ThoughStar Wars: The Acolytewas abruptly canceled after just one season, its story will continue outside Disney+. The first live-action show set in theHigh Republic era,Star Wars: The Acolytehad a lot going for it, including a new, unexplored period, a cast of intriguing characters, and a focus on the lore of the Sith, something that has been severely lacking in other recentStar Warsmedia.Unfortunately,The Acolytefailed to live up to its potentialand proved too divisive for theStar Warsfandom. It never gained the momentum it needed to be picked up for another season.
Troublingly, much of the criticism lobbed atThe Acolytewas grossly overblown. Like many of the actors in theStar Warssequel trilogy, the cast was inundated with online hate – but among all the fandom in-fighting, there were genuine and understandable critiques that surfaced as well, focused mainly on pacing and the story’s structure. That doesn’t mean the narrative or the characters don’t have the potential to create something truly wonderful in the future, however – and thankfully, that’s still a possibility.
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The Acolyte’s Stars Are Returning In Official Tie-Ins
ThoughStar Wars: The Acolytewill not return for a second season– it was the firstStar Warsshow to be officially canceled, as there has been no confirmed word onThe Book of Boba Fett’s orThe Mandalorian’s fates – Lucasfilm has already planned toexploreThe Acolyte’s world through other mediums. At SDCC 2024,two full-lengthAcolytenovels were revealed:Wayseekerby High Republic author Justina Ireland, andThe Crystal Crownby fellow High Republic collaborator Tessa Gratton.
Wayseekerwill be released on June 12, 2025.The Crystal Crownwill be published on June 06, 2025. Both are available for pre-order now.
Wayseekerwill “seek” to explore Vernestra Rwoh’s life between the events ofStar Wars: The High RepublicPhase III andThe Acolyte(there is a 100-year gap between the two). For those who’ve read theHigh Republicnovels, it is clear Vernestra changed a lot after the war with the Nihil, and we can’t wait to find out why. Gratton’s novel will focus onYord and Jecki Lon’s charactersin the years leading up toThe Acolyte. They had an interesting dynamic in the show, so hopefully, we’ll find out how that developed.
The Darth Plagueis Cliffhanger Needs To Be Explored
GivenStar Warsis still committed to exploringThe Acolyte’s world further in publishing – in September 2024,The Acolyte’s Wookiee Jedi, Kelnacca, received a solo comic one-shot – there’s a lot thatStar Warspublishing can do to broadenThe Acolyte’s storytelling. TheDarth Plagueiscliffhanger certainly needs to be explored.Audiences deserve to know how Plagueis, Darth Sidious’ former Master, plays into Qimir’s and Osha’s unusual dynamic, and how that eventually leads to Palpatine’s apprenticeship.
The beauty ofStar Warsas a franchise, even more so than other pop culture behemoths like the Marvel Cinematic Universe, is that the characters can live on in supplementary mediums.
This could happen in comic book form, similar to what happened afterSolo: A Star Wars Storyfailed at the box office.Solo’s narrative, especially Qi’ra’s time with the crime syndicate Crimson Dawn, has been thoroughly explored in comics and novels.Star Warscould do something similar withThe Acolyte, giving Qimir a comic series akin toStar Wars: The Rise of Kylo Renby Charles Soule and Will Sliney, or publishing a novel focused on Darth Plagueis’ life as it pertains to canon. Currently, almost everything we know about Plagueis has been relegated to the non-canonStar WarsLegends continuity.
There’s plenty left to say. The beauty ofStar Warsas a franchise, even more so than other pop culture behemoths like the Marvel Cinematic Universe, is that the characters can live on in supplementary mediums, even after a show is canceled, or a sequel is squashed.Star Wars: The Acolytemay not have performed the way Disney wanted it to, but at least fans of the show can look forward to more stories featuring these new characters beyond the confines of live-action TV.
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The Acolyte
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The Acolyte is a television series set in the Star Wars universe at the end of the High Republic Era, where both the Jedi and the Galactic Empire were at the height of their influence. This sci-fi thriller sees a former Padawan reunite with her former Jedi Master as they investigate several crimes - all leading to darkness erupting from beneath the surface and preparing to bring about the end of the High Republic.
