‘The Acolyte’ finale ending and cameos explained

Warning: This article contains spoilers about the episode 8 finale of Star Wars: The Acolyte.

Everything was turned upside down heading into the July 16th season 1 finale of The Acolyte. Mae (Amandla Stenberg) went undercover as her sister Osha (also Stenberg) only to be discovered by the man she wanted to kill, Master Sol (Lee Jung-jae). Meanwhile, Osha was making nice with the mysterious Stranger (Manny Jacinto), who had just slain multiple Jedi right in front of her face. She even tried on his creepy helmet, which was probably not the best sign of her direction moving forward.

We also finally got answers about what happened on Brendok, learning that it was Sol who actually killed the twins’ Mother Aniseya (Jodie Turner-Smith) and that the Jedi — not Mae — were responsible for the death of the entire coven. Whoops!

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So how would all these twists and turns impact what happened in the finale? We now have our answers, plus some new questions.

All the big players in the finale eventually converged at the sight of the alleged vergence — Brendok. Sol and the Stranger engaged in an epic battle that ended when Sol destroyed the Sith’s lightsaber. But after Mae joined the scrum, Sol admitted to killing the twins’ mother. This confession was overheard by his biggest defender, Osha. So distraught over the news, Osha shockingly Force-choked her former master to death, doing so after Mae chose to spare his life so that he could face the consequences of his action.

The move completed Osha’s turn to the dark side, the blue Kyber crystal in Sol’s lightsaber turning red when in her hands. Eventually, Osha agreed to become the Stranger’s apprentice if he would let Mae go, and the Sith wiped Mae’s memory so she could not lead the Jedi to them.

After being arrested, Mae was brought to Master Vanestra (Rebecca Henderson), who explained that the Jedi would do everything in their power to make up for Sol’s crimes, but she needed her assistance tracking down “a pupil of mine before he turned to evil” — a revelation that the Stranger was indeed a former Jedi Padawan.

The intrigue did not end there, for after lying to members of the Senate and saying that Sol had been a rogue Jedi who killed all his former accomplices on Brendok and then took his own life, Vanestra still had to contend with Senator Rayencourt (David Harewwood), who once again pushed for an external review of the Jedi, a group he painted as “a massive system of unchecked power, posing as a religion — a delusional cult that claims to control the uncontrollable.”

The final scene showed Vanestra entering the chambers of a famous Jedi Master short in stature, yet with big green ears, and saying, “Sorry to disturb you master. We need to talk.” Yoda, it was.

Yoda’s appearance makes sense in the Star Wars timeline in that he is hundreds of years old, and is also a character that has shown up sporadically in the High Republic novels of this era. In a way, his complete absence narratively would have been more surprising that his appearance. If The Acolyte is to receive a second season, this would seem to hint that Yoda would be more involved. Whether Yaddle (who also appears in the High Republic novels) is also on the horizon would seem to be a possibility as well. Or at last we are trying to wish it into existence.

But it was an earlier appearance from the dark side that will have fans truly buzzing. When Mae and the Stranger first took off from the uncharted planet for Brendok, a shadowy figure emerged from the cave to look out at the duo. His identity was not confirmed, but his appearance bore a striking resemblance to Darth Plagueis.

The story of Darth Plagueis the Wise was famously told by Chancellor Palpatine to Anakin Skywalker at the space opera in Revenge of the Sith.  Plagueis was obsessed with immortality, attempting to manipulate midi-chlorians to create life… and cheat death. However, he was killed by his apprentice, Palpatine, before he could fully unlock the secrets. A Muun with a long thin face, Plagueis’ story is told in full detail in the excellent Darth Plagueis novel. However, that book is no longer considered canon, meaning a new backstory could be created on season 2 of The Acolyte, if that is even indeed Plagueis.

And if a possible Plagueis vs. Yoda battle could be brewing, then season 2 cannot get here soon enough.