This review contains full spoilers for Star Wars: The Acolyte Season 1, episode 8. The Acolyte’s season came to an end with a busy finale that certainly made use of its 48 minute runtime (the season’s longest episode) with a lot of big moments and big confrontations. It also set up a lot of elements for a far-from-guaranteed Season 2, leaving many questions unanswered in a way that's more frustrating than enticing.
One story that is definitely wrapped up though is Sol’s. The final two episodes of the season cast this character in a very different light, revealing his foolhardy, selfish actions on Brendok and how they led to him killing Mae and Osha’s mother, plus the death of the entire coven. Last week’s look at how this all played out was poorly told and highlighted the flaws in The Acolyte’s storytelling.
This week, seeing Sol away from that yet still dealing with the aftermath, was more engaging. While he may harbor some regrets, Sol was ultimately a stubborn as hell guy who could never admit that he was in the wrong when it came to intervening with that coven. It was an involving way to go with this seemingly noble Jedi, presenting a highly flawed character in a way that avoided him simply being evil.
I also liked that while Mae decided to spare Sol’s life, the initial parallels to Luke throwing his lightsaber aside and refusing to kill Vader actually had a very different meaning here – it wasn’t because Mae felt some sense of forgiveness or love for So.
