Mae (Assassin)

It was said, before The Acolyte debuted, that the show had been pitched as "Frozen meets Kill Bill, from the perspective of the bad guys," and that's true - we just didn't realize at the time who the bad guys were. A mysterious young woman with a tragic past, Mae Aniseya gets swept up into a sinister mystery - one that puts her into the center of a conflict in unexpected ways. She is determined to exact vengeance on those who wronged her, and little can stop Mae on her quest. The trailer for the show made it look like a murder mystery: who is killing the Jedi? But that was a misdirect (which may be why some people didn't resonate with it? It is possible to dislike a piece of media for non-bigoted reasons, even if nobody on the internet seems capable of articulating any alternative), with the culprit being apparent and the real question being the motivation and goals. The Tia to Osha's Tamera, Mae was also played by Amandla Stenberg. Which I guess technically would make her the Hayley Mills to Osha's Hayley Mills (or the Lindsay Lohan to her Lindsay Lohan), but you get the idea. When the series was being promoted, there was no indication the story was going to involve twins, but it apparently leaked ahead of time thanks to closed captioning on a teaser video? All the more reason not to watch any of that stuff. Mae wears a really cool assassin outfit comprising an armored plate over her chest, a bit of chainmail under her skirt, and covers it all with a purple cloak. In the show, that's almost put together like panels on a quilt, but that's beyond the scope of a 6" action figure - at least, one with a softgoods cape. They probably could have done it if this were sculpted PVC, but that would have been worse for the toy overall. The toy looks better with the cape on, anyway, because it adds some nice color to an otherwise drab suit. One of the great things about The Acolyte was its fight scenes. It started off hard right at the beginning of the first episode, with Mae fighting Trinity with some of the best fight choreography since Ray Park was involved. The softgoods cloak means the figure can move all around without being blocked. As is the style for Black Series toys, she moves at the head, neck, shoulders, elbows, wrists, waist, hips, knees, boots, and ankles. Her skirt is PVC, flexible enough to move away from the leg when you need it to. Mae's directive was to kill a Jedi without using a weapon - something she failed to do when she pulled out her knives in that first fight. The toy includes four tiny throwing knives, but since she has hands that are open a standard amount, as if she were going to be holding a lightsaber or blaster or any other normal accessory, she can't actually hold her own weapons. That seems like an oversight. They needed to either give her new hands, or give her alternates with knives molded in. However, you can stow them in the pouch on her left leg. She also includes two versions of the mask that covers her face: one pulled up over her nose, another dropped down around her throat. The head pops off easily so you can swap them. Despite not seeing each other for 16 years, Mae and Osha have managed to settle on the same hairstyle - it's just that Mae's is much longer in the back. If you interact with the Star Wars sections on YouTube at all, you may have been scammed into thinking The Acolyte was a big failure, with the fact it's apparently not getting a Season 2 being used as evidence. But it was the second-most-watched show on Disney+ in 2024 (behind Percy Jackson and ahead of Agatha All Along), so fans were definitely on board for it, but because the show was shot on location instead of on The Volume, it's expensive to make - looking that good ain't cheap! Mae sold just as fast as Osha, logically, so they're equally hard to find. Of the two, Mae is a little worse: she doesn't come with a cute little droid, and she can't hold her accessories properly. But you're not going to want her sister without also getting her. -- 02/22/25 How did they manage to synchronize their hair? Tell us on our message board, the Loafing Lounge.