Master Vernestra used her dead friend Sol as a scapegoat to avoid accountability in The Acolyte‘s season finale. She claimed the compassionate Jedi Knight had gone rogue. Vernestra told the Galactic Senate Sol killed everyone who helped him hide the dark truth about Brendok before ending his own life. Vernestra thought it was a lie worth telling for a greater good, just as Sol had with Osha. But her deception not only dishonors Sol, it dishonors the entire Jedi Order. In keeping the truth about Qimir, Mae, and Osha from getting out, the guardians of peace and justice are only protecting their own position in the galaxy far, far away.
Star Wars fans know Vernestra’s lies about this existential threat will contribute to her Order’s eventual downfall. Yet her final moment raised the possibility a more famous Master will also play a big part in their near annihilation. She visited one of the most important Jedi in all of Star Wars, someone who will still be on the High Council when Palpatine rises to power, Master Yoda.
Throughout The Acolyte Jedi Master Vernestra worked to avoid Galactic Senate oversight. Even as she investigated the murder of her colleagues, she tried to keep their deaths as quiet as possible. Not just from politicians, either. She conspired with fellow Jedi to keep the truth from their own High Council.
During the High Republic Era of the show, the Jedi Order had a High Council. That governing body responsible for guiding the Order is the same structure seen during the Skywalker Saga era. But The Acolyte also revealed that a different group of Jedi led by Vernestra also wielded immense power. It operated outside the Council in secrecy, because the High Council needed to report directly to the Senate. The only way to keep secrets from political oversight—especially a terrible secret about a dark side Force user clearly trained by a Jedi—was to keep the truth from the most important, wisest members of the Order.
That became impossible by episode eight after Vernestra visited Brendok herself. Her powerful connection with the Force allowed her to learn what had happened there long ago. While she recognized her dead colleagues had meant well, she used the revelation of their deception to create an even bigger lie. Rather than tell anyone about her former student she once tried to kill because he turned to the dark side, she blamed Sol for the murders committed by Qimir, Mae, and Osha.
That lie confirmed everything Senator Rayencourt feared. He worried eventually a Jedi, a member of a group he believes already has too much unchecked power, would turn against the Order and the Republic. That concern drove his desire for an external investigation into the Jedi. But Vernestra saying that’s exactly what happened with Sol was a lie far more convenient than the truth. She would have otherwise had to admit the Jedi lost control of a former Padawan and then let him get away. She also would have had to admit he now had a powerful new apprentice with a personal vendetta against the Jedi. And the she would have had to tell everyone how Mother Aniseya created her twins. Forget an investigation into the Jedi, that shocking revelation would have threatened the Order’s position and power in the galaxy.
Everything Vernestra did in the season finale she did to protect the Jedi and herself. Her lie is better than frightening truths that could lead to panic. Her story also made it seem as though the Jedi had nothing to hide. Why would the Senate need to investigate a group being so truthful about their failures? But that kind of oversight is exactly what the Jedi needed.
Everything Senator Rayencourt and Aniseya both said will come true more than a century after The Acolyte. The Jedi’s “noble intentions” will destroy them. Their actions, well-intentioned they may be, along with their hubris, will blind them to the growing evil around them. That evil will ultimately engulf the galaxy in darkness. An outside perspective might have helped them see what was coming. Instead Sheev Palpatine will take over the very Republic Vernestra worked so hard to keep in the dark.
Star Wars fans know why Vernestra’s deception will prove fatal. But her final moment during the episode raises monumental questions about whether or not she also kept Master Yoda in the dark. He’s the only member of the High Council to appear on the show. She visited him after her meeting with the Chancellor and Senators.
What did she “need” to talk about with him? Did she let him in on the truth about Sol, Qimir, Mae, Osha, and Brendok? Did she trust Yoda would support her lies and not inform the Senate? And did she seek advice on how to stop the Order’s greatest threat in millennia?
Or did Vernestra only tell Yoda part of the truth or different lie altogether? Did Vernestra merely go to him for advice on how to deal with the guilt and burden of her lies without naming them, just as Anakin will do one day? Even if she was okay with what she had done, she sullied a good man’s memory to do that. Even a Jedi Master would struggle with that burden.
On The Acolyte Jedi Ki-Adi-Mundi agreed with Venestra they should not tell the High Council about their secret enemies. In The Phantom Menace he is a member of that same High Council alongside Yoda. When presented with Qui-Gon’s report of a Sith Lord, Mundi (believably) says no one has seen a Sith for thousands of years. The camera then turns to Master Yoda, who gives a curious look to Mace Windu.
What did that look mean? Vernestra went to Yoda for a reason. If we find out why we’ll finally know just how much Yoda knew about the darkness that brought down the Jedi Order.
Did Yoda know about Qimir, Mae, and Osha at that moment? Did he help Vernestra bring them down? And did that “victory” blind Yoda to the fact an actual Sith Lord was (literally) lurking in the shadows and the Jedi were in even greater peril all along? Or will we discover Vernestra never told him the truth and Yoda always remained ignorant about happened on Brendok. Will her failures be hers alone? It seems likely Yoda, a good and noble Jedi, didn’t know everything Vernestra did. If that’s the case, a single hard truth could have prevented so much eventual suffering.
Mikey Walsh is a staff writer at Nerdist who spent decades waiting for Darth Plagueis to show up. You can follow him on Twitter and Bluesky at @burgermike. And also anywhere someone is ranking the Targaryen kings.