It was a year ago this week since the final episode of The Acolyte landed on Disney Plus, and despite there having been four seasons of Star Wars related TV since then (Tales of the Underworld, Skeleton Crew, Light & Magic and Andor: A Star Wars Story) the topic of The Acolyte is still at the forefront of the Star Wars conversation. We all have our opinions, and here Forbes give theirs as they survey the aftermath of The Acolyte season one.
The Acolyte was an experiment for Disney, a first attempt to take its live-action projects fully outside the Skywalker era in a meaningful way, flinging the timeline back a hundred years to The High Republic. Disney had mined that period in print since it bought Star Wars, but live-action was the next step.
It failed. Like the show or hate it, it failed. Despite ending with many loose ends and huge implications for the Star Wars universe, Disney cancelled it. And that was a year ago this week.
Looking at just the math alone, it’s hard to argue this wasn’t inevitable. The Acolyte cost an absolutely absurd $230 million, making it one of the most expensive per-episode shows on TV. That A) was not very visible onscreen B) it was the lowest-viewed Disney Plus Star Wars series at the time and C) it was ridiculous for Disney to believe a show in a new era starring all new characters could put up any viewership that would justify that cost. I’m more than convinced that the also-expensive, also little-watched Andor (at least in season 1), would have possibly been cancelled had they not secured a two-season deal up front.
All this said, it sucks this happened. And everything that followed. The Acolyte was an okay show that ended pretty well and in the middle you could glimpse some true greatness. I will maintain that episode 5 of the series, one which The Stranger butchers an entire platoon of Jedi, including a number of characters that in no way seemed at risk, is a top 3 lightsaber fight in the history of Star Wars.
Tune in to Tuesdays 232nd episode of Making Tracks and our latest listeners questions episode where the topic of The Acolyte is discussed.
