#StarWars #theacolyte #acolyteshow #breakdown #acolytebreakdown #episode5 #acolytetheory #Night
Episode 5 of the acolyte is here and boy is there a lot to get through, so let’s get straight into it! We begin the episode with Osha as she wakes up and we immediately see our first jedi casualty. We see the Sith lord take on a full squad of jedi and the lightsabers flashing against each other is a really nice sight to see, briefly reminding me of Palpatine’s own fight with the jedi council, albeit that scene was a lot shorter. We see the Kel Dor jedi by the name of Ithia Paan go down first, and in the next shot we see the sith lord block two jedi attacks using his armored arm and helmet which cause the jedi lightsabers to flicker out. The reason why the jedi lightsabers flicker out is likely because the sith’s armour is probably made out of cortosis. Cortosis is a metal with high energy absorption rates which meant that when it came into contact with lightsaber, the lightsaber would momentarily be shorted out. This was something original introduced in legends but did later appear in canon in the Thrawn novels and the Aphra comics. It takes a bit of time for the lightsabers to turn back on, but when they do the jedi jump back in and are promptly cut down. We get this cool moment where the sith impales one jedi and pulls another jedi in with the force to impale him as well. And I have to say the choreography here is quite interesting. You see unlike the way Palpatine fights the jedi council, with more precise and deadly moves, the sith lord here fights more like a sith warrior. Someone with boundless aggression and energy. Which makes a lot of sense for the character as unlike Palpatine who has been in the company of Coruscant elite, this sith lord has been living on the fringes of society. And so it makes perfect sense that he would fight more like a wild animal that a sophisticated duelist. What I also like about this choreography is that it does show hints of the flashy twirly lightsaber style you get in the prequels, just a friendly reminder of what time period we are in.
The sith lord tries to strike Yord down, but Osha distracts him by attempting to stun, and the reason why this doesn’t really work is likely also because of the cortosis armour. Mae decides to pick up Kalnacca’s lightsaber and as Osha runs, Sol saves her from the sith lord’s saber. The three trees collapsing was also a pretty neat touch. Sol sends Osha back to the ship with Yord escorting, and they find Bazil leading the way. Sol and the sith lord face of, and there is a moment where Sol asks who the sith lord is, and the sith lord remarks that Sol doesn’t remember him, more on that later. Sol also says that the sith lord carries a jedi weapon but that he is no jedi. Which is a line quite reminiscent of Qui Gon’s own reflection on his first encounter with the sith. Its also quite in line with the idea that the jedi have gradually started to forget who the sith are, a development that deepens by the time we reach the phantom menace.
Jecki and Mae encounter each other and we get a padawan vs acolyte duel with Jecki the upper hand most of the time. Jecki manages to get one of Mae’s hand handcuffed but when she tries to state the reason for arrest, Mae takes advantage of this by throwing her off. And as much as it was a silly decision for Jecki to do so without first securing Mae, in many ways it reflects her inexperience as well as the naivety of the jedi, something which is further explored later.
Sol tries to get the sith lord to reveal his identity once more, asking what sort of master hides his face from his pupil, to which the sith lord throws the question right back at him by saying (scene). Again another hint that what happened that night with the witches is not at all what it seems. And in a way the sith lord is also using that incident to destabilize Sol, something which kinda works.
Yord and Osha reflect on who their assailant is, and Yord states that he doesn’t know. That the sith lord doesn’t follow the rules of combat, there’s no method to his movements, and get into your head. Again, a lot of this familiarity has to do with the fact that the jedi have been the only lightsaber wielding faction for so long that they have no idea what it is like to fight a Sith. It very likely also reflects the idea that what the jedi taught in the temple has likely evolved away from heavy lightsaber to lightsaber combat which is why the jedi are so grossly outmatched here. Jecki manages to get the upper hand and catch Mae, and retrieve Kalnacca’s saber. But the sith lord arrives and engages her in a duel...