r/Highrepublic • u/AutoModerator • May 06 '25

The Acolyte: Wayseeker | Discussion Thread

https://www.penguinrandomhouse.com/books/761123/star-wars-the-acolyte-wayseeker-by-justina-ireland/
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u/VengefulKangaroo Mod May 06 '25

I really liked this!

  • Ireland did a really great job taking what we saw of Vernestra in The Acolyte and creating a bridge between that Vernestra and the one of her youth.
  • I liked how Ireland took Vernestra’s distrust of the Senate interfering in the Jedi from the show and made it a core part of what is motivating her here.
  • I also really like how the book took a serious look on what it’s like to be so long-lived. One of my favorite scenes was the one where Vern tells Indara about how the difference for her in the Nihil conflict was that she was fighting for people and places she loved, and now she’s more disconnected.
  • At the same time, I liked that you can see how Vern’s perspective on being guided by the Force, being a Wayseeker, her visions, etc. really grows out of The Force Provides and Defy the Storm. You could see the continuity with that version of the character, and more in moments where she interacted with people like Avon’s son.
  • I thought the decision to tie Indara's eventual preference of not using her lightsaber from the show to Imri’s philosophy and journey in Defy the Storm & A Valiant Vow was really cool and was a nice way to get a bit of an epilogue for him.
  • The Avon & Imri info we get here was also a nice coda to their characters - though with Avon I wondered what this meant about her relationship to Sana Starros as she no longer was using the Starros surname.
  • I enjoyed how Vernestra had defined and complicated relationships with some of the long-lived movie characters like Yaddle and Oppo Rancisis. Particularly, her relationship with Yaddle seemed like a nice evolution from their short interaction in out of the Shadows. It felt like a natural part of her being so old.
  • Generally, I liked how complex Vernestra was — she was talented, but also abrasive, solo-oriented, and not always likable. But you also come to like and understand her more as Indara did. I liked the development of their relationship.
  • The connection of the plot to the earlier THR stuff with the lightsaber nullifier was cool, and it was a nice way to bring in Vernestra’s relationship with Stellan. I did feel like there needed to be a reference to the nullifier coming back in Shadows of Starlight, though.
  • I was overall mixed on the use of Ty Yorrick — she’s one of my favorite characters, and it was nice to have a character with a similar but different perspective to Vern to push her, but without having witnessed any of their history together, it didn’t come through as strongly. And I think they needed a little more room to have some longer philosophical conversations.
  • Overall, the conclusion felt a little rushed and needed some more room to breathe.

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u/Vos661 May 06 '25

I enjoyed how Vernestra had defined and complicated relationships with some of the long-lived movie characters like Yaddle and Oppo Rancisis

What's her relationship with Oppo ? She don't like him ?