“Now THAT was the show we were promised!”: Fans Stunned and Overjoyed by ‘The Acolyte’s’ Bold Direction in the Latest Episode
‘Star Wars: The Acolyte’ released its fifth episode this week, and after two episodes where nothing significant happened, this week’s episode delivered everything at once. If you haven’t watched the latest episode and want to avoid spoilers, I recommend stopping here because the following parts are packed with major spoilers.
In episode 5, we witness a dramatic confrontation between the Jedi and The Master. Most of the Jedi in the search party are eliminated within the first few minutes. As the episode progresses, our main characters are taken down one by one, including Jecki Lon and Yord.
The Sith Lord turned out to be Qimir—the most obvious choice, as it turns out. He was unmasked midway through the episode, and while his lines were a bit cringey, that’s par for the course with Sith characters. Despite this, the action scenes were phenomenal.
The only survivors of the ordeal are Master Sol, Osha, Mae, and Qimir (and Bazil, the they/them tracker). With Mae and Osha switching places, Mae departs for Coruscant with Master Sol, while Qimir finds the confused Osha alive among the bodies of her fallen comrades and picks her up.
The episode delivered an incredibly morbid twist to the mystery of why Mundi never learned of the Sith Lord’s attack on the Jedi 100 years before the events of ‘Phantom Menace’—because they all died. This twist aligns perfectly with my colleague Arthur’s theory from last week’s piece.
For the first time, reactions are mostly positive, with many fans commenting on the abrupt turn ‘The Acolyte’ took in a single episode:
Naturally, there were some negative comments, but they were far fewer compared to the first four episodes. Most of the criticism focused on characters acting inconsistently, Jedi making foolish decisions, and key characters dying too early.
We definitely look forward to next week’s episode, but you should adjust your expectations, as it will be hard to top this one in terms of action, suspense, and plot twists.
What did you think of episode 5? Let us know in the comments below!