The Acolyte Explained | Highlights from “Destiny”

Episode 3: “Destiny”

The bright sunshine and lush landscape of Brendok is far different than every other world we’ve explored in the series so far. Set amid this enchanted backdrop, we meet little Mae (Leah Brady) and little Osha (Lauren Brady), already showing their very different temperaments and testing their Force abilities. While Mae is curious about wielding her power, Osha appears to lack her sister’s confidence in the Force despite her future as a Jedi Padawan.

Although we’ve seen Star Wars witches before with the Nightsisters — first introduced in Star Wars: The Clone Wars and seen more recently in Ahsoka and Tales of the Empire, — this coven is a distinctly different group with its own identity. Sequestered away from the larger galaxy, hidden behind the impressive fortress and living in secret, Mother Aniseya (Jodie Turner-Smith) and Mother Koril (Margarita Levieva) are fearful of the outside world imposing on their family. “It is not safe,” Koril scolds after she finds the twins playing under the bunta tree. And although it’s unclear if she fears wild predators or something less feral, we can feel the intensity of her anxiety.

On the flip side, Mother Aniseya is calm and wise, a steadfast leader with a keen understanding of the energy binding the galaxy. Rather than a Force, the witches’ philosophy sees the energy as a Thread, tying individuals to their destiny and each other. Mae seems entirely at peace with this line of thinking and her place as a future leader of the coven, but Osha has doubts and desires far beyond those ascribed duties. Osha wants to be her own person, with her own destiny, and maybe even join the Jedi Order.

From the coven’s point of view, the Ascension ceremony is a noble ritual, a magnificent expression of magic and combined strength interrupted by uninvited guests. But the Jedi, undoubtedly, see themselves not as intruders but well-meaning travelers, testing the boundaries of the Republic rule by asking to test the twins for their Force sensitivity. Aniseya’s power in the Force is strong enough to enchant young Torbin (Dean-Charles Chapman), but as she explains later, “This isn’t about good or bad. This is about power and who is allowed to use it.”

Osha’s desire to be a Jedi is in direct conflict with her family’s wishes and no one takes her success at the Jedi test harder than Mae. In a chilling bit of foreshadowing for Mae’s future wickedness, she promises to stop little Osha from leaving with three haunting words: “I’ll kill you.” It’s hard to know if Mae means it or is testing her own powers as children do, hurling a cutting turn of phrase to show the depth of her pain, anguish, and fear.

In an instant, Mae figuratively pulls on the Thread. Lighting Osha’s journal on fire, Mae literally destroys her sister’s dreams of a life away from Brendok, but in doing so she ignites a blaze that will burn the whole fortress down and her own way of life with it. Amid the billowing smoke, Mae falls, but at the last second Sol (Lee Jung-jae) manages to save Osha. The little girl who has just lost everything will go on to fulfill her dream of joining the Jedi Order. Meanwhile, left for dead, Mae survives nursing a powerful grudge. This is the spark to ignite Mae’s quest against four Jedi in particular: Indara (Carrie-Anne Moss), Sol, Torbin, and Kelnacca (Joonas Suotamo).