‘The Acolyte’ Introduces Queer Space Witches in a Thrilling Development

Esther Zuckerman

17 June 2024 at 11:00 am·5-min read

A little over five minutes into the third episode of Disney+’s “The Acolyte,” Jodi Turner-Smith’s Mother Aniseya makes a gesture of love. She meets with her fellow witch Mother Koril (Margarita Levieva) and gently touches her chin and strokes her cheek. It’s a beautiful moment of intimacy that in any other television show would be regarded as such, but given this was a “Star Wars” it’s a moment that immediately seems radical. Not only is “The Acolyte” introducing space witches, it is introducing space witches that are also very likely gay.

The installment titled “Destiny,” directed by filmmaker Kogonada of “After Yang” and “Columbus,” intentionally leaves a lot mysterious about the coven. But even so it offers up a rich portrait of a world with some of the most gorgeous “Star Wars” imagery in recent memory—not just because of the physical representation of the coven, but also because of the spirit they convey. Haters be damned.

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The episode serves as crucial backstory for Osha and Mae, the twins played as adults by Amandla Stenberg, who are, in the present timeline of the series, at odds. Grown-up Mae is running around killing Jedi; Osha is a former Jedi now working with them to help stop Mae. But as children they were raised by witches on the planet of Brendok, where the members of their coven can conceal themselves thanks to a vast forest.

“Destiny” introduces us to the child versions of Mae (Leah Brady) and Osha (Lauren Brady) on the day of what is known as their ascension, essentially a moment when they become full-fledged members of their community. Contrary to what we’ve learned about their adult versions, it’s Osha that’s the rebellious one, wanting to stray outside of the coven’s fortress, and Mae who is loyal. When the Jedi arrive, suspicious of the witches’ activity, Osha is intrigued instead of scared by them. And after Mother Aniseya gives her permission to leave, Mae is furious, and intends to set her on fire, igniting their room. As the fire spreads and Osha escapes, she sees the women who were her family lying, seemingly dead. Mae, meanwhile, seemingly plummets to her death while Jedi Master Sol (Lee Jung-jae) saves Osha, but somehow survives.

There’s much that is left unknown by the end of the episode. What actually happened to the witches? How did Mae live? Etc. These are questions that I feel like the rest of “The Acolyte” will invariably answer. But the high of “Destiny” is not the answers, it’s the questions that creator Leslye Headland, Kogonada, and writers Jasmyne Flournoy and Eileen Shim raise.

Headland has said she was inspired by the witches known as the Nightsisters of Dathormir seen in the “Clone Wars” animated series. “So when I got the chance to make a show set in the Star Wars universe, it felt like, ‘Well, of course I’m going to do my version of witches. I just am going to shoot my shot,'” Headland told Entertainment Weekly.

Still, what is most striking about these witches is not the homage to other lore, but the emotional rigor with which they operate, especially regarding children. When the show visits Coruscant, we see how the Jedi train their younglings in regimented fashion. Mother Aniseya does not operate that way. Instead, she is, for lack of a better word, mothering. When Mother Koril tells the young Mae and Osha they cannot have treats known as “spice creams,” Mother Aniseya instead allows them the sweets. It’s not that she’s not strict. During the sequence in which we see first the witches wield their version of the force, which Mother Aniseya describes as like a thread in which all things are connected, the elder seems to get a thrill out of watching her daughters respond to her. It’s Mother Koril who plays the bad cop, chiding Osha for not participating to the extent she wishes.

When Osha finally reveals her wish to go be a Jedi, Aniseya does not stop her. “Fear should not make this decision, Osha,” she says. “You should.” There’s disappointment in Ainseya’s eyes when Osha reveals her wish, but instead of rejecting her daughter, Aniseya pulls her in for a hug.

Much of the power in these moments comes from Jodie Turner-Smith’s performance. She is sufficiently regal as Aniseya — during the ascension ceremony she has a reveal that looks like it would fit on a runway. As she has said in an interview: “mother is mothering.” Yes, she means that in the slay way, but she also means that in a deeper sense. “Here we have this woman who is mothering twins, so we have this symbolic representation of two different and sometimes opposing ways of being and thinking,” she told the official “Star Wars” website. “Her job as their mother is to hold space for that constantly, to nurture that.” You can see that in the way she looks at her children, with a combination of devotion and worry. You can also make note of it in how she embraces Mother Koril, who is obviously her partner in more than just ruling.

Osha and Mae were evidently conceived — through magic means and no father in sight — with a purpose: To continue the lineage of these witches. They are, in that way, Chosen Ones, a type we’ve seen time and time again in “Star Wars” and other stories of its ilk. But there is also an element of self determination in their stories that feels refreshing, and a lot of that has to do with the witches surrounding them. These women utilize the Force, but they are not prescriptive about it. They chant about the power of many, understanding that their ranks are stronger together rather than apart. You can both understand why Osha might chafe against that, but also see the power in their togetherness.

Kogonada and Headland have of course emphasized the physical beauty in the witches, with their flowing robes in lush hues that stand in contrast to the austere browns of the Jedi. But what they have done that feels truly revolutionary is inject a distinctly feminine tenderness into this universe. And that should be celebrated, not feared.

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