The Acolyte star reveals the new Star Wars witches are dark siders – adding to the show's Jedi mystery

The Acolyte episode 3 introduced a new coven of witches to Star Wars – and, no, they're not the same as the Nightsisters of Dathomir. 

The episode also introduced a mystery surrounding the Jedi and what exactly happened on Brendok all those years ago. That mystery has just been deepened by a new post from the actor behind one of those witches. Now, before we go any further, a warning that the following will contain major spoilers for The Acolyte episode 3! Turn back now if you're not up to date! 

In episode 3, the Jedi arrive to recruit Mae and Osha to the Order. While Osha is keen to go, Mae wants to stay behind. She also doesn't want her sister to leave, so Mae sets a fire that ultimately kills everyone in the coven. But, that fire spreads very quickly for a stone temple, and when Osha wakes up on the Jedi's ship, the Padawan Torbin has an unexplained cut on his face. In short, it looks like there's a lot more to the story. 

Abigail Thorn, who plays the witch Eurus in the episode, took to Twitter to celebrate her time in the galaxy far, far away – and, in the process, deepened the whole mystery. 

"Really proud to be a little piece of the #StarWars Universe in #theacolyte – watching E3 back reminded me of the fun we had filming and how much I grew to like Eurus," she wrote. "It was lovely playing a character who's nominally on 'the dark side' as full of compassion and love"

Now, this is the first time we've had solid confirmation that the witches of Brendok are allied with the dark side of the Force. There are hints in the episode that the witches follow their own rules – they reject the Jedi's interpretation of the Force, instead calling it a "thread," and Mother Aniseya acknowledges that their power could be considered "dark, unnatural." Plus, Mother Koril is wary of the Jedi discovering the way Mae and Osha were created by Aniseya, which calls a certain Darth Plagueis to mind…

It's certainly looking like the Jedi were involved in the destruction of the coven, then. Whether they got spooked by the dark side or something else entirely remains to be seen, but we're sure the mystery will unravel further as the series continues weekly on Disney Plus. 

For more on The Acolyte, check out our pieces on: 

• The Acolyte episodes 1-4 review
• The Acolyte release schedule
• What is The High Republic? The Acolyte’s new Star Wars era explained
• When does The Acolyte take place on the Star Wars timeline?
• Who is the masked villain in The Acolyte? What we know about the Star Wars Sith explained
• New Star Wars show The Acolyte's sets were so big and detailed, the actors needed a map to get around and were literally “tripping on mushrooms”
• Squid Game’s Lee Jung-jae on joining The Acolyte, making history as a Jedi, and why he thinks Russian Doll’s Leslye Headland has a "fresh take" on Star Wars
• The Acolyte creator talks pitching The High Republic – and the biggest challenge behind the new Star Wars era
• Star Wars' cute new droid has an incredibly wholesome inspiration behind it
• The Acolyte crew built lightsabers for the new Star Wars show that could be used "the way Darth Maul and Qui-Gon Jinn use them"
• Upcoming Star Wars movies
• Star Wars timeline
• How to watch the Star Wars movies in order