Warning: Spoilers follow for Episode 3 of The Acolyte.
The third episode of The Acolyte raised one big question for Star Wars fans, but according to series creator Leslye Headland, there is no clear-cut answer to it.
Episode 3, 'Destiny', pivots 16 years into the past to fill in the details about the tragic journey of Osha and Mae. We meet the twins' mothers, Koril and Aniseya, and learn that Koril was responsible for bringing "those girls into the world" and that she "carried them" while Aniseya "created them."
Some characters believe certain things and other characters believe other things.
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However, fans were particularly interested to know what Koril meant when she asked, "What happens if the Jedi discover how you created them?" The dialogue suggests there is more to their existence than meets the eye, leading to questions about their creation, but Headland has indicated the answer is not so straightforward.
"If you keep watching the show, we do talk about that and explore that," Headland teased in a recent interview with Entertainment Weekly about the flashback episode. "I would say there isn't one answer to it. Some characters believe certain things and other characters believe other things in terms of what she means by that. So you're going to have to watch and decide which side of that argument you're on."
Aniseya confirms during an exchange with Jedi Master Indara (who returns for the flashback episode after suffering a fatal blow last week) that "there is no father" in Osha and Mae's origin, which prompted fans to draw parallels between the twins and Anakin Skywalker despite there still being some differences between them.
— StarWarsTheory (@realswtheory) June 12, 2024
— Poundmé Amidala (@realistSTRAYZ) June 12, 2024Anakin was created by the Force itself and is the Chosen One. He was still special. We still don't know how Osha and Mae were created, likely through some arduous ritual.
Also the Jedi were presented as good and well intentioned in this episode. No one is painted as the villain
I don’t think they will have been created in a literal sense by the mother character. the whole two as one thing. I think osha and Mae were once one and they did some sort of nasty ritual and Mae is basically the darkness separated from Osha
— ClinicallyAnnoyed (@Spaced_Cherry) June 12, 2024
Anakin is the Chosen One; Osha & Mae (& Rey) were all created through interference with the Force, whereas Anakin was created purely by the Force.
— QG Jenna 🖤 (@QuiGonJenna) June 12, 2024
Osha and Mae aren't the chosen one's. They weren't created by the force, they were created using the force. Two very different things. Anakin is also not supposed to be the only product. If it were, the council would not have been so skeptical about him being the chosen one.
— Elle Crits (@ElleCrits) June 12, 2024
the Osha/Anakin parallels continue to both excite and terrify me. #TheAcolyte pic.twitter.com/DHr428Te1u
— prank sinatra (@KyloCool630) June 12, 2024
It also had people thinking that the show is threading in a connection to Palpatine's master, Darth Plagueis — a powerful Sith Lord who could use the Force to influence midi-chlorians to spawn beings. Some viewers think Plagueis may have had a direct hand in creating Osha and Mae, and others believe the twin's existence acted as a potential catalyst for him to experiment with midi-chlorian manipulation.
— K Ivy (@Ivyman_FF) June 12, 2024Alright, Acolyte theory time…
Qimir and Mae are apprentice to Darth Plaguesis who created Mae & Osha.
Plaguesis was the original Sith rumored to have ability to create life. It was inferred that Osha & Mae were born in a peculiar way with no father..
Have you ever heard the story of darth plagous the wise? He created OSHA and MAE. #starwars
— Dr. X III (@DrXavierDM) June 12, 2024
Also, not saying that the Sith in this series is Plagueis (could be Tenebrous or someone else) but he will trace his knowledge of Midi-chlorian manipulation back to the Brendok coven.
— QG Jenna 🖤 (@QuiGonJenna) June 12, 2024
I'd thought of this, I also thought of how it might tie in a bit to Ahsoka's series if they intend to explore The Mother. I feel like both this coven and the nightsisters practice a form of connection to the force that allows them to manipulate life itself (creation/reanimation).
— Amber (@AmberVeee) June 12, 2024
I definitely think we’re seeing something related to Darth Plagueis in this episode. Perhaps the witches have made some sort of deal with him but I think the Sith are involved with Osha & Mae’s birth. #TheAcolyte #TheAcolyteSpoilers
— Andy Peachey (@Andy_peachey) June 12, 2024
— Harris Peskin for democracy (@HarrisPeskin) June 12, 2024ACOLYTE SPOILERS:
So Plagueis is 100% showing up right?
"Holy sh*t Aniseya 'created' the twins? She can create life like Plagueis?" one person quizzed on Reddit, to which another person quipped in response: "Did you ever hear the tragedy of Aniseya the Wise?"
"I am certain that, based on the timeline and whats going on here, there were conversations about Plageuis," a third person added. "We'll see if it ends up in the show or not but there's no way they didn't think about it."
The Acolyte sparked Darth Plageuis theories long before it premiered, as people wondered whether the show's placement in the Star Wars timeline (100 years before the events of The Phantom Menace) would allow the story to explore Plagueis' origins and the rumblings of the Sith leading into the prequels.
There was no further word on the identity of Mae's Sith 'Master' this week, but the latest installment still gave fans plenty to unpack. IGN's review notes that Episode 3 "adds a lot of tantalizing new layers to how we perceive both the Jedi and the Force, even as there are still frustrating aspects to how the story is told."
Adele Ankers-Range is a freelance entertainment writer for IGN. You can follow her on X/Twitter here.
