The Acolyte, the newest entry in Disney’s long-running Star Wars franchise, wrapped its first season with some big questions still up in the air. However, it also spawned a lot of discussion—and hate—online, with many people claiming it’s terrible. While it’s not perfect, here are ten things The Acolyte gets right.
Putting the High Republic in Live Action
The era during which The Acolyte takes place is called the High Republic. It’s the period of time roughly 200 to 100 years before the events of the Prequel Trilogy. The era has, thus far, been depicted in comics and novels, so fans were excited to see it appear in live action.
Wookiee Jedi
The Wookiee Jedi Kelnacca isn’t the only example of a member of his species joining the Order. There are other Wookiee Jedi mentioned in the High Republic books, as well as the youngster Gungi in The Clone Wars. Still, it’s awesome to see one in live action.
Different Lightsaber Styles and Colors
Lightsabers are one of the coolest pieces of sci-fi technology, period. We’ll jump at any excuse to see a bunch of different emitter types, crystal colors, and fighting styles all on screen. The Jedi are cool, so more Jedi is never a bad thing.
Bleeding a Kyber Crystal
In a pivotal scene late in the narrative, we finally get a live action look at bleeding a Kyber crystal to turn it into the iconic Sith red. Interestingly, this was seen before The Acolyte in the 2023 video game Star Wars Jedi: Survivor. Survivor also, interestingly, has a lot of narrative connections to the High Republic era.
Master Sol
The character of Master Sol, portrayed by the excellent Lee Jung-jae in his first English language role, is awesome. He’s a noble Jedi Master with some lingering regrets about the way he handled a tricky situation years ago. While fans might quibble with the narrative particulars of his story, he’s still an awesome addition to the franchise.
Manny Jacinto
Beyond just Lee Jung-jae, the show is stacked with some great performances. Manny Jacinto is another standout from the series, playing the menacing Stranger, also known as Qimir. His presence injects a huge amount of dread and drama into the events.
The Visuals
The Acolyte looks great, and that isn’t always a given with these Disney+ shows. Many of them over rely on the Volume, like Kenobi and The Book of Boba Fett, leading to a flat, glossy look for all the scenes. The Acolyte’s use of a lot of on-location shooting helps the scenes look more alive.
New Planets
Speaking of looking more alive, it’s always fun to see new planets in the Star Wars galaxy. The Acolyte treats us to some interesting new locales like Brendok, Ueda, Khofar and Olega, none of which had been seen at all before this show.
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New Droids
Protagonist Osha’s adorable little repair droid, Pip, has a great design. He’s not capable of moving around himself, and instead is more like a handheld welding tool. He’s adorable, chipper, and meets with a… less than ideal fate. That’s Star Wars for you!
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Darth Plagueis Creepy Cameo
The final episode finally teases a monstrous Sith character that fans have heard a lot about but very scarcely seen, even in the expanded content like comics and novels. Darth Plagueis, the villain who will someday train Palpatine to become Darth Sidious, makes an eerie cameo in the final episode of the show, leering out from behind a rock.
