The Star Wars fandom is, at best, far better termed a "hatedom," given the sheerly conditional love of so-called "fans" and disdain for series creator George Lucas that really emerged after the release of the polarizing Prequel Trilogy, and more recently the Sequel Trilogy, even though the latter overall fared better among mainstream movie critics, and would lead to tons of spinoff series on Disney+ that are actually pretty good and have gradually filled in the gaps that the mainline Skywalker Saga films leave. Among these is one that occurs a century before The Phantom Menace, The Acolyte.
The series occurs during the twilight years of the High Republic Era, considered the golden age of the Jedi Order, opening with Osha Aniseya, a former Jedi Padawan pupil, accused of killing Jedi Master Indara in a tavern on the planet Ueda, although she denies the deed. The laughably-named Osha (since she shares her name with an American governmental organization) is arrested and taken by her Jedi arrestors en route to the capital planet Coruscant, although her fellow prisoners escape and she crash-lands on Carlac, where she sees visions of her twin sister Mae, assumed dead when a fire killed her family.
The Acolyte eventually flashes back sixteen years, when Osha and Mae live with Force-sensitive witches on Brendok, with their mother claiming they don't have a father. Concerned about this cult, a group of Jedi led by Sol, portrayed by Korean actor Lee Jung-jae in his first English-language performance (and it definitely shows, with his acting affirming the "mush-mouthed foreigner" stereotype), try to test them and get them into their Order, with the mentioned fire claiming the coven except Osha. The rest of the series has some nice twists and insights into galactic politics and the nature of the Force, with the Senate questioning the Order as well.
Overall, I enjoyed the series, given its great contribution to the Star Wars mythos, and would have gladly watched future seasons, but sadly, review bombing by the Fandom Menace and a high budget largely killed its prospects for continuation (the first season ends with a cliffhanger). The music is really awesome, as is expected of the franchise, and the visual effects are definitely top-notch. I've always been a fan of the series and really find hatred of many aspects (alongside the dumb belief of the Original Trilogy to be infallible given its myriad issues) to be absolute cringe.
Regardless, Star Wars will always be a relevant franchise given its strong sociopolitical and religious commentary that can easily apply to present reality.
| Score Breakdown | |
|---|---|
| The Good | The Bad |
|
|
| The Bottom Line | |
| Another excellent Star Wars spinoff series. | |
 |
|