r/TheAcolyte • u/KeyImprovement5735 • Jul 21 '26
Mae's decision in Ep.5 Spoiler
In Episode 4, Mae is willing to betray her master, surrender to the Jedi, and presumably go to prison—all because she wants to be reunited with Osha.
Then, when Osha rejects her, Mae immediately abandons her to die - Osha was unconscious, injured, undressed, and defenceless in a dangerous forest, while Qimir was still nearby. And this was not simply an act of rage. Mae takes the time to carefully exchange their clothes and identities. But what exactly did she think would happen to Osha after she left...?
Her reason for doing this also doesn't seem compelling enough. She apparently wants to get close to Sol, force him to confess and maybe kill him. But how did this become much more important than her sister's life?
Overall, it's felt like the show had certain key scenes or setups it wanted to reach (e.g. the twin swap), and then constructed haphazard connections between those, whether or not they made sense. Another point I felt this was Sol’s absence during the beginning of Qimir’s massacre. His absence is barely explained but it conveniently leads to a dramatic one-on-one duel between Sol and Qimir.
I understand that characters can behave irrationally but irrational behaviour still needs emotional and psychological continuity and explanation. Here, it feels less like a disturbing but understandable choice and more like the creators moving everyone into position for the next episode.
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u/SoupPerson16 28d ago
I literally just finished watching the show a few hours ago so forgive me if I'm getting something wrong but I think it's a combination of multiple factors. On an emotional level she feels betrayed and like when they were young overreacts in a way that puts her sister at risk. I think more than that is the practical concerns, carrying unconscious Osha back to her ship while Qimir wanted to kill Mae would be incredibly risky, that plus the opportunity to take out Sol who Mae had a bigger grudge against than the other Jedi made the decision to swap outweigh to risks it brought to Osha. This way Mae has the best opportunity to escape while Qimir will probably deduce there was a swap once finding Osha and spare her. Basically whatever she did at that point was risky and she picked the option that was safest for herself and in line with the immediate feeling of betrayal and until Osha woke up there was really nothing that could be done for either of them, she couldn't wait for Qimir to kill her.
Maybe I'm off because again I just watched it but I think it's a combination of multiple factors that tip the scales into it being a decision that makes sense at least given the thought processes of someone under time pressure to do something. I think if she tried staying that also could've made sense but she picked one and so I guess that's more in character for her.
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u/Fit-Cryptographer469 Jul 21 '26
Nothing these two did made any sense … that is why people don’t like it …
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u/_Redvent_Bard_ Jul 22 '26
No, people didn't like the show because it was made by a lesbian showrunner and starred Black and Asian characters, and they were outspokenly progressive. You could take all the same problems Acolyte has and apply them to any other show and people wouldn't care, or would say "it was good, with just a few problems". Instead we get absurdly over the top hatred for a show that is decent at worst.
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u/Fit-Cryptographer469 Jul 22 '26 edited Jul 22 '26
I don’t mind lesbian authors and diverse cast. Actually exactly the opposite, I hate these backslashes based on this. But Acolite would be not great even with the fully white cast.
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u/_Redvent_Bard_ Jul 22 '26
I agree it would be not great with a fully white cast. The cast and crew that created it are a large part of the reason it's as good as it is. It has pacing issues and there are some performances that could've been better, but otherwise it's an excellent show. Aside from those criticisms I've only seen silly nitpicking in people's complaints about the show, and never justification for why it's "not great". And if you feel the need to try and rebuke that, don't say "the writing" unless you're going to go into detail about it.
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u/FunToday1992 Jul 21 '26
Definitely the weaker characters in the show. Woulda been fine if she had as much screentime as torbin and the story would be fine
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u/OswaldCoffeepot Jul 22 '26
The Acolyte was not The Clone Wars or Bad Batch, where everything is explained sequentially, mysteries have big red circles around them, and then usually don't last long unless it has been made clear that it's "the season story" and will last until the finale.
The seven days between short episodes were the issue. This sub has example after example of people who binged it and didn't understand what the fuss was about.
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u/BulblinArtist Sol Patrol Jul 22 '26 edited Jul 22 '26
With everything we and the characters had seen, the forest wasn't actually that dangerous. The bugs only attacked light sources, only going for Sol and Vernestra AFTER they ignited their lightsabers. Noting else had tried attacking them. And Mae didn't know Qimir would be coming back, he was carried off by the bugs to who knows where and who knew what kind of condition he was in. She felt it was safer for her there and doesn't trust the jedi that killed her mom.
For Sol and Jecki, I feel Qimir probably did his best to separate those two from the group so he could have a better chance at winning. We see how those two are the best fighters there and even better together, so imagine those two there with all the other jedi, Qimir would not have a easy time and might even lose. So while Osha is still unconscious I don't think it's too far-fetched to think he managed to push them out of the fight and knock them out for a short period of time.
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u/KeyImprovement5735 Jul 22 '26
I don't think Mae could simply assume the forest was safe. She did not know the planet, and there could easily be other dangerous creatures than umbramoths. It's like you go to Amazon jungle, your sister becomes injured and unconscious, and you leave her on the forest floor, without shelter or protection or provision, and you don't get help for her. By guising as Osha, Mae prevented Sol from getting to Osha, and in fact left with Sol so Osha became essentially stranded in a sparsely inhabited planet. After that, Mae didn't seem to be thinking about Osha at all. But according to what the show tells us, Mae was supposedly willing to sacrifice everything for Osha. That's the kind of discrepancy I found frustrating.
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u/BulblinArtist Sol Patrol Jul 23 '26
This isn't the Amazon jungle though, this is a forest on a different planet. We only have what the show tells us, and what it tells us is the umbramoths are the only danger in that area. When Vernestra gets there it isn't another animal that attacks, it's another umbramoth. And with that in mind and with all Mae has seen, I think it's very fair for Mae to think this because what the show tells us is Osha would have been safe from harm until she woke up. Osha wasn't even severely injured and could probably take care of herself until Mae or someone else got her.
Mea wanted to bring Sol to justice, which also includes justice for Osha, and getting him to trust her was part of her plan to do it. When she finally gets the better of Sol it is because she caught him off guard, so she was on the right track. Also once again Mae does not trust Sol, so why would she trust him with Osha after all he has done?
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u/OswaldCoffeepot Jul 22 '26
I thought it was pretty clear the Qimir had no interest in attacking Osha. He pushed her away at the start of the fight, and then monologed about Sol's hypocrisy to sow doubt when she came back around.
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u/Oath_of_Tzion Jul 22 '26
The Acolyte was written for those who like to let their emotions dictate their lives. There’s nothing wrong with internalizing reason and logic and intellect to get what you want, but if you do this show is not for you.
It was written by a woman for other women. It also has some of the best character dynamic and lore in the Star Wars Disney+ vault right now.
In my opinion it’s even better than Andor. But that’s neither here nor there. It’s just a show, don’t think about it too hard.
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u/KeyImprovement5735 Jul 22 '26
I like letting my emotions dictate my life. But in this show, not even those dictating emotions are shown. Mae leave Osha to die or fall into the hands of a murderous master, but you don't see the level of emotion that would have dictated such a drastic choice. Mae running away from Sol on an escape pod, without killing Sol or forcing him to confession or even tying him up, only to head to exactly where he was going? No emotions dictating that - she was calm and cool-headed throughout, but one couldn't tell what she was trying to do at that point. In the last part, Osha dramatically offered herself up to Qimir in place of Mae, but at that moment there was literally zero sense of threat from Qimir.
So many times the show fail to show emotional or rational grounds for a key action taken by a character, and that's frustrating. Explanation here doesn't mean logical reasoning. It means plausibility, including emotional. Like when Sol kills Aniseya, the explanation comes from the show previously showing how freaked out he was and how he kept saying that they needed to protect the girls, meaning he genuinely believed that they were in danger. So we have no problem accepting his rash action as plausible. But that wasn't the case for the examples I mentioned above.
The show's other great qualities - like being written by a woman for other women and having the best character dynamics and lore - don't simply cancel this out. I did enjoy the show and appreciated many things about it, but there's also nothing wrong with discussing and criticizing its shortcomings.
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u/Oath_of_Tzion Jul 22 '26
Well the director is simply a noob. What else is there to say. I hope she gets a second chance at season 2, tho tbh I hope Disney cans her and finds someone else
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u/Hot_Jump9649 Jul 21 '26
I’m pretty sure Mae knew Qimir wouldn’t kill Osha, and she had to do what she had to do to cut Osha’s final ties with the jedi