Nine years after Rey and Kylo Ren were first introduced in Star Wars: The Force Awakens, the franchise has found their perfect replacements in Star Wars: The Acolyte. Rey and Kylo Ren’s intense, dramatic connection was the heart of the Star Wars sequel trilogy. Though the movies didn’t truly reveal how monumental their connection was until Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker, their intrinsic power and bond played a pivotal role in the galaxy – not just in the fight between the First Order and the Resistance, but within the Force itself, too.

As revealed in The Rise of Skywalker, Rey and Kylo Ren were two halves of a Force Dyad, an extremely rare phenomenon in the Force. Through this bond, they were able to communicate directly in the Force, heal themselves and those in need, and more. Sadly, there was never any time to properly explore their bond within the sequel trilogy, as Ben Solo died before they had the chance to truly get to know one another. However, Star Wars’ latest show, The Acolyte, has just revealed another opportunity through which the franchise can explore this piece of Star Wars lore.

The Acolyte Hints Osha & Mae Are A Force Dyad

In The Acolyte’s two-episode premiere, it is strongly implied that Amandla Stenberg’s characters, Osha and Mae, are a Force Dyad. Osha and Mae are identical twins; when they were younger, their whole village was destroyed, and they were the only two survivors (though neither knew the other had survived until years later, during the events of The Acolyte). While Osha was taken to the Jedi Order and trained as a Padawan before eventually deciding to leave, Mae was likely picked up by a Sith Master, trained as an acolyte, and ordered to target and kill certain Jedi.

In both of The Acolyte’s opening episodes, Osha experiences visions in which she sees and speaks to a younger version of Mae. These scenes are eerily reminiscent of ones in Star Wars: The Last Jedi and The Rise of Skywalker, in which Rey and Kylo Ren can see, speak to, and even touch each other in their respective environments, even if they’re on entirely different planets. Though The Acolyte has yet to confirm it, these parallels cannot be a coincidence. Mae and Osha’s bond as twins and as Force-users makes them being a Force Dyad all the more likely.

Star Wars Lore Hints All Dyads Need Both Light & Dark

Very little has been revealed about Force Dyads, though canon tie-in materials, like the comic series Star Wars: The Rise of Kylo Ren by Charles Soule, have shed some light. Above all, it seems that Force Dyads are dependent on both the light side and the dark. A Force Dyad represents an equal balance. In The Rise of Kylo Ren, it’s implied that the Force Dyad bond only came into existence once Ben Solo turned to the dark side, as though the Force wanted them to find that balance together.

Osha represents the light, Mae represents the dark, and the Force bonded them again once it was necessary, just like it did with Rey and Kylo.

The same could now be said for Osha and Mae. Before Mae killed her first Jedi, Osha had no idea that her sister was still alive. It wasn’t until after Master Indara (Carrie-Anne Moss) died that Osha had her first vision of Mae. If the murder of Master Indara was the first moment Mae truly fell to the dark side, it would explain why Osha wasn’t able to sense her until then. Osha represents the light, Mae represents the dark, and the Force bonded them again once it was necessary, just like it did with Rey and Kylo.

The Sister Dynamic Works So Much Better For A Force Dyad

Though Rey and Kylo Ren’s Force Dyad bond was undeniably compelling, their lives were utterly unconnected before the Force pushed them together. There’s no history there; before they met, there was no sense of loyalty, love, or even friendship. Their bond grew from violence and hatred into something more. Though that made for great storytelling and interesting character development, they were essentially a clean slate. The story could mold their relationship exactly as it needed to.

Mae and Osha’s dynamic is much more complicated. As sisters, and more specifically as twins, they already have an unbreakable bond. They already share a past, and a violent one at that, but it’s clear that they both still care about each other deeply. Mae was genuinely surprised and moved to see her sister in the flesh, and when Osha had the chance to stun Mae, it seemed like she purposefully missed the shot.

As twins, it also makes sense for the Force to bond them together eternally within a Dyad. Luke and Leia’s relationship makes it clear that, despite Leia’s relative inexperience with the Force, she’s still able to sense Luke whenever he is in distress or his emotions are otherwise heightened. The same is now probably true for Osha and Mae. If they do indeed make up a Force Dyad, it will be interesting to see how that affects their connection with the Force, how Mae’s darkness affects Osha, and vice versa.

The Force Dyad May Explain Why The Sith Are Really Interested In Mae

Custom Image by Yailin Chacon

One mystery The Acolyte has yet to solve is how and why Mae ended up as a Sith acolyte, working for a Sith Lord. If they sensed that she was part of a Force Dyad, or even if they just believed that the potential for that power was there, it would make sense that the Sith would do anything to control that power themselves. Palpatine was certainly interested enough in Rey and Kylo’s bond in The Rise of Skywalker.

Again, precious little has been revealed about the true nature of a Force Dyad, but it has been said that its power is greater than that of life itself. This makes sense, given that Rey and Kylo were able to heal each other repeatedly, and Kylo was even able to give his life to resurrect Rey, essentially defeating death. The Sith have always been searching for more power, studying the ways of the Force to find anything that will give them greater control.

If the Sith believed that having the two halves of a Force Dyad on their side would help them achieve their goals, then they’d have stopped at nothing to attain them.

Darth Sidious and his own Master, Darth Plagueis, for instance, were obsessed with immortality. Who’s to say other Sith weren’t obsessed with that concept as well? Harnessing the power of the Force, and ruling the galaxy with an iron fist for eternity – that’s all the Sith ever wanted. If they believed that having the two halves of a Force Dyad on their side would help them achieve that goal, then they’d have stopped at nothing to attain them.

In The Rise of Skywalker, Palpatine spoke of another Dyad in the Force, though he believed it existed millennia earlier. It’s entirely possible that he was wrong, of course, or that the Sith never truly found out whether Osha and Mae were, in fact, a Force Dyad themselves. Since The Acolyte takes place 100 years before the events of Star Wars: Episode I – The Phantom Menace, and so much Jedi and Force knowledge was forgotten or suppressed during that time, anything is possible. Star Wars: The Acolyte may very well have just introduced Star Wars’ second-ever Force Dyad.

The Acolyte episodes 1 and 2 are now available to stream on Disney+.