It's become clear in recent weeks that The Acolyte, while not the disaster some hoped, has made some missteps. A second season is far from guaranteed as we write this and it's starting to feel like the show will leave us with a long list of unanswered questions, many of which will no doubt be addressed in future books and comics.
In that sense, it feels like the sequels all over again; now, though, showrunner Leslye Headland has finally elaborated on what The Acolyte's mysterious Sith villains want during this High Republic Era.
"As we started to break it out and started to think about, 'If I'm a Sith living in hiding during this period,' and what I know about Sith from watching the prequels, as well as the sequels, what is the holy grail for the Sith?" she told Collider (via SFFGazete.com). "Not what do they quote want because I think that differs from Sith to Sith, but at this point in time, what would they be desperate for?"
"And I think it's the ability to create life. They're desperate for that. It's their ticket to being able to have a power that the Jedi we know do not have. They are looking for the atomic bomb," Headland continued. "[Mae and Osha] are not the Manhattan Project, but they're probably those early tests or lectures that were happening. That's where that power is right now. Theoretically, this could work."
The Stranger has said he seeks an "Acolyte," but these comments suggest the villain and his Master have grander plans for Mae and Osha. Presumably, the Sith do eventually figure out how to create life, explaining Anakin Skywalker's birth in the prequels.
Elsewhere in the interview, Headland was asked whether Indara intentionally killed the witches on Brendok when she freed Kelnacca from their control.
"They're dead," she confirmed. "I would leave it up to interpretation in terms of whether Indara knocked them out and then they were part of the larger fire or disaster that occurred to them...In my opinion, it's a very risky decision because she's messing with something she doesn't understand."
When the interviewer put it to Headland that she felt the Jedi killed them without realising what she was doing, she added, "They are dead, but I would say it's up to interpretation. My personal thing is that I felt that it tracked that, exactly what you said."
Many fans have also been critical of the latest episode's explanation for why Torbin chose to take The Barash Vow before willingly killing himself when Mae confronted him. To that, the showrunner said it boils down to the Jedi being "so guilt-ridden."
"He made a really stupid mistake, and it was a mistake with horrible consequences. He really was the match that lit that entire thing," Headland continued. "I think that it's a natural thing for him to take the Barash Vow and say, 'I’ve just got to atone for this thing. If the decision is that we're not going to get right with the council, then I gotta do something.' And that's the thing, all three of them do something."
It's never good when so much of a movie or TV series needs to be explained after the fact in interviews like these and there are clearly some gaps in the writing. Still, the show will either live or die on how things play out in the season finale.
The final episode of The Acolyte arrives on Disney+ next Tuesday.