Episode 6 of Star Wars: The Acolyte picks up straight where the previous entry left off, with Mae disguising herself as Osha to get aboard Sol's ship in hopes of killing him. Meanwhile, her sister has been taken to a remote planet by Qimir, who begins to try and turn her to the Dark Side.
This was rather a strange episode, with the unstable characterizations that have plagued the show all this time on full display. This time it was Sol's turn to act out of character. First he leaves the bodies of the dead Jedi, including his own padawan Jecki, lying in the forest on Khofar. Then he completely fails to notice that Mae is disguised in her sister's clothes. I know he eventually figures this out, but I think this is more to do with Bazil alerting him rather than him working it out himself. How come he couldn't sense that it wasn't Osha, especially given that Mae wanted to kill him and has been taken in by the Dark Side to some extent? His strange behavior doesn't stop there, as he calls for help from the Jedi Temple and then leaves before it can get to him. I'm not sure why he thought he needed to find Qimir and Osha when so far as he knows they're still on the planet below; there's no reason for him to believe that they went off together, even if we know that's what happened.
I know there's a side to Sol we haven't seen yet which will be explained soon — what really happened on Brendok when he took Osha away and thought Mae had died? — but he still seems to be behaving in a very unusual way for a Jedi master.
Review Star Wars: The Acolyte Episode 6, "Teach / Corrupt"
On the other side of the story, Qimir gets the fans talking with his love for skinny dipping, which is appropriate since most of this episode is spent treading water, waiting until it can get to the more interesting revelations which should be coming over the next couple of weeks.
It's not really clear what relationship Qimir has to the Sith, or even if he's a fully committed member. He may just be a fallen Jedi looking for a new purpose. He certainly doesn't seem concerned with manipulating things from the sidelines, openly revealing himself to the Jedi without good reason. It looks more like he just has a personal grievance against the Jedi Order. This would make more sense, and would explain why in The Phantom Menace the Jedi believe that the Sith have been extinct for a millennia; perhaps Qimir was dismissed by the Council as a wannabe. However, one odd comment contradicts this: he tells Osha that he was in the Jedi a long time ago, yet he only looks a few years older than her. Is this a hint that he's found some kind of immortality or life-extending powers apparently used by Darth Plagueis?
Qimir is on the lookout for an apprentice; he wants to abide by the Rule of Two used by the Sith to keep themselves under the radar and prevent infighting. So does this mean he has a master of his own that he's keen to overthrow, and if so, is he part of the same line of Sith that ends with Palpatine?
I get the feeling there's a role-reversal coming up in the finale, with Mae joining Sol while Osha goes over to Qimir's side and becomes his new pupil. After all, it wouldn't be the first time that characters have changed their motivations on a dime in this series.
All in all, there wasn't much of importance that happened this week. It was all focused on setting things up for the final act, which won't be next week as there are two episodes remaining. This makes me wonder if there'll be another episode devoted to an extended flashback. There's certainly enough backstory that needs to be explored to clear things up, like how Mae ended up on the Dark Side, or why Osha really left the Jedi Order. We might also see more of Vernestra Rhow, who hasn't had much to do so far. If, as fans are speculating, she has history with Qimir, this leaves yet another avenue to explore.
It seems odd that we've come three-quarters of the way through the show and still none of the characters' motivations are really clear, or even set up in a tantalizing way, leaving the last couple of episodes with a lot of work to do to make any of the payoffs feel earned.
This was a slow episode, a sharp contrast to last week where it was non-stop lightsaber fighting. Most of the time here is spent in conversations that don't reveal anything interesting about the characters. It's a filler episode of the worst kind, keeping the wheels spinning and moving all the characters into place until the show can get on to more interesting events. Hopefully next week it will.
Episode Grade: C-
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