The Acolyte Episode 2 Recap (Spoilers)

Star Wars: The Acolyte had a thrilling premiere episode, which put even greater pressure on Episode 2 to solidify the series as a hit. 

With the principal characters and conflict all laid out, it was on The Acolyte Episode 2, “Revenge/Justice” to deepen those elements. The Acolyte’s second episode arguably does that across the board, with Mae’s next target requiring something more than martial arts prowess… 

Star Wars: The Acolyte Episode 2 “Revenge/Justice” Recap (Spoilers) 

A Target On Olega – Mae (Amandla Stenberg) infiltrates a Jedi Outpost on the planet Olega by using a street kid as a distraction for the door droid, who Mae scrambles with a device. Inside the outpost she confronts Jedi Master Torbin, doing her “attack me” pose. However, Torbin’s eyes are closed (one side of his face is horribly scarred), and he’s floating cross-legged in meditation (for the last ten years, we later learn), and nothing Mae does can disrupt the invisible barrier of Force energy around him. After failing in her attacks, Mae flees before other Jedi come into the room. Torbin never loses his concentration, falls, or even opens his eyes. 

Mission to Olega – Ohsa (Stenberg) awakes on Master Sol’s (Lee Jung-jae) ship to find his padawan Jecki Lon (Dafne Keen) having technical troubles. Osha advises on how to fix the issue, and the two have an awkward conversation about her qualifications as a Mechnic. Osha’s droid companion Pip gets offended when Osha suggests she’s more flexible than a droid. Master Sol walks by, ending the conversation; Sol is approached by Jedi Knight Yord Fandar (Charlie Barnett), who vehemently disagrees with Ohsa being treated as a companion rather than a suspect. Sol questions why Yord is so intent on suspecting Osha and Yord counters that only Osha’s Jedi training – not the seemingly untrained Mae – would be enough to take out Master Indara. Sol advises Yord not to let fear to cloud his judgment and moves on. In the ship’s cockpit, Sol calls Jedi Master Vernestra Rwoh (Rebecca Henderson), who finally agrees that Osha cannot be a suspect since she was with Sol when Master Torbin was attacked. Sol craftily feigns humility, asking Vernestra for her advisement; he gets his wish for Osha to be left in his care, as he goes to Olega to investigate the attack on Torbin. Yord once again protests having Osha in their company, but Sol quickly lets him know he’s been overruled by the Jedi Order. 

Killer Accomplices – Mae travels to a shop in a village on Olega where she finds her contact, ex-smuggler Qimir (Manny Jacinto) is sleeping one off. Mae rudely awakens Qimir and chastises his drinking, but he counters that he is waiting for her. QImir claims to have taken the shop and his clothes from the person who owned them (implying he killed them), and he’s revealed to be tracking Mae’s progress along her kill list, on behalf of their mysterious dark master. Mae has Qimir prepare a poison called “Bunta” as the two debate strategies on how to kill Master Torbin. Qimir suggests that a Jedi’s peace and serenity is a lie, and what Torbin wants is the peace of “absolution.” Mae warns Qimir not to mention the poison to their master. 

Old Wounds, New Horizons – Sol brings Osha some milk and starts a dad-like conversation about her Mechnic crew tattoo. They move on to the serious subject of Mae’s apparent death years before; Sol was able to navigate his way through the guilt, Osha could not (implying it had to do with her leaving the Jedi Order.  The ship arrives at Olega and Sol, Yord, and Jecki all head for Jedi Outpost. They arrive just as Mae is sneaking in again, and discern that the street kid is Mae’s distraction. As the Jeidi are searching the base, Mae gives a speech to Torbin about how he can find forgiveness by taking the poison she places in front of him; Torbin finally opens his eyes and lowers to the ground. The Jedi Master claims that he’s been waiting for Mae. He takes the poison, apologizing to Mae for the mysterious transgression at the center of this story; out in the hallways, Sol feels his friend die and come running. Osha finds Torbin first, and examines the scene, recognizing the scent of Bunta poison. The Jedi burst in thinking that Osha is the culprit, but she gets an unexpected ally in Yord, who had been following her every move secretly and knows she didn’t kill Torbin. Osha recognizes Bunta as the poison used, leading the Jedi to discern that Torbin willingly killed himself. 

Ambush at the Apocathary – Sol and his team head with Osha into the village, based on the theory that Bunta has a short shelf-life and must be used soon after being made. They work with Jedi padawans to identify the local apothecary – but they quickly identify that Qimir is not the usual shopkeeper working there. The group sends in Osha posing as Mae, who initially fools Qimir into confessing his involvement with the poison. By the time he discovers that it’s Osha, the Jedi rush in. Qimiir almost immediately cooperates, selling out Mae and setting her up for an ambush – but he also plays dumb about whether or not Mae has a master. Sol and co. get set for Mae’s return to the shop, where they plan to trap her. 

The Trap is Sprung – Sol and Osha have major disagreements about how to confront Mae. Osha is angry at her sister for the ruin of their family; Sol tries to be the teacher and steer her past the path of vengeance. Osha finally agrees to let Sol duel Mae alone. When night falls Mae approaches the shop and is stopped by Sol, who is in slight disbelief that it’s truly her. The two of them start to duel, while Sol questions why Mae is choosing to fight without proper weaponry, and who trained her. Sol eventually gets the better of Mae, suspending her movement with a Force hold and reading her mind. Sol reads in her thoughts that she doesn’t know who her master truly is. When Sol reveals that Osha is still alive, Mae loses it and lashes out. Yord restrains her with his own Force hold and Jecki flies in with the ship and a spotlight to block her escape route. Mae uses the Force to stir up a big dust cloud and vanishes. Osha comes out of the Jedi outpost and spots Mae hijacking a hover car from a local civilian. The two sisters have a profound moment seeing each other again for the first time; Osha finally recovers her nerve and tries to stun-blast her sister, but misses. Mae escapes in the car. 

The Next Target – Sol checks in with Vernestra, who commands him to wait for the Jedi council to discuss the development of confirming Mae is alive and a trained Force user. Meanwhile, Mae sneaks back to the Apothecary and confronts Qimir about his betrayal. Qimir redeems himself by revealing that he’s located the next target: Wookie Jedi  Kelnacca (Joonas Suotamo). The two sneak off of Olega to face him. Cut to the planet Khofar, and we find two scavengers in thick woods stumbling upon the home of Kelnacca. The Wookie quickly scares them away when he comes up behind them; with the intruders gone, Kelnacca heads into his hut, with his mighty roar still echoing over the forest 

[End Credits]

Star Wars: The Acolyte streams new episodes Tuesday nights on Disney+.