As of this writing, Conklederp and I have only seen the first three episodes of the new Star Wars series on Disney+, Star Wars: The Acolyte, and while part of me is befuddled by the outpouring of toxic bullshit from people claiming to be fans of the series (or at least were before this series, or before the Obi-Wan Kenobi series, or before The Last Jedi, or before Solo), it seems that every time a new piece of Star Wars visual media is released, there is a flood of people decrying that this new thing breaks established canon, that the writing is bad, that the storytelling is bad, and most recently, that George Lucas would never have allowed such a travesty. It should tell you something about a particular subset of a fanbase when they review bomb the wrong media; all of the negative reviews have since been removed.
But we're here to talk (briefly) about Star Wars: The Acolyte. As stated, we've only seen the first three episodes as of today (Wednesday) although there seems to be a lot of new vitriol around the fourth episode that once against spits in the face of people who gatekeep Star Wars lore and who often appear to fit into two camps: 1) People who are still salty about Disney redefining the Extended Universe to "Legends," and 2) People who pay for Twitter.
Okay. The Acolyte.
I'm really enjoying the show. I don't have a whole lot of knowledge about "The High Republic" and I haven't read any of the books that take place during this time so I know that I'm coming into this show missing some information (which some people will decry immediately makes me not a fan of Star Wars and should stop breathing). I like that this story does not revolve around anyone that we've encountered in any of the previously released Star Wars*. It's not a Skywalker story or one about Obi-Wan or Sheev Palpatine. Since this story only takes place "One hundred years before the rise of the Empire," it would make sense that Yoda will make an appearance at some point, maybe in the penultimate episode.
I really love Lee Jung-jae as Sol who's somewhat reminiscent of Liam Neeson's Qui-Gon Jin. I love his calmness in his delivery with an obvious concern for his former padawan turned ex-Jedi Osha. He doesn't come across like he's the quintessential Jedi, but he's trying his damnest to be. I haven't seen Amanda Stenberg (Osha/Mae) in anything before, but I think she's doing a great job playing two different characters, having different affectations depending on which character she's playing, and carrying herself differently enough to distinguish between the two. I also love Charlie Barnett as the Jedi Yord because he feels like he's only been knighted within the last five years or so; I'm indifferent to the Killmonger hair as I've heard criticism about it being the now-go-to for Black male action hair. One character I don't have a read on is Vernestra played by Rebecca Henderson, as a lot of her deliveries felt flat, but seeing as how I don't recall seeing whatever species she is depicted in Star Wars before, maybe that's just a typical way her species comes across? Maybe that sounds bad. But I do remember her in Russian Doll, so I know it's not that it's not her acting ability, but I know she's in more episodes.
Speaking of similar but not the same, I really liked the witch's coven in episode three. There is a lot there, but seeing as how the series is only half over, there's still plenty to uncover since the character of Mother Aniseya is supposed to be in five of the eight episodes so we're likely to find out more about Osha/Mae's past. For me, I enjoy seeing other aspects of the Star Wars universe depicted in ways that we haven't seen before. Like the Mortis arc from The Clone Wars animated series, or Bendu from Rebels, showing different aspects of The Force that are not directly related to either the Jedi or the Sith. So having a coven of witches on screen that don't have anything to do with Dathomir was nice. I also have no issue with depictions of the Jedi as less than anything saintly. We've seen Qui-Gon blinded by his belief in the prophecy that his focus was only on Anakin and not maintaining the existing relationship between Anakin and his mother, even if it meant that Obi-Wan went back to Tatooine with additional Jedi credits to purchase her out of slavery. We've seen their dogmatic hubris during season five of The Clone Wars when Ahsoka was framed for murder and the Jedi Council tried to pass the whole thing off as her own personal trial and not the council trying to save face when it was proved that they were duped. And then there's Pong Krell, or even Count Doku, both Jedi who felt that the order was essentially no longer what they "signed up" for. So you can't tell me that the entire Jedi Order for all time is all Lawful Good Clerics of the Force.
Likely by the time this article goes out on Friday, we'll have watched the fourth episode so there'll be a whole new slew of things that anti-woke (aka racist, misogynist) man-babies will be pissing themselves over*. If you haven't guessed by now, we're not tolerant here of thinly veiled criticisms when they're really just racist/misogynistic/homophobic rants. I am all for legitimate criticism, but if your argument only goes as far as "the writing is terrible," "they're just pandering to the woke alphabet mafia", "they're messing with Star Wars canon" or "Kathleen Kenedy ruined MY Star Wars and should die" then like Space Jesus said, "...you're no Star Wars fan in my mind." You're apparently not recognizing that for the entirety of Star Wars, it has never been a hallmark of the series to be immediately canonically cohesive. That's what the spin-off books, comics, and now streaming series are around to fix. Luke's force kick. The flaw in the Death Star. How Palpatine returned and the extensive cloning operation. Hell, The Clone Wars animated series made Anakin's fall make sense! Yes, canon , lore, and cohesive storytelling are important or you end up with broken stories as what felt like what happened with the sequel trilogy, but not at the expense of threats of violence. And if any of your criticisms include "woke" as a slur attempt, again, you can piss off and we could not care less if you ever visit us again.
But feel free to let us know in the comments. That'd be most appreciated.
*P.S. Yes, I am aware of the discrepancy between the Legends information about Ki-Adi-Mundi in the fourth episode, 40ish years before his birthday, and the new uproar that this apparently is causing; I still use Twitter after all.
#WeStandWithWookiepedia
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