Television
Star Wars: The Acolyte — Two-Episode Premiere Review
A long time ago in a galaxy far, far away…Lucasfilm returned us to the era of the High Republic
Spoilers ahead.
This past Tuesday, Star Wars: The Acolyte had its two-episode premiere on Disney+. I’ve been anticipating this series for a while, especially with how well live-action Star Wars projects have been doing as a whole. The Mandalorian, Obi-Wan Kenobi, Andor, and Ahsoka have set a high bar for the franchise thus far. That said, how does this latest series stand up to its predecessors?
Let me preface this review by saying that The Acolyte takes place a hundred years before the rise of the Empire. This means that the plot already establishes itself outside of the Skywalker Saga, which might be a good thing considering how some fans currently feel about that continuity. What’s more, the timeline of this series will give us a glimpse into the golden age of the Jedi Order and Galactic Republic.
Episode 1
The first episode of the series, titled ‘Lost/Found,’ starts off with an opening shot of the planet Ueda and an unknown masked traveler. With no time wasted, we find out that the traveler is searching for a Jedi. Naturally, it wouldn’t be in Star Wars tradition if a mysterious character didn’t find themselves in a local cantina, which is exactly where our traveler finds who they’re seeking. Interestingly enough, it seems like our masked figure already knew who they were searching for, as the Jedi in question is revealed by name as Master Indara.
After some provocation, a brawl breaks out in the cantina, which Master Indara quickly steps in to stop. What I enjoyed about this scene is that it’s one of the few times we see a Jedi engage in combat without a lightsaber. Not only that, but despite the masked assailant wielding knives and clearly demonstrating some proficiency with the Force, Master Indara relies only on martial arts for self-defense.
Eventually, though, after establishing the identity of the female attacker, who Indara appears to have some unknown connection to, she draws her lightsaber. As the fight progresses, the mysterious woman manages to catch Indara off-guard by throwing a knife at a bystander, quickly taking the opportunity to end the Jedi’s life.
The next scene opens with a woman who appears to be the same attacker waking up on a freight ship and working as a mechanic. This scene is important because it immediately removes some confusion and sets up the main focus for this series.
The Acolyte follows two twins who were separated in their childhood after their hometown was burned down. Osha, the woman we’re introduced to on the freighter, is a former Jedi who left the Order for reasons currently unknown. The other twin, Mae, seems to have become the apprentice of some unnamed dark side Force user.
In this episode, we’re also introduced to Osha’s former master, Sol, and his Padawan, Jecki Lon, along with a Jedi Knight by the name of Yord Fandar. So far, it seems like these four characters, including Osha herself, will make up the main casts of protagonists for the series. Overall, Lost/Found laid a solid foundation for this show’s premiere, and I’m curious to see how the story evolves as time goes on.
Episode 2
Episode 2, titled ‘Revenge/Justice,’ begins by taking us to the planet Olega. Mae, who’s continuing her hunt for members of the Order, seems to be enacting a plan to infiltrate the local Jedi temple. With hardly any effort wasted, Mae comes across a lone Jedi by the name of Master Torbin, who’s in deep meditation. Similar to her encounter with Master Indara on Ueda, Mae seems to have a history with this Jedi as well. After a few failed attempts to break Master Torbin’s Force barrier, Mae retreats.
We then return to Osha, who is being transported back to Coruscant as a suspect following the events of Episode 1. While she manages to share a friendly interaction with Jecki, Yord remains hesitant to trust her. As Sol tries to put the young knight’s concerns to rest, he receives intel of an intruder’s presence at the Jedi temple on Olega, which he’s told to investigate. Despite Yord wanting to continue onwards to Coruscant, Sol believes that Osha would be helpful for the upcoming mission.
As the team charts their new course, we cut back to Mae, who has retreated to meet with a trader named Qimir after her failed assassination attempt. Mae asks Qimir to concoct a poison that will make Master Torbin vulnerable during her next attack. It’s during this scene that we learn that Qimir is also an associate of Mae’s unknown master. Before leaving, she urges Qimir not to reveal to their master that she requested a weapon for her task, though the reason for this remains unclear.
Back aboard Sol’s ship, we get some insight into the tragedy that occurred on Osha’s homeworld, along with her history in the Jedi Order and why she eventually left. Whatever occurred on Osha’s planet of Brendok forced Sol to choose between saving her or her sister. As a result, this caused Sol and Osha to believe that Mae had died during the incident. Sometime following this, Sol took on Osha as his Padawan. However, her inability to let go of her past made her difficult to teach, a concern that the Jedi Order apparently made known.
By the end of Episode 2, it’s revealed that Mae is specifically targeting Jedi who had an involvement in what happened on Brendok, two of which she’s already killed by this time. The mystery, though, is that when we finally get to the conflict between Sol and Mae, she refuses to believe that Osha is alive. In fact, up until the moment where they both share a fateful encounter during a brief staredown, neither Mae nor Osha believed that the other was still alive. What’s more, Osha seemed to harbor anger towards Mae for the Brendok incident.
At the end of it all, we’re left with a lot of confusion and secrecy around Brendok, and it seems like everyone has their own interpretation of what actually happened.
My Thoughts
All in all, The Acolyte seems like it has a lot of promise. One of the things I really enjoyed was returning to Coruscant. Even though I’m a big fan of the Clone Wars era, it was refreshing to revisit such a familiar planet without the faces we’re used to seeing there. There was no Obi-Wan Kenobi, Mace Windu, Anakin Skywalker, or Yoda, just an original cast of never-before-seen characters. Since this story takes place during the Jedi Order’s golden age, it’s also one of the few times we get to see them outside of a warzone.
As for the plot itself, it has enough mysteriousness to hold my attention. I’m very interested in finding out what happened on Brendok and why there seems to be so much uncertainty around it. We know that four Jedi were stationed on the planet, but it seems that whatever job they failed to do ended up being catastrophic for many other characters.
That said, it seems that optics are important for the Jedi during this era. There was no official record of Osha having a twin sister to begin with. Additionally, the Order didn’t want news to get out that a former Jedi might have been responsible for Master Indara’s death. When coupled with an unknown dark side practitioner lurking in the shadows, it seems that things may not be as peaceful as they appear.
This series has a lot of plot points to invest in, and with such a strong start to its premiere, it’s definitely something that I’d recommend to others.
Conclusion
Lucasfilm continues to raise the bar with its well-done live-action shows, and The Acolyte has all the makings of a multi-season series. The production value is phenomenal, the characters are likeable, and the worldbuilding doesn’t disappoint. The dynamic of two twins being on opposing sides of the Force is also a neat concept to explore, so I hope that it has a significant payoff in the end.
But I’d love to know what you all think. How did you feel about the first two episodes of the premiere? Were there any characters that stood out for you? Do you think that the unnamed dark side Force user is someone who’s been referenced in the lore before?
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