The Acolyte is about to end its first season run, and regardless of what some may say about the story, there’s no denying that the series has some great characters.
While some are better than others, here’s a list of the best Acolyte characters that have come out of the show's first season.
Mild Spoilers Ahead
6. Osha and Mae
Though having two characters in one slot is a cheat, Osha and Mae Aniseya come as a package, and Amandla Stenberg flawlessly plays both characters.
The two find themselves at the opposite ends of the Force spectrum, but as the series progresses, it’s clear that both characters are intelligent and capable. While Osha may be better on the social and technical side of things, Mae has made up for it with her Sith abilities and Force prowess.
What’s surprising is also that Mae still values her family and is ready to abandon her kill list when she learns that Osha survived.
5. Yord Fandar
One of Osha’s fellow padawan when she was still training with the Jedi, Yord is the textbook rule-follower who some fans thought was a bit trigger-happy for a Jedi Knight—always ready to pull out his lightsaber.
Despite his shortcomings, Yord had managed to amass a group of fans who have dubbed themselves as the ‘Yord Horde’ online, and they were all shocked to see the fate that Yorde eventually met under the hands of the Stranger.
Even though Yorde wasn’t the perfect Jedi, he was still capable of defending Osha when needed, and he was the only one smart enough to figure out how to use the cortosis helmet against the Stranger when they duelled.
4. Master Indara
Master Indara was killed in the first episode of The Acolyte, and fans were almost sure she was hiding something sinister that went down on Brendok.
In the episode Choice, it was revealed that Indara was actually the noblest member of her team, and she was against making contact with the coven and bringing in Mae and Osha for Jedi testing. She was also the one who was the most sensitive to other cultures and was quick to correct Sol when he referred to the coven’s powers as ‘dark magic’.
At this point, fans thought that Indara was innocent and didn’t deserve to be killed by Mae.
3. Jecki Lon
Considered by fans to be the ‘anti-Yorde’, Jecki was Sol’s most recent padawan who had proven exceptional for a Jedi her age. Not only was she smart, but she also had a tendency to keep people on their toes, even sometimes telling Sol himself to be careful of his attachments.
And, of course, it goes without saying that she was a fantastic duelist and provided one of the best lightsaber fights in all of Disney-era Star Wars. Fans can’t expect any less from Dafne Keen. After all, she did play X-23 in Logan.
2. Sol
Sol was one of the most celebrated characters from the very start of the show, being compared to fan favourites like Qui-Gon Jinn. He seemed like a wise Jedi master and wasn’t quick to judge Osha after the Jedi just wanted to arrest her.
After the episode Choice, fans agreed that Sol is one of the most complicated characters to come out of Star Wars. Sure, he’s all wise and caring now, but his younger self led to the incident on Brendok—and all because he wouldn’t listen to Indara when she told him to be mindful of his biases.
What’s worse is that he ended up killing Mother Aniseya out of panic, even if she was going to let Osha go with them just like Sol wanted.
It’s unclear what kind of arc Sol has in this show besides one that leads to death, but he will have to atone for what he’s done to Mae, Osha, and the rest of their coven.
Honorable Mentions:
Mother Aniseya was a good leader to her coven and was willing to cooperate with the Jedi without resorting to violence.
Kelnacca – Fans claim that Kelnacca was just as innocent as Indara when it comes to the events of Brendok and didn’t deserve to die. That said, Joonas Suotamo did a great job showing how a Wookiee Jedi would fight. He still has that signature lumbering walk, but his crazy strength was still an issue for Sol and Torbin.
Bazil - It's just not Star Wars without a cute droid/animal sidekick, and Bazil pretty much fills in that role for this series.
Torbin – Torbin may have died without saying a word, but fans immediately noticed how amazing his lightsaber skills were when it all started to go down on Brendok. He’s got spins that would make Anakin Skywalker proud.
1. The Stranger/Qimir
Lovingly dubbed as ‘Darth Teeth’ by the fans, Qimir has been amassing fans since his first appearance in the show. Though he was originally initially seen as a shady dealer, the reveal that he is the Stranger just made everyone else go all-in on the character.
Not only is he virtually unstoppable with a lightsaber, but he also makes a very intriguing point to Osha about the Jedi and how they’ve been dealing with other Force-based cultures.
Besides what Qimir represents as a character, showrunner Leslye Headland has kind of hinted that his sexualisation in the series is kind of done on purpose, from his exposed arms to him having a full-on nude scene while Osha watches.
Talking to Inverse, Headland was asked about the Osha/Qimir ship, to which she replied:
“I mean, enemies to lovers, baby. But I don’t think this is ‘good girl against bad guy.’ I think it’s more like… OK, I’ll put it this way. I always loved the line in A New Hope when Obi-Wan says, ‘The Dark Side seduced Vader.’ I always loved the word, ‘seduced.'
Hopefully, we will get even more awesome new characters if season 2 is green-lit.
Catch all episodes of The Acolyte on Disney+ now.