The Acolyte: 3 characters who were done dirty by the narrative

The Acolyte has wrapped up its possible first season. Looking back, I wanted to discuss three characters who were absolutely thrown under the proverbial bus. Keep in mind that this isn't always a bad thing. Tragedy can be a gorgeous form of storytelling that applies to some of the entries on this list. Some of these characters made their own bed but other people used them as a scapegoat. One absolutely did nothing wrong.

Let's look at 3 characters in The Acolyte who were done dirty by the story.

1. Kelnacca

Kelnacca really was the biggest victim of circumstance in The Acolyte. He literally did nothing wrong at any point in the show. He was kind to the twins on Brendok and made delicious meals for his Jedi companions. Then, when Torbin and Sol went off to do their own "noble" actons, Kelnacca followed with Indara to try and stop them. He was mind-controlled by a group of witches, forcing him to attack his friends and use his claws, permanently scaring Torbin. This is a huge no-no in Wookiee culture, as claws are only used to climb trees, never in combat. Kelnacca banished himself as a "Madclaw," and he lived alone until a Sith lord showed up and killed him.

The first live-action Wookiee Jedi has a sad story and really, again, did nothing wrong at any point. I hope when the Kelnacca comic book comes out in a few months, we'll get to know this gentle giant more. Because Kelnacca truly deserves a nice story.

2. Mae

Coming out of the final episode of The Acolyte, I remember just sitting back and going, "Wow... Mae's story really is so tragic."

The only people who ever truly wanted Mae were her mothers, one who was murdered in front of her, and the other who vanished in the battle. Her entire community was wiped out when these strangers came into her home and took away her twin sister. Sol never wanted her, always picking Osha. Qimir dropped her just as fast, also choosing Osha. When she finally reunites with her sister, it's only for a handful of minutes as Mae sacrifices herself to protect Osha and give her what she wants. With that, Mae gets the last 16 years of her life wiped from her mind by Qimir.

Mae's story is one where the narrative has never been kind to her. I hope if we do get a second season of The Acolyte that Mae gets some happiness and peace at some point.

3. Sol

I'm not here to defend Sol's actions because everything happened thanks to his obsession with searching for a "noble cause." While full of love and good intentions, he was an incredibly flawed, stubborn person who died still thinking he was right in the end.

What gets him on this list is what happened after his death. Master Vernestra Rwoh arrives, throws Sol under the story bus, and then backs up a few times over his corpse for good measure. I wasn't shocked that she framed Sol, though this gave me more sympathy for him since he was dead and couldn't defend himself on the matter. Our own Matthew Rudoy came up with an excellent analogy in his episode 8 review about this very point.

It was her apologizing to his corpse that made me shout, "OH COME ON!" The audacity of Vernestra apologizing, knowing exactly what she was about to do to her friend, gave me that heaping dose of delicious pathos for Sol. It was an excellent moment that earned him a spot on this list.