By George & Josh Bate
WARNING: The following contains spoilers for Star Wars: The Acolyte – Episodes 1-2
The two-episode premiere of Star Wars: The Acolyte featured twists and turns in a story shrouded in darkness and mystery. Not only was it revealed that star Amandla Stenberg plays two characters in the series – twins Mae and Osha – but more about the mysterious, masked villain of the series was revealed.
In a recent roundtable interview, The HoloFiles recently had the opportunity to speak with The Acolyte creator Leslye Headland about the plot of episodes 1-2 alongside Jedi News, Skytalkers, Fantha Tracks, Skywalking Through Neverland, Father.Son.Galaxy, Fangirls Gone Rogue, Ion Cannon, Coffee with Kenobi, Triad of the Force, and This Dad Reads.
In the first episode of the series, Stenberg’s Osha is accused of killing Jedi Master Indara, a crime she did not commit. Leslye Headland discussed how this plot point was influenced by “The Wrong Jedi,” an episode in the fifth season of The Clone Wars in which Ahsoka Tano was similarly wrongly accused of a crime. “There are two elements of that episode that I think show up in The Acolyte,” Headland reflected. “First of all, the wrongful accusation of a character that they’ve committed a crime, a really horrible crime, that they didn’t do it. So there’s definitely that element. It’s one of the things that starts the story off. And another thing I loved about that episode was Ahsoka’s choice to leave the Order, which was something I hadn’t really tuned into as an option that someone could do. So I love the idea that Osha has left the Order and sort of created a life for herself outside of that identity. Those were the two things from that episode that I was extremely inspired by.”
Osha’s twin Mae is also at the heart of the story in The Acolyte. As revealed in the first episodes, Mae has been tasked by a mysterious dark side figure to kill a Jedi without a weapon. Headland offered an explanation as to why Mae has been given this unique task “The choice for Mae to attack the Jedi without a weapon was to put a new spin on how you would attack a Jedi,” Headland said. “Meaning, this is a time period where not a lot of people are running around with a lightsaber, unless you’re a Jedi. And, so, therefore, attacking a Jedi without a weapon would be a daunting task and something that would hopefully intrigue the audience.”
The first two episodes of Star Wars: The Acolyte are now streaming on Disney+.
Stay tuned to The HoloFiles and Star Wars Holocron for continued coverage of Star Wars: The Acolyte, including weekly reviews, analyses/discussions, and easter egg breakdowns.