‘The Acolyte’: When Will We Learn WTF the Jedi Are Hiding?

Showrunner Leslye Headland certainly knows how to bring the suspense in her new Star Wars show, The Acolyte. But now that we’re nearing the halfway point, when will the series address the Jedi-sized elephant in the room? And will we finally get answers when episode 4 arrives on Disney+?

So far, The Acolyte has already killed off Carrie-Anne Moss, brought us the glory and splendor of the #YordHorde, and pissed off half of the Star Wars fandom—all in just three 40-minute episodes! A round of applause, please. While the series is still finding its footing on streaming, The Acolyte has some intriguing concepts at its heart, including the question of what’s truly “good” or “evil”—not dissimilar to the core themes of George Lucas’ original and prequel trilogies.

This week, a new episode of The Acolyte has been bestowed upon us humble Disney+ subscribers, taking viewers back in time to Mae and Osha’s (Amandla Stenberg) home planet of Brendok. Following its two-part premiere on June 4, The Acolyte, which takes place during the generally unexplored High Republic era, made it pretty clear that it’s going to be skeptical of the almighty Jedi Order—and the new episode is no exception. Chapter 3, titled “Destiny,” puts a witchy twist on your average origin story, and explains the twins’ immaculate conception (or rather, occult) while introducing their pseudo parent figure, Mother Aniseya (Jodie Turner-Smith), to the mix.

As we come to learn, Brendok is the home of a coven of Force-sensitive gals who may or may not be tapping into the Dark Side, putting them on the Republic’s radar. Ah, those pesky space witches! Some familiar faces from episodes 1 and 2 pop up, including Jedi Master Sol (Lee Jung-jae), Master Indara (Moss), Master Torbin (Dean-Charles Chapman), and the Wookiee Jedi Kelnacca (Joonas Suotamo), most of whom go on to suffer unsavory fates. The whole episode gave off some major Nightsister vibes, with Mae and Osha’s coven being—perhaps, understandably—pushed to the margins of society and forced into hiding on a remote planet so as not to spread their “agenda.” Sounds familiar, no?

Even though the third episode of The Acolyte tied up some loose ends, it did leave audiences with more questions than answers, particularly regarding its assessment of the “can do no harm” Jedi. Now that we kind of know why the planet burned and how Osha ended up with the Jedi, it’s getting easier to put the pieces together, and we can better understand the motivation behind Mae’s Jedi-killing rampage, even if her methods are a bit extreme. However, it seems like there’s more here than meets the eye, as clearly, we’ve skipped a few chapters when it comes to the Jedi’s role in the destruction of the coven itself.

The Acolyte episode 4 release date confirmed: will we learn the secrets of the Jedi?

New episodes of The Acolyte roll out on Disney+ every Tuesday at 6 p.m. PT/9 p.m. ET, meaning the next installment is scheduled to premiere on June 18. While episode 4 isn’t likely to flat-out answer our burning (too soon?) questions, it will, presumably, take us back to 16 years after the destruction of Brendok, as Osha is now aware that her twin sis did, in fact, survive the fire. It’s hard to say if the Jedi knew that Mae was still alive when they adopted Osha into their ranks, but either way, Sol and Co. will have a lot to answer for.

Clearly, these Jedi have some skeletons in the closet. We know this because Torbin was fully willing to end his own life when Mae approached him on Olega, taking the Barash Vow because of what we can only assume is lingering guilt. Given that Mae’s targets have been the Jedi that were on Brendok those 16 odd years ago, clearly, she has some sort of vendetta against them that extends far beyond Osha joining the Order. And yeah, considering that Torbin probablyyyy didn’t get that nasty face scar from ravaging through the flames, it’s safe to assume that the witches—including Mother Aniseya—put up a fight. After all, these women were powerful Force-users, and it’s hard to believe that something as simple as a fire would result in the deaths of an entire coven.

Since the Jedi and the Republic were skeptical of the Witches of Brendok and their power from the get-go, it’s not difficult to imagine why these so-called peacekeepers wanted them out of the picture. By destroying the coven and conveniently getting a Force-sensitive child out of the whole situation, The Acolyte is painting a pretty dark picture of the Jedi. For now, the mystery continues to unfold on Disney+, although it might be some time before we get concrete answers.