Goodnight Acolyte

Well there it was. The announcement, the anticipation, the arrival, the action, the arguments, the adieu, then the abandonment. And now the acceptance and the appreciation. Thanks The Acolyte.

I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again, I really loved watching The Acolyte. It wasn’t without fault, and it wasn’t for everyone. I totally get that. Each to their own. For me, I loved its freshness, exploring a whole new time and set of characters, far enough from the Skywalker Saga to feel new. I loved the action, intrigue, tone and aesthetic, and I loved the promise of what it set up for a continuation of its story.

Sadly not everybody felt this way and there’s been a huge amount of noise and differing opinion online, and frankly often inexcusible intolerance and fractures between fans which has been hard to observe. So when I first heard the news that any season 2 wasn’t going ahead, which seems to have been confirmed by Lucasfilm, I was hugely dissapointed. Maybe a bit in denial but not in shock.

Regardless of the discourse I knew the viewer numbers weren’t good so your head tells you it was probably coming. But seeing the regular content on StarWars.com and Disney’s commitment to the High Republic era, Manny Jacinto given such a big platform at D23 the week before, and announced for Celebration, your heart told you they were testing the water for a season 2 more focused on his character.

I don’t think for a minute the online discourse carried near the weight of the cold hard numbers when it comes to renewal decisions. The traction just isn’t there to justify a season 2 right now. With declining viewership over the course of the series where other shows have increased, and low numbers overall, it doesn’t look like a good return on investment.

For a results business, and during tough and competitive times for streaming services, you have to accept it I think. That doesnt mean its not a real shame to see all Acolyte merchandise removed from the Disney store, and anything on the front page of StarWars.com dissappear seemingly at the same time. It also doesn’t mean we shouldn’t make our hopes for more Acolyte heard with hashtags and feedback to Disney. It worked for Clone Wars eventually.

I do wish the plan had been clearer earlier on. Either do a season with a neat ending and fewer loose ends, more like Book of Boba Fett, and see how it lands, or commit from the start and have the conviction to follow through with 2 seasons, like Andor, and not leave fans hanging with so many tantalising tee-ups.

I think it’s the extent to which the show seemed to be expectant of a season 2 in its story telling that makes it hard to take. Plagueis, Vernestra asking Mae to help her find her old pupil and hitting up Yoda, Qimir and Osha poised to cause trouble, and Koril hanging around somewhere. It can be viewed as a standalone story sure, but that’s a little more of a set of cliffhangers than seeing Cobb Vantha recovering in a bacta tank! Its arguably worse than the Darth Maul at the end of Solo moment.

At this point, accepting the decision, I really appreciate the work of the team, cast and crew that put together The Acolyte. The story was something totally new and it was great to see something different like this in Star Wars while still feeling very much of the Galaxy, and bringing the High Republic into live action. There were some incredible performances and the action and choreography was the best we’ve seen in years.

It delivered to us some epic moments and sequences. A Jedi Wookie in action, a line of multicoloured sabers taking on the coolest new villain we’ve had in years, Cortosis armour, high stakes and bold decisions like character deaths, bleeding of a Kyber Crystal and Darth Plagueis.

I’m really hopeful we will see more of these characters, and some of these loose ends will be picked up in future live action content. I don’t think you can put the likes of Darth Plagueis and the Stranger (Darth TBD) on the shelf. So for now, thank you The Acolyte for the memories, but here’s hoping we see its ripples in not too long, the fans of the Acolyte will be banging this drum. Looking to you Star Wars Celebration for some cool announcements!

MTFBWY