Leslye Headland Reveals Osha Killed Master Sol in ‘The Acolyte’ Due to “Benign Sexism”: “He is imposing on her agency at that point”

‘Star Wars: The Acolyte’ recently released its last episode, and while we’re waiting for some news regarding the second season Headland is explaining some things we’ve probably missed.

One of the most shocking moments in the final episode was definitely the moment during which Osha kills Master Sol.

If you’ve closely followed the show you are aware by now that Master Sol was directly to blame for the death of Mother Aniseya, and indirectly to blame for the death of the entire coven of the Witches of Brenodk. Sol’s biggest sin however is the fact that he blamed Mae for it and kept that information secret for 16 years.

Once Sol came clean regarding his part in the downfall of her family, Osha could no longer contain her negative emotions, the hatred, the betrayal, the pain and she decided to force choke Sol. Even in death, Sol decided to forgive her, and this is one interesting moment that Headland explained further.

In her recent interview with Collider, Headland explained that one of the important driving factors in the murder was benign sexism:

What’s so interesting about that moment, where Osha kills Sol, is how much is conveyed even while he’s choking on his words. Also, and maybe this was my impression of it, but my first thought was, “He doesn’t even give her the agency to make this choice herself because he’s accepting his fate.” It just adds so much more insult to injury. You can’t even let her get a satisfactory kill because you’re like, “It’s okay.” It’s so good!

HEADLAND: We also knew that it was always going to be the betrayal of the father, and I knew we had to juxtapose Luke’s forgiveness and Vader’s redemption. We’re like, “This is a story about the Sith, so that’s not gonna happen.” You’re absolutely right. There’s this thing that’s called benign sexism, and part of it is this paternal protectionism — it seems like this good thing, but like you said, there’s this, “I have to protect you from everything. I have to make sure you’re okay. I have to tell you what track to get on, and then once you’re on that track, I need to support you.”

Ultimately, what happens is — again, this is a father-daughter relationship — as women evolve in their lives and develop their own personalities separate from their fathers, at some point, they have to reject that protectionism.

Again, I’m so proud of it. I have so many favorite moments in the show. I have, like, 100, and I’m happy to go through all of them right now. One of my favorite moments is when he says, “I did everything because I love–” He’s going to say, “I love you,” and not only is that a level of attachment that an unbalanced Jedi would have — he very clearly is losing it in the last half of the season — but that’s also the justification for that kind of behavior between the father and the daughter.

The daughter has to surpass him in some way. She cannot stay a little girl or an adolescent or young adult. She has to, at some point, say, “I reject what you have told me I need to do to make you proud, to follow in your footsteps.” She has to do that.

I do think when he says, “It’s okay,” I think you’re right. He is imposing on her agency at that point. But I do think, in a weird way, she needed it. She needed his acceptance. Not his approval, but his acceptance of his fate, I think, is what gives her that energy to do the final fist clench.

No matter whether you agree or not with what Headland stated, Osha is now on a dark path that’s certain to become even darker with Darth Plagueis looming so close by.

What do you think about Osha’s motives? Let us know in the comments below!

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