Star Wars: The Acolyte Connects Two Characters To Anakin Skywalker In One Big Way
This article contains spoilers for "Star Wars: The Acolyte" Episodes 3 and 4
In just four episodes, "Star Wars: The Acolyte" has already made some substantial additions to the galaxy far, far away. We get to see the Jedi Order of the High Republic era brought to life after years on the written page, a whole new generation of ships and gear, and most curious of all, some new Force factions.
"The Acolyte" Episode 3 — "Destiny," dives deep into the shared childhood of Mae and Osha (Amandla Stenberg), revealing the queer Force witch coven that raised them. The episode is full of rituals and new names for established ideas (the witches call the Force the Thread, for instance). It also suggests that Mae and Osha have something in common with Anakin Skywalker — being conceived not through normal biological methods, but through manipulation of the Force. Episode 4 continues to explore this idea, as Mae and Osha are drawn together.
On Episode 3, we learn that Mother Koril (Margarita Levieva), one of the coven's leaders, carried Mae and Osha to birth. However, the coven's matriarch, Mother Aniseya (Jodie Turner-Smith), claims to have "created" them, and it's her last name that Mae and Osha bear. Some have claimed that this plotline diminishes Anakin's significance, as he's no longer the first person to be created through the Force. However, there's still a lot we don't know, and regardless, it's pretty clear that Mae and Osha's origin story is much different than Anakin's.
How were Mae and Osha created?
It seems clear that Mae and Osha were conceived through supernatural means, but that doesn't mean that their origin is the same as Anakin's. As of now, we still don't actually know how Anakin came to be. Some have theorized that Anakin is the son of two Sith "fathers" — Darth Plagueis and Palpatine — who made Anakin via their experiments with creating life through the dark side. Others believe that the Force itself formed him as a response to the Sith's mass-distortion, creating a means by which balance might be achieved once again. All we know for certain is that he had no father.
In the case of Osha and Mae, it seems more definitive that Mother Aniseya created them through some Force manipulation. That's not necessarily the same thing that happened with Anakin, but it certainly connects the three characters. There's a lot we still don't know about the Force, Plagueis, and the galaxy's ancient history. It's likely that whatever happened with Mae and Osha was not the first time it happened. If Plagueis and Palpatine were able to discover methods of manipulating life through the midi-chlorians, it's safe to assume that other Force users in the thousands of years before them made similar discoveries.
Another theory is that "The Acolyte" resurrected Star Wars' most controversial Force power and Mae and Osha are a Force Dyad — a powerful duo given immense power through their unique connection in the Force. This phenomenon has previously been explored in the sequel trilogy through Rey and Kylo Ren, and "The Acolyte" Episode 4 gives us some more clues about the twins' special bond.
Mae and Osha certainly aren't normal twins
In the no-longer-canon novel "Darth Plagueis," Palpatine's master conducts all manner of dark experiments in the hopes of gaining control over the midi-chlorians. When Anakin, a boy who seems to fulfill the Jedi's prophecy of a Chosen One, is discovered on Tatooine, Plagueis believes that Anakin's birth must have been the Force retaliating against his work.
Mae and Osha's situation doesn't appear to be quite so cosmic. The witches who birth them seem to be hiding from the Jedi on Brendok, and Mother Aniseya mentions that the coven once feared they would go extinct. The twins clearly represent the group's future, and it's possible that their creation was the result of many years of experimenting. Their duality makes them even more curious.
On "The Acolyte" Episode 4, when Osha is searching for Mae with Master Sol (Lee Jung-jae) and his team of Jedi, her Force awareness begins to come back. This could simply be because she's subconsciously opening herself back up to it, but it could also be a result of Mae's presence. The poem that the twins recite to each other says that they are "always one, but born as two." Does this mean that their shared power is reliant on both sisters? Were twins the only way that Mother Aniseya could bring about new life? Time will tell.
To read more about the Star Wars series, check out our post detailing if Yoda is alive during "The Acolyte."