The fight scene in the finale of “The Acolyte” is the best in the series

Editor’s Note: The following contains spoilers for the finale of The Acolyte.

The Acolyte is packed with all the best elements of the Star Wars universe, including deeper explorations of the Force and weird little guys being weird little guys (if nothing else, there needs to be a second season of this series so the world has more Bazil). There are also some intense lightsaber battles, particularly when the dark sider Qimir (Manny Jacinto) comes into play. Qimir has two major battles with Jedi Master Sol (Lee Jung-jae) through The Acolyte; The first takes place in “Night” and the second in the season one finale, aptly called “The Acolyte.” Sol and Qimir’s second fight is the best fight in The Acolyte due to several factors, including skillful editing and direction Hannah Culpepper and is based on the Wuxia influences that have characterized the series’ previous fight scenes.

The Acolyte

The Acolyte is a mystery thriller that takes viewers into a galaxy filled with dark secrets and emerging dark side forces during 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 face are more sinister than they ever expected.

Release date

June 4, 2024

Main genre

Science fiction

Seasons

1

Studio

Disney+

franchise

war of stars

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“The Acolyte’s Final Battle relies entirely on its Wuxia influences”

The Acolyte shows his Wuxia influences openly in the first episode “Lost / Found”, in which Mae (Amanda Stenberg) attacks Indara (Carrie Anne Moss) in a duel with nothing but throwing knives and bare hands. She even runs up walls and makes gravity-defying jumps, which are often a staple of the wuxia world. The same elements are also present in the final battle between Sol and Qimir.In one scene they even jump from a bridge that they had severely damaged with their lightsabers. Showrunner Leslye Headland was very open about how she viewed the development of Wuxia films The Acolytewho talks about her specific influences in the interview:

“I was actually more interested in martial arts films and storylines that were a little more personal and less global and galactic. These warriors were on missions that were deeply personal and people felt wronged and had to make amends. Wuxia films and martial arts films by King Hu and the Shaw Brothers, like Come Drink With Me and Touch Of Zen. They’re monks who are also martial arts heroes.”

Culpepper has also taken this to heart when the fight flashes between Sol and Qimir’s duel and a fight between Mae and Osha. Every blow of the twins is balanced by blows from their respective masterswith the camera panning from Mae and Osha to Sol and Qimir at a pivotal moment. The sheer amount of work that went into this one fight sequence is incredible and shows how a filmmaker can use their influences to create something new.

The best lightsaber fights are emotionally charged, and the finale of “The Acolyte” is no exception

What really makes The AcolyteThe final lightsaber fight is a highlight is the stream of emotions that flows through him. Qimir fights for his existence, having previously told Sol that the Jedi would not allow someone like him to exist. Sol fights to exonerate himself for his actions on Brendok, having accidentally killed Mae and Osha’s mother (Jodie Turner Smith) and kept the truth from Osha, haunts him.

The best lightsaber fights in Star Wars History had this element in the game. Both from Luke Skywalker’s (Mark Hamill) Lightsaber fights with Darth Vader (James Earl Jones) take a tragic turn when it is discovered that Vader is Luke’s father and Luke himself is struggling with the pull of the dark side. Obi-Wan Kenobi (Ewan McGregor) also has a fight with Vader (Hayden Christensen), which is accompanied by regret on his part, as he feels he has let his former Padawan down. And Obi-Wan’s (James Arnold Taylor) final confrontation with Darth Maul (Sam Witwer) In Star Wars Rebels is a stealthy meditation on the price of vengeance, and as such, it’s the best lightsaber battle in Star Wars history. Simply put, if you want to have a great lightsaber battle in Star Wars, it can’t just be two guys waving laser swords around.

Sol and Qimir’s final battle also serves as a direct mirror of their last fight. In “Night,” Qimir tore Jedi to pieces with a ferocity that made him seem less like a Sith Lord and more like the villain in a slasher movie, while Sol nearly killed his opponent in a fit of rage after murdering Yord (Charlie Barnett) and Jecki (Daphne Keen). In contrast, The Acolyte features a more measured fight that is still intense; Sol wants to bring Qimir to justice, while Qimir is willing to play things out until Mae and Osha finish their own confrontation. Star Wars has always been about duality, which also affects the narrative motifs, and The Acolyte keep that in mind.

The director of the finale of “The Acolyte” has brought the same emotion to other genre shows

The Acolyte is not the first time that Hanelle M. Culpepper has directed an emotional, action-packed genre show. She is excellent in this type of foodDirected the first three episodes of Star Trek: The Next Generation and that Kung-Fu Reboot on The CW. Picard aims at the emotional jugular early on in the pilot episode “Remembrance”, as Jean-Luc Picard can be seen in the opening scene (Patrick Stewart) and data (Brent Spiner) is playing a game of poker; there comes a moment when Data asks if Picard is buying time, and the former Enterprise captain replies, “I don’t want the game to end.” Such a line is tinged with melancholy, suggesting Picard’s regret at not being able to save Vulcan from destruction.

Kung-Fu uses a similar maneuver and begins by revealing that the Shaolin monks who trained Nicky (Olivia Liang) were brutally murdered by one of their own; for the past three years, Nicky had trained with these monks and considered them family. Culpepper follows the same approach with The Acolytewhich ends the battle between Sol and Qimir when Osha discovers the truth about what happened on Brendok – and thereby turns fully to the Dark Side.

The AcolyteThe finale of stands out because the director knows how to balance action and emotion, and because the series builds to the final battle between Sol and Qimir. If the series is renewed for a second season, Headland and the crew should definitely bring Culpepper back; she knows how to end a season on a strong note.

All episodes of The Acolyte can now be streamed on Disney+ in the US

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