Editor’s Note: The following contains spoilers for ‘The Acolyte’ Episode 7.
Given the lighter tone and idealistic themes,Star Warshas a reputation for having a very black and white sense of morality. That said, the series has not been afraid to shy away from broader social commentary on select occasions and Episode 7 ofThe Acolyteremains one of the most interesting commentaries upon the Jedi since the prequel trilogy two full decades ago. Rather thantackling political themesin the style of the films, the journey of the Jedi to Brendok and their encounter with the witches residing theretouches upon many flaws of their order, which would become more prominent in the following decades.
Aside from the moreexplicit prequel referencesin the show,the Jedi of this era display the same issues with emotional attachmentthat defines the rigid nature of their order, especially through Sol (Lee Jung-jae) and his genuine desire to help others. After disaster follows, the decision by Master Indara (Carrie-Anne Moss) to cover up the incident hints at just how decentralized the order has become under a High Council that remains too distant from the problems of the galaxy. With the bond between Osha and Mae (Amandla Stenberg) and their different perceptions of the Jedi as an institution and group, the episode sheds further light upon the dangers of trying to train children without another parental figure to guide them, which proves decisive in the corruption of Anakin Skywalker (Hayden Christensen) more than a century later.
The Acolyte
The Acolyte is a mystery-thriller that will take viewers into a galaxy of shadowy secrets and emerging dark-side powers in the final days of the High Republic era. A former Padawan reunites with her Jedi Master to investigate a series of crimes, but the forces they confront are more sinister than they ever anticipated.
Even the Greatest Jedi in ‘The Acolyte’ Struggle With Attachment
When Obi Wan Kenobi (Alec Guinness) reminisces about the Jedi Order during the original film, he describes them as being paragons of virtue, but the truth is never so simple. From the beginning,The Acolytewas intended to serve as a deconstruction of the Jedi duringthe High Republic Era, when the order was at its prime. Even during this relatively peaceful time, however,the code of the Jedi still has a major flawthat arguably leads to more tragedy and suffering for everyone involved. The biggest reveal of episode seven is how attached Sol becomes to Osha even after their first meeting, intervening against the witches of Brendok over the stern warning of Indara.
This form of attachment is portrayed in more than one way, showing the Jedi and this new group are not quite as different as they might like to think. Despite the fact that Osha chooses to be a Jedi by her own choice, Mother Koril (Margarita Levieva) prefers to die and risk killing most of her own coven rather than give their children to the Jedi, viewing them as a threat to their own future. However justified her beliefs aboutthe cultural appropriation of the Jedimight be, this very human impulse creates only tragedy for everyone involved. Even masters, like Sol, deeply struggle with this problem,which creates an insurmountable standardthat Osha and many others cannot ever meet.
Perhaps nobody in the order knows the difficulty of this barrier than Anakin, whose own trauma leaves him with an obsessive fear of loss. We’ve already seen Jedi like Yord (Charlie Barnett) come off as beingarrogant with their own beliefs, but Anakin combines this with unprecedented power to create an existential threat to the Jedi Order itself when he falls. Notably, Anakin himself is aware of this flaw and even goes to Yoda for help,but his dismissive and casual attitude towards death feels foreign to Anakin, who has the passionate desire inherent to all human beings. While it’s true that the Sith force their members to sacrifice their humanity, the same is true of the Jedi in different ways, and it leads viewers to question if what they are fighting for is worth such an exchange.
In the Late Republic Era, the Jedi High Council Is Shockingly Insulated
To his credit, Sol is the first one to take responsibility for his mistakes, which is why he has the maturity to become a master in the first place. The response by Indara, however, to suppress what happened on Brendok displays both an unhealthy concern withthe political image of the Jedi, but also speaks to their disorganization as an institution. Given how much they are based on Coruscant, it’s only natural that the Jedi would become more disconnected from the rest of the galaxy as the Republic expands in size. As the Jedi begin to grow themselves,they have become increasingly unable to control many of their individuals, making the chance of a corruption story like Anakin almost inevitable. By the time of the prequel trilogy,their involvement with political systemsin the declining Republic, even discounting the fact that it was led by the Sith, makes this issue even worse. Like any government or institution that grows too large for its own good, both the Jedi and the Republic begin their codependent relationship and decline when they can no longer support their own moral foundations.
Another factor that should be noted is how the Jedi and the Sith have been dependent upon each other for most of their history, especially since the Jedi are heavily implied to haveunwittingly created the Siththrough their own dogmatic views. Ironically, one could argue thatthe supposed destruction of the Sith was the worst thing to ever happen to the Jedi, since it caused them to become stagnant and left serving the Republic as their only remaining purpose. Consequently, the reemergence of the Sith for an order so focused upon peacekeeping missions leaves the Jedi unable to counter their eventual return. As peacekeepers, the Jedi are left in a role they remain unfit to serve, to the point where even the aristocratic Dooku (Christopher Lee) is shocked bytheir bias towards helping only the rich and powerfulover more vulnerable people. This moral decline accelerates when the Clone Wars begin, as it ultimately leaves many Jedi either spiritually broken or simply dead. By the time Order 66 and the subsequent purge wiped out most of the order, the Jedi had long become a shadow of their former selves.
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There’s No Way Around It, the Jedi Put Their Padawans in Harm’s Way
One of the most controversial elements of the Jedi Order is their refusal to train anyone who is older than a teenager, with only rare exceptions. Part of this is to serve their ideals of attachment, where it arguably becomes a necessity for the order itself to actually function. Had such a rule not been enforced, it could be argued that many cases like that of Anakin would have occurred because of their restrictive standards. Although the exact reason she failed her training was unclear,Osha clearly remains traumatized by the events of her childhood, making her particularly susceptible to boththe charisma of Qimirand the overall Sith message about embracing her primal emotions.
Even among those who can cope well with the Jedi philosophy, the order has still treated their Padawans as merely collateral damage, which is best shownby an unexpected twistin an episode already full of them. After Yord and Jecki (Dafne Keen) are killed during their fight on Khofar, Sol condemns Qimir (Manny Jacinto) for this action, but the dark warrior simply asks why the Jedi would place their own children at risk in the first place. Although there are some families who willingly offer their children to the Jedi in the hope of giving them a better life,many of them are ironically placed in more danger by joining the Jedithan they might have been otherwise. When Mae confronts her twin sister about joining the Jedi, she argues that their way of life is not worth fighting for, and it now seems like Osha has been more willing to consider this possibility.
By the time we get to the Clone Wars over a century later, Anakin becomes the poster child for why attempting to train children is a bad idea. While his case is unique, since the Jedi arguably had no other choice if they wanted to prevent him from being claimed by the resurgent Sith, his life on Tatooine is a crucial part of his downfall. Since the Jedi never freed his enslaved mother,Anakin never fully embraces the Jedi as his own familyand constantly seeks validation elsewhere. Initially his biggest supporter, the death of Qui-Gon Jinn (Liam Neeson) on Naboochanged history in more ways than oneand served as the first step that leads Anakin down a darker path. Without a source of guidance, he eventually turned to Palpatine (Ian McDiarmid) to fulfill this role, and we all know what happened from there.
The Acolyteairs Tuesdays on Disney+ in the U.S.
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