All good things must come to an end, but in the case of The Acolyte Season 1, there are still a few questions to answer first. The series’ latest episode, “Choice,” addressed one of its bigger mysteries: what truly happened on Brendock, and why is Sith-in-training Mae (Amandla Stenberg) hunting members of the Jedi Order? The episode essentially flipped the series’ cat-and-mouse game on its head. Frustratingly, though, The Acolyte is still withholding the major mystery of how Mae and her twin sister Osha (also Stenberg) were created, and for what purpose.
Mae and Osha’s origins have become one of The Acolyte’s more polarizing topics. The series’ first flashback in Episode 3 strongly implied that they were created with the Force, an idea that drew parallels to another Star Wars character, Anakin Skywalker. Episode 7 doubled down by revealing that the twins’ genetic makeup is exactly the same, making them an anomaly. Osha’s future Jedi Master, Sol (Lee Jung-jae), naturally wonders how this was possible. “Where did they come from?” he asks his colleagues. “How were they created?”
“Choice” comes to an end before that question can be answered, and with only one episode remaining, there’s a sense that The Acolyte won’t have time to thoroughly explore Mae and Osha’s origins. Showrunner Leslye Headland acknowledged the series is taking a risk juggling so many mysteries, but in a recent interview, she also tried to put fans’ anxieties to rest, at least where Mae and Osha are concerned.
The Acolyte’s season finale has a lot of ground to cover... and it may not get to all of it. Headland is reportedly keen to save a few unanswered questions for a second season, but she assured The Nerdist that Mae and Osha’s origins will be covered in The Acolyte’s upcoming season finale. When asked whether Sol’s curiosity would finally be satisfied, Headland’s answer was coy: “Well… uh… tune in next week.”
“We definitely aren’t going to leave you hanging,” Headland said. “You do a show like this, you take a lot of risks, you don’t really save a lot of those types of questions for Season 2. There are a lot of things you do save for a Season 2, but that kind of question is not one of them.”
When we last saw Sol, he and Mae were on the way to find Qimir (Manny Jacinto), the Sith master who trained Mae and is hoping to convert Osha to his side. Maybe Qimir learned how the twins were created, and he’ll reveal everything in the finale. But regardless of how it happens, The Acolyte will at least close that chapter.
The series’ other mysteries — like Qimir’s own origins and his plans for Osha — may be saved for Season 2. Headland teased “a couple of things” in the finale that “intimate” Qimir’s true role, but otherwise, Episode 8 seems to be focused on Mae and Osha’s future.
That would certainly align with previous comments Headland’s has made about Qimir. In a conversation with Inverse, Headland said the character was designed as a “tee-up” for a future story. But is saving that for Season 2 a good idea?
After all, The Acolyte has yet to be approved for a second season. “I don’t know when that decision will be made,” Headland told Nerdist. The showrunner said there have been “conversations,” but nothing concrete has emerged. Hopefully, the team will get the chance to continue this story. Otherwise, fans could be left hanging, and The Acolyte’s most challenging ideas could be abandoned altogether.
