Spoilers ahead for Episode 4 of The Acolyte on Disney+, called "Day."
The Acolyte hit the halfway point of its season in the 2024 TV schedule with "Day," on the heels of a particularly divisive reveal about how Osha and Mae were created in the previous episode. In Episode 4, Mae and a team of Jedi were on independent searches for Kelnacca, who had disappeared into the jungles of Khofar. Both sides were successful in locating his camp, but the Wookie Jedi was dead before anybody could speak with him. Mae's mysterious master had arrived, and his reveal made for a cliffhanger that left everybody's life in serious danger.
But I've been watching enough Star Wars since back in the VHS days of the '90s that franchise canon combined with one specific line are enough to make me especially nervous for none other than Sol, who could well be doomed now. Here's why.
Sol Promised Osha Answers
Sol has been keeping his share of secrets from Osha in The Acolyte so far, although I've never gotten any vibe from him other than that he wants what's best for her... and for Mae, despite everything. But before everything went sideways with the arrival of the red lightsaber-wielding killer who seems to be a Sith lord, Sol dropped a line on Osha that immediately made me suspect that his end could be nigh. He told his former Padawan:
You're not going to face [Mae]. You're going to face your past. Both of us will. Once we get Mae safely to the ship, I'll explain everything.
In the immortal words of – well, Obi-Wan Kenobi, Anakin Skywalker, K-2, Luke Skywalker, Han Solo, Princess Leia, C-3P0, Lando Calrissian, and more across Star Wars – I have a bad feeling about this. Somebody promising to deliver long-awaited answers right before a deadly foe shows up spells disaster. If there was one way for Sol to guarantee that I'd be on the lookout for his demise, it was making a promise to Osha about the future so that it would feel extra tragic if/when he's killed.
Sol Is Osha's Mentor
If you want to pick a favorite Star Wars character with good odds of survival, I wouldn't recommend selecting a mentor character, because their roles in the saga tend to be dying in order to inspire their protégés. Look at Qui-Gon Jinn dying early in the prequel trilogy, Obi-Wan dying early in the original trilogy, and all three original trilogy leads dying before the end of the sequel trilogy. Sure, most of them came back in some ghostly form or other, but they definitely capital-D DIED.
And that's not even accounting for the TV shows! More than five years later, I still think – spoiler alert for Star Wars Rebels – Kanan's sacrifice was one of the coolest deaths in franchise history, and he was mentor to both Ezra and Sabine long before Ahsoka paired Sabine with Tano. Basically, mentor characters' lives tend to end abruptly and tragically, especially if they have one last powerful moment with their protégés. Now, with Sol invested in both sisters' safety and about to face down with what seems to be a Sith lord, it's hard not to wonder if he could be the next mentor to die in the galaxy far, far away.
Canon From The Prequel Trilogy
Fans should be no strangers to Star Wars taking advantage of technicalities to toy with canon. The Clone Wars could bring back Maul and elevate Ahsoka to a lead role as long as their stories didn't contradict Revenge of the Sith. Star Wars Rebels killed off Kanan and sent Ezra away before the events the original trilogy so Luke would be the Rebellion's only Jedi. Obi-Wan Kenobi could send Obi-Wan and Leia off on an adventure together since A New Hope technically never said that they hadn't met before.
There are a lot of technicalities to make the most of in expanding the galaxy far, far away, and it's much too early to condemn The Acolyte for introducing a Sith to a group of Jedi just because of a line from The Phantom Menace when the show's story hasn't been fully told yet. As prequel trilogy fans will remember, Ki-Adi-Mundi – who got what I consider the most powerful of the on-screen Order 66 deaths – exposited that as far as the Jedi knew, "The Sith have been extinct for a millennium."
But the Jedi being wrong kind of a lot was a major theme of the prequel trilogy, and Ki-Adi-Mundi believing that the Sith were extinct doesn't mean that The Acolyte is breaking canon. If the master who appeared at the end of Episode 4 was indeed a Sith lord, it would just mean that Ki-Adi-Mundi's statement was wrong in Phantom Menace. Unfortunately, it would probably also mean that the Jedi on this particular mission never returned to Coruscant to tell their story, which bodes poorly for Sol's survival odds.
Why There's Hope (And Canon Isn't Broken)
If we're making the most of technicalities, there are potential explanations for The Acolyte introducing a Sith lord that don't break Phantom Menace canon or require Sol and Co. to be killed off en masse. Since Star Wars isn't averse to the occasional retcon, the Jedi could have just been lying in the first movie about knowledge of the Sith. The credits of Episode 4 confirm that the Cerean male Jedi who appeared was in fact Ki-Adi-Mundi, played by Derek Arnold.
Plus, Vernestra Rwoh made a point of hiding the messy Mae situation from the larger Jedi Council so that they could avoid involving the Senate, so perhaps there was a Sith lord in the mix a century before The Phantom Menace, but only a select few ever knew. Or maybe the masked man wielding a red lightsaber at the end of Episode 4 wasn't technically a Sith at all, which would neatly sidestep the Ki-Adi-Mundi issue entirely.
Personally, I've felt ever since The Clone Wars that if fans can suspend their disbelief that Maul not only survived being bisected by Obi-Wan but also battled Obi-Wan many more times without a mention in any of the following Star Wars movies, then fans should be at least open to suspending their disbelief about anything. The one thing I just can't get over from Episode 4 of The Acolyte is the sense that Sol might be doomed.
Find out with new episodes of The Acolyte streaming on Tuesdays at 9 p.m. ET for fans with Disney+ subscriptions. The Disney streamer also offers the other Star Wars shows and the movies, so there is plenty to enjoy from the galaxy far, far away. It's too early to say where The Acolyte will rank among the Disney+ Star Wars shows, but I'm invested!
