I think someone got Sol, Torbin and Mae all riled up as all of them went over the top otherwise it seems like a lot of folks had to act kind of crazy. We saw Kotril encourage Mae to get angry, but why would she even consider killing Osha? I still think Sol becoming instantly obsessed with the twins being in serious danger based on what he witnessed of them in the forest doesn't make much logical sense - as what he witnessed was innocuous apart from the Force use. And Torbin's excuse seems too absurd to be real, and the fact he was on that planet for 7 weeks and Indara never explained why seems like he was being gaslit.

We know the Jedi can soothe people and creatures, one assumes a Force user could also inflame people and creatures the same way.

If Indara and Kotril end up visiting Qimir next episode, Indara in her Sith robes, Kotril in her Sith witch garb, and Qimir as the founder of the Knights of Ren - and we find out that this whole thing was a scheme to get Osha or Mae as their version of Anakin, I would be totally on board. (With Indara having riled up Sol and Torbin, and maybe even Kelnacca before he jumped from the ship - and Indara being the first to "die" would make sense in that plot - see if Mae is able to go though with it.)

Kotril manipulates the Coven, Indara the Jedi, Qimir the twins...

Otherwise, the Jedi do not come across too great in this in a lot of ways.

In the Jedis defense the council did say leave them be. Sol is the one who loses it oh and the Game of Thrones kid. He has the excuse for being too young and the witch lady "inflaming" his natural desire to leave. Which also basically works in that her intention of sowing dissent amongst the Jedi doesn't really work in her favor in the long run. Underscoring the tragedy of the events. Everyone is their worst enemy in the end. To be fair if Sol had stuck more to the Jedi teaching things likely go better. He's the cop that knowingly "turns off his body cam".

Posted by: @prophet

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By the way Sol or writers of Sol’s character use the Force to suspend the girls and forget about the broken bridge. What a joke of a Jedi master.

I thought the exact same thing. But it's so dramatic! He has to make a choice! Just lazy writing. The whole way things went down with the twins is so rushed and dumb. Almost immediately after discovering them on what was thought to be an uninhabited planet, it's agreed they're in mortal danger?

Anyway, I don't want to belabor from the points made in the posts above. A pretty disappointing episode, overall. 

I think it's gotta be setting up that the horned mother has some big role to be unveiled in the final episode. Or worse yet, the members of the coven are still alive ...

@derrabbi I agree and your post is full of gold. I also never realized that kid was on GOT. Damn!

Posted by: @ru1977

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I totally get the perspective of the Jedi, just don't see them as blameless heroes in any way here. I don't see Sol as ever being in the right either. He interprets things he sees and always acts on his assumptions, despite what the council orders or what Indara tells him. He always leads with emotion, which I'm led to believe is a big Jedi no-no. And yeah, he sees Aniseya turning into smoke, and is turning Mae into smoke as well... that seems like she's killing Mae? Doing the same thing to the girl she's doing to herself? Nah, Sol is just a galactic-class shmuck and I agree with you that he is also a murderer. All of that equals one of the worst Jedi shown on screen. And you say his selfish actions resulted in... him saving one of the girls? Neither would have ever been in any danger had he minded his own business and not interfered with another culture. Mae, a child, said 'sacrifice', and you, along with the Jedi, interpreted that in a way that gave permission to act any way they felt was necessary. The ritual is still a mystery and the end result the witches were hoping for isn't clear yet. I still don't see how Sol was justified in charging in and doing however he pleased. The dumbass can't even tell the girls apart despite his supposed connection with the one he manipulated into going along with his plans.

And I'm sure if someone broke into my home, twice, and told me they have the right to coerce one of my children into running away with them, I'd be anxious to explain to them "Oh, sure, yeah my kid is packed and ready to go." Come off it.

If you've found yourself taking the position that it's unheroic to rescue children from the law-breaking Witch cult who you believe intend them harm, in order to justify bad writing in a show...you might need to take a step back. You can still like The Acolyte while accepting this episode botched its theme. Because it did. The show is as subtle as a hammer. In an alternate reality, with a normal plot and better characters, this message would work. Here - it doesn't. The show wants to frame the Jedi as in the wrong. From the Jedi perspective they saw wierd cult of witches, their hostility, Mae talks of sacrifice and the mother turning into a demon cloud, vaporizing her daughter.

Witches practice Dark Side, have already mind-raped Torbin and Jedi have reason to believe they were performing wierd ritual on the children (including branding and  sacrificing them). Aniseya was planning to let Osha choose (sure she will), but she was about to be overruled by Korall anyway.

But hey, I guess the best way to de-escalate a situation is to randomly transform into a demon cloud and start to disintegrate my children.

The show is clearly showing both sides misunderstanding the other. The limitations of both their world views and ways of relating to the force with tragic consequences.

@derrabbi that seems way too sensible for this discussion. Seriously, what you're saying is what the non-subtle episode portrayed, but sometimes a person's perception is the only acceptable interpretation.

Since the finale is coming up now, my son agreed to slow binge with me. Two a day. As much as I enjoyed it initially, rewatching is even better.

Posted by: @fac

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I know this may be nit-picky but I disliked the lines "Factory reset" and "Take the wheel". Like we discussed before, I feel some lines seem too colloquial and just slightly take me out of the show. Memory wipe and take the controls are right there as Star Wars-y lines.

I feel the same about some of the names they give characters.  Yeah, yeah 'Luke' this, 'Luke' that; but 'Tobias Beckett' simply ain't a name from a long time ago in a galaxy far, far away.  Toby Beckett is that coal-rolling asshole down the street blaring that shitty bro-Country noise as he drives by.

I'm sure this will enrage some but io9 did an article comparing Jedi recruitment to colonialism. It's something I noticed as well since the Acolyte made me think a lot about when they'd snatch Native kids from their families to assimilate through boarding schools, or even offering them up for adoption by white families. I think that was mostly in Canada. 

https://gizmodo.com/the-acolyte-star-wars-colonialism-jedi-2000473519

or like the X-men school

I suppose if your kid has special abilities he would need to learn to control them?

The Boys are similar yet very rated R to when powers go awry.

The article does a great job of explaining, but it's pretty clear if you are already aware of how missionaries reacted to Native people all over the world. Cultural tattoos and practices were 'evil' and only the missionaries knew the right way for these children to be raised and practice their beliefs. It's definitely the most fascinating aspect of the show so far.

I think that's a bit of stretch, in part because I feel that it undersells the real-life issue and also I don't think there is evidence the Jedi were trying to gain power over these cultures (in fact, The Acolyte more than any SW media kind of makes the Jedi seem like the Federation from Trek - doing science, gaining knowledge, etc. - but trying to not interfere too much) I don't think as portrayed the Jedi are interested in breaking the culture, but extracting who they thought were exceptional. 

The policy behind the boarding schools was due to a belief that breaking the culture of the Native Americans would result in them assimilating into the US and Canada and end some of the conflicts among the government and the tribes (schools existed in the US like this as well FYI). "Kill the Indian in him, and save the man." This was mostly a political policy as the US continued to marginalize the tribes to smaller and less valuable land, and hoped they would dissipate on their own...

@fac I get what you're saying, and maybe it isn't entirely a one to one metaphor, but it seems like it's still what they were going for. The article makes more of a connection with missionaries who felt morally justified in tell other cultures how to practice beliefs,and immediately seeing 'other' as far as not only religious practices but also tattoos and clothing, as wrong or even evil.

Honestly, it's what I immediately thought of during the flashbacks. They have no hesitation and expressed their 'right' to do it, even after forcing their way into the Witch's home and interrupting a sacred ceremony. Everything that isn't their way is 'dark side'.

So... I don't know if I can get next to that analogy Ru...   or at least not from the Jedi's intent based on how Indara played it in this show.      The Jedi were on a planet they believed to be uninhabited according to all intel to explore abnormal readings and a possible vergence of unexplained origin.

When they encountered people - who again, according to all available information weren't known to be there - their instinct wasn't to snatch the children, but to learn.    And one of the force powerful children was, in fact, reaching out to them with curiosity.      Are you saying they should have ignored that completely?

Even then -  Indara's instinct wasn't to take the child away from her home.   It was her instruction to leave it alone.   Others were maniupulated -  either through their own desires and biases or by forces still as yet not fully explained - into more direct intervention which led to conflict.   It was only once the conflict had been initiated that Indara became involved to achieve the best outcome available from there.

But it doesn't appear that the Jedi ethos was to snatch the children away regardless of the wishes of their community.      Had Indara been heeded in the first place, the twins would have been left with their coven and who knows how things would have played out.    But my guess is -  with the vergence and their powers growing -  Darth Smiley would have found them regardless and the coven's fate would have been sealed and the twins destiny' would have been similar though not exactly the same certainly.

I think in general the Jedi weren't snatching kids.    I think probably parents with force sensitive kids found themselves with their hands full and might even have been grateful to the Jedi for offering to train them.  Some might have been honored.    I doubt the Jedi just went around stealing babies from unwilling parents.    We don't have any evidence to suggest that.     Not even in this instance, actually, as Mother Aniseya's dying words are that she was going to let Osha go with the Jedi.