This post was generated after watching the finale of The Acolyte, so if you haven’t see it yet there are going to be SPOILERS, so stop reading now.

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Overall I liked The Acolyte quite a lot. I like the fact it wasn’t written by all one person. I thought the cast was terrific, particularly Lee Jung Jae as the Jedi Master Sol.

There was very nice foreshadowing that something harrowing and horrifying was at the heart of everything that happened on Brendok, and through flashbacks (which I don’t normally like) we began to see the outlines of those events, and then finally the full tragedy of what occurred.

So once the supposedly “good twin” realizes that Master Sol had killed her mother she was able to use her hate and anger to access her powers and kill her one time master.

So man does something terrible, apologizes and begs forgiveness of the girl he harmed and then dies, so he receives both punishment but also a form of redemption by the act of dying.

It’s a common trope in fiction both in books and on film, but I think it might be too easy an out.

I love the Star Wars Rebels animated series, and my favorite character by far is Agent Kallus. (Hello Star Wars publishing, I would love to write a Kallus novel). The character has a fascinating arc and I wish it had gotten more play. Kallus and Ezra were the only characters with true arcs in the show which makes them interesting.

What we know about Kallus is that he took part in a functional genocide of the Last people. He was part of a plot that assassinated a politician. He burned out a tent city of refugees. He was happy to oversee the delivery of Wookies into slavery. He murders one of his own troopers in cold blood because the man said something that offended the agent. He’s a really bad guy.

Then he has a turn and sees the evils of the Empire and becomes first a spy for the Rebellion and then joins after his betrayal is discovered. All of which surprised me. I assumed he would be caught and executed by Thrawn and the Empire — one of those redemptions through death. Instead, the show had him get to see that he hadn’t destroyed the Lasat and leaves us with the impression he got to live out his life in peace on this world.

I’d like to think he didn’t get to retire and live in peace, but instead returned to the New Republic to try and undo some of the harm he had inflicted on the innocent peoples of the galaxy. Because I wanted him to live out his life carrying that guilt and knowing that no matter how much good he did, it could never erase the blood on his ledger.

Which brings me back to The Acolyte. I wish they hadn’t killed Master Sol. Not only because I loved the performance delivered by Lee Jung Jae, but because I wanted to see how the Jedi dealt with one of their own who had allowed his own needs and emotions to lead to such a disaster. And if the Jedi didn’t handle it appropriately would the Senate have stepped in? What does that look like when you have a clash between the civilian authorities and a mysterious cult that answers to no one?

And I wanted to see the journey of a man who is carrying that level of guilt. Death seemed too easy, a much too simple solution for what had occurred. I know it was done to help the transition of Osha to the dark side, but damn I wanted to see the legal system in operation and either prison or probation rather than death to wipe clean the ledger.

Also, I will freely admit that as a writer I probably take way too much pleasure in torturing my characters. I just hope they never form a union… or create a vendetta.