The Acolyte's Controversial "Hell" Line Is So Much Darker Than You Think

Warning! This post contains spoilers for The Acolyte finale.

Summary Hell's history in Star Wars dates back to A New Hope, making Mae's use in The Acolyte less surprising.

Sith spirits face torment in Hell, according to Darth Plagueis, connecting to Mae's sentiments about Master Sol.

Mae's curse reflects her extreme perception of Master Sol after a dark revelation in The Acolyte.

The Acolyte received criticism for Mae's reference to Hell in the Star Wars show's finale, but this wasn't the franchise's first use of the word; in fact, Hell has a fascinating history in Star Wars movies and TV shows. The notion of Hell was introduced in A New Hope when Uncle Owen warned Luke there would be "Hell to pay." Hell has therefore existed in the Star Wars timeline from the beginning.

Han Solo repeated the reference in The Empire Strikes Back when he yelled "Then I'll see you in Hell" to a Rebel fighter who was warning him against going out to find Luke. Since then, Hell has popped up various times in Star Wars, making Mae's use of it far from an anomaly. However, when Mae said, "See you in Hell, Jedi" in The Acolyte finale, her meaning was so much more sinister than it seemed on the surface. Hell, in Star Wars, has a very particular meaning, and it reveals Mae's sentiments about Master Sol with no uncertainty.

Related Despite All The Controversy, The Acolyte Hasn't Broken Star Wars Canon At All Audiences were concerned from the very beginning that The Acolyte would break Star Wars canon and retcon the prequels, but that didn't happen.

In Star Wars, "Hell" Is The Place Where Sith Spirits Go

In Star Wars, Hell, at times also called Chaos or the Void, is the torturous afterlife awaiting Sith Lords. In fact, this was revealed by none other than Darth Plagueis, who seems to have just made his first on-screen appearance in The Acolyte finale. In Book of Sith: Secrets from the Dark Side, written by Daniel Wallace, Darth Plagueis explains, "Chaos is where dead Sith Lords are believed to dwell in torment."

Purchase Book of Sith: Secrets from the Dark Side on Amazon

Although this explanation was given in Legends, Hell also exists in Star Wars canon, and is also referred to as Chaos and the Void at times, suggesting that they are in essence the same concept. Moreover, it makes sense that, even if the name was being referenced in the galaxy far, far away, it would more or less mirror the notion of Hell in the real world. However, this dark description, wherein Hell is specifically meant to torture dead Sith, is quite revealing when applied to Mae's comments in The Acolyte.

Mae's Curse Tells You Exactly What She Thinks Of Master Sol

Close

Mae Created By Leslye Headland Cast Amandla Stenberg First Appearance The Acolyte Alliance Jedi

Given all that came to light in the last few episodes of The Acolyte, it's unsurprising that Mae would have such a vicious thing to say to Master Sol. After all, although Mae saw Sol kill her mother when she was a child, hearing the explanation for why Sol kills Mother Aniseya really only made things worse; to the very end, Master Sol believed he had done the right thing by killing Osha and Mae's mother. What is interesting, though, is what this implies about Mae's perception of Master Sol.

If Mae believes Hell to be a place where the Sith go to get tormented after their death, then she views Sol as truly evil.

If Mae believes Hell to be a place where the Sith go to get tormented after their death, then she views Sol as truly evil. The notion of good versus evil is always a complex one, but The Acolyte made it all the more complicated by having the Jedi—arguably, the characters most representative of 'good' in Star Wars—cross the line so many times, Sol in particular. Whether Sol is really good or evil remains up for debate, but, based on Mae's reference to Hell in The Acolyte, it's fairly clear where she stands.

All episodes of The Acolyte are now streaming on Disney+.