‘The Acolyte’ Episode Five Recap: “Night”

*Warning: the following article contains spoilers for episode five of The Acolyte.*

After day, comes night, and what an episode we have this week. Thinking that it wouldn’t pay off its middling cliffhanger, The Acolyte exceeded expectations in delivering one of the greatest fight scenes we’ve ever seen in Star Wars history. At least it’s breaking records of some of the best and worst this franchise has offered in one messy package. But episode five, aptly titled “Night,” is the first where I’ve become truly invested in its narrative swings and impeccably crafted central action sequence.

The kinetic precision in how Sol’s (Lee Jung-jae) group fights against Mae’s (Amandla Stenberg) master is so good that it feels wrong to include it in such a narratively inconsistent series. But it kept me on the edge of my seat the entire time, and I especially loved how her master’s HELMET would subdue lightsabers for one brief moment and, at times, destroy them entirely. I wasn’t vibing with the helmet as much as other people were, but after seeing this happen, I’m all in and cannot wait to see her master pop up again very soon.

But who is this mysterious master? When Sol says to them, “You are no Jedi,” I found myself thinking that it could be one of Mae’s family members (we never saw a body in episode three, did we?) But that didn’t make much sense while thinking about it. No, the reveal was right in our faces all along, and it turns out to be Qimir (Manny Jacinto). What was an uninteresting side protagonist immediately became far more investing as he explains to Sol that he’s following the paths of the Sith after brutally killing Jecki (Dafne Keen) and snapping Yord’s (Charlie Barnett) neck. Damn.

Everyone thought Sol would die, but that felt like a red herring, and I loved how writers Kor Adana and Cameron Squires immediately subvert expectations by showcasing no one is safe at the hands of Qimir, not even Mae, who has been at his side for a long time. Qimir then says to Sol that he had already met him, but he does not remember him. Mae finds Osha (Amandla Stenberg), and the two fight together until she knocks her sister unconscious and takes her place. She arrives in the heat of the battle, to which Qimir then has the opportunity to say that her master is hiding a big secret (thinking it’s Osha), one that will likely be revealed in subsequent episodes.

The two fight together, with Mae putting Pip’s light on him, which attracts bugs. Sol and Mae go on his ship, unbeknownst to him, and it isn’t Osha (it was bound to happen eventually), while Qimir frees himself from the bugs. It would be interesting to see how far the sister-swap conceit will go and which motivations Mae has now because they keep changing at every turn. I can’t keep up with what she ultimately wants now that she knows Qimir means bad news. I was also particularly impressed with Jacinto’s evil turn in this episode; he is a far more investing character now that his façade has been unmasked.

After four uneven episodes, The Acolyte seems to have truly found its footing. The fight sequence is spectacular, and the story looks like it’s finally taking shape. Time will tell how the show will ultimately pay itself off, but my expectations are somewhat better than last week, which is always great news to me.

The fifth episode of The Acolyte is now available to stream on Disney+.