The first two episodes of The Acolyte are now streaming on Disney+, and the second chapter, "Revenge/Justice," reveals some interesting new details about Dark-side warrior Mae's mission.
If you haven't watched yet, here's your spoiler warning.
Shortly after Mae dispatches Master Indara in the premiere, we learn that several other Jedi are on her kill list, and it later comes to light that she has very specific instructions when it comes to her method of assassination.
In episode 2, Qimir reminds Mae that the mysterious masked "Master" has ordered her to kill at least one of the Jedi without the use of a weapon. It was generally assumed that this was simply down to passing a test of skill, but there's a lot more to it.
"We do go into it in future episodes, but I don't mind talking to you about it in a general way," showrunner Leslye Headland tells GQ. "Essentially, in this time period, we wanted to be clear that Jedi would not attack unarmed people. That would just go against what their code was, at this particular time. They're not fighting battle droids. They're not fighting people with other lightsabers. It just feels like the Jedi would not resort to harming a person. Even if they were attacking them, they would just be like I am the stronger person in this fight, as we were saying about Master Sol in episode two."
"So I think that what Mae is doing and what killing without a lightsaber is alluding to is that it's a psychological fight," she continues. "It's trying to bait the Jedi into breaking their code. And if you can do that, then that's a stronger win. So Mae always tries that first, but because she's so undisciplined, she always takes out the knives because she's like, I want to kill these mother[frick]ers. So in the first two episodes, she's able to kill two Jedi with a weapon. But she's got two more Jedi [to kill]. So her aim is to kill one without a weapon. But she wants all of them to die."
In The Acolyte, an investigation into a shocking crime spree pits a respected Jedi Master (Lee Jung-jae) against a dangerous warrior from his past (Amandla Stenberg). As more clues emerge, they travel down a dark path where sinister forces reveal all is not what it seems.
The series stars Amandla Stenberg, Lee Jung-jae, Manny Jacinto, Dafne Keen, Charlie Barnett, Jodie Turner-Smith, Rebecca Henderson, Dean-Charles Chapman, Joonas Suotamo, and Carrie-Anne Moss.
Leslye Headland created the series, based on Star Wars by George Lucas, and serves as an executive producer along with Kathleen Kennedy, Simon Emanuel, Jeff F. King and Jason Micallef. Charmaine DeGraté and Kor Adana are the co-executive producers. Rayne Roberts, Damian Anderson, Eileen Shim and Rob Bredow are the producers.
Headland also directed the premiere episodes (Eps. 101 & 102). Directors Kogonada (Eps. 103 & 107), Alex Garcia Lopez (Eps. 104 & 105) and Hanelle Culpepper (Eps. 106 & 108) round out the directing duties on the series.
"I really wanted to tell a story about the Sith," showrunner Headland told EW in a recent interview. "That was kind of my dream Star Wars idea. But it felt like the time period to do that in would be something pre-Phantom Menace. That seemed to be the most interesting trajectory for the Sith: How did the Sith go from the Rule of Two and being quote-unquote 'extinct' to Palpatine coming into power without the Jedi knowing about it?"
Award-winning composer Michael Abels, known for his work on Get Out and Us, scored The Acolyte.