The Acolyte – Teach/Corrupt Review

Something is rotten in the Jedi Order. At least that’s the major conclusion I’ve come to following “Teach/Corrupt,” a much quieter episode than past installments of The Acolyte, but one that – from its title to the conversations contained within – was designed to make sure we began to question just who might have the right idea when it comes to the Force and wonder if perhaps Master Vernestra has a different set of goals than the rest of the Order.

Now, that last bit wasn’t a major reveal, it was more implied, but it’s been implied throughout the series thus far. Vernestra has been keeping a tight lid on the search for Mae. She hasn’t been particularly thrilled that Osha was back on the scene. And she wasn’t particularly happy that Sol was going on this particular mission. She’s been chatting about keeping the Council out the loop and is talking to Senators about how to keep the Senate out of Jedi business. She’s playing politics and trying to control the narrative when it comes to Mae’s murder spree. She’s trying to hold things together so that no one figures out what’s going on or looks too closely. So, what is she trying to hide or control? We know that the party line of the Jedi Council in 200 years time is that no Sith has been seen in a thousand years, so either there’s a cover-up coming (which is my guess) or no one is coming out of this story alive (which would make it hard for that second season Leslye Headland has mentioned hoping for).

A cover-up makes sense here – if Vernestra survives the series, she is going to want to ensure that her mistakes don’t follow her as well. What happened on Brendock – presumably the Jedi having a hand in the deaths of the coven and leaving Mae behind – likely wasn’t a rushed decision. Rather, perhaps it was Vernestra making the call, telling Indara to take Osha, leave Mae, and destroy the coven so that their type of Force use was destroyed with them. Perhaps Qimir is her old Padawan who tapped into the darker side of the Force and she was forced to remove him – or perhaps she was tempted as well, and removed him to keep her own place in the Order. I mean, that scar on his back looked a bit like a whip scar, and the show was very keen to demonstrate Vernestra’s unique lightsaber this week. Plus, she looked awfully worried about Mae’s fighting style in that holo they had of her. Maybe she saw someone’s training in her fighting that hit a bit close to home? And personally, I love a story of a morally gray character doing things one doesn’t initially expect.* Vernestra being the source of everything? Well, that would be the perfect set-up to show how the rot within the Jedi Order began to fester long before Anakin took his first steps to the Dark Side. A Jedi Master trusted by all, in the Order and outside of it, being willing and able to orchestrate a cover-up like this, send away a Padawan knowing he’s playing with the darker side of the Force, and being aware he’s out there, still, waiting? That’s a heck of an arc.

*Vernestra being our linchpin character also fits with “Law and Order Rules,” which states that the most famous character – usually actor, but here, only one character on the series has been seen before in other High Republic stories – is the killer. While Vernestra certainly didn’t kill anyone on Brendock, her being behind the order that did tracks. And her being Qimir’s old Master tracks. And her being responsible for a future cover-up also tracks. She’s our link.

Now I just wish the rest of the episode was as intriguing as these Vernestra revelations. We got Sol finally figuring out he’s got Mae and not Osha on board, which took him awhile – proving Qimir’s point that Osha has the Force strength, not Sol – but all that led to was a set-up for the big Brendock revelation next week. The conversations with Osha and Qimir were more enlightening, in that we saw he’s not a power hungry Sith a la the Emperor. Rather, he’s a Sith who wants his apprentice to complete the Rule of Two (give that a Google if you want to know more about it). Which, sure, if you see the Sith as the bad guys, that’s not great. But, after all the foreshadowing that the Jedi have been doing some pretty awful things for the past 20 or so years, well, maybe the Sith – at least now, when they aren’t trying to take over the universe – might not be all that different than the Jedi in terms of moral right and wrong? At least there’s an argument to be made, which is what the series has been pushing since its opening sequence – perhaps the Jedi aren’t as completely good as they want the universe to think. And at what point does doing the “right” thing bleed into doing the “right” thing to help your side of the equation at the expense of others. And what makes you “right?” What gives you that moral high ground?

It’s a big question – one asked, essentially, by Qimir throughout the last two episodes. Was it right to take him and Osha from their families – and, in Osha’s case, perhaps kill hers – and then toss them away when they didn’t fit the exact mold needed? These were children who were then left with nothing. Osha appears to have made a go at a normal life, but she was still emotionally scarred by the entire experience. Qimir? Well, he leaned into his anger and hatred of those who spurned him and turned himself into someone stronger than the Jedi. So, why isn’t he right? The Jedi took everything from him, why can’t he wield the Force as he wants? I honestly don’t know if there’s a good answer to that question from the Jedi point of view other than that they are right, full stop. And that really doesn’t cut it.

We know how this story has to end. The Jedi will have to corral Qimir in some way, stopping him, containing him, erasing him. But the questions he’s sparked – both with the characters on the show and in the fandom (toxic as it might be) – will linger. And that is interesting. But the episode ultimately left me a bit cold – from a writing standpoint, from a narrative structure standpoint, and from a pacing standpoint. I like this story being told within the lore of Star Wars, but the execution is choppy, the dialogue is stilted, and the pacing is so incredibly slow. I want to see where this ends up, I want to see how they sweep this breach of the Jedi Order under the rug – while, of course, the Sith continue to function, but I just wish the series was more polished while taking us to that final act.