What Is Vernestra Hiding In 'The Acolyte'?
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Warning: Spoilers for Star Wars: The Acolyte
In Star Wars: The Acolytle, Leslye Headland brought viewers through a mystery in a galaxy far, far away. One of the compelling arcs through the show was that the Jedi are made up of flawed humans. Headland said, “The theme of the show of duality and reflection, so the good guys also have to admit the parts of them that are bad. I don’t see the Jedi as antagonists. I see them as flawed, and it was a story that I felt really excited to tell.”
The mystery of what the Jedi are hiding is solved in the season finale with Sol’s confession or so it seems. However, after his confession and death, Venestra spins the story to blame him for the fallen Jedi and hide the presence of the Sith from the Senate. Venestra’s motives remain unexplained in canon, but there are quite a few reasons for her to hide the truth. The Sith was a former padawan of Vernestra. She could still feel a sense of failure at watching her charge turn down a dark road. Maybe a sense of familiarity with her former charge has her reluctant to escalate the issue to the Senate. Alternatively, Vernestra could want to hunt down her padawan herself as she recruits an amnesiac Mae to track him down.
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Instead of trying to protect her padawan, she may be trying to protect the Jedi as a whole. Senator Rayencourt approaches her with a hostile attitude toward the Jedi calling them a religious cult. If it came to light that the Sith managed to elude the Jedi, it could cast doubt on the effectiveness of the Jedi order. Vernerstra might assume that the revelation of the true events would convince the Senate to shut down the Order and leave the galaxy without its protectors.
There’s also a possibility that Vernestra is less concerned with external threats and more concerned with internal ones. The tragedy on Brendok festered inside both Osha and Sol until it broke them. Lingering doubts about whether one is really on the right side may cause more Jedi to turn from the order. A Jedi on this road could easily follow a similar path to Osha’s or Anakin’s and become a Sith. Alternatively, the Order could just crumble under the weight of its members’ doubts.
Another possibility is that Vernestra is protecting her own secrets. While she was present in some other media featuring the High Republic era, she was much younger and there was a wide enough gap by the time of The Acolyte to stack up some secrets. Whatever her goal, she finds it necessary not only to work with Mae, who was training with the Sith before her memory loss but also to bring Master Yoda into the plan.
Image Source: IGN
Her reliance on these two and her reluctance to trust not only the Senate but other Jedi with the truth point toward some greater plan. The evidence is strong that the plan has something to do with approaching her former student. Whether she intends to convert him or to kill him remains unclear. The Sith has a scar on his back that seems to match Vernestra’s special lightsaber whip weapon, so the latter option may be more likely. Of course, there could be a deeper story hidden here. The scar could be punishment, self-defense, or even some misguided attempt by the Sith to steal Vernestra’s weapon. Audiences didn’t have much time with Vernestra in the first season, so the whole character has an air of mystery about her. However, the finale sets her, Yoda, and Mae as key players if the show is renewed for a second season.
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Source(s): StarWars.com, ScreenRant
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