The acolyte and acolyte (s) : Honestly love acolytes so much And how they work within the Sith dynamic and hope the acolyte shows us even more
A dark sider who has enough potential to be a super useful asset but with limited info and training (not knowing the grand plan or identity of the Sith Lords, limited dark side training, no philosophy or making their own lightsabers) so can’t overthrow or betray the grand plan , to be used and discarded
- “power level” : Sith apprentices are trained with full knowledge to continually advance their ability, where acolytes are given a taste but kept on a tight leash. Acolytes are taught to generally use the dark side, but not specific Sith techniques and rituals
- lightsabers: if using one, acolytes are given them and Sith apprentices make their own / bleed their own crystal
- philosophy: acolytes aren’t regarded important enough to teach Sith philosophy and especially the Sith code / training , but may be cultivated a general anti republic sentiment
- Ambition: acolytes are kept in their place strictly, whereas apprentices are encouraged to be ambitious and cunning
- Trust / knowledge: acolytes aren’t given information on the grand plan or tbh e sith’s identity as to not compromise the Sith, but apprentices are filled in on the grand plan and trusted with all the sith’s knowledge and legacy
- Sith order: the most simple, if nothing else mattered a Sith is one accepted into the Sith order and named a Darth.
but if they prove talented enough, you can start testing the waters - seeing how they take to Sith philosophy, what their force potential is, how ambitious and cunning they are - how deadly they are - they can make an excellent potential apprentice.
Either as an apprentice in waiting for the current Sith apprentice, or a backup for the master in case their current apprentice dies. But their success usually means they’re thrown into super deadly situations to affirm if they’re disposable , or sith material
Major examples for grooming acolytes into apprentices include
- Sidious, the master, with his dark acolyte Dooku : Maul was his chosen apprentice, and Dooku was an incredibly useful acolyte who could only be lured by dark side knowledge who was trusted with some important tasks and to lead the separatist movement but kept at arms length; when Maul dies Sidious elevates his acolyte Dooku to apprentice
- Dooku , the apprentice, with his dark acolyte Ventress : who he’s put a lot of time and effort into training, who has great talent and cunning, has proven herself able to operate independently and challenge Jedi is being groomed by Dooku to be his apprentice after he overthrows Sidious (before he’s called out on it)
- Bane and Zhannah, founders of the bane line of Sith and rule of two - with the huntress, later Darth Cognus. Even these founders of the rule of two saw useage of an acolyte as fair game - as long as they’re not fully trained as a third Sith, and held off until the master or apprentice slot opens up, or they interfere with the overthrowing, then they saw it as fair game within rule of two to have a backup or future apprentice ready to fill an empty slot
In that regard, the only one by comparison breaking the rule of two beyond this acolyte trend is EU’s Darth Tenebrous, who felt his apprentice Plagieus would never make a move and was a waste of time - and trained in secret Darth Venamis a full Sith apprentice, who would be used to dispose of Plagieus (which failed)
And examples of acolytes who serve their purpose solely as tools of the Sith, with no plans to elevate them:
- Savage Opress, treated like a beast by Dooku who displays no ambition and after getting called out by Sidious over Ventress most likely intends just to use him as a blunt weapon , to be killed when they’re done with him.
- The inquisitors are given dark side training and some knowledge, but are kept on a short leash and the grand inquisitor retains his position by making sure they stay in their place so he can stay in his. Treated like hunting dogs by Vader , who are useful but put down cruelly
So Mae , clearly, is an acolyte. THE acolyte, in fact . She’s clearly doing the bidding of a Sith Lord, likely the apprentice, to kill Jedi - an eternal goal of the Sith, if nothing else
But which is she? Tool or potential apprentice?
I think definitley the latter - she’s been kept under their control for presumably since childhood, so putting a lot of time and investment into their training, and the scene of the Sith Lord talking with her seems to put in an effort of communicating an anti Jedi idealogy that would be irrelevant to a mere servant - and is insisting she prove herself by killing a Jedi without a weapon, something that wouldn’t matter for a disposable assassin.
This makes me think that this steep, kinda unrealistic goal is basically a test by the Sith Lord. Sure, she’s got force potential and is talented but it’s easier to say “well if you’re capable of doing this crazy feat, then you’re obviously worthy of my time and good enough before training that you’ll be great after training” than to potentially waste time on an underarchiever, esp if their Sith master will be keeping an eye on how closely they interact
Plus, I’m going with the theory that the apothecary ally Qimir is the Sith dealing with Mae - seems like a cinch, I mean he drops a line of the Sith code! whuch, if true, helps highlight that too: testing the waters with the Sith code “peace is a lie”, building up an anti Jedi view in her, keeping an eye on her progress and making an effort to extract her from the world to continue her test
So I think it’s pretty clear that Mae is being groomed and tested by the Sith Lord, likely Sith apprentice, and giving her this steep goal that only a worthy apprentice could pass. If she can’t pass, if she fails or dies? To a Sith, that’d just prove she wasn’t worth the effort. But if she does - cinches her spot when the apprentice overthrows the master.
But very interested to see how it goes - if Mae will stay devoted to the Sith, if the Sith apprentice is successful in overthrowing the master - or they already did and are just looking for their empty apprentice slot filled - or if the master will notice this and make the apprentice try and kill Mae or have them square off to see who’s in the apprentice slot.
Very excited to see how the dynamic plays out!
