Editor’s note: The below contains spoilers for The Acolyte finale.
The Acolyteis chock-full of the best elements of the Star Wars universe, includingdeeper explorations of the Forceand weird little guys being weird little guys (if nothing else, there needs to be a second season of this show so that theworld can have more Bazil). It also has some intense lightsaber fights, particularly when dark sider Qimir (Manny Jacinto) enters the picture. Qimir has two major fights with Jedi Master Sol (Lee Jung-jae) throughoutThe Acolyte;the first takes place in “Night” and the second occurs in the Season 1 finale — which is appropriately titled “The Acolyte.” Sol and Qimir’s second fightis the best fight inThe Acolytedue to multiple factors, including clever editing and directorHanelle Culpepperleaning into the wuxia influences that shaped the series' previous fight scenes.
The Acolyte
The Acolyte is a mystery-thriller that will take viewers into a galaxy of shadowy secrets and emerging dark-side powers in the final days of the High Republic era. A former Padawan reunites with her Jedi Master to investigate a series of crimes, but the forces they confront are more sinister than they ever anticipated.
‘The Acolyte’s Finale Fight Leans All the Way Into Its Wuxia Influences
The Acolytewears its wuxia influences on its sleeve from its very first episode, “Lost / Found,” where Mae (Amandla Stenberg) engages Indara (Carrie-Anne Moss) in a duel with nothing but throwing knives and her bare hands. She even runs up walls and performs gravity-defying jumps, which is often a staple of the wuxia world.Those same elements are present in Sol and Qimir’s final fight, with one scene even featuring them leaping from a bridge they had severely damaged with their lightsabers. ShowrunnerLeslye Headlandwas very open about how she looked to wuxia films when developingThe Acolyte, discussing her specific influencesin an interview:
“I actually went more toward martial arts films, and storylines that are a little bit more personal and less global and galactic. Those warriors were on missions that were deeply personal, with people feeling wronged and having to make it right. Wuxia films and martial arts films from King Hu and the Shaw Brothers, like Come Drink With Me and Touch Of Zen. They’re monks that are also martial arts heroes.”
Culpepper also took this to heart, as the fight flashes between Sol and Qimir’s duel and a fight Mae is having with Osha.Each blow the twins trade is matched by their respective masters’ strikes, with the camera cutting from Mae and Osha to Sol and Qimir at a pivotal moment. The sheer amount of work put into this one fight sequence is incredible, showcasing how a fiimmaker can take their influences and use them to craft something new.
The Best Lightsaber Fights Are Emotionally Charged, and ‘The Acolyte’ Finale Is No Different
What really makesThe Acolyte’s final lightsaber fight stand outis the current of emotions running through it. Qimir is fighting for his very existence, as he previously told Sol that the Jedi wouldn’t let someone like him exist. Sol is fighting to absolve himself for his actions on Brendok, as the fact that he accidentally killed Mae and Osha’s mother (Jodie Turner-Smith) and withheld the truth from Osha is haunting him.
The best lightsaber fights in Star Warshistory have had this elementin play. Both of Luke Skywalker’s (Mark Hamill) lightsaber battles with Darth Vader (James Earl Jones) take a tragic turn when you realize that Vader is Luke’s father, andLuke is struggling with the pull of the dark side himself. Obi-Wan Kenobi (Ewan McGregor) also has a fight with Vader (Hayden Christensen) that’s laced with regret on his part, as he feels he failed his former Padawan. And Obi-Wan’s (James Arnold Taylor) final confrontation with Darth Maul (Sam Witwer) inStar Wars Rebelsis a stealth meditation on the costs of revenge, making itthe best lightsaber fight in Star Wars history. Simply put: if you want to make a great lightsaber fight in Star Wars, it can’t just be two dudes swinging laser swords around.
Sol and Qimir’s final fightalso serves as a direct mirror to their last fight. In “Night,” Qimir was tearing through Jedi with a ferocity that made him feel less like a Sith Lord andmore like the villain in a slasher movie, while Sol nearly ended up killing his opponent in a rage after he murdered Yord (Charlie Barnett) and Jecki (Dafne Keen). By contrast, “The Acolyte” shows a more measured fight that is still intense; Sol wants to bring Qimir to justice while Qimir is willing to play things out until Mae and Osha have finished their own confrontation. Star Wars has always been about duality, which extends to its storytelling motifs, andThe Acolytekeeps that in mind.
‘The Acolyte’ Finale’s Director Has Brought the Same Emotion to Other Genre Shows
The Acolyteis not the first time Hanelle M. Culpepper has directed an emotionally charged, action-packed genre show.She excels at this type of fare, having directed the first three episodes ofStar Trek: Picardand theKung Fureboot on The CW.Picardaims for the emotional jugular early in its pilot episode “Remembrance,” as the opening scene features Jean-Luc Picard (Patrick Stewart) and Data (Brent Spiner) playing a game of poker; there comes a moment where Data asks if Picard is stalling and the former Enterprise captain replies: “I don’t want the game to end.” Such a line is tinged with melancholy, hinting at Picard’s regret over being unable to save Vulcan from destruction.
Kung Fuemploys a similar gambit, opening with the revelation that the Shaolin monks who trained Nicky (Olivia Liang) were brutally murdered by one of their own; for the last three years, Nicky had trained with these monks and considered them family.Culpepper takes the same approach toThe Acolyte, ending Sol and Qimir’s fight by having Osha discover the truth about what happened on Brendok —and fully embracing the Dark Side because of it.
The Acolyte’s finale stands out due to its director knowing how to balance action and emotion, and for how the series builds up to the final fight between Sol and Qimir. Should the series be renewed for a second season, Headland and crew should definitely bring Culpepper back; she knows how to help end a season on a strong note.
All episodes ofThe Acolyteare now available to stream on Disney+ in the U.S.
