This episode transports us back to the past to learn exactly what happened the night Osha and Mae were separated on Brendok, and the Jedi were pretty terrible.
The Jedi are investigating why the planet, which was categorized as lifeless for years, is now thriving. They suspect a vergance, which is a concentration of Force power around a location that could allow for the creation of life.
While Sol is wandering, he stumbles across young Osha and Mae in the scene we saw the first time in episode one. Not only is Brendok experiencing a resurgence in plantlife, it's also home to what is clearly Force-sensitive individuals.
This episode is the Jedi perspective of what happened that fateful night everything went down, and to be fair it does paint everything in a slightly more nuanced way. Sol truly feels concern for the twins and their seemingly harsh treatment from a coven of witches. Does that mean he's right? Of course not. But as we so often see in Star Wars, many of the truths we cling to depend greatly on our own point of view.
Indara agrees to go investigate what's going on, and the team show up at the Ascension ceremony. It's so damn good to see Mother Aniseya again, as every time she's on screen she's absolutely entrancing.
While Aniseya and Indara are exchanging pointed but veiled insults, we learn what really happened to Torbin when his eyes went black and became incapictated in episode one. Somehow, while simultaenously talking to Indara, Aniseya gets into his mind and low-key begins tormenting him with promises of returning home, preying on his fears and anxiety. That's some dark Force stuff, there, I think.
And while I'm always on Team Force Witch, viewing this episode through a space cop's eyes does give me a little bit of pause. Maybe it's not the best and safest choice for a pair of young girls? Sol worries if the Jedi aren't looking out for beings like this, who is? I'd never thought of the Jedi as a Force DFACS, but maybe they were!
Aniseya agrees to let the Jedi test Mae and Osha the next day. Indara thinks it's just a good idea from Sol to buy them time so they can talk to the Council about the situation. But he's being honest — and he's doubling down by admitting that he feels drawn to Osha and that she should be his Padawan, despite the fact that she's already too old to join the Order.
Osha passes the test, while Mae deliberately fails. Torbin takes some blood and talks about how their M-count is through the roof. I found it interesting that they don't even say the dreaded M-word (midichlorian) but yet still reference it as a benchmark against which to measure a Jedi's potential. Not only that, the twins have the same symbiont. Something powerful enough to split one consciousness into two bodies. Only a vergence could do that.
Torbin, upon hearing that, says that's it! That's the proof we need, and he rushes off toward the Coven. In his desire to finally leave the backwater planet, he starts putting everything at risk.
Indara also finally reaches the Council, and they put the kibosh on Sol's plan to bring the girls to Coruscant. And it's true — they've already interfered enough with the inhabitants of this planet.
Back at the coven, Mother Aniseya speaks with her sisters about Osha's desire to leave with the Jedi. Everyone but her seems against it, but she seems surprisingly understanding about the young girl's desire for a different life. They prepare for battle as the Jedi approach. This is going to get ugly.
Mae locks the outer door so everyone is stuck, and starts the fire that we know will soon encompass everything. When the Jedi arrive, Torbin this time isn't affected — but the Wookiee Kelnacca is, and we witness a pretty awesome Jedi fight of him versus his companions as he's possessed.
As Mother Aniseya threateningly turns to smoke, Sol panics when he sees a witch use dark side magic he's not familiar with and impales her with his lightsaber. As she falls, she admits that she was going to let Osha go with him. Sol's attachment to Osha is the primary cause of this tragedy — and the ultimate death of all the coven — a lesson we continually learn again and again in Star Wars.
After the witches all pass out (Did Indara kill them? Or are they sleeping?), she instructs Sol to go get the girls, despite their being directed not to. How are the Council going to react when they show up with these essentially kidnapped children?
Sol rushes into save the girls, and we are presented with a literal Sophie's choice scenario: Osha and Mae are on opposite sides of a bridge cut in half, and he only can save one. He rushes for Osha, while Mae falls (he believes) to her death.
The Jedi take Osha and flee the planet on their ship, discussing what they're going to say to the Council. Indara, here, cements her tortured legacy when she calmly gives the plan: They're going to lie. Here they are, faced with a massacre on a strange planet and a direct violation of their orders by carrying Osha away.
Sol wants to confess and come clean, but she say no — we're not doing that. In a way, she's right. This is a terrible situation that no one could have predicted. They're going to say that Mae burned down the fortress and everyone died. In a way, she's right. Osha has lost everything. There's no point in taking away her only other thing, her desire to become a Jedi.
But also, telling the truth could have worked out alright — this was a tragedy by all accounts with some terrible luck. As we've seen from Master Vernestra, though, throughout this season, the Jedi are very, very loathe to admit when they're wrong or behaving in ways that may embarrass the Order.
I imagine next week we'll see Mae's rescue by Qimir, and the path that she's set on as she grows up. I'm still appreciating this deep dive into Jedi history and the constant complications that arise time and again because they're simply people. Maybe the dark side is a more inherently natural way of using the Force, since it allows for the use of emotions that are completely normal for living creatures. Striving for monk-like calm and emotionless living is nigh on impossible, as we keep seeing.
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The Math
Baseline Score: 7/10
Bonuses: Proto speeder bikes (touring editions with lots of room for cargo); another glimpse of Mother Aniseya; we get further proof that the Jedi are jerks sometimes; a Mother Koril bad-ass fight scene.
POSTED BY: Haley Zapal is a lawyer-turned-copywriter living in Atlanta, Georgia. A co-host of Hugo Award-winning podcast Hugo, Girl!, she posts on Instagram as @cestlahaley. She loves nautical fiction, growing corn and giving them pun names like Timothee Chalamaize, and thinking about fried chicken.
