The Acolyte‘s first season has ended on an inconclusive but exciting note, pointing to a second season that ━ given the incomprehensibly volatile reaction to its eight-episode run ━ might never happen. At this point, it’s unclear whether or not there’ll be a second season, despite its final episode raising a number of questions many ━ myself included ━ will want answered.
Viewership was reportedly low for the Disney Plus series as it continued despite a very strong start, with each new weekly episode greeted by a wave of backlash, partly fueled by a disturbing lack of media literacy exacerbated by rage-baiting YouTubers. Though this backlash isn’t solely to blame for this low viewership, it highlights many viewers’ shocking inability to comprehend a story unfolding episodically.
Spoilers for The Acolyte episode 8 follow.
How The Acolyte episode 8 proved angry viewers wrong
I’ll preface this by saying that I was not a major fan of The Acolyte in its entirety. Some episodes dragged, the mystery surrounding what happened to the coven of Force-using witches was too predictable, as was the identity of the Sith. But the bulk of complaints many had about the show were related to “issues” that were clearly part of its central mystery. Thousands of angry YouTube videos, live streams, and online comments could have been addressed by those producing them simply waiting for the season to end to see if their questions would have been resolved adequately. Which is, as many seem to have forgotten, how episodic TV shows are supposed to be watched.
Star Wars canon is extensive and full of contradictions, but not since The Last Jedi has a Star Wars release been criticized so heavily for “ruining” the franchise’s lore. New questions were asked after each episode: “Why did the Jedi say the Sith had been extinct for a millennia in the prequels if there are Sith in the Acolyte?” or “Why is life being created using the Force if that was just Anakin’s thing?” And after episode 8, answers to those questions have now been made clearer.
In episode 8, Sol is killed by Osha, who turns to the Dark Side (complete with an excellent sequence in which her lightsaber “bleeds” from blue to red.) Vernestra learns of this and uses it to her benefit, framing Sol for all of the Jedi deaths committed by Mae and Qimir, therefore covering up the reappearance of the Sith. So, those who spent seven episodes bleating over this supposed canon-breaking issue have wasted their breath.
As for the issue with Mae and Osha’s Force birth supposedly “ruining” Anakin’s story as the Chosen One? In episode 8, we see a brief glimpse of Darth Plagueis watching Qimir and Osha from the shadows, raising a slew of questions regarding his involvement in this story. Is he learning about creating life with the Force? Was he somehow involved in their birth? Is he Qimir’s master? If season 2 does happen, there’s a lot of ground to explore here that could reshape the Star Wars universe.
But it’s these mysteries and questions that have riled up a sect of the Star Wars fanbase, and there’s no doubt that the appearance of Darth Plaguies will lead to many more angry YouTube videos. We’ll see the same people pointing out potential issues with how the Dark Lord of the Sith’s live-action debut “ruins” some other existing canon or that it further dilutes Anakin’s story, only for these “issues” to potentially be addressed in the second season — if it ever happens.
Depressingly, The Acolyte would have benefited from a bulk release
I prefer episodic releases as it lets you engage with a TV or streaming series’ community and viewers as the show happens. You don’t have to worry about being spoiled by those who have binge-watched a show, and you can discuss the previous episode’s events with everyone on a level playing field. But depressingly, The Acolyte would have benefited from being a bulk release, as viewers would have been able to get to episode 8 quickly and find out that all of those “canon-breaking” complaints would be addressed. I’m confident that if all episodes of The Acolyte were released in one fell swoop, viewers would have spent the next week talking about Vernestra’s decision, Plaguies’ live-action debut, and the Yoda tease at the end. Instead, we’ve had two months of complaints about continuity errors, most of which have now been proven inaccurate.
That angry sect of the Star Wars fanbase simply was not able to handle an episodic series. Any questionable character decisions or lines of dialogue that raised questions were promptly treated as plot holes or contradictions, as rather than letting the series’ mystery play out, some viewers found themselves instead engaged in arguments over Ki-Adi-Mundi’s age.
Episode 8 made it clear that the series has always been about the failings of the Jedi, which is exactly what George Lucas himself explored in the prequels. It’s not as if the series kept it a secret before its finale, either — from episode 1, it was implied that the Jedi were withholding secrets. But because these mysteries weren’t immediately uncovered and viewers were left to speculate, there became a common belief that the show’s creators were retconning what Lucas had created, and were developing their own Star Wars history that ruined the old one.
I hope The Acolyte Season 2 happens, and if it does, I hope it releases in bulk.
