The Acolyte’s unexpected relationship is exactly what Pride Month needs

It’s no secret that Star Wars The Acolyte is getting attention for being “too woke,” but Episode 3’s surprise queer-coded story is so subtle that it strikes the perfect balance. 

If you’ve visited the hive of scum and villainy that is Twitter these days, you’ll see the latest Star Wars series, The Acolyte, is getting dunked on for too much representation. In fact, I wrote a piece spotlighting this last week. 

As much as “The Wokelyte” is going to rub a certain type of fan up the wrong way — though showrunner Leslye Headland would say that they’re not fans at all — it’s actually delivering on something quietly genius. 

It wasn’t easy to predict what might happen after Mae disappeared into thin air at the end of Episode 2, yet Episode 3 defies all odds by taking fans through the ultimate flashback some 16 years earlier. 

Suspected master Mother Ansieya lives up to her name as it’s revealed she is Osha and Mae’s mom, while their other parent is the coven’s second in command, Mother Koril. 

As tensions between the twins heat up and Sol’s Jedi gang comes to investigate, Ansieya and Koril share a near-kiss, with Koril stating that Ansieya wouldn’t want the Jedi to learn how they were “really created.”

It’s a subtle yet incredibly obvious hint that Star Wars has just got a little bit gayer, and Headland’s decision to strike such a careful balance is the smartest ‘f**k you’ she could offer up for Pride month. 

The Acolyte delivers queer representation in the most subtle way

Regardless of how many internet trolls are intent on convincing the rest of the world that Star Wars was better in its male-dominated form — which is unbelievable, given how many non-human creatures have their voices heard across the galaxy — representation matters. 

That’s a very clichéd and oversimplified way of putting it, but Headland is right to want to change the franchise timeline for the better. After the admittedly rocky start of pitting two women unnecessarily against each other, The Acolyte has fallen into representing real life with ease.

I get what you’ll be thinking: that sharing a near-kiss is just queer-baiting what could have been a full-blown romantic connection. It’s a worthwhile argument to make, given that so many Disney IPs have historically done the same thing. In this case, it reads purely as tenderness — the kind of affection you catch your loved-up parents sharing after 40 years together. 

As someone in the LGBTQIA+ community, all you really want is to be seen on your own TV and it not really be a big deal. 

When queerness is needed front and center in a storyline, of course, shouting about it from the rooftops is the way forward. But when it’s woven into the fabric of something bigger, less is sometimes more.

By making the smart decision to let both the coven and Osha and Mae’s complicated history do the heavy lifting, Headland has given the gift of a representational Easter egg. It doesn’t take away from its significance or put such a tender moment in the firing line, waiting to be shot down by those who don’t agree. 

She’s protecting her story, her cast, and her community, which wants more from a world that doesn’t really do them justice — and if anything, that’s using the platform you’ve been given in the most responsible way.

At the same time, Headland herself is a shield here. While Koril’s line about how the twins were created highlights the unseen yet frequent hardships the LGBTQIA+ faces — even if some unhinged sci-fi twist comes from it — its subtext could get lost in the bigger picture of coven fires and Jedi tests. 

If fans have a feeling that something is there that they don’t like, but they can’t understand what it is, who becomes the easiest target? The woman who decided that line would exist, who just happens to be visibly queer.

To put yourself in the firing line when you know it’s going to receive widespread backlash is an incredibly brave thing to do, and the fact that it’s aired during Pride month feels like serendipitous timing. 

In the last year, it’s often felt as though going back in the closet is the safest thing to do, as violent homophobic and transphobic attacks become increasingly common across all of life’s situations.  

So moments like this split-second of Koril and Ansieya taking physical and mental comfort in their bond and love for each other becomes all the more powerful, and it doesn’t need to be in your face to be effective in reaching the audience it needs to. 

It might be the Jedi Order who are the strongest soldiers in Star Wars, but anyone who vulnerably and publicly shares their true feelings is a damn hero in my book. 

Continue to jump into hyperspace with everything we know about the Andor Season 2 release date and Tales of the Jedi Season 2. You can also read our Star Wars The Acolyte explained guide for more specific details.

Find even more amazing new movies and TV shows streaming this month, or dive into all the new true crime documentaries around right now. If that’s not enough, find out what’s in store this year for K-dramas coming to Netflix.