws to a close, it is revealed that Qimir survived his encounter with the deadly rolly-pollies and finds Osha (who Mae has dressed in her clothes). It's unclear if he knows the unconscious girl isn't his traitorous acolyte, but it certainly makes for some exciting conflict as Mae and Osha have switched places i teachers. Perhaps Osha will prove to be the acolyte of Qimir's dreams since she has so much hatred and darkness in her own heart.

the acolyte now streaming on Disney+, with new episodes released weekly every Tuesday.

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