While Star Wars often divides Force Users between the Jedi and the Sith, there are many more options, a conceptThe Acolyteis exploring with the introduction of a coven of witches who come into conflict with the Jedi. Episode 3, “Destiny,” takes the audience back in time to explore the dayOsha and Mae (Amandla Stenberg)were separated, revealing their past asthe only children in a coven of Force-using witches on Brendok. This is certainly not the first time the term “witch” has been used in Star Wars, but Brendok’s witches are something new. The episode introduces this all-female group, showing Mother Aniseya (Jodie Turner-Smith), Mother Koril (Margarita Levieva), and a handful of other witches as they attempt to conceal Osha and Mae from the visiting Jedi – Sol (Lee Jung-jae), Indara (Carrie-Anne Moss),Kalnacca (Joonas Suotamo), and Torbin (Dean-Charles Chapman). But the story shows their ways as well.
The witches of Brendok have their own society and culture, which is seemingly threatened by the lack of children, butthey show a strong connection to the Force, or as they call it, the Thread. This puts them in direct competition with the Jedi, and the animosity between the two groups is clearly shown in the episode. Yet the coven’s abilities are different from the Jedi’s, in part because they are not so strict about the light and dark sides. While much of the information about these Force witches may sound familiar to fans ofStar Wars: The Clone Wars, who will recall the Nightsisters of Dathomir and their magicks,the witches of Brendok do not appear to have an in-universe connection to the Nightsisters. Still, there are a few similarities.
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.
Who Are the Witches of Brendok in ‘The Acolyte’?
This society calls itself a coven but doesn’t really give a name. Though they live on Brendok in the episode, hence their distinction, they are not from the planet, which is, according to Jedi records, uninhabited. There is no information about where they are originally from, and the coven includes a variety of life forms. Yet their reasoning for being on Brendok is clear. Mother Aniseya tells the girls thatthe galaxyis not kind to women with their abilities. She later describes howthe witches were hunted and persecuted for their abilities, resulting in their choice to remove themselves from the wider galaxy to live in isolation.
Yet there is more to this coven than simply where they choose to be. The group is essentially a Force cult, butthey see this power as a Thread that binds people together, weaving a tapestry.Rather than seeing the Force as an autonomous power to revere, they consider it something to manipulate. The witches do not claim towield the Force. Instead, Mother Aniseya describes an intricate web that will change with the pulling of a string. Because of this, the coven is particularly concerned with unity, as seen in their chant, “The power of one. The power of two. The power of many.” When training Osha and Mae, Aniseya is careful to show the additional power of two witches working together. Though most of what they use the Thread for in the episode is pushing each other or keeping things stationary,there are a few more concerning ways the witches manipulate the Thread. Aniseya threatens Torbin, making his eyes go black and claiming she can destroy his mind. Aniseya also suggests that she created the twins in a less-than-natural way.
‘The Acolyte’ Shows Tension Between the Witches and the Jedi
Exiled and seemingly hiding from the Jedi and their control, the Brendok Witches show a unique point of view on the Jedi Order. Though able to use the Force, these witches are unlike the Jedi. Talking to Mae and Osha, Aniseya insists thatthe coven’s separation from the Jedi is not about good and bad but about who has the right to power. TheJedi often have rigid views, believing there is a distinctly right and wrong way to do things, but the coven does not share these views. They have no love for the Jedi, but they are not seeking them out either. While the witches are not out for blood likethe Sith, they certainly use the dark side. Mother Aniseya claims their persecution was because someconsider their powers to be dark and unnatural, a description that points to the Jedi, especially considering how the two groups interact.
When the Jedi interrupt their ritual, Mother Aniseya is very clear that Brendok and the witches who live there are not part ofthe Republic.This puts them at odds with the Jedi,who seek some control over them. The Jedi show up to Brendok uninvited, concerned about the witches training new initiates. The confrontation does not escalate to violence, but there is clearly tension between the two. The witches express the fear of the Jedi taking their children, and though they deny it, the Jedi have been known to do that. Mother Koril even suggests killing the Jedi to protect the twins. There is undoubtedly a history between the two groups contributing to this dynamic, but the main conflict is about the Brendok witches' refusal to conform to Jedi ways.
‘The Acolyte’s Witches are Not the Nightsisters
Witches have become increasingly common in Star Wars, especially recently, with theWitches of Dathomirappearing in live action for the first time inAhsoka, which established their ancient roots outside of their homeworld.Star Wars: Tales of the Empirealso explored the Nightsisters through Morgan Elsbeth (Diana Lee Inosanto), revealing a Mountain Clan much different from Mother Talzin’s (Barbara Goodson) group. The Nightsisters are Force witches, but they use dark magicks, which appear as a billowing green fog – something the witches on Brendok do not do. Certainly, there are similarities between the two groups, even beyond their chosen names. Mother Koril is a Zabrak, like Maul (Ray Park) – the most well-known inhabitant of Dathomir. Though not a witch himself, Maul is the son of Mother Talzin, and the Zabraks are native to Dathomir (though not exclusively).
Butthe Nightsisters and the witchers of Brendok have more differences than they have in common.Visually, the Nightsisters dress in reds and the witches of Brendok purple, but more importantly, theNightsisters’ Magick is a dark power, while the Brendok witches are more gray. While neither makes as clear a distinction between the two as the Jedi and Sith, the Nightsisters are more cruel. Though Mother Aniseya uses dark powers, the Brendok witches are not quick to jump to violence, preferring to convince the Jedi to go in peace while revealing their secrets.The Acolyte’s creator, Leslye Headland, explained that the two groups are different, though she admitted to being inspired by theNightsisters, describing it as “paying homage toThe Clone Wars.”
Despite this inspiration, the Witches of Brendokdo not appear to have an in-universe connection to the Nightsisters, which makes sense. They use the same Force, no matter how differently they see it, so logically, they should be capable of similar things, andwith a galaxy as big as it is, different legends and beliefs would grow around Force Users. The witches of Brendok are a new addition to Star Wars, though they certainly honor what came before.
New episodes ofThe Acolytewill be available to stream Tuesdays on Disney+ in the U.S.
