‘The Acolyte’ Recap: ‘Day’

6/19/2024

Written by John Edward Betancourt

(L-R, front row): Yord Fandar (Charlie Barnett), Jedi Padawan Jecki Lon (Dafne Keen) and Master Sol (Lee Jung-jae) in Lucasfilm's THE ACOLYTE, exclusively on Disney+. ©2024 Lucasfilm Ltd. & TM. All Rights Reserved.

Caution: This article contains spoilers for Episode Four of ‘The Acolyte’. To revisit the previous episode, click here.

Something that is genuinely fascinating about stories that revolve around the evil doers in the world, or in the case of today’s recap… a galaxy far, far away, is how those stories often showcase evil’s efforts to sow division and chaos in any way possible… but rarely ponder upon why. For that is something that is important and relevant and deeply engaging, yet those tales have other actions for us to focus upon and ponder upon since evil does a lot of rotten things, and of course the focus does need to be upon the story itself, since there are important moments to get through and big moments abound. But we should in fact, give the desire evil harbors to bring about pain and suffering and division amongst good people more weight.

Because in the end, that really is how evil wins the day in every way imaginable. For it allows for evil individuals to inspire hate and fear in others and use that hate and fear to rip lives and societies to pieces with minimal effort. For truly, united we stand and divided we fall and well… never was this more evident than during this week’s episode of The Acolyte on Disney+. For ‘Day’ explored evil’s need for division and how concerned it will become… when that division fails. A feat this episode accomplished by way of a grand reunion of sorts on Khofar. For the Jedi were indeed concerned about the fate of Master Kelnacca and decided that Sol was to take Osha and a team of Jedi there to find Mae before a dark fate befell the Wookie Jedi Master.

Of course, Mae and Qimir were there and were quick to dive into the strange forests in this world, to find their target and well… that is when the show’s exploration of its central theme took place. For as Mae and Qimir hunted, the Jedi arrived and the twins of this era, began to ponder upon so much. Specifically, what they missed out upon by being apart for so long and what might happen if they were to commit to good and one another again. Which made Qimir nervous and concerned about the mission. Because Mae spoke loudly to just turning herself in to be near her sister and forgetting about the mission of her Master in the process. And well, that scared her Master to no end and made them realize that love and unity would stall the problems they were working to create.

Which brought forth, quite the unique finale of this tale. Wherein we saw Mae string up Qimir to follow through with her plan to reunite and where… Master Kelnacca did not survive the day. For the Master arrived and wiped him out before exposing that frightening tooth filled mask and the raw power they harbor to the Jedi. A move that leaves us wondering who will survive the hateful machinations of what has to be a Sith Lord. But what mattered more here, was that this Darkside user, was so afraid that love and unity would heal Mae and Osha and ruin their plans… that they were willing to be seen and get their hands dirty to sow fear and disruption. Because unity destroys evil no problem and unity ruins this power and that is why stories should explore this more often.

Because that is a powerful message of vigilance in trying times such as these, one that everyone needs to be reminded of and that added to the wonder, of a very unique episode. One that also raised more questions in our minds. Such as whether or not the twins are in fact a Force Dyad, since the knowledge of one another being alive awakened powers within each of them. And of course, we would be foolish to not ponder upon whether or not… Qimir is the Master in question. Since the way he handled questions about the Master and the way he spoke, hints at the possibility Qimir and the Dark Lord are one in the same. But of course, only time will tell, and, in the meantime, we can applaud one smart and surprising tale that set the stage for grand conflict in the galaxy. Until next time.

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