The Disney Plus series for Star Wars has been a mixed bag of stories with varying degrees of quality. The Acolyte is the latest of the streaming shows from Lucasfilm that further mix up the adventures set in a galaxy far, far away, but not in the way we’ve been used to. For better or worse, The Acolyte took a lot of big risks and steps in new directions for the franchise, trying to establish a new standard that would hopefully attract new fans. Unfortunately, the results of the first season of The Acolyte have been lackluster viewership numbers, an agitated fandom, and an uncertain future for what might be next for Star Wars as a franchise. For many onlookers, things are going down a path they can’t follow.
The biggest problem that most viewers cite from Star Wars: The Acolyte is the writing, with the inconsistencies in the main plot and characters being the most damaging. This same issue even extends to the show’s premise, initially pitched as a story focusing on the Sith and aspects of the dark side of the force. However, Star Wars fans were met with something entirely different upon release. Instead of a series that shifted focus to the Sith perspective on the galaxy, emphasis was placed on the relationship between two sisters set in a new era never before seen in live-action Star Wars media. But even by that setup, The Acolyte hardly achieved its set goal and stumbled through its eight-episode season into mediocrity. And no amount of lightsaber battles, dark side sex appeal, or cameos was enough to remedy that.
Shifting character motivations that often weren’t clear, events that felt too convenient and mediocre, and instances that contradicted established Star Wars canon were frequent complications for viewers. It was to a point that was far from insignificant, and much bigger than a few fringe outliers that struggle to enjoy anything. Despite a small subset of people who claimed to enjoy what they were watching, the majority of people in and out of Star Wars fandom were not happy. It didn’t help that The Acolyte was a show set during The High Republic era, a new timeframe that was only relevant in novels and comics that were published beforehand. The show did little to nothing in establishing the era it was in, let alone give the audience valid reasons for why any Star Wars fan would want to see more of The High Republic.
This related directly to how The Acolyte as a show depicts the Jedi Order of this era, which many felt was contradictory to what the franchise previously established over many years. In The Acolyte, the Jedi were quick to act on emotions, prone to corruption, and a constant threat to themselves and those around them. How could a Jedi like Vernestra pin the blame for a devastating event on a fellow Jedi from the Order as a cover-up, and still be seen as justified? To those watching, the Jedi have always been said to have flaws in multiple ways that led to the events of George Lucas’ film Revenge of the Sith, but never in the ways episodes of The Acolyte tried to display. In an attempt to break down the myth of the Jedi and their presence in the galaxy, the show managed to misrepresent Jedi in a way that was not consistent with the way Jedi within the series would be, either in The High Republic era or otherwise.
But would any of that have mattered if the overarching story of the season was good? It’s impossible to say because of the reaction to the first season’s plot not going over well with most viewers. From episode 1 to episode 8, The Acolyte managed to haphazardly wrap plotlines while leaving major questions unanswered in the worst way possible, in hopes of a second season happening. Elements of how the force is used, the relevance and origins of its main characters, and vital motivations for the actions of characters sometimes go completely unaddressed.
The witches of the planet Brendok are never given a full view of their origins or how their powers work in comparison to the Jedi they encounter, but instead are used as a stepping stone for a plot that feels undercooked. Major events that happen to them simply happen because things need to transition to the next step of this story, rather than letting the audience see a buildup and valid reasoning for what takes place. Things are just left open to interpretation without much to go on, nor are the events given any reverence to how they affect the greater galaxy as a whole.
At the same time, the twins, Osha and Mae, are never presented with clear motivations and traits that the audience could latch onto. They both switch places and roles throughout the show in ways that left viewers confused and annoyed, for good reason. How can any show work when your main characters fail to connect with the audience in any significant way? The show tries to present Osha as the hero we should be rooting for and Mae as the bad sibling, but never follows through with any of it by the end. Osha ends up looking like a terrible character we’re supposed to root for, while Mae seems indecisive and undefined in what her purpose or relevance was to anything going on. The same kind of mishandling of characters and stories can be attributed to most of the cast of characters we meet throughout The Acolyte, with some turning out worse than others.
But was the action of The Acolyte enough to help it overcome its shortcomings? Unfortunately, not, contrary to what some might believe. The lightsaber duels and action-packed moments in the show are better than what may have been in some of the previous Star Wars series on Disney Plus, but not by much. The lightsaber battles between Qimir and Master Sol were heavily inspired by Asian cinema, with some moments working out very well and most others appearing awkward. The hand-to-hand combat that we see from Osha and Mae with various characters isn’t always a winner either. The beginning of the series features a battle with Indara and Mae that thrusts the show into feeling very different than other Star Wars projects, but never goes further and makes it feel special by the end of the season. The unarmed fights didn’t always land with universal praise from audiences, especially those who watched many of the duels from Star Wars movies and other projects. Were the battles comparable to what was seen in the prequel films? Not by a long shot. But were they on par with or better than the action shown in other Star Wars Disney Plus shows? More likely than not.
Yet none of these things address the overall messiness that season 1 of The Acolyte leaves for the Star Wars franchise as a whole. Besides a divided fandom that has been further fractured over the last few years, The Acolyte leaves viewers without a sense of good direction for where Star Wars is heading. While there are new projects like Skeleton Crew and other animated shows in the works, the excitement to see other Star Wars projects after The Acolyte feels insignificant in comparison to other shows. The exclamation point ending of the second season of The Mandalorian or the final battle in Obi-Wan Kenobi offered a greater impact for Star Wars fans than what The Acolyte is seeing. Most viewers after watching the first season question whether it’s worth seeing more from these characters, or even seeing other stories take place within this era. And for many of them, it just wasn’t worth it in the end.
Following that, however, is the bigger concern for most long-time Star Wars fans. How much does The Acolyte impact the canon of the franchise? Being set around 100 years before Episode 1: The Phantom Menace was said to give the showroom to tell intriguing stories that wouldn’t interfere with canon too much, but instead appear to have done the opposite. The conflict between the Jedi and a newly discovered Sith opened up debate among fans who felt the show blindly went against what was established in the movie that canonically follows directly after it. The inclusion of characters like Ki-Adi Mundi, Darth Plagueis, and even Master Yoda caused a stir among many fans who felt the show was tinkering with things that contradicted Star Wars canon. And while aspects that were pointed out were from non-canon stories and popular tales from Star Wars Legends, the mishandling of them did no favors to the show as a whole. It wasn’t excitement that most people were feeling when they saw Darth Plagueis, but confusion as they tried to ask themselves how any of it made sense. All of it created more problems than initially intended, leaving everyone with a sense of indifference about the show’s existence.
The most damaging thing for The Acolyte wasn’t from anything within the show itself, but the interviews and discussions from those who worked on it. While publicity from every actor and actress in The Acolyte helped to promote the latest Star Wars project from Lucasfilm, it was the interviews from showrunner Lesley Headland that hurt the series more than anything else. Many of the concerns about the story brought up by fans were discussed in multiple interviews, where Lesley tried to give details and explanations for what was shown.
However, statements from her often contradicted what was shown within the episodes and led to even more confusion and volatile discourse about the series as a whole. What viewers didn’t see in an episode would have some sort of reasoning described by Lesley Headland in these interviews, which only further damaged the perception of the quality of The Acolyte. Just how good is a show if the showrunner needs to sit down and explain things when viewers can’t see or understand what is going on? It’s questions that are fair and valid, which often led many people to answers they did not like. This goes hand-in-hand with whether or not people want to see a second season of The Acolyte. And for a great many, they would rather not.
The sad truth is that The Acolyte is not a good show, let alone a good Star Wars show on Disney Plus. The overall quality of the story, its characters, and general presentation are not as good as what has been seen in previous Star Wars shows. What started as an interesting concept that could mix up elements of Star Wars storytelling resulted in one of the worst and most divisive series that the franchise has ever produced. But as fans debate on what aspects of The Acolyte were good or bad, and whether it’s the lowest point of the franchise, the ramifications of the show will have an impact on Star Wars as a whole. And unfortunately, it will be more negative than positive to come out of it. At this point, it might be best for Star Wars to walk away from The Acolyte and move on to something else entirely.
