Every time an episode of Star Wars: The Acolyte lands, Fantha Tracks will be giving their responses, and here are our initial gut feelings, deep dives and thoughts on episodes one and two of season one, ‘Lost / Found’ & ‘Revenge / Justice’. Beware of spoilerific elements in here.
Dan Lo
In The Last Jedi, Vice-Admiral Holdo paid the ultimate price to protect the Resistance by hyperspace ramming the Raddus straight into the First Order fleet. The Holdo Maneuver made for a visually dramatic scene, and also opened up a can of space slugs at the same time. Some understandably curious fans wondered why such a tactic hadn’t been used in Star Wars before. On a smaller scale, the way Mae killed Indara made me wonder something too: Why haven’t more Jedi been dispatched using this method? Dooku did something similar to Yoda in Episode II, but as a means of escape and not an opportunity for a kill stroke.
Minor canon destabilizing aside, considering I have no prior knowledge or emotional investment in any of the characters, I find the show to be decently compelling so far. I admit I hardly knew anything about The Acolyte in general going into it. I had not read any of The High Republic books, and as I typed that out it dawned on me that I don’t know if there are any overlapping characters or if the stories are even set within the same timeframe. All I’ve gathered is that the Jedi uniforms look alike.
I had earlier described a scene by saying Mae had killed Indara, but we didn’t exactly know that at the time did we? For about half the episode we were led to believe it was Osha until it finally became obviously clear that it wasn’t, due to her apparent lack of Force abilities. We didn’t even hear the name “Mae” for another few minutes after that. At that point it was easy to assume that Mae is a one-dimensional Star Wars villain out to kill Jedi, who are surely the unquestionable heroes. Then in the second episode, we saw Torbin voluntarily drink poison to receive her forgiveness. Wait, what? Despite having mostly gone in blind, I did catch that showrunner Leslye Headland was quoted as saying “The show is an onion. Each episode peels away to reveal something else.” Thanks to the show’s double feature debut, we have already seen the start of that. Very cool.
As far as overall production quality goes, The Acolyte seems to continue the upward trajectory of Star Wars TV shows so far. At no point did I stop and think to myself “okay, this was probably shot in the Volume.” There seemed to be plenty of fight choreography budget too, with action scenes that wouldn’t have looked wildly out of place in Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon. Lightsabers have always been my favorite aspect of the franchise, and if the trailers have been even halfway honest there should be plenty more to come. Perhaps the biggest missed opportunity was killing off Carrie-Anne Moss’s character just six minutes into the show, and without a proper lightsaber duel. That is, of course, assuming we don’t get flashbacks later on. At this point, anything is still possible.
When Disney first bought Star Wars, I had secretly hoped for Knights of the Old Republic era films. Or more generally speaking, something completely disconnected from the Star Wars movies we knew but still firmly in the same universe. For better or for worse, we didn’t get that. The subsequent films and shows never strayed far from the Skywalker Saga timeline either, until now. We are finally in uncharted territory, and I look forward to the unknown.
Mark Newbold
New time period, new characters, new situations. Yes, The Acolyte has begun, and while we’re sitting at the tail end of The High Republic era, this very much feels like it’s feet are planted in the prequels, still a few decades down the line. The Jedi are everywhere, with temples on numerous planets and their reach significant, in stark contrast to the only functional temple on Coruscant seen in the prequels. Here they are boots-on-the-ground working Jedi, embedded in communities around the galaxy, but while that would seem to be a good thing, it’s hard to shake the feeling of big brother watching everyone’s every move. The Jedi may stand for truth and justice, but their casual usage of the Force is noticeable. We haven’t seen so much handwaving and mind-tricking in a Star Wars adventure since Qui-Gon Jinn in The Phantom Menace. That the mood finds parallels in Anakins tone in Attack of the Clones (‘Jedi business, go back to your drinks‘) says much of the perception of the Jedi. Without being overly stated, there would appear to be a not unsubstantial amount of fear mixed in with the reverance the Jedi generate.
The Acolyte sets out its stall early, and by the end of the second epsiode we’ve not only visited half a dozen worlds – some familiar like Coruscant and Carlac (first seen in season four of The Clone Wars and Tiny Death Star) and some new like Brendoc and Khofar – but we’ve learned that Osha and Mae aren’t the same person but rather twin sisters separated after a terrible incident. We’re reintroduced to Vernestra Rwoh a century after her High Republic adventures, and while we’ve yet to meet any of the more prominent council members it’s clear that procedures and bureacracy (the very machinery that ground the Republic to a halt a century later) is in full effect here.
The production values are impressive, the designs (everything we see here is fresh and new with little familiar iconography other than lightsabers and blasters to fall back on) are instantly striking (those headrest droids need to be added into everything Special Edition style, they’re brilliant), the editing is pacey or tempered when required using some familiar wipes, and the score by Michael Abels is pitch-perfect, evoking the mystery music of Episode 2. ILM are on top form as ever, while the sets are incredible. Having seen this hurled up on the big screen at the Odeon LUXE during the UK premiere, this TV show (which will likely be viewed on as many mobile phones as 70″ flatscreens) looks incredible.
All very well but the story and characters have to hold the attention, and after this double salvo kicked off to 4.8 million views in its first 24 hours it would seem that the review bombing has done little to deter the wider viewing public from diving into this new story and its characters. While many of the mysteries would appear to already be solved (the Anaseya twins and the Jedi murder plot to name just two) it’s also clear that this series has a lot more under the hood to reveal and the pay off won’t arrive until the tail end of the season, so get comfy; this one’s for the long haul.
Eric Onkenhout
The first two episodes of Star Wars: The Acolyte premiered this week and my earliest impressions are that it’s very rewatchable. Each has been about the same length as any other Star Wars live-action series (35-45 minutes). The Acolyte’s first episode titled Lost/Found opens with a State of the Republic update much like what we saw in Solo: A Star Wars Story, with blue letters on a starry, black background. I believe this is the first series with an opening like this but I could be wrong. The “not-a-crawl” says:
A hundred years before the rise of the Empire, it is a time of peace.
The Jedi Order and the Galactic Republic have
prospered for centuries without war.But in the dark corners of the galaxy, a powerful few
learn to use the Force in secret.One of them, a lone assassin,
risks discovery to seek revenge…
As I like to do with any new Star Wars content, I place it accordingly in the timeline. A hundred years before the rise of the Empire would place this about 30 years before Dooku’s birth. Give or take a few years. If Dooku was born 102 years BBY, The Acolyte is 132 BBY. Within the realm of the films and TV series (animated or live-action), this is the earliest we’ve seen in the timeline. Outside of any flashbacks.
Lost/Found opens with Amandla Stenberg’s character walking purposefully through a town center. She pays an alien for the location of their Jedi. Once she finds Master Indara, played by Carrie-Ann Moss, she invites her to a fight. At this point, we see Stenberg’s character is a mysterious assassin who we don’t know yet. The two engage in a “Matrix-like” fight and eventually, Master Indara is killed. Elsewhere, we see Stenberg playing another character who is either faking her normal existence or is a different person altogether. There is something about the way Stenberg plays both characters that tells me they’re two different people. I assumed maybe she was a changeling. Osha was initially accused of killing Indara. As the story unfolds we learn Stenberg is playing two characters who are twin sisters, Osha (good), and Mae (bad). Mae is the one who killed Indara.
Mae was thought to have been killed as a child, with the rest of Osha’s family on Brendok. When Osha turned eight, she joined the Jedi and was taught under Master Sol (Lee-Jung Jae). Sol is the one who saved Osha on Brendok. Eventually, she decided to be a Jedi was not for her and left the Order under seemingly fairly good circumstances and became a meknek. I might be blending events of the second episode, Revenge/Justice because they flow into each other. They really could’ve been one long episode.
Mae wants revenge on four Jedi who were stationed on Brendok; Indara, Torbin, Kelnacca, and Sol. Possibly the four that voted her out of the Order. That bit was a little confusing, but regardless, Mae is able to kill Indara and Torbin, but escapes a duel with Sol, while Kelnacca lives in isolation on Khofar.
Along the way, we meet Jedi Knight Yord Fandar (Charlie Barnett), Padawan Jecki Lon (Dafne Keen), Master Vernestra Rwoh (Rebecca Henderson) from The High Republic books, and Qimir (Manny Jacinto), a smuggler turned apothecary.
I loved seeing Neomoidians and the term Trade Feds in Lost/Found, which really helped connect it to the prequel era. I thought the new planet names were nicely easy to pronounce yet some sounded strangely alike: Ueda, Olega. I got major Kylo Ren vibes from the mysterious Sith and the end of Lost/Found. Speaking of the titles being antonyms, Mae and Osha being twins obviously reminded us of Luke/Leia. Or Rey and Ben being dyads. Could there be a connection there? I thought the acting was decent, especially from Jae and Stenberg.
The Acolyte is another worthy addition to the Star Wars legacy and I look forward to where the rest of the series goes.
Ross Hollebon
With the launch of The Acolyte’s first two episodes comes the hope of excitement and mystery, but through the initial pair of offerings, there’s a disturbance in the Force. I have faith the story will work itself out during the remaining six episodes—but the initial cadence and footing are best symbolized by the scene where Osha, with no one truly pressing her, creates forced drama by backing off the edge of the snowy mountain ledge on Carlac.
That doesn’t mean the effort and a good foundation are not being set, especially with some interesting Jedi, great aliens, and legitimate sets for various scenes. And maybe that is where the line by Master Torbin comes into play before he willingly drinks poison: “Forgive me, we thought we were doing the right thing.”
Meeting a live-action Master Vernestra Rwoh from The High Republic novels is amazing. The surprise reveal that Osha has a sister, Mae, is a welcome twist right out of the gate. It’s also very intriguing that she appears to be working with a Master on the Dark side. But then we have so many elements that are too convenient or just lazy Star Wars occurrences. Osha has a mini-droid companion that can get her out of pinches. A young kid teases a Jedi Temple droid on a busy street for Mae to sneak into the sacred building where Torbin is meditating. Not one, but two people in the bar on Ueda put themselves in harm’s way well after the fight has begun between Indara and Mae. Maybe Osha intentionally missed her shots, firing the stun gun at Mae, but otherwise, we have a former Padawan who took her shooting lessons at the Stormtrooper Academy.
I am not yet invested in the Jedi characters—who as a group keep becoming more boring and predictable (and I’ll reserve judgment on use and promotion of Carrie Anne Moss until we see if she is involved in more flashbacks)—but Leslye Headland’s tractor beams have pulled me in to wonder why Mae feels so betrayed, why Torbin was asking forgiveness, will the twin sisters reconcile, and who is the apparent Dark Force user who might just be on Ahch-To?
At the end of the day, it’s new Star Wars, so I’m all for it, and the performances of Amandla Stenberg and Lee Jung-jae stood out. I just hope there aren’t too many chefs in the kitchen, turning the restaurant of joy that Disney Plus Star Wars has been into an apothecary that provides poison on demand.
Sander de Lange looks at all the reveals and easter eggs in The Acolyte – The Guide: Episode 1 ‘Lost / Found’.
The Acolyte – The Guide: Episode 2 ‘Revenge / Justice’.
Mark Mulcaster and Mark Newbold discuss the first two episodes on Making Tracks Reaction Chat: The Acolyte S1 Eps 1 & 2 – ‘Lost / Found’ & ‘Revenge / Justice’.
- Bernardin, Marc (Author)
- English (Publication Language)
- 112 Pages - 08/20/2024 (Publication Date) - Licensed Publishing (Publisher)
