While there is no official word yet on the fate or future of The Acolyte, Leslye Headland has plenty of ideas to populate a second season of the era, and speaking with Entertainment Weekly she not only broached the subject of season 2 but also (while very carefully neither confirming or denying anything) touched on the future for Vernestra Rwoh and her former padawan Qimir.
And some of a future season 2 would involve seeing more of the Republic Senate, which was introduced in the finale courtesy of Jedi skeptic Senator Rayencourt (David Harewood) and Supreme Chancellor Drellik. “A generation or two generations have gone by since the Nihil,” says Headland of the antagonist group in the High Republic novels. “There was a lot of drama, so it was just logical to me that there would be more of this button-down [idea]: ‘We’re trying to avoid the mistake. Let’s limit the power. Let’s do that before someone asks us to.’ And it was just logical to me to show Vernestra as the bridge for that.”
And that is just the beginning of Headland’s future plans for Vernestra Rwoh (played by Headland’s wife, Rebecca Henderson) — the only main character from the High Republic novels who has appeared on the show so far. In the books, Vernestra is a headstrong youth, a very different personality from the older Acolyte version who has been through it and seen so much. The finale teased a tantalizing connection between Vernestra and the Stranger (Manny Jacinto), revealing that Qimir used to be her Jedi Padawan.
While season 1 showed the father and daughter dynamic between Lee Jung-jae’s Sol and Stenberg’s Osha, a second season would delve into the past mother and son relationship between Vernestra and Qimir. “I can’t confirm or deny that that is something we are thinking about,” Headland says, “but I think if we’re allowed to continue telling this story, you’ll see more of Vern’s history with the Stranger and how that’s affecting the decisions she’s making now.”
In fact, Headland’s only real regret about season 1 is that she was not able to work more of Vernestra’s backstory into its eight episodes. “That was something I kept trying to slip in, but there was so much,” Headland says with a sigh. “It’s a really packed season, and I love that. My goal is to explore as many nooks and crannies as I can in the time I am given, and Star Wars is the perfect place to do that because there’s nothing but good nooks and crannies — all of this world that’s available to you that you can dig into. So of course there were things that I didn’t get to explore.”
Fantha were part of a special roundtable with Leslye ahead of the final episode of the debut season, a chat you can listen to below.
