Every time an episode of Star Wars: The Acolyte lands, Fantha Tracks will be giving their responses, and here are our initial gut feelings, deep dives and thoughts on episode five of season one, ‘Night’. Beware of spoilerific elements in here.
Dan Lo
Somewhere in my room, I still have eight ticket stubs for The Force Awakens. One of them was from when I drove four hours to the St. Louis Science Center to watch it in 70mm format, and drove back home immediately afterwards. If you guessed that I liked The Force Awakens, you would be right. But the film had one notable letdown for me: the lightsaber duel. The story necessitated a clunky fight, which took place between a dark force user who has probably never had a proper sparring partner and a scavenger who until moments before the duel had never ignited a lightsaber. Considering that Revenge of the Sith was the most recent Star Wars film up to that point, it was jarring to watch.
On the other end of the spectrum, the fifth episode of The Acolyte has delivered arguably the best lightsaber combat scenes of the entire Disney era so far, and there were some good ones, too. We once again got to see Jedi at the height of their powers, fighting for their lives but hopelessly outmatched by a mysterious Sith. Within two minutes of the Lucasfilm logo, all but three were dead. Halfway into the episode, only Sol is left. Big respect to the showrunners for not watering down the brutality. Yikes.
I might be the only Star Wars fan in the galaxy who was genuinely surprised by the Sith reveal, but I’m glad I didn’t see it coming because it’s way more fun that way. According to the subtitles and Hasbro’s helmet announcement, Qimir is now known as The Stranger. On screen he claimed to not have a name, but that could easily be a lie. We also don’t know if he has a master and Mae was a secret apprentice, or if he is indeed “The Master” as the episodes so far have collectively suggested. He certainly doesn’t follow the rules of the Jedi, but does he follow the rule of the Sith? What we do know is he has some cool party tricks up his proverbial sleeves: His helmet and gauntlets were not only able to parry lightsaber strikes, but could temporarily disable them too. One scene implied that the helmet could also prevent access to his thoughts, and he can kind of float like Magneto too.
As much as I liked Night, sometimes the editing and pacing compromised the otherwise excellent fight choreography. For the sake of brevity, I’ll limit myself to one example: The first showdown between Sol and The Stranger. There were two bits of dialogue that served as dramatic pauses. The first was “You carry a Jedi weapon, but you are no Jedi“, and “What kind of master hides his face from his pupil?/You tell me”. Except that they weren’t, because the scene immediately cut away each time instead. This felt unsatisfying, as I would have preferred additional lightsaber clashes to serve as responses to each line. The rhythm I’m describing worked brilliantly with Luke vs Vader on Cloud City, and I wished that this duel was also given more room to breathe.
To compound the missed opportunity, the scenes it cut to probably should never have happened. Mae violently resisting arrest was an odd decision, considering her best chance of survival in her current situation was the Jedi. Attempting to kill one was the last thing she should have been doing. To get some more gripes out of the way, there were also a few oddly convenient moments such as Sol jumping out of the bushes at exactly the right place and time to save someone, on no less than two occasions. Or when Bazil immediately found Pip moments after The Stranger escaped from the giant bugs. There were also too many times when a kill stroke could have easily happened, but was stopped or deescalated to a less lethal attack for no discernible reason. This last part isn’t really a gripe, but I think the show could have really benefited from casting a different actress to play Mae or Osha opposite Amandla Stenberg. The impact of their reunion felt stifled by the awkward editing required to show both twins on screen at the same time. I get that the casting provided a far more interesting acting challenge, but I’m not sure if it was worth compromising such an important moment.
Minor complaints aside, we got some more interesting onion layers in the latest installment. This episode continued to draw our attention to the red spores. Their effects still aren’t clear, but it surely can’t be nothing. The Stranger clearly seemed to know all of Sol’s alleged dark secrets, and even appeared to have been (at least) an eye witness inside the crumbling fortress on Brendok. The other hint we got about The Stranger’s ties to the event is when Yord described the Sith’s ability to get into his head, and Osha remembered that her mother could do the same. I’m not sure if this counts, but why was a quick haircut and change of outfit enough to fool Sol? The Stranger, on the other hand, appeared to know exactly which twin he found.
So with three episodes remaining, what’s next? We should have at least one more flashback to hopefully explain what really happened on Brendok, plus there’s still at least one missing scene from the trailer that indicates this. The most obvious conclusion at this point is that Sol had done something terrible, but it’s been so heavily spelled out by now that I’m forced to assume it’s misdirection. Maybe The Stranger had manipulated the Jedi into destroying the fortress, but that seems too obvious as well. Osha and Mae have also switched places, and it’s not entirely clear why it isn’t evident to all force-sensitive parties involved. Both the past and the future remain murky, and it will be interesting to see how the two will converge.
Last but not least, shout out to the two aliens playing analog holochess at the end. Unlike Chewbacca and hologram pieces, the loser was in fact able to wipe them off the board.
Ross Hollebon
“He gets into your head and he stays there.” Based on social media, Jedi Knight Yord Fandar’s description of the deadly, mysterious stranger to Osha, is true in the action, and for the audience.
The newly revealed, self-proclaimed Sith, is killing Jedi and sending Star Wars fandom into a tizzy after absorbing Episode 5: Night. It took all of 2 minutes and 14 seconds to swallow this week’s Disney+ offering into darkness.
The Stranger’s first physical conquest shows in the lifeless eyes of a nameless, dead Jedi. More pawn-like Jedi are dispatched as well, including a fancy-robed shish kabob finish of a defeated pair. With his red blade sizzling and mysterious helmet and forearm armor flummoxing them with anti-lightsaber properties, the deadly foe represents a new danger. The continued crackling of multi-colored lightsabers violently kissing adds intensity to the nighttime setting, especially once Sol arrives to battle the enemy one-on-one. They engage in an exciting physical duel, but the encounter also serves to back up the first sentence of my review. The Dark Force user is smart, cunning, and more than prepared to face this team of Jedi foes. He knows his helmet prevents Sol from reading his thoughts, and shares that with him, almost tauntingly. It is here that the psychological warfare picks up. As they fight, Sol asks, “What Master hides his face from his pupil?” And he is met with the accusatory response, “You tell me.”
Padawan Jecki Lon, after a vicious fight with Mae, joins in the battle against the Sith and forces his helmet off, revealing Qimir. He takes the minor setback in stride before killing the Padawan. Once again, Sol pleads with the Stranger, “She was a child.” And once again, the manipulative but straightforward enemy retorts with a challenge: “You brought her here.”
The ongoing details of their exchange allow Qimir to claim he is searching for freedom and the ability to use his power without being policed by the Jedi, much like the Coven pointed out in an earlier episode. He drives home the point to Sol that the Jedi serve a one-sided point of view, with arrogance and incompetence—and how that is able to happen when the people in power want to keep doing it the way that best serves them.
The episode is filled out by the non-critical thinking Yord dying at the Sith’s hand, Mae and Osha having their uncomfortable encounter, and a twin twist that sets up an interesting story moving forward. Mae pretends to be Osha and leaves with Sol, while Qimir takes in a still knocked-out Osha.
It will be interesting to see if the impact of the Light affects Mae, and if the influence of the Dark entices Osha, now that the enemy—and at least one member of the Dark Side—is revealed. Is there another?
Mark Newbold
Of all the recent standout episodes of Star Wars television, with moments ranging from the emotional tear of The Rescue to the fascinating questions posed by Shadow Warrior, the long goodbye of The Cavalry Has Arrived to the final episode of Obi-Wan Kenobi there’s little doubt that after an opening salvo of episodes that has gripped some viewers and turned off others, those with the patience and wisdom to stick with this new era will count Night among the very best moments of the modern era. For an episode to be so brutal, revealing and unapologetic while doing it (as all brave film and TV should be) is refreshing. For us to invest so heavily in two lead characters (Yord and Jecki) only for them to be dispatched and discarded by Qimir, revealing himself to be (at least at this juncture) the true evil, was both shocking and exhilarating. If these two young, engaging, capable characters can die, who in The Acolyte is safe? (apart from Ki-Adi Mundi of course)
Therein lies the beauty of this new era – no one is safe, and while we know a handful of characters from this era are still around at the time of the prequel trilogy, they’re not the focus of the show. Here, a dark power stirs and reveals itself in the form of Qimir who not only engages the Jedi but pulls them around like rag dolls before brutally ending them like pigs to slaughter. Our nameless ‘red shirt’ Jedi fall quickly to his power, allowing Jecki to engage in one of the most exciting lightsaber fights yet seen onscreen, going toe-to-toe with Qimir before he switches styles, using his shotosabers to end her young life with a triple stab of plasma. It’s unbelievable – she can’t die, but she falls just as the others did, followed soon after by Yord, another character we’ve grown to know in the opening episodes.
At the risk of repeating myself, it’s shocking to see. No punches are pulled, and as Sol tries his best to end this dark warrior (is he Sith as Sol claims, or is he a Knight of Ren? Perhaps that’s more likely, as it heaves into the new era line of dark side villains that tie to the Skywalkers via Kylo Ren) he’s stopped by Osha, his previous padawan. He couldn’t lose two in the space of minutes, could he? He doesn’t, but any vestiges of predictability have been scrunched up and tossed out of the window by this point as a delicous slap of GFFA reality hits home. New era, no rules and now not only do we see Sol completety unbalanced and reeling in his grief but we’re also left with question after question. What did ‘The Stranger’ mean when asked by Sol “What Master hides his face from his pupil?” only to reply “You tell me.” We know we’ll be returning to Brendok in another flashback to reveal more of the Kelnacca / Tobin fight, and perhaps learn what happened to Mother Koril but most importantly we need to know what Qimir was referrng to. What is Sol hiding? What darkness is he referring to?
This era, while showing the Jedi at the height of their powers would also appear to show the darkness at the peak of its own, and as the Force ebbs and flows – and with the powers on display appearing to be more powerful than anything we’ve yet seen – surely the venerable High Council will soon be involved. Does that mean Yoda is on the horizon, a man who holds so many secrets of the Jedi? Would the Senate be informed of this incident as the Jedi mourn the loss of so many of their established and up-and-coming Jedi? Question after question, but for now all we can do is nod in appreciation at this filet mignon of an episode and hope that the fast-approaching sixth episode can keep the energy high and deliver another peak Star Wars episode. That’s a big ask as Night was superb, but you have to have confdidence in any team that can deliver something like this.
Eric Onkenhout
Well, that changes things. The fifth episode of The Acolyte, called Night, propelled the series from a slow-paced mystery to a mind-blowing martial arts thriller. The Acolyte is not without its criticisms, and we’ll get to those in a bit. Revealing Qimir as the stranger was not something I saw coming, although a few of my friends had an inkling. I’m just happy his character was revealed, period. My questions about Qimir in my last review were answered, and it feels obvious now this is where they were leading. Up to now, Qimir had been a throw away character, but we know all characters serve a purpose. But is he really a Sith? His eyes aren’t yellow. Neither were Dooku’s, but Dooku never considered himself a Sith.
Qimir seems like a wannabe Sith, much like Kylo Ren. Having said that, he seems super powerful. Maybe too powerful? He dealt with Jedi almost as easily as Sidious in Revenge of the Sith. Sol is familiar with Qimir but how so hasn’t been made clear yet. Something tells me Sol has a dark past that he’s keeping buried. The deaths of Yord and Jecki were huge surprises, especially Jecki. She could’ve been a fan favorite if given the time.
Props to Amandla Stenberg for portraying Mae and Osha and giving them their own distinct personalities. One has to wonder how Sol didn’t detect that it was Mae talking to him at the end and not Osha. Osha and Mae are the embodiment of light and dark, and I’m fully expecting this to become fact by the end of the series. I’m also loving the Easter eggs to the rest of Star Wars. Certain references and lines of dialogue like Mae saying, “They’ve turned you against me.” Mae is the Anakin we know; Osha is the Anakin of what could’ve been.
Some criticisms are towards the editing and the set design. In the beginning, how could Osha walk through the woods and not immediately see the lightsaber battle right in front of her? The forest is dark, and you have multicolored bright lightsabers 50 feet away. I found some of the situations to be very convenient. When one person was about to get chopped in two, a blade would suddenly appear blocking it, and the sets looked like they’re from a tv series, but I feel like most of those things can be overlooked. It is Star Wars, and we all know they like to rely on simplicity and not having to explain too much. If it’s not important to the story, don’t worry about it.
With the losses of Kelnacca, Jecki, and Yord. All eyes are on Sol, Osha/Mae and The Stranger.
Sander de Lange looks at all the reveals and easter eggs in The Acolyte – The Guide: Episode 5 ‘Night’.
Mark Mulcaster and Mark Newbold discuss the fifth episode on Making Tracks Reaction Chat: The Acolyte S1 Ep5 – ‘Night’.
