This is a review for the third episode of Disney+ original Star Wars series The Acolyte, titled “Destiny”; which dropped on June 12, 2024 – directed by Kogonada (Columbus, After Yang).
This episode was a huge u-turn or 180 in terms of storytelling and narrative thrust as we went back in time
Focusing on the young versions of Osha and Mae (Amandla Stenberg) on Brendock 16 years prior to current events, we watch the two siblings with their all female witches coven going through their training and on the cusp of being sworn in fully. This is interrupted by the arrival of four Jedi to the outer reach territory.
The Jedi have heard reports that the witches are training children, as peacekeepers they are concerned with this development. The witches fear the Jedi will take the twins away from their habitat and yet Sol along with a returning Indara (Carrie Anne-Moss); who was killed in the opening moments of the first episode by a vengeful Mae, convinces the twins to take the Jedi test with the hope to become Padawans.
The next day they both take the test but Mae convinces Osha that they should both deliberately fail so they are not taken away; yet Osha wants to be a Jedi and fly her own course instead of the forced union with her twin.
Osha passes the test and after a meeting with her mother Aniseya (Jodie Turner-Smith), the decision is made for her to follow her path. However, Mae, does not agree and so to force her to stay and in anger, Mae starts a fire outside of their bedroom that quickly rages through the habitat killing all the witches including mother and herself it is believed. A returning Sol rescues Osha and takes her to Coruscant to begin her Padawan training. The episode ends with a surviving Mae looking up to the sky and her departed sister: Fade to black.
In “Destiny”, the intention of this episode is to show the truth behind the incident which led to Osha training to be a Jedi and Mae’s vengeful streak which has been on display in the first two episodes was a bold step.
The double episode premiere was a statement of intent to grab the audience and this easily could have been a backward step from that momentum. However, this episode will prove to be a vital component of the Acolyte lore – it serves the purpose of showing that Mae was hateful and stubborn from an early age and that Osha wanted more for herself and to see the galaxy.
Final thoughts
Stylistically, it was good to see more of Anne-Moss in her role as Indara and yet again it was Lee Jung-jae as Sol who is the star of the show (despite an unfortunate Beatles wig) displaying a soulfulness to his performance and a centre that is indicative of Jedi mythology.
This episode works due to a director like Kogonada helming – whose previous two feature films are built upon dialogue and character – and credit to him for crafting an episode based upon character and eliciting good performances from Lauren and Leah Brady.
Next week, no doubt we most likely will return to the modern day and two word titles, interestingly this episode had a single word title “Destiny”, and from this word the two girls split into their separate paths based upon the path which they follow – one ordained and one wished.
Episode 4 drops June 19, on Disney+ worldwide. Update: check out the review for episode four here.
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