Duel on Brendok

The duel

Jedi versus Stranger

Sol was searching the fortress, looking for Mae who had escaped in an escape pod from Sol's Polan GX-8. Sol shouted Mae's name over and over, but there was no answer. As Sol pressed on with his search, the Stranger and Osha piloted the Exile II, landing it close to the fortress, and they bypassed the elevator controls, allowing them entry. The Stranger thanked Sol for the meeting and they activated their lightsabers. A fight began in the fortress's corridors, but the Stranger quickly forced Sol to the bridge, which had been used by scouts during the Mission to Brendok. After multiple clashes of sabers, Sol used the Force to leap backwards off the bridge and land safely in the courtyard. Sol warned the Sith that he would destroy him if necessary. The Stranger responded that she would get him first. The Stranger then split his saber in two, activating the second blade and reignited their duel, this time using Tràkata.

The Stranger began another attack on Sol, who avoided both lightsabers, but Sol managed to knock the shorter red shoto blade from the Stranger's grasp. The Sith tried to use the Force to retrieve his weapon, but Sol launched his own attack, kicking the Stranger in the chest. As Sol reactivated his blue lightsaber, the Stranger used the Force to get back his shoto saber, renewing his attack. He threw his lightsabers at Sol like boomerangs. Sol blocked them with his lightsaber, then deactivated his lightsaber and used the Force to avoid the spinning blades as the Stranger called his lightsabers back. Using the Force, Sol pushed the sabers aside and sent the Stranger towards the courtyard's edge. As Sol reignited his lightsaber, the Stranger once again used the Force to recall his lightsabers and launched a third attack on his adversary.

Osha's decision

Eventually, Sol prevailed over the Stranger, severing the other man's saber. The Stranger removed his cortosis helmet, while Sol aimed his saber at the Sith's neck. Mae then attacked Sol in hand-to-hand combat, taking his saber. The Stranger praised Mae and encouraged her to give in to her anger. However, Mae threw Sol's lightsaber aside, refusing the Stranger's order to kill Sol, completing her training. Mae disagreed and said she wanted Sol to confess his crimes and face the Jedi High Council, the Galactic Senate and the Galactic Republic, and pay for his actions on Brendok. Sol insisted that his actions were justified and that he wanted to protect them. He told Mae that she and Osha were not twins. Instead, they were the same person and he believed Mother Aniseya had created life through the vergence on Brendok, using the Force to create Mae and Osha.

Osha quietly approached Sol from behind, picking up his lightsaber as she listened to her former master admit to Mae that he had killed the twins' mother and explain why he was justified. Mae repeated that Sol had killed their mother, leading a guilt-ridden Sol to confess to killing Mother Aniseya. Osha asked Sol if he was telling the truth, and Sol again insisted that he was protecting her and that he had done the right thing. Sol told Osha that he had wanted to tell her countless times, but he couldn't. He told Osha that he had kept this secret to ensure that Osha had the life she had dreamed of. However, Osha, feeling betrayed and enraged, crushed his neck as he did not resist, falling to his knees as he struggled to breathe. A single tear rolled down Sol's cheek as he took his last breath. After Sol's death, Osha briefly knelt to the ground to mourn her former master. The Stranger approached Osha as she held Sol's lightsaber tightly. Osha activated the blade, and the kyber crystal bled, changing its color from blue to red. Mae and the Stranger watched, with concern and interest, respectively.

Jedi arrival

Meanwhile, Rwoh, Adana, and other Jedi landed the Cantaros in a forest clearing near the Brendok fortress. As she exited her ship, Rwoh sensed the presence of her former apprentice. The Stranger sensed his former master in return, causing him to put his cortosis helmet back on and hide, while Mae and Osha fled the area. Rwoh told the other Jedi that she knew where the targets were and led the team into the fortress to investigate. Bazil met up with a relieved Adana. After entering the fortress, Rwoh instructed two Jedi to search the premises, while Adana and the other Jedi searched the surrounding area outside the fortress with Bazil tracking the suspects. At the same time, the Sith, Mae, and Osha escaped the site of the duel. The sisters escaped the fortress through the core tunnel, just as Mae had done sixteen years earlier, and fled to the Bunta tree. There, the sisters and the Sith agreed to cooperate, and Mae's memories were erased so that she could not expose Osha when she surrendered to the Jedi. The Stranger left Brendok with Osha on the Exile II, while the memory-wiped Mae was taken into custody by Adana's team.

Aftermath

Back on Coruscant, Rwoh later addressed a Republic tribunal led by Supreme Chancellor Drellik. She repeated the fabricated account of the Mission to Brendok from sixteen years earlier, telling the tribunal that the four Jedi on the mission had conspired to keep their actions secret. Rwoh also claimed that Sol had gone rogue after the mission and killed his accomplices in order to maintain their cover story. On behalf of the Jedi Council, Rwoh condemned Sol's actions. She assured Senator Rayencourt that the conflict was the result of one flawed individual. When Chancellor Drellik asked Rwoh about Sol's current whereabouts, she claimed that Sol had committed suicide at the scene of his initial crimes.

Rwoh later met with Mae, who had no memories after the age of 8. Mae was told that Sol's secrets had twisted his mind. She told Mae that Sol justified his selfish actions because of the love he had for her sister. Mae asked if she had a sister, to which Rwoh asked if she recognized the name Osha, causing Mae's eyes to light up. Rwoh then asked for Mae's help in finding her former pupil as he had become evil.

Behind the scenes

The Brendok duel was shown in "the Acolyte" and was first named in a post on the official Star Wars UK Twitter account.