The Acolyte showrunner Leslye Headland recently opened up about the shocking deaths of Jecki Lon and Yord Fandar in episode 5.
The fan-favorite characters met their demise in the recent episode to the surprise of many fans as they didn't expect that they would bite the dust early in the series.
Despite their early demises, Jecki and Yord have made a significant mark for many fans in their limited screen times during the first five episodes and their presence will be missed in the rest of the season.
The Acolyte Showrunner Explains Decision Surrounding Episode 5's Shocking Deaths
In a recent interview, Headland explained why she decided to kill off Jecki and Yord in the recent episode of The Acolyte and subvert the twist on killing a main character.
"I think a good twist is not about hiding everything from the audience and then throwing it on them like, 'Hey, this is what you didn't see! We hid it so well that you didn't see this!'" she said.
"I think a good twist is telegraphing what's going to happen, and then once it does, executing it without an ounce of pity or sentimentality."
The showrunner added, "I think an example of this where it worked really well was in The Empire Strikes Back, because when Luke leaves Yoda and Dagobah, Yoda straight up is like, 'If you face Vader, you're going to fail. You just are.' It's not like the audience didn't know going in that that was what was up."
"But when Luke loses, he loses in such a devastating way — not just physically, but psychologically. He loses on such a huge level, so the twist of 'I am your father' works because you already know he's going to lose. So you're just kind of waiting for how it's going to happen and you don't know it's going to cut as deep as it does."
While the deaths of Jecki and Yord were huge surprises, most fans wouldn't also deny that the twist was well-executed since it's a moment that we didn't expect and it heightens the stakes of the story even further as it showed us that Qimir is willing to kill anyone no matter what.
It also proved again that Headland is not afraid to kill off any of the main characters, which is a gutsy move as most films and TV shows today are not willing to do that kind of twist.
In the end, what matters the most is the effective storytelling that they're doing with the twists, and based on the responses, fans resonated with what the cast and crew did in the episode even with the deadly twists.
New episodes of The Acolyte premiere every Tuesday night on Disney+.
What do you think of Headland's remarks? Let us know in the comments!
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