Warning! This article contains SPOILERS for Star Wars: The Acolyte episode 7.

The Acolyte episode 7 finally gave audiences the full scope of the events on Brendok, and the reveal wasn’t quite as massive as previously hinted. The Acolyte episode 7 builds off what audiences saw in episode 3, but allows audiences not to be tied to Osha’s perspective of the events that seemingly killed her whole family. Ever since The Acolyte episode 1, there has been a lot of speculation about what actually led to the deaths of the witches of Brendok, and honestly, it was pretty anti-climactic.

Many people, myself included, thought what the Jedi did to the witches of Brendok was much more nefarious, and borderline evil, but The Acolyte episode 7 just saw a series of mistakes snowball into something that ultimately led to tragedy. Master Sol and Padawan Torbin’s lightsaber duel with a mind-controlled Master Kelnacca was quite the spectacle, but I felt myself constantly hoping for the other shoe to drop. While the events on Brendok were tragic, I feel it’s easy to see that they were a bit of a letdown and that we as the audience were looking for something more.

The Jedi Weren’t Actually There To Take Mae & Osha

Finding the Twins Was an Accident

It was revealed in The Acolyte episode 7 that the Jedi weren’t on Brenok because of the witches of Brendok, but because they were searching for evidence of a vergence in the Force that allowed the environment on Brendok to flourish after it was affected by a hyperspace disaster. In fact, the Jedi had been on Brendok for seven weeks and had no idea they weren’t the only people on the planet. It was purely an accident that Master Sol stumbled across Mae and Osha at the bunta tree.

Many thought the Jedi were on Brendok specifically to hunt the witches and take Mae and Osha from their family because they were Force-sensitive. It makes sense why showrunner Leslye Headland didn’t take this course of action with the Brendok storyline, because it would likely have meant focusing more on the origin of the witches than allowing the story to flow. However, this means that the Jedi’s claim that they “have a right” to test any potential Padawans is a bit of a cop-out, especially since they weren’t aware of their existence only hours prior.

Sol & Torbin Messed Up, But They Were Genuine Mistakes

They Had No Nefarious Intent

Much of the blame for what happened on Brendok falls on the shoulders of Torbin and Sol. Torbin, who was only a Padawan at the time, seemed eager to go home to Coruscant and was a victim of his own selfish emotions. On the other hand, Sol, instead of stopping Torbin from entering the witches’ fortress, aided him. This eventually led to the confrontation with Mother Aniseya and her death. Sol felt a connection to Osha and wanted her to be his Padawan. The Jedi are taught to not be influenced by their emotions, often causing them to bottle them inside.

This method had disastrous effects on the Jedi, as it led to them making mistakes that ruined many lives. It’s hard to fault a young person like Torbin for having a desire to return to his home, though there is no doubt he went about it the wrong way. Sol, on the other hand, wanted to ensure the safety of Osha and Mae, though going against the Jedi Council’s orders was a mistake. We have seen Sol show restraint using his lightsaber in all other episodes of The Acolyte after Sol hastily pulled his weapon and killed Mother Aniseya; he learned his lesson.

Mae Really Did Start The Fire (But Sol Should’ve Saved Her)

The Jedi Had Nothing to do With The Fire

After watching The Acolyte episode 3, I was convinced that the Jedi had something to do with the fire Mae started spreading so fast and so widely. However, The Acolyte episode proved me and so many others wrong; it was Mae who caused the fire, though it didn’t cause the deaths of her coven. The fire did eventually cause the catwalk that Mae and Osha were on to collapse, but it was still unfair of Sol to choose based on his personal feelings and attachment to Osha.

There were so many theories circulating about Mae and the fire on Brendok, some of which had Mae being possessed by another witch like Mother Koril to start the fire, but instead, it was just a foolish decision by a young child. While the Jedi may have blamed Mae in their official reports and in what they told Osha, Mae is mostly innocent in the deaths of her family. Even though she alerted Mother Aniseya about the fire that caused Sol to draw his lightsaber, it wasn’t Mae’s fault Sol acted rashly.

Overall, there were a lot of smoke and mirrors surrounding the events on Brendok, and Headland likely wanted us to think the Jedi were worse people than they were. While it’s obvious that mistakes were made, very little amounted to what I and many other people thought would be the thing the Jedi were covering up. While there are still questions remaining about Mother Koril and how Mae eventually made it off of Brendok, The Acolyte did provide audiences with answers, even if we were underwhelmed by them.

The Acolyte episode 7 is now streaming. The final episode premieres on Tuesday at 9 PM EST on Disney+.