Here’s 3 Things that ‘The Acolyte’ Did Right, and 3 Things That Went Absolutely Wrong

‘Star Wars: The Acolyte’ is the latest installment in the franchise. The show premiered 3 weeks ago to a significant degree of both review-boosting and review-bombing. It will go down in infamy as one of the most controversial installments, due to canon-breaking and significantly hefty budget.

Apparently, if you read opinions online the show is either the worst thing to happen to Star Wars or the best thing to happen to Star Wars, when in reality it’s sort of a mix bag.

Could the show be better? Absolutely, on top of a $180 million budget, I have to admit I expect a lot more than two whole episodes of nothing but it’s important to note that we’re only halfway through the show and we do expect some epic fight scenes to come our way. As I’ve already mentioned, the show is a mixed bag, and there are some things that the showrunner definitely did right and some that completely missed the mark.

The Good – Different types of force users in the galaxy

This one is pretty self-explanatory, it’s unrealistic to expect that in a whole galaxy, absolutely all force users are aligned with either Jedi or the Sith (especially considering that the Sith are presumably extinct). Headland made one interesting statement in one of the interviews before the show how Jedi don’t have a monopoly on the force, and yet people like to think that they have. No matter whether you believe that the Witches of Brendok are villains or heroes, it’s nice to play with different approaches to the force.

I personally enjoyed Witches of Dathomir in ‘Ahsoka’ and the mystery surrounding them, I enjoyed Baylan Skoll’s relationship with the Force and I like the recent approach of Star Wars that there are different flavors of force users in the Galaxy.

The Bad – The Force Birth

Perhaps it’s too early to comment on this one since we don’t have the full mystery behind it solved, but still, come on. “There is no father” said one of the witches to the Jedi, echoing Schmi Skywalker’s statement. I do realize that Anakin was created by the will of the force, and the twins were created by manipulating and twisting the force (presumably), still it’s obvious that the prequel to prequels wanted to diminish Anakin’s importance in some way, by giving us a prototype of him century earlier. At least that’s my take on it, and you are free to correct me in the comments.

Even if this doesn’t necessarily break the canon, it’s still a cheap attempt to create a larger sense of importance around the two main characters.

The Good – Pride comes before the fall

It’s High Republic Era and the Jedi order is at its highest and most powerful, they have no “natural predator.” Honestly, I’m not all that impressed by the Jedi in the show, they seem ill-organized and too complacent in their status, and a century later they will be almost completely annihilated. Some Jedi became complacent due to centuries of relative peace and the belief in their own moral superiority. This led to underestimating emerging threats, such as the rise of the Sith. ‘The Acolyte’ showed this part of their history rather well, as I’ve said, Jedi do not seem all that impressive in the show currently.

The Bad – Kelnacca was killed of-screen

Fans have waited for decades for a live-action Wookie Jedi, and ‘Acolyte’ sort of delivered. I say sort of beacuse the Jedi appears in only a few scenes and what has been teased as a great fight of Mae killing Kelnacca unarmed, turned out to be nothing – yes nothing. The Jedi was unfortunately killed off-screen, and one of the writers explained that this was due to budget constraints and POV breaking.

I have a feeling that episode 4 would get much higher reviews if they just threw in a few epic scenes of Kelnacca going at it against the Sith Lord. I don’t understand how you set aside a budget for animating Bazil and think that Wookie Jedi is too expensive.

The Good – Jedi use their lightsabers the proper way

Jedi draw their lightsabers not solely with the intent to kill, but rather as a measure of defense and when there is a serious threat that requires their intervention. The lightsaber is a symbol of a Jedi’s commitment to protect others and uphold peace and justice. They typically draw their lightsabers in situations where non-violent resolution isn’t possible, such as when confronting dangerous adversaries or defending themselves or others from harm – ‘The Acolyte’ did this really well, especially in one of the first action scenes in which Mae kills Jedi Master Indara.

Over and over again Jedi are reminded that if they are about to draw their lightsaber, they really need to “make good on its usage.” Oh and as far as the newly-introduced lightwhip goes, we’ll see how this will turn out but so far, the reactions to the “new” weapon were mixed.

You can also notice that in several fights against the Jedi so far, Mae has tried to get ahold of a lightsaber, probably in an attempt to capture one for herself and bleed its crystal.

The Bad – Sith Lord & Ki-Adi-Mundi

8 original characters have been alive during the events of ‘The Acolyte’ – Master Yoda, Yaddle, Oppo Rancisis & Yarael Poof, Jabba the Hutt, Chewbacca, Maz Kanata, Dexter Jettster.

I understand that Yoda, Yaddle, and Chewbacca have been off-limits, but really the showrunner had the most terrible luck of choosing one character that utters the line “The Sith have been extinct for a millennia” during ‘The Phantom Menace,” and character that shouldn’t be alive during the events of the show. This is so far the most controversial aspect of the show and one that a lot of fans have trouble rationalizing.

Sure, subsequent episodes might prove that The Master is not really a Sith Lord, or he simply might eliminate all Jedi that met him. As my colleague Arthur analyzed, Sith Lord might simply kill all Jedi that were in the search party with no one left alive to report on the fact that they met actual living breathing Sith. If you noticed, Mundi wasn’t in that group so he would be spared, living until Order 66 ignorant of the existence of the Sith, but his race unfortunately does not live that long, so however you look at it, Mundi’s presence breaks canon.

When it comes to the introduction of Sith Lord, it was brilliantly executed with just the right amount of horror, menacingly levitating behind the Jedi.

So what do you think? Let us know in the comments below!

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