Starting in January, I decided to do a chronological rewatch/play of the canon Star Wars Video and Game Media. This is the third time I have done a full chronological watch, but adding in the games and the new series makes it a joy :-). This review is amazingly spoiler filled, so continue at your own risk.
First off, let me say this, do not watch any new Disney+ Star Wars show when it comes out. I mean, you can, but you must reserve judgement until after the series is complete. Often, episodes end in terrible places and the story does not make sense if you have to wait. By binging the show, you can tie up loose ends as the story progresses, not dwelling on them.
Chronologically, the first series that you will watch is a more recently released one, The Acolyte. Acolyte is set 100yrs before the events of The Fall of the Jedi. We enter a galaxy far far away in a time of relative peace and stability in the Republic. In the first episode, we are introduced to Master Vernestra (a middle manager in the Jedi sense) and Master Sol (and his padawan Jecki). We are also introduced to two twin sisters, Osha and Mae who are at the center of this tale.
When Osha and Mae were children they lived on the Planet Brendok with their Mother, Aniseya. The family is a part of a force cult which we suspect to be witches. Four Jedi arrive on Brendok to complete a survey, Sol, Indara, Torbin, and Kelnacca. They discover the cult and test the girls to determine if they are force sensitive. Osha wishes to be a Jedi but Mae refuses to leave her family. The Jedi intervene and a battle occurs. The entire force cult possesses Kelnacca who attacks the Jedi. When Indara breaks the posession, she kills the entire cult and a fire destroys their entire fortress. Sol is able to save Osha but has to let Mae fall to her death.
Osha trains as a Jedi but departs the order after some time. Sol is still fond of her. Mae on the other hand finds her way to a mysterious stranger named Quimir. Mae is given the task to murder Jedi and she chooses to kill the four that destroyed her home. The first to be murdered is Indara, who is stabbed while trying to protect a child. Torbin is protected in meditation but chooses to consume poison. The Jedi and Mae find Kelnacca on a planet called Kofar. When Mae enters his home, she finds him dead. The Jedi strike team arrives, as does Mae’s master. They fight and Quimir destroys all of the Jedi except Osha and Sol. Mae is still set on killing Master Sol and while Osha is unconscious from the battle, she trades places with her sister. Mae boards the Jedi transport with Sol and Bazil (their mole like tracker). Sol sends a distress call and then realizes that who he thinks is Osha is really Mae.
Osha wakes up on a distant planet in the Strangers lair. She dresses and ventures out, finding him bathing. They talk and Quimir tries to convince Osha to join him. Reluctantly, she agrees to go with him to Brendok. As they depart, we see a withered hand reaching out of a cave (and speculation is that the hand belongs to Darth Plagueis). Sol and Mae also go to Brendok and as they leave Kofor, we see Master Vernestra arrive answering Sol’s distress call. She searches the forest and finds the dead Jedi. As they are searching, they get a hit on the tracking beacon on Sol’s ship and they depart for Brendok.
On Brendok, Sol walks around like an idiot since Mae runs from him. He just goes around yelling until he is cornered in the courtyard by Quimir. Osha and Mae find each other in the ruins and Mae explains that Sol murdered their mother. The two fight. As Quimir and Sol fight, eventual Sol gets the upper hand and disarms Quimir. As he is about to strike, Mae arrives and disarms Sol, throwing his lightsaber against some rocks. Mae asks Sol to take responsibility for what he did, and he admits to killing their mother. Osha was hiding in the shadows and picks up the damaged saber and force chokes Sol – eventually killing him (and we see the kyber krystal in the saber start to turn red). Quimir reaches for Osha and she draws her saber – which dramatically turns from blue to red.
During the fighting, Vernestra arrives with her Jedi Knights. She can sense her former padawan (Quimir – who happens to have his helmet off). Osha, Mae, and Quimir flee before Vernestra can capture them and they go to a willow grove where the two played as children. Knowing that they cannot escape, Mae offers to have her mind erased by Quimir so that the Jedi will find one of them. He does so and as expected, Osha and Quimir escape while the Jedi find Mae with no memory of her life or how she arrived on Brendok. The season ends with Vernestra telling Mae everything while Osha and Quimir hold hands on the beach. After the ending credits, we see Vernestra enter a meditation chamber occupied by Master Yoda.
When The Acolyte came out, it got a lot of hate. Folks claimed that it was DEI casting, that the characters were flat and poorly written/acted. Influencers created hours of content bashing the Acolyte, when it only took 40ish minutes to watch each weeks episode. I often found myself channeling my inner Yoda: “Patience you must have…”
The Acolyte has a total play time of 326 minutes – so about five and a half hours (including credits). I highly recommend treating it like a long movie and binge the series. Just like a movie, there are slow parts and a build to the ultimate clash between good and evil. By watching it straight through, you do not have to dwell on the slow parts, you can move through them.
The best part of The Acolyte, in my opinion is painting the Jedi as real. Jedi can make mistakes, and they can feel remorse. The entire series is a set of repercussions for one Jedi’s bad decisions. Even the final battle between the Sith and the Jedi is a clash between good and evil, but in reality it is a portrait that everyone has both inside them. Mae is evil and kills Jedi, but unselfishly sacrifices herself for her sister. Osha murders the man who killed her family and ripped her from her childhood life. Who ultimately is evil and who is good? Both? Neither?
Because of all of the negative press, The Acolyte was not renewed for a second season, which is a shame because I would have loved to see more stories from this time period.