By George & Josh Bate
The Acolyte came to an end this week with a resounding eighth and final episode. There are all sorts of easter eggs and hidden details packed into this episode, not to mention two notable cameos. Here is every easter egg and hidden detail we noticed in The Acolyte episode 8….
Mae says, “See you in Hell, Jedi.” This isn’t the first time a Star Wars character has mentioned Hell. In The Empire Strikes Back, Han Solo says, “Then I’ll see you in Hell!” to a fellow rebel on Hoth.
The helmet that Mae puts on as she escapes Sol’s custody bears a symbol similar to the original symbol for the Jedi Order and for what would later become the symbol of the Rebel Alliance.
The targeting system that Sol uses to try to stop Mae from escaping is the same targeting system Luke Skywalker used in the Death Star trench run in A New Hope.
Making his live-action and canon debut in this episode was none other than Darth Plagueis! The infamous Sith lord was first mentioned by Palpatine during the opera scene in Revenge of the Sith. In that scene, Palpatine talks about Plagueis possessing a rare power to create life using the Force. That power is exactly the power that Mother Aniseya wielded to create Mae and Osha using the Force. Plagueis’ backstory is largely detailed in the now Legends novel Darth Plagueis by James Luceno. In canon, Plagueis has only been mentioned to this point – both in Revenge of the Sith and the novelization of The Rise of Skywalker. In the latter, it is explained that Palpatine survived the events of Return of the Jedi as he finally learned Plagueis’ secret to immortality.
The above shot of Darth Plagueis is framed very similarly to a shot from earlier this season of Qimir. Both shots depict a Sith master secretly observing things from the shadows.
Senator Rayencourt is played by David Harewood. The accomplished English actor is best known for his roles as CIA Counterterrorism Director David Estes in Homeland and J’onn J’onzz / Martian Manhunter in Supergirl.
Rayencourt says to Vernestra, “You project an image of goodness and restraint, but it’s only a matter of time before one of you snaps. And when, not if, that happens, who will be strong enough to stop him?” Eventually, what Rayencourt says comes true as Anakin Skywalker turns to the dark side and destroys the Jedi Order.
When Sol and Mae arrive on Brendok, the two moons of the planet appeared to be in the exact same position as they were on the night of the Ascension ceremony. This foreshadows how the prophecy of Mae/Osha rising to power becomes complete when Osha kills Sol later in the episode. The Ascension ceremony was thwarted when it was last attempted, but now, however unintentionally, it is achieved (in a sense).
The duel between Sol and The Stranger concludes with a ‘passing strike.’ This is much like the final move in the duel between Ben Kenobi and Maul in Star Wars Rebels and is often seen in samurai films.
The Stranger urges Mae to kill Sol using similar language as Palpatine has used previously. The Stranger encourages Mae to feel her anger and strike Sol down, just like Palpatine did to Anakin when tempting him to kill Dooku and as Palpatine did to Anakin when encouraging Luke to kill Darth Vader.
Osha bleeds a kyber Crystal in this episode. The concept of ‘bleeding’ was first mentioned in E.K. Johnston’s novel Ahsoka, but was first shown in full detail in Charles Soule’s Darth Vader comic. Bleeding involves using the dark side of the Force to change the color of a lightsaber’s kyber crystal to red. In the Darth Vader comic, Darth Sidious commands his apprentice Vader to kill a Jedi, take his kyber crystal, and bleed it, all as an important rite of passage to becoming a true Sith. Another notable instance of a character bleeding a kyber crystal is Dagan Gera in the video game Star Wars Jedi: Survivor. In that story, Dagan bleeds his yellow kyber crystal to turn it red, symbolic of his shift to the dark side.
Sol reveals that Mae and Osha are not twins or sisters, but, rather, the same person. It seems an awful lot like this means that Mae and Osha are clones. If so, this would eventually align with Palpatine’s desire to combine Sith powers he learned from Darth Plagueis with cloning technology from the Kaminoans to ensure immortality, as depicted in The Bad Batch.
Osha completes The Stranger’s task of killing a Jedi without a weapon as she Force chokes Sol to death. A Force choke was first seen in A New Hope when it was used by Darth Vader. The Force choke is traditionally seen as an ability aligned with the dark side of the Force.
Chronologically, the earliest moment we see of Osha’s life involves her urging Mae to not Force choke a butterfly. Things come full circle as it is now Osha using the Force choke on another being in this final episode.
It is revealed that The Stranger / Qimir was once the apprentice of Vernestra Rwoh. In The High Republic publishing initiative, Vernestra’s apprentice is Imri Cantaros, which means Vernestra had multiple apprentices over time.
Mae and Osha escape the ruins of their family’s fortress using the same way that Mae escaped from the fire as a child. Mae is sucked into a pipe just like Luke Skywalker was on Cloud City in The Empire Strikes Back.
The Stranger uses the Force to wipe the memory of Mae in order to prevent the Jedi from using her to track Osha down. Similarly, C-3PO’s memory is wiped at the end of Revenge of the Sith in order to stop the droid from also revealing confidential information to bad guys, in this case the existence of Leia and Luke.
With the memory wipe, we see Mae and Osha essentially switch planes from where they started at the beginning of the season. At the start, Mae was aligned with the dark side of the Force and was being trained by The Stranger / Qimir. Meanwhile, Osha was more aligned with the light side of the Force, although she no longer had a formal connection to the Jedi. By the end of the season, however, things have flipped. Osha is now the one aligned with the dark side of the Force and being trained by The Stranger, while Mae is now the one more aligned with the light side of the Force and the Jedi.
Vernestra explains to Mae that Qimir was “a pupil of mine until he turned evil.” This is how Ben Kenobi describes Darth Vader to Luke in A New Hope.
Chancellor Drellick is part of the Tarsunt species. In the era between Return of the Jedi and The Force Awakens, another member of the Tarsunt species named Lanever Villecham served as Chancellor of the New Republic.
Vernestra Rwoh burns Sol’s body on a funeral pyre, a process that is considered traditional for Jedi funerals. This is how Qui-Gon is honored at the end of The Phantom Menace.
Closing out the season is a delightful cameo from the Jedi Grand Master himself Yoda! Although only shown from behind, Yoda’s green skin and pointed ears are unmistakable. It appears that Yoda was brought to life with practical effects in The Acolyte, as opposed to the CGI used to create the character in the prequels.
Check out our Spoiler Review & Analysis of The Acolyte season finale below….