By George & Josh Bate
WARNING: The following contains spoilers for The Acolyte – Episode 7
The clocks turned back in another flashback episode of The Acolyte. Titled “Choice,” the new episode features all sorts of hidden details, easter eggs, and references tying into the prequel trilogy, Legends, The Bad Batch, the High Republic novels/comics, and more. Check out 25+ easter eggs + hidden details in Star Wars: The Acolyte – Episode 7 below….
The episode utilizes the Rashomon effect, a plot device named after the classic Akira Kurosawa film. The Rashomon effect is when different characters’ subjective and often conflicting views of events are depicted. This plot device has featured in an array of films, including Gone Girl, The Usual Suspects, Witness for the Prosecution, Knives Out, and The Last Duel. It notably appeared in Star Wars: Episode VIII – The Last Jedi as Luke Skywalker and Kylo Ren had different recollections of the night the Jedi Temple burned down.
Indara notes that Brendok was considered lifeless following “a hyperspace disaster.” The hyperspace disaster that Indara refers to is seemingly the Legacy Run disaster, the instigating incident that sparks the entirety of the stories in the High Republic publishing initiative. The hyperspace disaster is depicted in a range of High Republic stories, most notably the novel Light of the Jedi by Charles Soule (a book we highly recommend if you’re looking to dive into a Star Wars novel or haven’t read anything High Republic yet).
Torbin says that he is sick of eating Nuna. This species, also referred to as swamp turkeys, first appeared in The Phantom Menace and has since been mentioned, seen, and eaten in a variety of Star Wars stories, including the shows The Clone Wars, The Bad Batch, The Mandalorian, and The Book of Boba Fett, the comics Bounty Hunters, Doctor Aphra, and Han Solo & Chewbacca, and the books Aftermath, The High Republic: A Test of Courage, Queen’s Peril, and Master & Apprentice, amongst others.
The visual of Kelnacca cooking the Nuna is very similar to the shots of Chewbacca cooking a Porg in The Last Jedi.
Indara says that it is unwise to insult a Wookiee’s cooking. In A New Hope, Han Solo tells C-3PO, “It’s not wise to upset a Wookiee” after Chewbacca gets frustrated during holo-chess.
Sol explains that they are “looking for a vergence” on Brendok, which is described by Indara as “a concentration of Force energy centered around a location.” The Jedi go on to explain that “a vergence could create life” like they see on the planet. A vergence was first referenced in The Phantom Menace when Qui-Gon Jinn recognized the life of Anakin Skywalker as such a vergence. The usage of the term ‘vergence’ here is critical in highlighting the similarities between the birth of Anakin and the births of Mae and Osha. All three did not have natural births, but were, rather, seemingly born of the Force, something that makes them of particular interest to the Jedi. Whether this plot point will eventually tie back to Palpatine’s statement about Darth Plagueis’ ability to create life from the Force remains unclear. Other examples of vergences in Star Wars include the Skywalker lightsaber’s first interaction with Rey in The Force Awakens and the gateway beneath the Jedi Temple on Lothal in Star Wars Rebels.
Sol says that he thinks he has found a coven of witches. Torbin responds by asking, “Nightsisters?” Nightsisters are a different group of witches than the group led by Mother Aniseya in The Acolyte. Notable members include Asajj Ventress, Mother Talzin, and Morgan Elsbeth. The Nightsisters played prominent roles in The Clone Wars, Ahsoka, and Tales of the Empire, and first debuted in the 1994 Legends novel The Courtship of Princess Leia by Dave Wolverton.
The Jedi travel through the forests of Brendok on speeder bikes. This is like Luke and Leia traveling through the forests of Endor on speeder bikes in Return of the Jedi.
Something we didn’t notice in episode 3, but picked up on now…. Mother Koril appears to have the Mandalorian Iron Heart tattooed on her forehead. The Iron Heart was an ancient symbol of Mandalorian culture that featured on the chest pieces of many Mandalorian’s armor, including that of Jango Fett and Din Djarin. This symbol resembling Koril’s facial tattoo could entirely be a coincidence, but, given the eventual ties between Mandalorians and a notable Zabrak in Maul, we thought we’d point this little detail out.
When Mother Aniseya gets inside Torbin’s head, she says that he is a “son of paupers from the planet Bonadan.” Bonadan first appeared in the Legends novel Han Solo’s Revenge by Brian Daley. This isn’t the first time that something that originated in that novel has featured in The Acolyte. Bazil’s species – the Tynnan – also debuted in Han Solo’s Revenge before becoming canon in The Acolyte. Back to Bonadan… the planet was also mentioned in The Odyssey of Star Wars: An Epic Poem, a retelling of the events of the original trilogy inspired by epic poems like Beowulf. Bonadan was made canon when it featured on a map in the Star Wars: The Force Awakens Beginner Game, a roleplaying box-set.
The whole sequence of Mother Aniseya getting inside Torbin’s head resembles The Lord of the Rings in which Galadriel gets into the mind of Frodo and similarly plays on his temptations.
Mae is asked to use the Force to determine what images are on the screen. One of the images is a tooka and another is a gonk droid.
Indara tells Sol, “Do not alter this little girl’s destiny, because you formed an emotional attachment to her.” One could argue this is exactly what Qui-Gon does in The Phantom Menace. He grows close to Anakin, forms an attachment to him, and then alters Anakin’s destiny forever by taking him away from his mother and to the Jedi.
Torbin refers to midi-chlorians as M-count. This is the same term used by characters in The Bad Batch when describing midi-chlorians.
Sol hypothesizes that “the twins were artificially created.” This power to create life using the Force is what Palpatine explains to Anakin was a power of Darth Plagueis the Wise.
Torbin also remarks that Mae and Osha have identical Symbionts, which Indara comments may be the result of using the Force to divide a single consciousness into two bodies. Symbionts, by definition, reflect things that have a symbiotic or mutually beneficial relationship with one another. It is unclear exactly what Torbin is referring to here when he uses the term ‘symbionts,’ but it appears to be something like a genetic code that lives in conjunction with a person’s being and midi-chlorians.
This isn’t the first time a Star Wars character starts a fire at their Force-connected home. Ben Solo started the fire that led to the destruction of Luke Skywalker’s Jedi Temple. More details about the destruction of the Jedi Temple are depicted in the comic series The Rise of Kylo Ren.
Mother Aniseya says to Sol, “Someday, these noble intentions you all have will destroy every Jedi in the galaxy.” In a way, Aniseya is predicting the eventual downfall of the Jedi here. In the prequels, the Jedis have noble intentions to defeat the Separatists and stop the Clone Wars, but, ultimately, these intentions lead them to lose their way, become soldiers for a government, and play a role in their ignorance of Palpatine’s grand scheme.
The dissipation technique that Mother Aniseya and Koril use in the episode visually reminds us of apparition in the Harry Potter franchise.
Torbin shows off some pretty impressive lightsaber moves, including a behind the back move that is extremely similar to a move used by Anakin.
The possession Mother Koril and the other witches have of Kelnacca likely explains why the Wookiee Jedi had the spiral symbols drawn on the walls of his home in episode 4.
Similar to the last two episodes, Kylo Ren’s theme can be heard again in this episode. During the climactic lightsaber duel between Kelnacca, Torbin, and Sol, the iconic Kylo Ren dark side motif plays.
Indara jumps into battle to stop Kelnacca with a massive leap that reminded us of similar moves as Trinity in The Matrix movies.
The song that plays during the credits is “Power of Two” by Victoria Monét. This song was specifically created by Monét for use in The Acolyte and marks the first occasion (to our knowledge at least) in which Star Wars has had a song commissioned for a project and, in turn, the first time such a song has been used in a Star Wars story. The full song can be heard here.
“Power of Two” is what The Stranger / Qimir says he wants in the previous episode. Naturally, we initially took this as him saying he wants a pupil, an Acolyte to be side-by-side with him. But what if the ‘Power of Two’ he refers to is actually the shared power of Mae and Osha? What if The Stranger’s ultimate goal is to evoke the power of a Force dyad (similar to Rey and Ben Solo in The Rise of Skywalker)?
Check out our Spoiler Review + Analysis of The Acolyte episode 7 below….