The Acolyte: A Revealing Look at the State of the Star Wars Fandom Today
We had The Phantom Menace, The Last Jedi, and now The Acolyte.
Lucasfilm’s newest entry in the Star Wars universe, The Acolyte, aired its season one finale last night. Set about 100 years prior to Star Wars Episode I: Phantom Menace, The Acolyte explores the Star Wars galaxy at a time when the galaxy and the Jedi were experiencing great peace, known as The High Republic. Little conflict and turmoil exists at this time. In the shadows, however, a vergence in the force appears to inspire the lurking dark lords of the Sith along in their master plan to get revenge against The Jedi. Something we all see come to fruition at the hands of Darth Sidious and Darth Vader in Star Wars Episode III: Revenge of the Sith. In other words, it is an origin story of both the downfall of the Republic and the Jedi, and the origin story of the birth of the Galactic Empire.
The Dark Side of Star Wars
Since the first Star Wars film was released in 1977, there have been various moments that have caused unrest amongst pockets of the fandom. Notably, starting in 1999, when Star Wars Episode I: The Phantom Menace was released and the new prequel era officially began, many fans complained of George Lucas’ reliance on CGI, poorly written dialogue, or annoying characters. Then again, in 2017, Star Wars Episode VIII: The Last Jedi set off fans who were displeased with the treatment of beloved characters, like Luke Skywalker, and poorly written arcs for some of the new trilogy’s main characters. And now, in 2024, Star Wars: The Acolyte has once again brought forth similar complaints about writing, character arcs, and new Star Wars lore, or canon.
Fans with those complaints, are entirely justified. All of these installments push the boundaries of our knowledge of the force and Star Wars canon as we know it. They have made unique production decisions and that is a reaction you can expect with Star Wars because it means so much to so many people.
There is another side to all of this, however. A darker side, if you will.
Ask George Lucas, Jake Lloyd, Hayden Christensen, Daisy Ridley, John Boyega, Amandla Stenberg, Lesle Headland, and likely many other notable Star Wars cast members about their experience with bullying and hateful rhetoric. They will not have pleasant stories to tell you.
Lloyd has struggled with lifelong trauma as a result of the hate he received as a child for his performance as young Anakin Skywalker. Daisy Ridley has openly discussed the overwhelming pressure and anxiety many have caused her. And the creator of Star Wars himself, George Lucas, has repeatedly cited the harsh reception from fans and critics of the prequel trilogy as a major factor for going through with the $4.1 billion sale of the franchise to Disney in 2012.
Since the release of The Acolyte in June, the toxicity and hate has been at levels I have not seen in a long time. There have been instances of racism directed towards Amandla Stenberg and homophobia directed towards series creator, Lesle Headland. All because certain pockets of the fandom are not enjoying the series.
There is a big difference between not liking a show because you do not appreciate the writing, production, or lore and not liking a show because you are bigoted. I will not entertain the latter because people like that deserve no attention. However, behind the hate, there are justified criticisms, as well as positives, that I break down below in my review of season 1 of The Acolyte.
The Acolyte - Season 1 Synopsis
The basic premise of season 1 of The Acolyte centers around two twins, Mae and Osha, who were born in a mysterious witch coven by a very powerful mother who manipulated the force to conceive them. This obviously makes them very powerful beings, so much so that Osha joins the Jedi order as a youngling to be trained under Jedi Master Sol, eventfully leaving as an adult, and Mae being recruited as an Acolyte by mysterious dark sider, Qimir or The Stranger. The twins and the Jedi have a dark past. Years earlier, when the twins were just children, the Jedi set out to explore their home planet, Brendok, because they felt a vergence in the force we eventfully learn is the twins. Things go awry as the Jedi attempt to convince the coven to take the twins to Coruscant to be trained as padawans, but they resist. Things turn violent and all the witches die. Mae and Osha’s mother at the hands of Sol. A truth he hides from Osha all these years by blaming her sister for starting a fire that kills the coven.
At the midway point of the season, there is a massive confrontation and Qimir kills a large group of Jedi, including Sol’s current padawan learner, Jecki. Sol is the sole survivor (no pun intended) and the twins swap places. Mae poses as Osha because she wants to confront the Jedi and make Sol confess his lies, and Osha having been stunned by Mae after they fight, is taken by Qimir. At this point in the season, things seem to falling into place. We get the sense that Osha, not Mae, is the true Acolyte, and Master Sol has a difficult future to face.
One big piece of the story that I haven’t mentioned yet is Jedi Master Vernestra. She is about 200 years old at this point and a very prominent member of the Jedi order. A popular character in the High Republic novels, she is very clearly not only aware of Qimir’s presence (hinted at by the lightsaber whip marks on Qimir’s back), but she is keen to hide his existence from the Jedi High Council. This is likely because she is his old master and something happened between the two of them that she doesn’t want to come to light. The council, lead by everyone’s favorite wise little green friend, Yoda, is no where to be seen at this point in the show. Vernestra is written as a morally sound Jedi in the novels, so it is surprising to see her live with so much deception in this show. We still do not know what she is hiding and if there is a season 2, that arc will be one of its highlights.
The season ends with Qimir recruiting Osha, whom he clearly has a strong (romantic?) connection with. Sol, on the other hand, confesses his big secret to Mae and then sets out to find Osha and set the record straight once and for all. Recognizing the need for a reunion with Sol, Osha sets out with Qimir to find him. As they leave, we see a Star Wars legend make his live-action debut. Darth Plagueis lurks in the shadows of Qimir’s hideout, very clearly interested in Qimir and Osha’s connection. What a tease. He looked as menacing as he should be! He will likely play a much bigger role should season 2 be green lit.
They all end up on Brendok one final time.
Despite all he knows about Mae and her Qimir, Sol’s attachment towards the twins leads to his eventful downfall. A theme we have scene before in Star Wars, right!? In a final confrontation, Sol and Qimir have another lightsaber duel. He bests Qimir, but Mae interferes before he can inflict any permanent damage and demands he confess his truth to her and the Jedi Order. Osha overhears Sol’s confession and in a moment of pure dark-sided rage, she force chokes him to death. Her rage, fear, and anger bleed Sol’s once blue lightsaber to red, symbolizing her evolution into the show’s titular Acolyte.
In the aftermath, the twins have a sentimental moment where Osha decides to formally join Qimir. In an attempt to keep her hidden from the Jedi, Qimir wipes Mae’s memory using his dark side abilities. Vernestra and a search party arrive late to find a dead Master Sol and a very confused Mae, who’s now last memory was the night she fled from the fire on Brendok all those years ago. In an emotional final act, Vernestra confronts the Republic’s leading senators and chancellor, framing Master Sol for killing the witches on Brendok and being responsible for all the Jedi lost in this show. She says that Sol took his own life out of guilt and shame. One of the most respected, beloved, and kind Jedi in the order has his legacy tarnished so Vernestra can keep her secret. What is she hiding?!
The final scene of the show sees Vernestra enter a room and as the camera pans, the silhouette of the back of Master Yoda’s head appears. She clearly feels it is finally time to address the council. We are left in suspense if she actually confesses to Yoda or tells him the same lie that she just told the Republic.
The Acolyte - Season 1 Review
The Acolyte’s overarching story has just begun. We are left with far more questions than answers. I’ll let you decide if that is a satisfying way to end a season. We are teased with Darth Plagueis and can finally see how he, and eventually Palpatine come to study the ability to cheat death/create life. A temptation that we eventually see lure Anakin Skywalker to the dark side. There is true potential for a far greater story yet to be told.
Storywise, I think we spent far too much time exploring the twins’ origin and the Brendok conflict. Yes, they have an important background that will likely be crucial to future seasons, but the most compelling part of this story, for me at least, are the sith. I would have liked far more backstory into Qimir and Plagueis. No doubt, we will get more of that to come, but the Brendok arc dragged on for far too long this season. The mystery behind Vernestra was a strong point for me. We are left with a lot of suspense in a good way.
Master Sol, brilliantly played by Lee Jung-jae was my favorite character and I was blown away by the emotional depth he was able to achieve through his performance. Sol’s death truly hit hard and that is a testament to Jung-jae’s performance. Qimir, played by Manny Jacinto, was also very compelling and his commitment to the quirkiness of his character was a fascinating dynamic. Amandla Stenberg’s performance suffered to me through no fault of her own. Having to play two leads as the same person and being edited together in post was noticeably choppy. There were times when that decision took me out of the moment the show runners were trying to create.
As you can see from the synopsis and review thus far, this show has some really interesting themes. We have never seen a Star Wars story like this before. And that is a good thing. That said, much of those positives get lost behind some pretty questionable production decisions.
Most glaring are the episode lengths and pacing. Transitions in this show are very jarring, fast paced, and abrupt. I found myself constantly being taken out of the drama and suspense with how quickly it moved. Speed isn’t always a bad thing, but sometimes the best way to let emotion develop is to take things slow. Additionally, far too many times did Headland use the trope of running away and/or passing out to progress the story. We see it when Osha is initially force pushed to the side by Qimir in episode 4. We see it again in episode 5 as a way to switch the twins, in episode 7 to lead the Jedi into the witches coven, and again we see it in episode 8 to separate Mae and Sol. The more and more the same plot device is used, the less believable it becomes. This was the case here.
Flashbacks episodes. The bane of my existence. With short episode lengths and quick 8-episode seasons, nothing is more jarring than two entire flashback episodes that seemingly tell the same story twice. It leaves just 6 episodes to progress the present-day story and to me, that is simply not enough time. It would have been far more effective to have the Brendok flashbacks, particularly the ones from episode 7, worked into the story throughout episodes 5-8. As a viewer, I felt like all the momentum that was leading up to the finale was instantly drained when we didn’t progress the story in episode 7 and went entirely back in time. This just wasn’t my style.
Addressing Some Misconceptions
To address some things I have seen circulating online. No, this show does not break canon. This is why it is important to watch a full season before jumping to conclusions. Vernestra clearly covers everything up and Sol, the only remaining Jedi with knowledge of Qimir’s red lightsaber, is now dead. It will be interesting to see how much Yoda is told and how he eventually learns the “rule of two.” There is definitely more to come.
Additionally, the complaints that Ki-Adi-Mundi and Darth Plagueis’ ages are canonically incorrect is also wrong. When Disney acquired Star Wars, every single piece of Star Wars media that wasn’t the first six films and The Clone Wars was made into what they call “legends” material, or non-canon. In other words, anything that George Lucas did not directly work on before selling to Disney is not canon. Which, by the way, was how he saw things too. If the now legends stories had been recognized as canon, the prequels would conflict with canon, the sequels would conflict with canon, as well as The Mandalorian, Andor, Ashoka, etc. Headland, just like every showrunner, is free to interpret ages and backstories as she see’s fit. It does not conflict with anything. Period.
That said, there are some fantastic novels from legends, none better than Darth Plagueis by James Luceno. It would be a shame if the Plagueis we now know will come in season 2 doesn’t have the same backstory from that novel.
Final Thoughts
The Acolyte has some very interesting storylines and themes. This makes it quite a unique and fresh take on Star Wars. That said, it was not the most pleasant watch. I often felt like this had the least “Star Wars feel” than any other Star Wars project. For the reasons I outlined above and other little things like an end-credit pop song, different lightsaber blade technology, and the show’s structure. None of it is that big of a deal in a vacuum, but it just wasn’t my cup of tea. I love Star Wars, and will always love Star Wars. I will watch and celebrate every project like this one. This has been an incredibly difficult score to give out, but I think it is very fair.
The Acolyte: Season 1 is available to watch today on Disney+. You can check out all my other reviews at Blitz’s Backlot.
