#Star Wars The Last Jedi Spoilers

[stealingpotatoes]

cal: man i hate that vader guy, he killed my master

ezra: yeah he killed my great grandmaster and almost killed me and kanan

ahsoka: he was my MASTER, basically my brother

luke: ……

(commission info // tip jar!)

[darth-memes]

[thewingedwolf]

some parallels between the prequel trilogy and the acolyte

[animatedjen]

Cal Kestis | Jedi Survivor

[kaxtwenty]

I love how Qimir aka Darth Teeth was all like “I just want freedom to use my powers how I wish, the Jedi are the big meanies here,” when anyone who’s paid even slight attention to how Sith work knows that he just wants to use his powers to commit genocide and enslave people.

That’s it.

Qimir believes he’s oppressed because the Jedi won’t allow him to murder and enslave people as he pleases. Because he, like every Sith, is a fascist.

[ljpynn]

--ACOLYTE SPOILERS -- Official bid to name the ship 'Qimosha'

"If you're not going to join me, can I put my clothes back on?"

[bluntblade]

One thing that I really love about The Acolyte is the way in which Osha's story emerges as a dark mirror to Rey's in TLJ.

With TLJ, I found there was something really effective in how Johnson wrote Rey's temptation not as her being a mere 30 Anger Points from turning Dark Side, but as her being at risk of making a terrible mistake which would lead to the Dark. Which, for me, is very much the sum of Osha's decisions in the last act of The Acolyte. She doesn't pledge herself to the fight for Dark Side supremacy and vow to crush democracy, but she does choose the self-serving and unforgiving option.

Qimir's argument isn't about Powah, in the Sheev sense. He's not pitching her supremacy over the Galaxy. Instead, he pushes Osha to claim a subtler kind of power, and to decide that, contrary to Jedi ideology, she has the right to be judge, jury and executioner, and to dole out death to those who hurt or impede her. That's why, when she confronts him about his killings, he doesn't even address the idea that murdering any of the Jedi was wrong. Yord wronged her, Jecki wouldn't have been what Osha wanted her to be. Through his prism, that's all it takes for him, and Osha, to be justified in killing.

Moreover, in murdering Sol, Osha gives Qimir the leverage to make her his pupil, at the cost of Mae's memories - which is to say that, just as Rey would've done had she gone along with Kylo's offer, she sacrifices the last other person she cared about. Perhaps Mae will gain peace with Vernestra (though I have my doubts there), but she's doing so having given up well over a decade of the memories that make her who she is. Incidentally for extra horror, just watch Severance and then consider this story in light of that show's subject matter.

Obviously there are major differences, but ultimately it comes down to the same choice, presented to a young woman, along with the sad truth about her family.

[mayhaps-a-blog]

I am thinking about Osha.

I don't think we've really gotten to know her on screen yet, and I'm looking forward to the rest of her story. But we've gotten plenty of hints to her character, enough to start to paint a picture.

Osha loves her sister. They're siblings, and they fight; Mae wants them to be the same, twins forever, and Osha wants to do her own thing, be different. But they were raised together, know each other too well for anything but love or hate to grow. Or both.

And Osha loves her sister.

But then her sister was gone. Gone in a fire, that killed their entire family; gone after threatening to kill Osha, after their last, perhaps worst, (perhaps not), fight.

And Osha was brought to become a Jedi.

She'd wanted to be a Jedi. That's what their fight had been about; that's what drove Mae to start the fire, led to their family's deaths. And Osha was told it was Mae's fault, and blamed her: if only Mae hadn't started that fire. If only Mae hadn't been so angry, so awful. If only Osha hadn't driven her to it. If only she'd just agreed to stay.

Osha blames Mae, because otherwise, who else would she blame but herself?

Osha loves Mae, and hates her, and blames her. And then she comes to the Jedi.

The Jedi don't practice hate. They don't cling to love. They feel it, cherish it, and let it go, let it pass through them. They don't let it hound their thoughts, guide their actions, lest their emotions lead them astray.

And Osha wanted so much to be a Jedi.

But to do that, she had to let go of her hate. Let go of the blame. Let go of her last ties to Mae and her family, even as they curdle and fester.

Let go of her attachments.

No wonder she left the Jedi. No wonder she struggles so hard, aims for Mae when the Master is right there, sticks around when he offers her something else. She's been clinging to her hate of Mae for so long, her hate that's become indistinguishable from her love, so she doesn't have to look at herself. Look at what happened. Let her family go.

I don't think Osha is to blame for her family's death. I doubt Mae is, either; even if she started the fire, she didn't intend for what happened next. I don't think we have the full story.

But I don't think Osha does either. Or Mae. Or, possible, even the Jedi.

They're all still trapped there, in the fire on Brendok, one way or another. Mae with her revenge, the Jedi with their shame, Osha with her guilt, and fear, and anger.

None of them have been able to let go.

[stealingpotatoes]

Shin hati is technically being trained by a jedi. Not entirely sure if that's good or bad for the sort of jedi crew.

it's neither bc she's busy rn <3

[darth-memes]

[starscream1998]

Because RTD cited the 'Rey's parents are nobodies' twist in The Last Jedi as his inspiration for the Ruby Sunday twist I'd like to take the time to explain why I liked the former and not the latter.

If you go back and watch The Force Awakens there isn't actually anything that implies Rey's parentage is a big deal. Maz leaves off with flat up telling Rey they are never coming back and there's no line in that film that contradicts what TLJ then implies.

If you go back and watch Season 1 of Doctor Who there is so much that doesn't work with Ruby's mum being ordinary. The Doctor's memory changing, the snow, Maestro's reaction, the bloody 'she was naming Ruby' nonsense.

[animatedjen]

"I know you are in pain, but this is not you!" Crazy | Cal Kestis

[aspiringwarriorlibrarian]

Didn't you know? There is always a clear bad and good guy in every situation. An abuser and a victim. One who must be punished and another that must be avenged. This always the case, all the time, without any grey areas or nuances and if you say otherwise, you are an apologist.

Gee it's almost "every good person has the potential for darkness and every bad person has the potential for light" is a core theme of this series or something. But clearly what it is means is that Good People are always good even when they do bad things, and if they do enough bad things it turns out they were Bad People all along, and we don't have to confront our own fallibility as people or the dangers of bias at all.

[devilfic]

I am… very confused as to why vernestra framed sol instead of qimir

she clearly knows her old padawan is alive, he’s evil, and is also directly responsible for mae (and osha’s) actions. why frame a jedi and bring more scrutiny upon the order when you could frame the Clearly Evil Guy and sic every jedi in the galaxy on his ass?

I assume it’s because if he unmasks they’ll know who he is and find out what actually happened to him but the sol accusation doesn’t really hold water. several jedi and civilians know mae killed indara and (in this case could arguably be convinced against it, but) torbin. indara’s murder is most damning. everyone knows sol isn’t responsible

[1nightinoctober]

I think the episode from The Acolyte 1x06 - Teach/Corrupt (even though this seems like a preproduction temporary title) drinks a lot from The Last Jedi.

The Jedi are often presented as always righteous and always good and always ethically correct. When Anakin gives in into the dark side the give away message was that darkness was always in him, like an inevitable fate. That he was impulsive, and proud and couldn't let go of his attachments.

A shortcut to Anakin getting corrupted was that he did not understood the darkness in him, because none of the Jedi recognizes that darkness exists in them. That is human (or multi species in the star wars universe), that contradiction lies in us, but what is important is that no matter what might cross your head, you can always chose to do the right thing. Choosing to be good implies that you can be redeemed, that even if you have done bad actions that does not define that you always have to be on the dark side. Ultimately is why Luke cannot handle the darkness in Ben, and does not understands or knows how to deal with the darkness that this risens in himself.

Something we also see in episode vi of Obi Wan Kenobi with the Third Sister. Reva chooses not to kill Luke, not to give in into the revenge she feels.

In The Last Jedi we see this push and pull from Rey and Ben Solo. Can one be persuated into the darkness or the other persuaded into the light. Their path is not closed for or settled. Or else it wouldn't be possible for them to reflect upon their counterparts arguments. There is hope for Ben to turn for light and there is fear that Rey might join the dark side.

This is also an interesting exercise in The Acolyte. They shows us in episode 3, the childhood of the sisters, their foundations, where Osha is presented as in light, and Mae as in darkness. That is inate in them and predestines their futures (hell, even the name of the episode is "destiny") but by episode 6 this is not such as straightforward, as both of them reflect on their paths and values.

Nothing that Qimir says is particularly wrong, the arguments he uses are coherent and coesive, the same way Palpatine makes complete sense to Anakin. Because these characters are not allowed to feel this less than pristine feelings they go "well shit, if he is evil and he sees this in me, I must be evil too". Moreover, because they are not prepared for the evil within, they do not know how to identify it and resist it. Corruption it's easy. It's easy to fall into and easy to justify it to ourselves, especially when we do not recognise ourselves as vulnerable to it.

Depending how they go about the next episodes of The Acolyte I think it might be an interesting battle between good and evil. After all both lie within us.

[misswitch19]

Maybe this is just me, but I have very particular feelings on Rey being a Skywalker, bc yes, obviously she is a Skywalker and not a Palpatine (I'm not going to even touch that), but I feel like people need to acknowledge that she's not a Skywalker just bc she got Leia's and Luke's lightsabers. No. Rey is a Skywalker because both Luke and Leia met her for five minutes and immediately picked her over Kylo Ren as the family favorite. She literally is the girl that goes to her ex's family dinners bc they invite her and not him. She literally assumed his place as heir to the Skywalker legacy, and she is so funny for that. She is Rey Skywalker, and she will forever be one of the baddest bitches in the galaxy