The release of Star Wars The Acolyte seems to have caused a stir on social media. I’m seeing a flood of comments online about how fans miss when Star Wars wasn’t own by Disney along with the vitriol of fans commenting that The Acolyte isn’t good. As a Star Wars fan, I’m always looking forward to new additions to the galaxy and creating new stories across the timeline. I watched the first two episode of The Acolyte and I liked them. I don’t know if The Acolyte will be my all-time favorite Star Wars series, but I am curious to see how the series unfolds.

Spoilers For The Acolyte Below

The Acolyte takes place in The High Republic era, approximately 100 years before The Phantom Menace. The show opens with Master Indara (played by Carrie-Ann Moss) who is approached by a mysterious figure later to be revealed as Mae (played by Amandla Stenberg). After an intense combat, Indara is killed by Mae after trying to save a patron in the bar. The episode cuts to Osha (played again by Amandla Stenberg), who is approached by Jedi as she was seen at the scene of the crime. Osha protests her innocence, but is arrested. She escapes captivity and realizes her twin, Mae, is still alive and is responsible for these crimes. Meanwhile, Master Sol (played by Lee Jung-jae) is sent to investigate and capture Osha and bring her in for questioning. Sol has a personal connection to the case as he was Osha’s former master. Throughout the first two episodes, Sol is joined by Yord Fandar (played by Charlie Barnett) and Jecki Lon (played by Dafne Keen) to find Osha and understand why she is going after the Jedi.

I will say the obvious, I am bummed to see that Master Indara was killed in the first episode. I mentioned in my The Acolyte – First Thoughts post how excited I was to see that Carrie-Ann Moss was a part of the cast. It makes sense now since the trailer didn’t feature her at any other time, but still, I was hoping she would have a bigger part. It’s too early to say because I’m assuming there will be flashbacks in the later episodes. From a story perspective, I was not expecting the twin aspect with Osha and Mae. I figured Amandla would be a villain serving an evil master, I didn’t think she would be good. I think Yord is going to be an interesting charcter. He seems to have this arrogance to him which I think makes sense as the Jedi were powerful at that time. With the first two episodes, I think there’s enough intrigue to keep me invested. I’m curious to see how Mae’s revenge plays out and who she is serving. It seems like she doesn’t even know who her master is.

I wanted to focus on Master Sol. Sol reminds me of Qui-Gon Jinn. I think Sol believes in the good that the Jedi can bring, but he also seems to have this objective view as well. He will disagree with the orders he’s given and he also clearly has emotional ties to both Indara and Osha. It sounds like Sol saved Osha, but not Mae, so is he feeling guilty for that? What happened the night he met Osha? I think Sol is going to be a strong character in this series.

While I liked the first two episodes, fans have been divided when it comes to recent Star Wars projects. I wanted to first address something that’s been circulating online. There’s an interview with Charlie Barnett where he says that, “If you can’t look and see that Anakin blowing up the Death Star possibly killed millions and millions of people”. From A New Hope, we know Luke blew up the Death Star. I have seen fans mock Charlie online for being incorrect with his knowledge of Star Wars. If an actor decides to play a role in a geeky franchise, are they responsible for knowing everything about said franchise? or can actors simply be actors? I already know what you may be thinking, saying Anakin blew up the Death Star is a pretty egregious and incorrect fact. Sure, but does that warrant fans going after him? It’s not an excuse to justify online harassment.

Besides Charlie’s comment, he isn’t the first actor to either say something incorrect or comment on their experience with Star Wars. It’s no secret that Alec Guinness didn’t like Obi-Wan’s dialogue and wanted to be killed off in the movie. Harrison Ford has shown a saltier attitude to Star Wars as well. While it’s cool to see someone like Henry Cavill express their fandoms, I don’t think all actors need to do this unless it’s their hobby.

While I liked The Acolyte, there’s nothing wrong with not liking a show or a movie. I think it boils down to, are you sharing your opinion to open a conversation? or are you spreading negativity when one person decides to say that they like something. There’s nothing more annoying than someone saying how much they like something only to receive negative comments. I do plan on writing recap posts every few episodes to discuss the series, share theories, and provide context as to what this means for The High Republic.