The Acolyte Season 1, episode 1 recap: The mystery begins

Star Wars: The Acolyte is here, diving into a brand new era for the first time in live action. Let’s recap everything you missed in episode 1, “Lost/Found.”

We open with a traditional Star Wars crawl, explaining that the galaxy, Jedi Order, and Republic are in a time of prosperity. However, there are dark forces at play and one lone assassin is seeking revenge…

We open on the planet Ueda, where a young woman assassin (Amandla Stenberg) enters a village. She pays a local to tell her where the Jedi is. The assassin enters a cantina filled with patrons. Searching the room, she sees Jedi Master Indara in the corner. The assassin commands Indara to attack her. However, Indara refuses.

To goad her into a fight, the assassin, in turn, attacks the surrounding patrons in the cantina. Indara joins the fight, easily parrying the assassin’s blows without pulling her lightsaber. Indara only uses the Force and asks the assassin who trained her.

The assassin leaps up to the second floor, again pulling in civilians to lure Indara up to her. Indara follows, saving the patron as she calls in on her comm about the assassin. After another round of blows, Indara disarms the assassin and unmasks her. Indara recognizes the young woman.

The assassin says she’s there to kill Indara, shoving her with the Force. As the assassin flings her knives at the Jedi Master, Indara finally pulls her lightsaber, slashing the blades out of the air. Indara tries to talk her down. The assassin counters that a Jedi does not pull their saber out unless they’re prepared to kill.

This makes Indara lower her blade as the assassin readies her next assault. The assassin shoots one blade down towards the barkeeper on the first floor. When Indara stops the blow with the Force, the assassin’s second knife finds the Jedi Master’s heart.

Indara crumples to the ground as the assassin leaves her body behind. The assassin prepares to kill the barkeeper until she sees his child. Instead, she walks away.

Later, Osha (played by Stenberg) awakens in her bunk and is greeted by her little droid, Pip. She gets dressed and meets with her crew member Fillik, who pokes fun at her for not going out with them the previous night. However, she’s coy about where she was and doesn’t give him an answer about what she does on her days off.

She and Fillik don space suits to repair the shields on the ship she’s working on, which is under the Neimoidian Trade Federation. The captain is impatient at how long it’s taking, saying these mechanics are disposable. Osha shoots back over comms so they can hear the captain.

While they’re welding the part outside the ship shut, another valve blows, setting a small fire. Osha moves to fix it. The flames trigger a memory in her of her calling for a girl named Mae and their mother. Screaming is happening in the background of the memory. Fillik snaps her out of it, and she puts out the fire.

Just then, a Jedi vector (the fighter ships used by the Jedi Order during this time period) comes out of hyperspace. The Neimoidians are not happy to see the Jedi there.

Jadi Knight Yord Fandar and his padawan Tasi Lowa enter the ship's bridge to greet the Neimoidians. They are looking for Osha, who was a former Jedi. When the captain tries to bluff that they definitely don’t have any mechanics, especially human ones because it’s illegal for them to work in the dangers of space, Yord sees through it. He begins to Jedi Mind Trick the captain, but another bridge crew member points the Jedi in the right direction.

Osha returns to her room, where Yord is waiting. The two clearly know each other as Osha greets him in a friendly manner, congratulating him on passing the Jedi Trials to become a Knight.

The friendliness ends as Osha goes to take Pip out of her pocket. Yord mistakes it for a blaster, his hand shooting to his lightsaber hilt, clearly wary of her. He tells her to sit where Tasi comes in to interrogate her.

Osha left the Jedi Order six years prior. She was brought in when he was eight years old, almost too old to be admitted. Also, Osha was in mourning after losing her mothers, sister, and village in a fire. However, Jedi Master Sol brought her to the Order so she could be trained.

They finally tell her they’re there because Master Indara was murdered by someone who matched her description. Apparently, Osha had a bit of a stressful past with Indara; Osha says she would never have killed her, though. She was on the freighter the previous night anyway.

Tasi brings in the barkeeper who quickly identifies Osha as the assassin. With that, they arrest Osha.

We jump over to Coruscant, where Jedi Master Sol is leading a class of Jedi younglings. Jedi Master Vernestra Rwoh enters the room as the younglings share what they see as they meditate. One child sees a fire consuming everything around them. He dismisses the class and greets Vernestra.

She brings grim news that they found a suspect in the murder of Indara, a dear friend of Sol’s. It’s Sol’s previous padawan, Osha, which shocks Sol greatly. He can’t see Osha ever harming Indara. He believes it’s a mistake.

It’s a tense time. Vernestra doesn’t want it to be known that a former Jedi killed another. This would be fodder for the Order’s political enemies. Sol gives Vernestra support in this master to bring justice against Osha.

On the prison ship, the other convicts try to convince Osha to join them in a prison escape. The ship is piloted by droids, so it shouldn’t be too hard to take them out and steal the escape pods. Osha refuses, having faith that the Jedi will find her innocence. The other prisoners laugh at her.

They start their prison escape, dropping out of hyperspace in an asteroid field. The ship takes damage as the other prisoners free themselves by ripping the arm off the droid. They don’t free Osha in the process, though, leaving her behind.

Stuck in her prison cell by herself, Osha taps into the Force to try to pull her droid towards her. She can’t, though. Luck is on her side as Pip slides towards her while the ship turns. Using Pip’s welding capabilities, she frees herself and runs towards the escape pod.

She takes pity on the one violent prisoner left behind. Freeing him, he shoves past Osha and takes the final escape pod for himself.

The ship is careening towards a planet, breaking apart in the atmosphere. She buckles in and rides out the crash.

Back on Coruscant, Sol is visited by his padawan, Jecki. Vernestra wants to see him. Before he leaves, she asks if she can see old holos of Osha. He instead gives a lesson on how they meditate on the past so they don’t repeat its failures.

Sol meets with Vernestra, and it turns out the Jedi have picked up all the escaped prisoners who took the escape pods. They’re blaming Osha for all of this. Sol uses the Mind Trick on the one prisoner that Osha helped, and he tells the truth about what happened.

Vernestra reminds him that one kind action does not clear her of Indara’s murder. Sol wants to go find Osha himself. Vernestra doesn’t like it, but she gives him permission to take a small team with him.

He brings Jecki with him, and it’s her first mission. She’s ready for it and really hopes that it’s Yord joining them on the mission.

Sure enough, it is Yord joining them. As they arrive on the ship, he’s shirtless and preparing his robes. An awkward greeting follows as Jecki tells him to put his clothes on. They leave in five minutes. With that, the Jedi set out to find Osha.

Who awakens in the wreckage of the crashed ship on the snowy planet of Carlac. A shadowy figure appears at the door, walking away and leading her away. She follows the shadowy figure into the snow.

It turns, and it’s a little girl who calls her by name. Osha calls the little girl “Mae,” who was her sister.

The scenery shifts around her to her home planet. A fire breaks out in the trees around her. Osha chases the young Mae through the Force vision into her old home. Osha is then a young girl herself, calling out to Mae and questioning if this is real. Could Mae have survived the fire? Mae confirms that she is the one who killed Indara.

And she wants to kill all the Jedi Order.

The Force vision breaks and Osha snaps awake, once again in the crashed vessel with Pip at her side.

Back with the Jedi, Jecki wants to know more about Osha. She was her master’s former padawan, after all. He was stationed on Osha’s planet when her sister started the fire that killed her entire family. He took her in as a padawan after that.

Yord steps in that he didn’t know that Osha had a twin, and Jecki confirms that information wasn’t in her file. Sol shuts down any thoughts that this could be Mae. Apparently, he saw Mae die in front of him.

The Jedi arrive to Carlac and head down towards the planet.

Osha hears their ship incoming and hides.

Yord doesn’t think that Osha could have survived this. Suddenly, Sol gets an idea and races out with the other two Jedi following in tow. Osha slips into a cave, spotting a back exit. Sol and his team are just behind. The exit is a dead end for Osha, who is cornered by the Jedi.

Sol races to his old padawan. Osha begs her old master to believe her. Suddenly, she slips off the edge! He catches her with the Force. Pulling her back to him, he kneels down and steadies her. He shows her the warmest smile, and she confirms that Mae is alive. He believes her and tells the other Jedi to stand down.

Elsewhere, Mae is on an ocean planet and meets with a dark figure. The figure calls her an Acolyte, and the person pulls their red-bladed lightsaber out.

This is where episode 1 “Lost/Found” ends.