This review contains spoilers
As we are waiting with bated breath for the next season of Ahsoka as well as the adventures our favorite father and son team Grogu and Mando in the upcoming The Mandalorian & Grogu feature film, we have the series The Acolyte to whet our appetites as hungry Star Wars fans. The story of The Acolyte has mostly been developed through books and comics thus far, but now Lucasfilm and Walt Disney Studios has brought a live-action narrative that premieres June 4th on Disney+. Â
To get a sense of the timeline here, the setting of our series takes place during the High Republic era, a time when the Jedi flourished. However, the Sith were still a notable threat to the order. And this is the origin story of the rise of the Sith’s claim to power. We start with the character of Mae (Amandla Stenberg), a dangerous warrior who enters a local cantina in search of someone – that someone is Indara (Carrie Ann-Moss). Mae has a vendetta against the Jedi Master and immediately challenges her to a duel. It is here where we see tonally what kind of show we’re in for, scenes with fight choreography that show precision and clearly illustrate that Mae has undergone some serious training.Â
When Indara meets her demise at the hands of Mae, and investigation into her death by the Jedi Order is conducted and that is when we meet Yord, a Jedi Knight in search of a girl named Osha (also played by Amandla Stenberg) who is actually a childhood friend of Yord’s. But he can’t allow his judgment to be clouded by the fact that Osha is the prime suspect in the homicide of Indara. Yord, along with Jecki Lon (Dafne Keen), a young Jedi padawan, the search and investigation begins. When Osha is apprehended, she insists she is innocent and longingly peers into Yord’s eyes and tells him that he knows her. Unfortunately, what has taken place is beyond his control and witnesses have marked her as the perpetrator at the scene. Â
As the journey continues, we discover a major revelation. If you haven’t figured it out already, Mae and Osha are twin sisters, and Mae is the evil twin that slowly killing Jedi’s one-by-one. In later episodes of the series, which I won’t disclose here in this review, we discover why Mae has this strong vendetta against the Jedi. Things are complicated further when Jedi Master Sol (Lee Jung-jae) is introduced as the someone who trained both twins. However, his relationship with one grew stronger over the other as we learn throughout the course of the episodes.
What The Acolyte presents in its first few episodes, a dashing adventure of mystery, action, impressive fight sequences and a cat and mouse game that keeps you intrigued from one episode to the next. The compelling backstory of Mae and Osha’s upbringing and their relationship with their mother Aniseya (Jodie Turner-Smith) is gut wrenching and filled to the brim with emotion. It truly does set the building blocks for Osha’s and Mae’s character development and the trajectory of the paths they take in this story. There’s a fun and quirky performance by Manny Jacinto who plays the smuggler Qimir. He works hand-in-hand with Mae to get her items she needs in order to kill. He also helps her to remain hidden and to escape.Â
This cast full of vibrant characters and completely unexplored universe (at least in live action format) will have audiences intrigued and excited for this next chapter of the Star Wars universe. The Acolyte at its core is a story about reconciling the past and dealing with consequences of one’s actions. We see how that ripples through the trajectory of the protagonist’s story and impacts each of these characters. The performance of Amandla Stenberg playing a dual role of both Osha and Mae respectively is flawless, as the production team strategically uses her hair as a way to give a clear distinction for the audience who is who.Â
Lee Jung-jae also gives a touching performance as new Jedi Master introduced to the small screen as Sol and he offers not only a stoic and fierce bravado but also a genteel and kind demeanor towards his padawans. He’s able to balance back and forth between these traits with ease which makes his character endearing and three-dimensional.
Not yet having seen the light saber whip which we see Vernestra Rwoh (Rebecca Henderson) wield in the teaser trailer, we still have a lot to look forward to in easter eggs and new weapons being introduced that we have not yet seen in live action before. The Acolyte in many ways will be one of the few series that will lay the groundwork for storytelling and from graphic novel to TV adaptation under the Star Wars umbrella and I’m here for it.
The Acolyte is currently streaming on Disney+
