Everything About The Acolyte Episode 7 That Makes No Sense
“Star Wars: The Acolyte” Season 1, Episode 7 – “Choice,” looks into the events that transpired on Brendok 16 years before the show’s present-day storyline. Sol (Lee Jung-jae), Indara (Carrie-Anne Moss), Torbin (Dean-Charles Chapman), and Kelnacca (Joonas Suotamo) are investigating why the supposedly barren planet is lush and full of life, suspecting that a Force phenomenon known as Vergence is at play. During this mission, they encounter the witch coven that Mae (Amandla Stenberg) and Osha (Stenberg) live with, and tragic events unfold.
“The Acolyte” Episode 7 not only contains lots of “Star Wars” references for hardcore fans, it finally lifts the fog around many of the show’s mysteries, from Mae and Osha’s true nature to Sol’s questionable actions on Brendok — as well as how the disastrous fire that destroyed the twins’ home really started. Unfortunately, it also features a number of decisions and plot developments that don’t really seem to make sense. Let’s take a look at some of the strangest moments in “Choice.”
Since when are metal detectors required to find the Force?
Lucasfilm/Disney+
The Force is a complex power that’s essentially a force of nature in the “Star Wars” universe. It’s explicitly described as a type of life energy that can be embraced and interacted with in a great number of ways. So, why does the Force-sensitive Jedi foursome need gadgets and metal detectors to find it on Brendok, like they were hunting a pirate treasure?
The franchise is filled with examples where Jedi Masters — like, say, Indara — are able to feel the Force simply by focusing, and extremely powerful Jedi Masters like Luke Skywalker (Mark Hamill) can achieve Force feats on faraway planets. The Jedi team on “The Acolyte” are specifically stated to be researching Vergence, which is an especially localized and concentrated type of Force — such as the infamous Cave of Evil on Dagobah in “Star Wars: Episode V – The Empire Strikes Back.”
From the way their mission is framed, it seems that Indara’s team is still searching for Vergence instead of studying it. Even with that in mind, it seems very weird that well-trained, High Republic-era Jedi team has to spend seven weeks using a bunch of detectors to locate a nexus of Force that’s so powerful that just being near it could give them visions.
Finding signs of life as the plot requires
Lucasfilm/Disney+
The Jedi quartet’s mission on the planet has already been underway for seven weeks by the time the episode begins. For the entirety of this time, they’ve wandered around without finding as much as the smallest sign of sentient life. Yet, in the early moments of the episode, Sol wanders slightly farther off the beaten path than his Jedi colleagues — and almost immediately ends up finding an old stone with markings, as well as Mae and Osha, who are in the middle of a moment viewers may remember from “The Acolyte” Season 1, Episode 6.
It’s clear that the location is close enough to the Jedi team’s ship that traveling back and forth is easy, so it’s strange that they haven’t managed to discover the stone or see any signs of Aniseya’s (Jodie Turner-Smith) coven during their time on Brendok before this pivotal moment. The episode even lampshades this when the Jedi group confronts the coven and the witches outright mock them for not knowing they live there.
Still, perhaps the fact that Indara’s team fails to notice the planet is populated for so long explains why they need those metal detectors to find signs of the Force. These four might know their way around a lightsaber, but they’re far from what you’d consider an effective reconnaissance team.
Sol’s hypocritical moment
Lucasfilm/Disney+
When the Jedi group identifies the denizens of the planet as Nightsisters, they’re briefly confused by Mae and Osha’s presence amongst them since the witches aren’t known for having children among their ranks. “They do not treat the girls like children,” Sol decides, with the implication that the coven is mistreating the twins by stripping them of their childhood and forcing them to act like adult Nightsisters.
Unbeknownst to Sol, of course, this is far from the truth. The coven is treating Mae and Osha quite well, and Aniseya in particular seems just fine with letting kids be kids. However, he should definitely be aware of the deep hypocrisy in his statement. After all, he’s a member of the Jedi Order, which is notorious for scouting the galaxy for Force-sensitive kids and taking them away from their families at a very young age to train as Jedi younglings … which, it should be noted, is a stunt they immediately try to pull on Aniseya’s coven. Sure, the Jedi Order may have the right to do this, but you’d expect that a faction that routinely hauls kids away for space wizard training has enough common courtesy to avoid criticizing other groups’ child-rearing policies.
Why does Indara ignore how dangerous the Nightsisters are?
Lucasfilm/Disney+
Sol isn’t the only Jedi who lacks basic reasoning skills during the aforementioned conversation. Immediately after they decide to pay the coven a visit, Indara declares that she intends to go alone, stating that she’ll only be facing 50 women and two children. This, of course, is the understatement of the century, and she should know it very well.
They already suspect that the residents of the planet are Nightsisters, which makes them powerful dark magicians who may very well hold their own against a much smaller Jedi group, let alone a single Jedi Master. As such, the coven poses a legitimate threat, and Indara should recognize it instead of dismissing them as mere women and children … especially since she knows that the planet has a Vergence that the Nightsisters may very well know a whole lot more about than the Jedi team does.
Ironically enough, Indara might actually have fared better alone, because Aniseya overpowers Torbin’s mind mere moments after the two groups meet. However, the fact that she seems to believe that the coven isn’t a threat comes across as extremely strange, especially since she’s otherwise the most level-headed Jedi in the group.
Mother Aniseya’s actions make no sense
Lucasfilm/Disney+
The coven doesn’t want Osha to take the Jedi test. Aniseya doesn’t want Osha to take the Jedi test. Barring Sol, the Jedi don’t much care about Osha taking the Jedi test. Sure, Osha herself wants to take it, but allowing her to leave the planet and part ways with Mae makes zero sense because the coven sees them as their future leaders. When the Jedi group confronts her coven, Aniseya soon has them at a disadvantage after she overwhelms Torbin, and could easily banish them from the Nightsister fortress. So why does she put her entire group’s future in jeopardy by allowing Osha to take the test?
Yes, Aniseya wants to respect Osha’s wishes. However, by doing this, she disappoints Mae and betrays her entire coven. This in itself would be at least somewhat understandable since she explicitly states that she’s considering the situation as a mother. However, less understandable is the fact that after she’s already whipped tensions to an all-time high, she chooses to confront Sol and Torbin in a threatening way instead of simply telling them that they can take Osha. This sets off a chain of events that leads to her death and launches a full-on confrontation between the witches and the Jedi.
“The Acolyte” Episode 7’s twist ending reveals that Sol is the one who killed Aniseya, but before things get to that tragic point, the coven leader sure makes a lot of strange consecutive decisions for a seemingly wise leader. All in all, this episode of “The Acolyte” may continue to rip “Star Wars” fans apart thanks to its inexplicable combination of thrilling revelations and moments that make no sense.