Editor’s note: The below contains spoilers for The Acolyte Episode 6.
A new type of lightsaber finally makes its live-action debut inThe Acolyte’s latest episode, “Teach / Corrupt.” Readers of theHigh Republiccomics and novels were already familiar with Vernestra Rwoh’s (Rebecca Henderson) lightwhip, but seeing it in action for the first time is something fans were eagerly awaiting. It is a very brief moment, and, hopefully, she gets to use it again soon, butit is also a crucial moment, given Vernestra’s part in the seriesand how things are playing out between twins Mae and Osha Aniseya (bothAmandla Stenberg), the Stranger (Manny Jacinto), and the Jedi.
The Acolyte
The Acolyte is a mystery-thriller that will take viewers into a galaxy of shadowy secrets and emerging dark-side powers in 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 confront are more sinister than they ever anticipated.
Vernestra’s Lightwhip Has a Long History in High Republic-Era Books and Comics
Vernestra Rwoh isone of the most popular charactersinHigh Republic-era stories and, according to the timeline, she has been around for more than a century. We first meet her at the beginning of the Nihil Crisis, just as she becomes the youngest Jedi to ever be knighted in the Order. She also has special abilities connected to hyperspace and Force visions, and it was in one of those visions that she got the idea of making adjustments to her purple-bladed lightsaber to make its blade work like a whip. Her weapon is unique, andcan be used both as a lightsaber and as a lightwhip.
All this happened when she was still around fifteen years old, and the weapon itself helped define Vernestra as a Jedi. She was concerned that her unique lightsaber wouldn’t be accepted by the Order, soshe hid it from everyone, including her old master, Stellan Gios, wielding it only in lightsaber mode, and only trained with the lightwhip in secret. Training itself was tricky for her sinceshe had to develop a special kind of connection to itin order to be aware of where the blade was at all times, otherwise, she risked losing a limb or severely injuring anyone around her. InThe Acolyte, she hits an umbramoth from behind without even turning to face it, so more than a century of using the lightwhip has certainly paid off.
By now, Vernestra is already a Jedi Master and has a lot of influence in the Order, so having a lightwhip isn’t a problem anymore.Her concerns about how it would be received by her peers were warranted, however, since, whenshe first showed itto her first Padawan, Imri Cantaros, he found it strange. His point was that the Nightsisters of Dathomir were known for using similar weapons at that time, and, thus, it would be associated with the Dark Side of the Force. Vernestra countered by saying that the Jedi used it millennia earlier during the Sith Wars. Whichever the case, a lightwhip is certainly an unconventional weapon for an unconventional Jedi.
Vernestra’s Lightwhip Also Reflects Her Position Inside the Jedi Order
All throughThe Acolyteso far, Vernestra Rwoh has displayed one major concern: dealing with the case surrounding the Aniseya twins without turning it into a major crisis. She refuses to tell the Jedi Council about it, and, in her very first scene in the series, she reminds Master Sol (Lee Jung-jae) about the fact that the Jedi have many political adversaries at the Galactic Senate, soletting this case grow bigger could cause many problems for the Order. In “Teach / Corrupt,” she even talks to a senator about opposition to the Jedi in the house, so it is a growing concern for her.
IntheHigh Republicstories, Vernestra has always been a great character. She’s young and resourceful, but also feels she has a lot to prove because of her age, so she puts a lot of pressure on her shoulders. This is why she doesn’t let anyone know about her lightwhip, for example, as it could impact what people think of her. The lightwhip is, in fact,a perfect reflection of how she relates to the world around her.She is talented and likes to think outside the box, but is always repressing these skills so she can be a more traditional Jedi. One of her greatest abilities includes a deep connection to hyperspace, allowing her to have visions and experience the Force in a singular way, but, as we have seen in “Teach / Corrupt,” she doesn’t allow herself to feel it,claiming it’s “unsettling"instead.
For those of us who have read theHigh Republicstories, seeing Vernestra casually wielding her lightwhip is great because it showsshe has grown comfortable enoughto do it in public. However, it’s also a reminder thather greatest weakness is the expectations she has of herself. She couldn’t use the lightwhip because it wasn’t a typical Jedi weapon. Then, she is always concerned about what the Senate thinks about the Jedi. There is always something weighing on her mind, and the lightwhip is a symbol of that — and how it may connect to the larger plot inThe Acolyte.
How Does Vernestra’s Lightwhip Fit into ‘The Acolyte’?
In “Teach / Corrupt,” Vernestra seems even more stern and serious than she usually is. She is immediately worried when Mog (Harry Trevaldwyn) gives her the news aboutwhat happened on Khofarand how every Jedi involved was killed except for Master Sol. When they see firsthand the bodies of the Jedi that perished in that mission, she gets even more concerned, andit seems that the whole issue becomes personalfor her.
In the same episode,the Stranger reveals to Oshathat he was once a Jedi, too, but was “thrown away” by the Order, andeven impliesthat the scar on his back was caused by his former master. What is interesting about the scar itself is that it isn’t a straight line, as a regular lightsaber would cause. Instead,the scar is uneven, as if he was hit by a more flexible object— a whip, for example. It’s hard to say if the Stranger could indeed have been hit by his master, or if he’s simply letting Osha jump to conclusions in order to manipulate her, but, if it happened like it’s implied to have happened, then it wasn’t a regular lightsaber that hit him.
The speculation around the Stranger and his scar right now is that it could have been caused by Vernestra and her lightwhip. It’s possible that she was his master in the Jedi Order, and, when she felt the darkness inside him, it led toa confrontation between the two, resulting in him leaving the Order — or being “thrown away” — andpossibly even fighting Vernestra and being wounded by her lightwhip. There are two episodes left onThe Acolytefor this story to be told, but, regardless of how things went, it’s cool to just see the lightwhip in action. Let’s just hope it shows up more often.
New episodes ofThe Acolyteair weekly every Tuesday on Disney+ in the U.S.
