Warning! This article contains spoilers for The Acolyte and House of the Dragon.

One twist in The Acolyte episode 5 centered around twins Osha and Mae, with this exact twist being used in the same week by Game of Thrones‘ spin-off, House of the Dragon. After the ending of The Acolyte episode 4, a big focus of The Acolyte episode 5’s story centered on the clash between the Jedi and the mysterious Sith warrior who has been puppeteering the events of the series. With The Acolyte episode 5’s lightsaber fights being among the best since Revenge of the Sith, these elements rightly captured the attention of fans post-watch.

Caught in the middle of the Sith-Jedi clash were Osha and Mae, a pair of twins both played by Amandla Stenberg in The Acolyte‘s cast of characters. During the episode’s climax, the two twins confronted each other for the first time since their fateful encounter on the planet of Brendok sixteen years ago, with Osha and Mae’s origins being detailed in The Acolyte episode 3. After Osha is knocked unconscious, a twist is implemented into The Acolyte‘s story that hinges on the identical appearance of the twins, with this twist being shared by House of the Dragon, HBO’s Game of Thrones spin-off.

House Of The Dragon & Star Wars Both Played The Same Trick

Twins Swapping Places In The Name Of Subterfuge

At the end of The Acolyte episode 5, Mae stuns Osha and swaps clothes with her twin sister. She uses her new fake identity to infiltrate Jedi Master Sol’s spaceship, apparently heading back to Coruscant for an unknown reason. Regardless of her motivation, it remains the case that the dark side twin swapped places with the light side twin, promising intriguing story developments for the remaining episodes of The Acolyte season 1.

Interestingly, House of the Dragon employed this exact twist in season 2, episode 2, which aired only two days before The Acolyte episode 5. In the former, there is another pair of identical twins named Erryk and Arryk Cargyll. The two twins find themselves on opposite sides of a brewing war, sworn to different rulers and coming to blows with one another as a result. The latter, Arryk, infiltrates a castle in House of the Dragon season 2, episode 2, posing as his brother Erryk. This is remarkably similar to the twin trick in The Acolyte, marking an incredibly coincidental link between the two shows.

The Acolyte Set Up Its Twin Twist – Did House Of The Dragon?

The Acolyte Episode 2 Teased Mae & Osha Switching Places

In The Acolyte episode 2, the idea of Osha and Mae being confused for one another was hinted at. The episode saw Osha enter the apothecary shop of Qimir, The Acolyte‘s secret Sith villain, under the guise of Mae. Qimir initially believes he is talking to Mae, before quickly realizing it is her sister standing in front of him. This teased the idea that the two could swap places, which evidently came to fruition in The Acolyte episode 5.

This begs the question of whether House of the Dragon set up its twin trick before it came to pass. Interestingly, there is a scene in House of the Dragon season 1, episode 8 in which Alicent Hightower confuses Erryk for his brother Arryk, proving how easy it would be for the latter to impersonate the former as he did in season 2, episode 2. As it turns out, both The Acolyte and House of the Dragon laid the foundations for their twin twists, with both paying off mere days apart.