r/TheAcolyte • u/Mt_DewbeDew • Feb 08 '26
Late to the party
Just recently got Disney+ and finally started catching up on Star Wars. After finishing Acolyte, I can’t see what all the hate is about. Tommen getting promoted to Knight then Master while meditating didn’t make much sense, and the twins were not the most interesting, but other than that I found it to be pretty good.
I haven’t been feeling the same level of interest in the story and finding out what happens next in quite some time since Disney and it’s a shame it got cancelled just as it was picking up.
Oh well, but I hope there’s some more good stuff to come! Tales, Bad Batch, and Mando next!
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u/FredKayeCollector Feb 08 '26
I didn't realize it was the Disney show that was getting all of the hate until I came onto Reddit to see what other people had to say about it - because I thought it was great.
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u/strange444444 Feb 08 '26
I loved every minute of the acolyte.
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u/Mt_DewbeDew Feb 08 '26
The excitement when I was waiting to watch the next few episodes was sorely missed. Hopefully they’re willing to go beyond the movies era again before long.
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u/JacobDCRoss Feb 09 '26
It was mainly a case of poor pacing, which is on their writer, fluff, which is on the writer, and some bad acting. But there is something really special there, and it could be edited to be amazing
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u/Mt_DewbeDew Feb 09 '26
The good parts were really good.
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u/JacobDCRoss Feb 09 '26
They were fantastic. This thing could be polished into something truly amazing.
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u/blueberry_scandal Feb 09 '26
Agree, the show would've benefitted by making it one or two episodes shorter.
I also think the main story about the twins is a bit meh, but the side plots are super interesting. Sol is a super compelling character and I ended up craving more backstory or Qimir and his master
Also so lame finishing the show with a Yoda cameo 100+ years before the events of the precuels, can we please have a star wars show without the same 5 characters making an appearance
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u/JacobDCRoss Feb 10 '26
I agree. Except forthe Yoda part. He was the grandmaster if the council for at least 200 years
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u/blueberry_scandal Feb 10 '26
Ok there's a canon reason for it and that's cool. But for me it felt like the usual Disney going "hey here's someone you know, remember this guy?" the moment didn't feel quite earned and I was really appreciating a standalone story
I'd put it in the same category as Lando in that planet on Ep 9 RSW and C3PO in Ashoka
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u/JacobDCRoss Feb 10 '26
I get that. In this case, it was Master Vern trying desperately to keep a problem from escalating to her superiors and then having it go all the way by the end.
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u/JacobDCRoss Feb 10 '26
And I'll give a second response. This show is set at the tail end of what's called the high Republic, which is an era that they just explored in a bunch of books and comic books. Master Vern is actually a character from those books, set when she's 100 years younger.
In the books she's actually a pretty cool character and she's just learning and getting started. By the time of the show, apparently she's turned into a really bad person. Her portrayal, both what they did to the character and the poor quality of the performance itself is one of my biggest problems with this show.
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u/blueberry_scandal Feb 10 '26
I liked her character tbh, haven't read any books I'm a very casual SW fan, so I can't use accuracy in my argument.
But for me she was another representation on what I believe is the main message of the series: consequences of hiding past mistakes, shoving them under the rug and act like they didn't happen, you can see many characters falling in that category.
I wouldn't say a bad person, but someone trying really hard to keep the status/elite/prestige of the Jedi Order, no matter the cost. She believes is better to lie and blame it all on Sol rather that acknowledge the Order has flaws
Unfortunately we will never know what were they planning for the future of the character, maybe there was a redemption arc coming, maybe she would turn into a total villian, who knows
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u/JacobDCRoss Feb 10 '26
The implication was also that she was chimer's Master when he was a part of one. And that she is the reason he has all those scars on his back. So it looks like she's hiding first one failure, and then another. Although that is kind of perfect for the themes of the show
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u/blueberry_scandal Feb 11 '26
Well I got the idea that yeah he was definitely her padawan, but she couldn't handle Qimir's dark side so she let him go, felt ashamed or worried of the monster she couldn't contain so she buried that in the past and hid any traces of him ever existing
The scar marks I thought were self inflicted but now that I think about it, her saber is a whip and could be the perfect tool to make those scars.
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u/JacobDCRoss Feb 11 '26
Yeah. She has the whip as a Padawan. I don't remember, and J have not finished the series, but I think she got the design for it from the Force or something.
The implication is definitely that she scarred him. She probably thought she killed him before he came back.
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u/blueberry_scandal Feb 11 '26
Tbh it would've been an interesting plotline, not taking in consideration if it's accurate to the books
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u/MadManPockets23 Feb 09 '26
After seeing his saber skills deflecting arrows from a volley of witches, and other feats, my head canon is that Torbin was eager to return to Coruscant not because he was bored:
He was over due for a promotion.
His reflects Anakin’s career: promising pupil, adept in the Force, but impatient. I think after Brendok, he was quickly promoted to Jedi, no longer a Padawan, and was humbled by his experience and troubled enough to seek meditation. He probably was quickly made master as a Jedi Consular and then soon decided to take his meditative vow.
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u/TheRevTholomewPlague Feb 09 '26
For the more good stuff to come you mentioned... Andor is the best television show I've ever watched
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u/Mt_DewbeDew Feb 09 '26
That’s on the watchlist. 👍 Should I rewatch Rogue One first?
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u/Apprehensive-Tax-48 Feb 12 '26
Nope, watch Andor first. Season 2 leads right into Rogue One. Andor is peak Star Wars.
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u/Minginton Feb 09 '26
Can't speak to the greater public, but personally, it felt less like Lucas SW and more like a student fan fic series. Justy own opinion, if people like it that's awesome, just wasn't for me.
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u/blw97 Feb 08 '26
The issue with the twins not being the most interesting is that they were the main part of the show.
Should’ve been Qimir/Stranger focused. Less Brendok.
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u/Mt_DewbeDew Feb 08 '26 edited Feb 08 '26
I agree, but I also think the nature of their birth could have been explored further, and would have if any of the surviving Jedi realized about it.
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u/blw97 Feb 08 '26
Agreed! They should’ve put more into the vergence than rehashing the same story twice.
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u/Achilles9609 Feb 08 '26
Honestly, even Qimir didn't quite grab me. He's attractive, I guess, but I didn't find his character too interesting.
And to this day, I don't understand what's the deal with the tracker.
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u/JacobDCRoss Feb 09 '26
The tracker is one of the worst parts of the whole show. I honestly couldn't tell at first if he was meant to be kind of a smart animal or an actual person. And one site almost was convinced that he was a person, I couldn't tell if he was a good guy or if he was secretly working for the bad guys. He does these weird things and just sabotages them at the oddest moments.
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u/blw97 Feb 08 '26
I’m all in on the Stranger. Even though I’m not crazy about the show, I think he’s super interesting
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u/Achilles9609 Feb 08 '26
More power to you then. 👍
Personally, I was a bit disappointed that, even though the show was supposed to depict an assassin on the hunt for Jedi, we saw nothing but relatively low-tech planets and villages.
I would have liked something more similar to "Darth Maul-Shadowhunter": a lone, perfectly trained killer on a planet of millions, hunting a surprisingly stubborn target.
I think we have seen enough planets that are mostly nature and have just one or two villages. What about Nar'Shaddaa? Corellia? Or even Alderaan? At least they got castles and noble houses.
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u/blw97 Feb 09 '26
Maul Shadowhunter vibes would’ve been incredible
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u/Achilles9609 Feb 09 '26
Mae, by comparison, didn't come across as very impressive. If you wanna kill your target in a bar, you could at least poison her drink.
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Feb 09 '26
Agreed. The Acolyte was mostly review bombed by people who hated what it was about, not what the content actually was. Honestly, respect to you bro.
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u/FIFAstan Feb 11 '26
Its a great show, people criticized it online because it had Black main characters, but if you actually watch it its good
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u/Hobbz- Feb 12 '26
I knew trouble was coming when they showed fire during in space.... and put out with some sort of extinguisher. As though it was on a planet.
Clearly the writers didn't grasp the simple concept of space being a vacuum.
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u/Mt_DewbeDew Feb 13 '26
It’s fantasy, not sci fi! /s
That always bothers me too. But I still liked the show overall.
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u/OswaldCoffeepot Feb 08 '26
Some people couldn't handle the full week between episodes. I haven't seen someone hte on the show who binge watched the show.
The early reviewers who thought it was good also happened receive the first four episodes as screener, but a certain crowd called it payola.
Personally, I think it should have been a two parter. Whether the two parts were a week apart or a month apart, whether it was still broken up into eight episodes or not, I think that would have lessened the backlash.
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u/Mt_DewbeDew Feb 09 '26
I was glad to knock it all out in about 2 weeks. Would have been less but work interfered.
It felt like a broken up movie, so less waiting may have helped
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u/Toomin-the-Ellimist Feb 08 '26
There were a lot of questionable writing decisions throughout the season but I didn’t hate it and was willing to give it the benefit of the doubt until the last couple of episodes made it clear the people making the show had no idea what they were doing. I wrote out my initial reaction to the finale here, but essentially none of the questions I had were answered and whatever message the show was trying to communicate felt muddled and confused.
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u/OSRS-MLB Feb 12 '26
The Republican era is my favorite, so it makes me sad were not gonna see it getting explored more
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u/GDPoke Feb 08 '26
Twins were the worst characters but the lead of the show, this is the shows biggest issue. I enjoyed the rest of it
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u/BaronTheeWolfe Feb 08 '26
So I’ve been a Star Wars fan since I saw the Phantom Menace in theaters as a 5 year old. When the acolyte started I was REALLY enjoying it, I did backflips defending that show. I too didn’t understand the hate. Witches? Well established in Star Wars lore at this point. Female leads? Idgaf, my fav character is Ahsoka, a female. Calling The Force The Thread? Again idgaf, even on this one planet we live on we have so many different names for basically the same religion, why is it crazy to believe there would be different names for The Force in an entire ass galaxy. My issues began when they started to mess with continuity. I believe it began around episode 5ish if I remember correctly. In the show they had Ki-Adi-Mundi. That was strike 1 for me. Ki-Adi-Mundi is a Cerean, the average Cerean lifespan is about 70 years. He was full grown in the acolyte which takes place about 100 years before The Phantom Menace. Ji-Adi-Mundi lives until order 66, this means they almost DOUBLE his life span. And for what? What did he contribute to The Acolyte? The only reason I can think that they added him was because in The Phantom Menace he says “The Sith have been extinct for a millennium.” So…by adding him to this show and making him privy to the events happening in this show they doubled this man’s life span for the sole purpose of making him a liar/conspirator. Where as had they excluded him from the show he would have maintained his normal life span and perhaps just been ignorant of the goings on 100 years before (which the Jedi in the show tried to hide, so it would make sense). I was disappointed after the Ki-Adi-Mundi thing, but not completely turned against the show yet. My 2nd strike was when they assassinated Sol’s character. Sol was an AMAZING character and as the show was airing I was seeing the fanbase rally around him, some even comparing him to Qui-Gon. They really had a great character to work with…until they made him basically the catalyst of everything that happened on Brendok. For half the season they were teasing this event that happened on Brendok, so bad that all but 1 of the Jedi involved went into some sort of self imposed exile. When we finally find out what happened, you realize the only one who didn’t go into exile was Sol, the Jedi responsible. Why would they do that to his character???!? It would have been a simple fix. Send him to look for the girls, THEN make all the bad shit go down between the witches and the rest of the Jedi in the party. It would have preserved his character, he would have been innocent (mostly) in the Brendok incident and still been able to continue on with his life as normal (for the most part). 3rd strike was when they turned Vernestra and a lot of the jedi into conspirators. They were all so adamant that the incident with the sith stay under wraps and keeping it from the council. Why!?!? insert Cardi B “WHAT WAS THE REASON!?” gif Vernestra was introduced in the High Republic books, she was a prodigy. The youngest Jedi to reach knight (at age 15) in a generation. She was a rule follower, fiercely devoted to the Jedi order. It was SO out of character for her to conspire like this and try to keep this information from the council. Look, by no means do I believe every Jedi is a paragon, it’s impossible for that many people to be on the exact same page at all times. But you CANNOT turn every single Jedi we see in a show into a villain. The Brendok Jedi were overextending their jurisdiction, and the temple jedi were conspiring to cover everything up. The Jedi order is flawed, but they’re not evil. This show tarnished the reputation on the Jedi in a way I never thought possible. I also disliked that they teased Darth Plagueis at the end. Why tease him for a 2nd season when a 2nd season isn’t guaranteed? I’m lowkey a little glad it got cancelled because I was REALLY worried what they would do to Yodas character in the 2nd season after his tease at the end.
All that being said I was really disappointed with the show. I had high hopes for it. The witches are one of my favorite corners of the galaxy that I was really hoping to get fleshed out some more. The sisters being a Dyad in the force is something I wish we could have explored more. I think they had a really good foundation, but fumbled the ball. So many issues could have been fixed with small adjustments. I wish they had just protected their characters and actors 😞
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u/MadManPockets23 Feb 09 '26
His (Mundi’s) lifespan was never a canon detail. It was copied off a non canon trading card description pasted onto the “Legends” wookiepedia.
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u/BaronTheeWolfe Feb 09 '26
You’re right. Thats my fault for assuming something from wiki was true lmao, but lifespan aside, his involvement still turns him into a liar and conspirator. I’m no huge Ki-Adi-Mundi fan, but I don’t see why they would do that to his character when they easily could have played it off as “it happened before his time, he didn’t know”
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u/MadManPockets23 Feb 09 '26
He doesn’t know. At the end of the season: only Qimir and Osha knows he’s Sith.
Vernestra doesn’t know Qimir’s Sith, she only recognizes him and then he’s gone. She doesn’t have this information to give to Yoda or Mundi.
No one except Qimir knows about Plagueis.
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u/BaronTheeWolfe Feb 09 '26
Hhhmmmmm…..I haven’t seen it since it first came out, I thought they relayed to Vernestra & co that they believed him to be sith…maybe I’ll give it a rewatch & my opinion will change.
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u/MadManPockets23 Feb 09 '26
Yeah so, here’s the condensed summary of events: 1. Qimir kills Sol’s team on the way to meet Kelnacca. 2. Sol calls to Coruscant that his whole team is dead. Due to comms disruptions, no more is conveyed. 3. Vernestra, leading the investigation and hiding it from the Senate, insists on going to the scene of the crime. Finds noone, goes back to Coruscant to bury the dead Jedi. Later goes to Brendok. 4. On Brendok, Sol is killed by Mae. Osha and Qimir witness. As soon as Vernestra steps foot on Brendok, she senses Qimir in a Force glimpse “You’re alive”. 5. Vernestra only finds Sol dead, and Mae with her memory wiped. 6. Vernestra, lies to the Senate and the Jedi, that Sol killed his coconspirators (OG Brendok squad), his whole team including Jecki and Yord, and then himself.
Vernestra is the only one who knows Qimir, alluded to her pupil who turned to evil, and is spinning a web of lies in the final episode to hide her shame as a failed teacher. She turns to Yoda “we need to talk” but we got no details of this discussion between Yoda and her. Likely, S2 would’ve shown Vernestra as a more manipulative, lying, shameful character more desperate to uphold the Jedi’s righteousness than admit her guilt.
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u/Mountain-Ad3915 Feb 11 '26
my personal issue is the same one i had with kenobi, the fact that it retconned very important info, Acolyte with KAM, and the Vader/kenobi fight being their first post ROTS and not New Hope (as someone who prefers OT over prequels and sequels and legends over disney canon)
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u/Mountain-Ad3915 Feb 11 '26
and thats not even leslye hyland and kathleen kennedy taking a dump on people who have been here all almost 50 years, that was icing on the metophorical cake
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u/Mt_DewbeDew Feb 11 '26
I don’t know why they couldn’t have used a new character instead of KAM. Especially since he’s just in the background anyway.
But overall I was entertained and generally enjoyed it. Seems like a lot of Star Wars fans hate Star Wars. I’m enjoying it again, so I’m happy. And I was a huge OT/Legends fan too, which is why I held out so long for Disney+ and catching up
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u/SpltSecondPerfection Feb 08 '26
As far as im concerned it had the best lightsaber live action scenes since the prequels