Star Wars: The Acolyte Creator Confirms Those Huge Deaths

In case you were wondering, the witches of Brendok are definitely dead after "The Acolyte" Episode 7's twist ending, according to creator Leslye Headland. This is despite Indara's (Carrie-Anne Moss) intent. "They're dead. I would leave it up to interpretation in terms of whether Indara knocked them out and then they were part of the larger fire or disaster that occurred to them," Headland told Collider. 

Indara's impulsive choice to separate the coven from their connection with the Force to free Kelnacca (Joonas Suotamo), a rare Wookiee Jedi, and to liberate his mind from their influence has many more ramifications beyond simply ensuring all of her friends make it out alive. Headland thinks that Indara might have been forced to make a quick decision and then had to cope with the ramifications of many deaths after the fact with no guidance from outside governing bodies on the Jedi Council. "It could be self-preservation, it could be just the preservation of her friend, but, 'I have to make this decision right now. I don't have time to ask the council. I don't have time to weigh up and down whether or not... In this split second, I have to do this,'" she said. 

There is one thing to note about Indara's impulsive choice — the body of at least one Brendok witch goes missing. And Headland definitely noticed this factoid.

Many fans have noted that the body of at least one of the witches disappears from the scene after Indara's attempt at saving them, and it's that of Mother Koril (Margarita Levieva). Leslye Headland seems willing to at least entertain the notion of something having happened to Koril other than death, from her becoming a spirit to her disappearing to prepare for a comeback in the final episode. "Now Coral [sic] — no body, no death," joked Headland. 

And yet, it's clear that Koril is completely absent from the scene just before Indara uses her powers. Usually, when someone powerful disappears while surrounded by death, you know they've become one with the Force. But that's not a fate that the Brendok witches would believe in or support. Ergo, it's a strong hint that she, along with her twin daughters, Mae and Osha (Amandla Stenberg), are the only survivors from the coven. But audiences will have to wait to see if that pans out when the final episode of "The Acolyte" begins streaming on July 16.