#aniseya coven

[gffa]

I too thought it was really weird that the action going on in "present" day doesnt really fit with what we saw in the past. But im assuming we saw very little of what actually went down then, both to explain the weird adoption and maes revenge quest. Maybe all we saw this episode is just what osha knows about it.

Yeah, I feel fairly confident that we haven't seen the last of the flashbacks to what happened on Brendok, that they're carefully framed to show it ONLY from Osha's point of view and we don't see Mae set the fire to the building complex (only the book) and we don't see how the other coven members died--they didn't look burned or like they were stabbed with a lightsaber. How did they die?

There's too much unexplained that was very heavy-handed in the way it was referenced--the creation of the twins, whatever reason they were in hiding, whatever they did to Torbin, etc.--for us not to get Mae's side of the story eventually. I just don't buy that Torbin would have felt guilty about this enough to feel like he had to earn Mae's forgiveness through death if she really was the one that set the fire that got everyone killed. Whatever happened with the Jedi, they believed they were doing the right thing, but nothing about this so far is something they couldn't talk about or that would haunt them so badly that Torbin felt the need to take the Barash Vow. The show is structured around unreliable narrators and conflicting sympathetic motivations, where each person or group is doing what they feel they must or what they believe is right, but those things come into conflict with each other, and what we've seen so far is a tragedy but doesn't really set up what the show is going for. I would be willing to bet at least $10 cash money that Mae's actions aren't as simple as "got mad, tried to kill the whole coven, was responsible for all the death" and we'll get her view of what happened soon enough.

[and-loth-cat]

cant believe sol killed the galaxy's first lesbians

this is a step back in gay rights that would never be recovered until luke took down the empire in chanel boots

[mimir-anoshe]

Out beyond ideas of wrongdoing and rightdoing, there is a field.

I'll meet you there.

~ Rumi.

I am a poet for memes, but I'm not this good, so no not my poetry. These are my gifs though; you can tell by the graininess. Oshamir is the poetry in my heart, and the song in my soul. Goodbye goodbye goodbye, you were bigger than the whole sky💜... My fallen stars.

[portrait-of-ariel]

🛑 Controversial Opinion 🛑:

Mother Koril doesn’t get enough respect or appreciation in the show. Aniseya created the twins but Koril carried them, and I would argue she’s just as much their mother as Aniseya. There’s nothing wrong with having two mothers. Also let us never forget that four Jedi who went meddling on Brendok led to the deaths of nearly fifty women. An entire coven perished in a span of a few days because of the Jedi’s colonizing, strong-arming dogma. I said what I said 🤷🏾‍♀️.

[inquisitor-apologist]

I think it’s kind of necessary to consider that episode 3 of the Acolyte is told entirely from the witches’ pov, where the Jedi are dangerous outsiders who might hurt them. When you consider it from what the Jedi see/know, what they did makes a lot more sense.

For starters, they arrive on a planet that is supposedly uninhabited (and was, until at most a couple of decades ago) and pretty quickly they see two force-sensitive kids playing in the woods.

That’s pretty weird, but then a woman comes up and gets mad at them for playing in the forest, which is a very normal kid thing to do. One of the kids says that they are never supposed to leave the Fortress, which kind of leaps the situation from weird to concerning pretty quickly.

It’s pointed out in the dialogue of the episode itself that the galaxy is a pretty dangerous place for force-sensitive kids (people try to enslave them and use them as weapons a lot, think tcw). And. Well, when you go to a place that is supposedly uninhabited (isolated) and immediately see children of a very vulnerable group who are, by their own admission, never allowed to leave a fortress (military connotations), that’s pretty concerning.

Look at Sol’s face when we first see him. He’s breathing heavy, and he looks scared. He’s obviously, and justifiably, imo, worried for these kids.

When they go to look for these kids later, they find, yeah, a massive fortress, but, since it’s implied that everyone is at the ceremony but the two scouts, it’s empty. So they come in, and they are immediately met with hostility.

They say hi, and someone yells that they’re trespassing, despite the fact that no one is supposed to be on this planet and nobody was answering the door. When they point that out, the lady in charge is immediately condescending and and rude for no reason before accusing them of lying.

We know that the coven is trying to stay hidden, and earlier this episode believed that the Jedi didn’t know they existed, so why Aniseya is suddenly sure that they knew the planet was inhabited is unclear.

Indara is then clear that they’re not here to hurt anyone, and Aniseya accuses them of lying again, because they’re armed (Jedi always carry their lightsabers, it’s part of their religion, though I’m willing to believe Aniseya didn’t know that) and unannounced (?? What. How are the Jedi going to announce themselves to people they didn’t know about).

Indara pretty quickly makes it clear that they’re concerned about the kids (she literally says concerned), which, as I said earlier, is pretty justified from their pov. She says that it’s illegal to train children in the Republic, which I have to assume is meant to be seen as a lie (or at least a stretch of the truth) by the audience, considering that the Jedi know of and are friendly to many other force-sensitives faiths across the galaxy, including ones that train children and use the Dark Side, like the Nightsisters.

And yeah, maybe that lie wasn’t the best approach, but I think it’s an understandable choice. They get the kids to come out, and then ask where their dad is, which seems pretty reasonable to me, and are told that they don’t have one. Since that is impossible, it probably sets off all kind of alarm bells, like were these kids (force-sensitive, living on a planet where nobody is supposed to be, unable to leave their fortress) kidnapped?

One of the kids has a very intricate tattoo that probably feels pretty weird in the force, that she didn’t have a couple hours ago and does not appear to have been done recently (no irritation or redness).

When Sol points this out, he’s accused of spying on them (as opposed to the idea that he saw the kids out in the forest? It seems like everyone in the coven knows they were out in the morning) and trying to steal the kids. He’s literally just said hi, asked their names, and pointed out a confusing tattoo.

When he’s like, no, I’m not here to steal your kids, we don’t do that, he’s immediately threatened. Despite this, he gives his sacred weapon away to one of the kids, who was clearly curious about it, to prove he’s not a threat. Indara is even clear that she doesn’t want Sol to even have his saber out to protect himself from the witches who just threatened to cut his tongue out, which really speaks to his much the Jedi are being genuine and not trying to cause problems.

Sol then tells Osha that she’d be a good Jedi (nice compliment to a kid who’s clearly interested) and asks if she wants to be tested, which is pretty innocuous, especially when considering that the Jedi probably think that Osha and Mae might be being abused.

In response to this, the witches then cast a spell on and threaten a child to make them leave. The child has done literally nothing this entire time. He hasn’t talked to the witches or the kids, he’s just been standing there.

Seriously, I don’t think people are talking about that enough. They torture a child (he is clearly in pain and ‘not in his right mind’) because… they’re threatened by Sol talking to Osha? That’s a huge red flag, and probably confirms to the Jedi that Osha and Mae are in danger. They attack a child with no provocation, and the Jedi are just supposed to assume that the kids in their care, in an isolated fortress on an uninhabited planet, are safe?

The Jedi (rightfully) double down, going like, hey we have the right to make sure these kids aren’t force sensitive (and probably to make sure they aren’t being hurt, though they don’t say that because, well, they already know that the witches aren’t going to react well).

After getting permission, the Jedi thank the guys who just attacked them and leave (look at how scared Torbin is, how quickly he tries to get away from the witches).

They test the kids, who are definitely trying to fail, and ask Osha what she wants. She reveals that she wants to be a Jedi despite pressure from her family to lie (bit of a red flag) and that she doesn’t seem to be aware of the existence of other kids (another red flag).

[labrats-and-clonetroopers]

I don't think I'm ever going to get over how messed up it is that Osha's two choices in life, as a young child, were to stay with her family, but be forever subservient to her sister and pressured into making a religious vow she was extremely reluctant about, or choose a different path, aligned with her current dreams, but be forever separated from her family.

Such a disturbing and heartbreaking situation even before the fire. (And absolute praise to the writers/producers/actors for telling such a nuanced story this episode!)

[aspiringwarriorlibrarian]

Qimir was really trying to lure Osha in by saying "the power of two" like "See? It's just like your coven!", when it's really the exact opposite. The coven uses "the power of two" as a prelude to "the power of many", symbolizing how people are stronger together. The Sith use the Rule of Two because they are such giant egomaniacs that two is the absolute maximum that can be in a room together without them committing self-genocide. Again.

[space-blue]

Okay but did you notice how Sol said he wanted to save Mae too...

But they made no effort to make her pass their test? Sol tricks Osha to force her to admit she was asked to lie, and open up the conversation of what she really wants. While Mae is left to walk away convinced she tricked them.

Could be they sense Mae's real disinterest in being a Jedi, and after all the girls are old. But I wonder if they give up on 'getting' Mae to join them the moment they see she's made the witch's pact/has a brand on her head.

Sol was quite distressed about that, getting up and admitting to spying on the girls

It feels like there's more going on with the Jedi vs. Witch coven than just simple recruitement.

[mrfandomwars]

I Do have a few questions about the whole witches coven and the ritual they performed

Ritual

How did it work????

Because not even Plagueis was able to create life in the force, neither was Palpatine!!! So how did the coven do it????

Did Aniseya use an artificial sperm??? Is there a *third person* involved that is just a victim???? Is Aniseya *trans*?

And if the ritual worked so well for Mae and Osha to be born, why not repeat it???? Was it taxing on Koril or something and almost killed her so it was decided to not be repeated???? Did they no longer have the ingredients to make the artificial sperm/whatever Aniseya used????

Prosecution

What did they even DO!?!?!?

were they prosecuted by another religion for taking shit too far in the dark side or by the Jedi??? Because if THEN, what did Do?????

Like, the Jedi let the Nightsisters, who enslave their male population, alone as long as they don't start bullshit - like with Every Other Religion we are told exists in star wars, and I'm told it's the same in High Republic era and not something Prequel Jedi adopted

So they would Only go after the coven if they did Something! Did they start forcing people to join their coven like they were doing with Osha???? Did they try to repeat what the Nightsisters did but failed because someone called the Jedi/Republic for help???

What did they do!?!?!?!?

[nightqueens-world]

[gffa]

Absolutely fascinated by what the coven's philosophy is in The Acolyte, where Aniseya talks about the Thread as a connection between all living things, that different people call it different things, and says, "Some call it a Force and claim to use it. But we know the Thread is not a power you wield. Pull the Thread. Change everything. It ties you to your destiny. It binds you to others." all while she's actively wielding the Force to demonstrate it. Are we meant to find echoes of the Path of the Open hand, who believed that using the Force in one place meant that you were causing an equal and opposite reaction in another? Where they said "the Force shall be free" as a way to stop anyone from using it in any way, saying that if you saved this life then the Force would take that life over there as "balance"? Is the Coven an evolution of their beliefs, where instead of saying that no one can use the Force, but instead that you should be allowed to use it despite that? Or are they an offshoot of the Nightsisters? Or are they simply saying that the Thread wields them, rather than them wielding the Thread? Or is it that they simply believe it's a large connective web, where when you pluck one string, it vibrates across the entire tapestry? The coven is such an interesting mix of things we know to be true about the Force, but also things that are suspicious as hell, like whatever they did to Torbin, whatever created Mae and Osha, why they felt they had to hide, when the Jedi have always existed beside other dark siders in the galaxy, the Brotherhood of the Ninth Door in the High Republic, the Nightsisters in the prequels, so why are they so afraid of the Jedi finding out their secrets? What is it that the coven believes in and acts on??? Because I love weird Force traditions and the different philosophies of them and I feel like The Acolyte is very much going for a story about unreliable narrators and differing desires conflicting against each other where you can at least understand where each group is coming from, like I don't think the coven is necessarily evil, but what they did to Torbin was certainly a red flag, on the other hand, Aniseya listened to what Osha had to say about leaving with the Jedi, but also we don't know what really happened that night, and I'm enjoying the weird Force bullshit because that's my jam in Star Wars.

[fulcrum-art-fox]

I do enjoy that even though the coven is fully aware of the twins “miracle” status they don’t really like. show any obvious deference to them (outside of like, ceremonies) they mostly treat the girls like their nieces and I like that the way that they’re all oh yeah they’re absolutely crazy powerful magical miracle children that were created from this concentrated force energy by our very powerful leader but they’re also our dumb kids and we’ve been far too involved in their raising to venerate them as mystical beings or whatever. we’ve all watched them bicker and brawl and dare each other to do stupid things like that one time that they took turns jumping across our scary magical sacred possibly dark side force pit and nearly fell in and we all had heart attacks. we all remember when they stole a whole batch of spice creams and gorged themselves till they were sick. we’ve all been up all night searching the forest because they snuck out and got lost and gave up on ever finding their way home again within thirty feet of the fortress. Just, the way they could quite easily could have had the coven worship the twins but I respect the fact that instead they were like. no the coven raised those kids they will have seen entirely too much of them getting into stupid tomfoolery for that

[mimir-anoshe]

Osha in season 2 when she finds out about that:

[animazi]

not to yap about the acolyte again. but. agency am I right.

osha's life in the coven is so restrictive. everyone seemingly expects her to be half of the same coin with mae. born as two but always one. I think it's quite interesting how osha and mae's relationship is so uniquely restrictive too! there are all sorts of other people in the coven - we see mother koril and mother aniseya arguing with each other, they are clearly very different types of people; its just mae and osha, the coven's hope for the future that are treated in this way. how must that feel. you are eight and your sister is eight and you are different people but nobody wants you to be. and she is better than you at being her mother's daughter, and she wants to ascend and you want to see the stars but you are being pinned down to the ground by your family. you've never known anyone else but them; you are a hope and a saviour but you don't want to be. and then a choice finally comes along, a chance for freedom; who wouldn't take that?

and later you find that life doesn't work for you, and you leave again, find new people, but soon you withdraw and spend your days off alone. where once there was two there now is one, and you were never made to be just one. never meant to be alone really.

osha just keeps making choices! look at her go!

[inquisitor-apologist]

I really loved the little bits of worldbuilding we got for the Coven’s faith this episode!

Back in episode three, we learned a bit about how the coven viewed the Force/Thread: “The Thread is not a power you wield”, “Pull the Thread. Change everything”, “[The Thread] ties you to your destiny”, and “Destiny is not decided for you by an anonymous Force”, but without context it all seemed a little weird. Take the bits on destiny. By themselves, they seemed kind-of contradictory—does the Thread/Force determine your destiny or not?

But now, we got just a little more info, and it becomes clear that the coven’s whole relationship to the force is based on sacrifice: “[Ascension] is about sacrificing a part of yourself”, “Everyone must be sacrificed to fulfill their destiny”. The Thread gives you your destiny, but you have to sacrifice a part of yourself to follow it.

Using the Thread itself also seems to be a sacrifice. Pull the Thread, change everything, but in order to that you sacrifice yourself to it. The Thread isn’t a power you use, it’s a power that uses you, and if you wish to wield it you have to let that happen.

It’s such a cool way of looking at the Force, and I wish we’d gotten more of it

[thenewjediorder]

I will hear no criticisms about Mother Aniseya! She is the best mother to her children.