The Acolyte
Season 1 – Episode 3
Episode title: Destiny
Original release date: June 11, 2024
Plot: On a mysterious planet, the tragic journey of two sisters begins.
* * *
[Vernestra] Osha has a twin sister?
Her name is Mae.
You look exactly like her.
[Vernestra] There’s been another incident.
[Mae grunts]
[warbling]
Go investigate.
[Mae] Face the past, Master Torbin.
[Torbin] Forgive me.
We thought we were doing the right thing.
She wants to kill four Jedi.
Stationed on Brendok 16 years ago.
Indara, Torbin, Kelnacca, and you.
[Osha] She wants to kill you.
[Mae yells]
[Mae shouts]
She destroyed my life.
She killed my family.
This is grief.
Let it go.
Oshie?
[vehicle whooshes]
[♪ serene music playing]
[warbling]
[warbling]
[young Osha] Mae?
How did you know I was here?
When I can’t find you, I look here.
The bunta tree’s so beautiful.
But Osha, it’s dangerous.
Only if we eat it.
[wings flapping]
[warbling]
Let it go, Mae.
[♪ menacing music plays]
Stop!
[♪ menacing music stops]
Why do you always have to do things like that?
Why do you always run off alone?
I don’t wanna do the Ascension.
It’s just a ceremony.
Besides, we’ll do it together.
Come on.
Can we stay here a little longer?
Let’s go home.
[♪ gentle music playing]
“You are with me. I am with you.”
Oshie!
“I am with you”?
“Always one, but born as two.”
“As above sits the stars…
“and below lies the sea…”
“I give you you…”
“And you give me me.”
What are you doing here?
How many times have I told you? It is not safe out here.
Sorry, Mother Koril.
There will be consequences for breaking the rules.
It isn’t fair.
I’m old enough to go outside the fortress walls.
The rules are for your safety.
Now, come with me.
Quickly.
[♪ uneasy music playing]
[♪ mysterious music playing]
[♪ serene music playing]
[people chattering]
May we have some spice creams?
Those are not for little girls who run away from home.
I’m not little anymore.
Please, Mother Koril.
After the Ascension ceremony.
Let them have some spice creams.
Mama!
Mama!
[Mother Aniseya] Oh.
My sweet girls must have sweet treats.
Don’t you think so, Koril?
[Mother Aniseya chuckles]
Go. Meet me in the common room for your training session.
Mother Aniseya.
They left the fortress again.
Did anyone see them?
I do not believe so.
Any sign of the visiting Jedi?
None.
Our scouts think they’ve moved their ship inland.
I told you this planet would be a safe haven for our coven. Hmm?
It is not going to stay safe if Osha keeps running away.
You want to say something?
Speak your mind, Koril.
As our leader, I’ve always deferred to you when raising the twins,
but you’re too lenient.
A firm hand is required.
Osha is testing her boundaries. It’s normal behavior for a child.
The twins are not normal children.
All living things are connected by the same Thread.
A Thread woven through all of existence.
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.
[young Mae] Stop.
You stop.
[grunting]
[warbling]
[both grunt]
The power of one.
[young Mae] Osha. Pay attention.
Stop it!
You stop.
[warbling]
[young Osha] Stop!
You stop!
[scouts gasp]
[young Mae] Stop.
The power of two.
And tonight, at the ceremony, you will experience the power of many.
Pay attention.
Stop distracting me.
[both grunting]
Girls.
[young Mae] Osha! [grunts]
[young Osha] Let go of me!
[young Mae] You let go of me! [yelps]
Your enemies will not warn you before they attack.
[both yelp]
Get up.
Block me.
[warbling]
[young Mae pants, grunts]
Excellent, Mae.
Osha, I expect more from you.
[distant creaking]
Girls, to your room.
[♪ uneasy music playing]
[crackling]
[Mother Aniseya] What is troubling you, Osha?
[young Mae] She’s nervous about tonight.
Is this true?
She’s scared.
[Mother Aniseya] Let your sister answer.
I don’t wanna do the Ascension.
But that’s how we become witches.
I don’t know if I wanna be a witch.
Of course you want that.
No, you want that.
[Mother Aniseya] Girls.
Come.
[♪ gentle music playing]
Ah! Hold hands.
This is your sister.
The Thread tied you together before you were born.
Tell her you love her.
I love you.
I love you.
Don’t be afraid, Oshie.
Ascension is about walking through fear.
It is about sacrificing a part of yourself.
The power of many instead of the power of one.
You think you want something different than life in this coven.
But that is because you are young.
The galaxy is not a place that welcomes women like us.
Witches who have the abilities we do.
You and your sister are special, Osha.
I want you to stay special.
[♪ captivating music playing]
[♪ unsettling music playing]
How many spice creams are you gonna eat tonight?
I think I’ll eat at least four.
[pencil scratching]
What are you drawing?
Stop, don’t look!
It isn’t fair.
I share everything with you
and you hide things from me or run off alone.
I want to have my own things.
Why?
Because I don’t want to do everything together all the time.
But why?
Because we’re not the same.
Of course we are.
No, it feels that way because we’re the only children here.
Don’t you wonder what could be out there?
Besides Brendok?
No.
[young Osha] Why not?
Everything I need is here.
[♪ uneasy music playing]
[female singer vocalizing]
[♪ mystical music playing]
[witches breathing heavily]
[♪ music stops]
Tonight, we enact a ceremony we have not performed since our exile.
[witches breathing heavily]
We were hunted, persecuted, forced into hiding,
all because some would consider our power dark.
Unnatural.
We were on the brink of extinction.
[witch laughs manically]
And then, we were blessed with a miracle.
The gift of life.
[witch laughs manically]
[♪ haunting music playing]
[female singer vocalizing]
Come. Claim your destiny.
What the Thread has tied together, no one can separate.
[♪ haunting music continues]
[witches singing] ♪ The power of one ♪
♪ The power of two ♪
♪ The power of many ♪
♪ The power of one ♪
♪ The power of two ♪
♪ The power of many ♪
♪ The power of one ♪
♪ The power of two The power of many ♪
Mae-ho Aniseya.
Do you vow, upon my death,
to protect the secrets of our coven and continue our legacy?
I do.
[grunts]
[wind blowing]
[witches singing] ♪ The power of one ♪
♪ The power of two ♪
♪ The power of many ♪
Ascend.
[female singer vocalizing]
Verosha Aniseya.
Do you vow, upon my death,
to protect the secrets of our coven and continue our legacy?
I…
Do.
[Sarria] Mother!
The Jedi…
They’ve sliced the platform!
They will be here at any moment.
[witches muttering]
Hide them.
[Koril] Do not move. Do not make a sound.
[Mother Aniseya] Put down your weapons.
No violence.
[♪ mysterious music playing]
Good evening.
I am Master Indara, and these are my colleagues,
Sol, Kelnacca, and my Padawan, Torbin.
I am Aniseya, mother of this coven.
These women are under my protection.
You’re trespassing.
[Indara] Forgive our intrusion.
We thought this planet was uninhabited.
The all-knowing Jedi were ignorant of their surroundings?
I find that hard to believe.
[young Mae whispering] Osha.
[Indara] We mean you and your coven no harm.
[Mother Aniseya] And yet here you are.
Unannounced, armed.
[whispering] Mae. Look at their robes, how they wear their sabers.
[whispering] Get back here.
You heard Mother Koril.
What do you want?
We are concerned that you are training children.
The Republic law states…
Brendok is not a part of the Republic.
There are no children here.
[sniffs, speaking Shyriiwook]
[speaking Shyriiwook]
Come out.
We won’t hurt you.
[♪ mysterious music continues]
What is your name?
Osha.
[Sol] Osha.
My name is Sol.
Osha. May we meet your sister?
Where is their father?
They have no father.
That marking.
It wasn’t there this morning.
You’re spying on us?
They want to take our children!
[witches clamoring]
The Jedi do not take children.
Hold your tongue or I’ll cut it out for you!
Sol, no.
[♪ gentle music playing]
I think you would make a very good Jedi, Osha.
Would you like to be tested and see if you could become one?
Yes, please.
Mother?
[thunder rumbling]
[Torbin gasps]
[Kelnacca grunting]
[gasping]
If you want your Padawan returned to his right mind,
I suggest you all leave.
Now.
[young Osha] Mama! I wanna show them what you taught me.
Please let me take the test.
Mother Aniseya, you cannot deny that Jedi have the right
to test potential Padawans.
With your permission, of course.
[♪ music crescendos]
[Torbin gasps, breathes heavily]
The scouts will bring Osha to your camp at midday.
Both girls.
Her sister, too.
We appreciate your cooperation.
[witches whispering]
Gather my advisors.
Bed, now.
[witch] They breached the inner circle, we can’t do nothing.
We make our move tonight, while the moons are high.
Mother Koril, I urge you to remain calm.
One drop of Jedi blood and the Republic would destroy us.
[Koril] There are only four Jedi, who would miss them?
We must let them test the girls.
No.
We don’t have a choice.
Osha wants to do it.
Osha is a child.
She is old enough to know what she wants.
I did not bring the girls into this world
so we could lose them to a bunch of deranged monks.
It is not your decision. It is mine.
And I’ve made it.
I carried them.
I created them.
And what happens if the Jedi discover how you created them?
This test has two outcomes.
[Elder Naasa grunts]
[witches whispering]
A pass or a fail.
If they pass, the girls leave.
If we want them to stay…
Mm?
How will we know how to fail?
I don’t know what they will ask you.
But whatever is in your heart, you must say the opposite.
If we pass, they take us away.
We never see Mama again.
They take you, I will stop them.
No one’s taking me.
The Jedi are bad.
The Jedi are good.
This isn’t about good or bad.
This is about power and who is allowed to use it.
You’re a very powerful girl.
Right now, you want to be a Jedi.
But as you grow, what you want, it changes.
It shifts.
Like the seasons.
In winter, we hunt with bunta.
In summer, with bows and arrows.
But we still hunt.
That doesn’t change.
[sighs]
[door beeps, opens]
It’s time. Come, my loves.
[♪ mysterious music playing]
Mae, I don’t wanna lie.
I wanna say what’s in my heart.
You have to lie.
[Koril] Mae! You will go first.
Promise me.
Fine. I promise.
[crackling]
[♪ mysterious music continues]
[crackling continues]
Hi.
[Kelnacca speaking Shyriiwook]
[Torbin] We’re ready for you.
Do all Jedis get one of those?
After much training, yes.
[device clicks]
Ow.
What are you doing?
I was just taking a blood sample.
Come on.
In this test, you must divine what images appear on the testing screen.
Tell us what you see.
[device beeps]
A spaceship.
Correct.
How about this next one?
[beeps]
A mountain.
Correct.
That wasn’t a…
Did someone tell you to fail this test?
Your family doesn’t want to be separated from you.
What do you want, Osha?
I was younger than you are when the Jedi tested me.
I was only four.
Really?
[Sol] Yes.
But I knew I was different from my family.
The Jedi saw how special I was.
And I can see that in you, Osha.
I was very scared to leave my family.
But when I joined the Jedi,
I found out there were many other children like me.
There are other children there?
Thousands like us.
But you must have the courage to say what you want.
I want to be a Jedi.
Then you must have the courage to tell the truth.
We should continue the test.
[♪ pensive music playing]
[♪ ominous music playing]
[tool whirring]
[speaking Shyriiwook]
Mama, she promised she would fail and she broke her promise.
I told the truth.
It was the right thing to do.
If only things were so simple, Osha.
I didn’t want to lie.
You lied to me.
That man used his Jedi mind tricks on her.
No, he didn’t.
I told him I wanted to be a Jedi because I do.
You don’t mean that.
[young Osha] I do.
I want my own life.
I don’t want to share with Mae.
I wanna see the galaxy.
I… don’t want to be a witch.
[angrily] What’s wrong with you?
[young Mae and Osha grunting]
Go and take a walk, Mae.
Take a walk with Mother Koril. Now!
But Mama!
What’s wrong with you?
Mama! Mama!
Mama, I’m sorry…
Stop.
Listen to me.
Destiny is not decided for you by an anonymous Force.
You get to make a choice, Osha.
If you want to pull the Thread, then pull it.
I’ll never see you again?
You won’t.
Fear should not make this decision, Osha.
You should.
I want to be a Jedi, Mama.
I do.
[♪ gentle music playing]
I must discuss this situation with everyone here.
But we will consider your wish when we do so.
[kisses]
I love you, Mama.
I love you.
Now go.
[♪ sentimental music playing]
[sighs]
[door beeps]
I won’t let you leave.
You can’t go. We’re stuck here now.
It’s not up to you. You can’t stop me.
[young Mae] Yes, I can.
How?
I’ll kill you.
Hey, give it back!
[door buzzes]
Mae, let me out.
I won’t let it happen.
Mae, please.
[banging on door]
No.
No. Mae.
Mama! Help me!
[panting]
[object clatters]
[fire roaring]
[♪ tense music playing]
Calm down. Calm down.
Come on, come on.
Come on, come on.
[fire roaring]
Come on, come on.
[crackling]
[beeps]
[fire roars]
[electricity crackling]
[young Osha grunting]
[♪ tense music continues]
[rumbling]
[witches screaming]
[rumbling]
[electricity crackling]
[young Mae] Osha!
Mae!
[gasps]
Mae!
[young Mae] Osha!
Osha! Mae!
[rumbling]
[young Mae] Osha!
[young Osha] Mae!
[young Mae] Jump over to me!
[young Osha] Where’s Mama?
Where’s Mama?
Mama’s dead.
What have you done?
What have you done?
What have you done?
[bridge rattles]
Osha!
Mae!
Osha. Osha!
Mae!
[Sol] Mae!
[young Osha screams]
No!
[young Osha yelps]
[Sol grunts]
Help me! [pants]
I got you.
[rumbling]
We must keep going.
Come on.
[♪ tense music playing]
Mama! Mama!
Mama! No!
[♪ dramatic music playing]
[ventilator wheezing]
Mama?
[system chirping]
You’re okay, Osha.
You’re going to be okay.
[Sol grunts]
[whimpering]
Where am I?
We are on our way to Coruscant.
What happened?
Mae started a fire.
It destroyed everything.
It killed…
Mama?
And Mae?
[sniffles] No. No.
You have to go back. We have to go back.
No, no, we can’t.
We must.
There is nothing back there.
You’ll be safe on Coruscant.
[young Osha sniffles]
And, if you wish, you will train as my Padawan.
[Sol sighs]
You’re going to be okay, Osha.
You will never feel like this again.
I promise.
[♪ gentle music playing]
[breath shudders]
[♪ uneasy music playing]
[young Mae] Osha?
[♪ gentle music playing]
