Mini Series The Acolyte 1.04 - Discussion Thread (Spoilers Allowed)

There was also a writer for the show who tweeted that Filoni has to approve all their scripts, presumably in response to criticisms of the writing. And that writer deleted their tweet soon after. Make of that what you will.

 

“I don’t seem to recall ever owning a droid.”

“I haven’t gone by the name of obi-wan since, ohhh, before you were born!”

“Leia, do you remember your mother? Your REAL mother?”

EDIT: meant to quote Edog directly. My bad.

 

It’s pretty clear to me that part of what Headland is doing with this series is explaining how the Jedi Council will know, a hundred years after the show, about the Sith rule of two. The EU had something like this happen in the Bane novels, a near-discovery of the surviving Sith Order that only results in the Jedi becoming aware of the possibility as a dark rumor. But canon hasn’t provided its own answer to that question, so I’ve suspected that’s what Headland would do since the series was announced.

As a reminder, the question relates to the way Lucas described Sith history, where the Sith were founded 2,000 years before the movies, ruled the galaxy for a time, and then destroyed one another. Bane survived in secret, and somehow the Jedi eventually learned about him and the changes he brought to the Sith Order. How this happened was never explicitly explained by Lucas in his works, so the EU formed its own answer, and I suspect that’s what Headland is doing too for canon. (Though in canon the Sith are a few millennia older.)

But, I don’t think it’s actually necessary. Darth Bane’s survival was initially a secret, but according to the Star Wars Encyclopedia, which was online from around 2011 to 2014 and was based on info from the movies and TCW only (i.e., Lucas’s canon), the Jedi did eventually find out about him and defeated him. That’s when they learned about the changes he made to the Sith Order, but they thought they stopped the conspiracy when they stopped Bane. It’s a surprisingly simple but effective answer, which is why I no longer think this is actually a mystery that needs resolving via a story. (Although the specific timeline of events is still a bit murky.)

That’s not to say that no interesting Sith stories are possible in this era, but depending on what the storyteller wants to do, there’s a risk that any story set around the growing threat of the Sith will just be a retread of what the prequels already did but without the payoff of the Sith actually effecting their plans. That is what I fear may happen with this series, that it may focus overmuch on a wrinkle in the lore and try to explain things that don’t need explaining (e.g., the rule of two, Plagueis’s secret). At the same time, I’m glad to see any Sith story, especially one set during the past of the movies. I just wished they had set it further back in time so that more could happen without the foregone conclusions implicit in this era.

 

Has this not been so since 1999? The fandom has been full of wannabe professional directors, writers, actors who all could do better then the actual producers...at least from the perspective of those wannabes

 

There are actual filmmakers, writers, artists and designers here, though, some of whom have quite legitimate and interesting critiques of what they see (including, sometimes, writing and directing suggestions that are better than what we got). Alternatively, we could have a place where everyone simply gobbles everything up and posts big smilies and says everything's great. I prefer a place that's somewhere in the middle between appreciation and criticism. Excited about Star Wars, but expressing critiques when it doesn't live up to our standards. That makes for an interesting place to converse about Star Wars, appreciatively and critically, but without being either a cesspit of negativity or a pep rally.

 

Yep!
Never assume someone here is only a “random fan”…who knows who is in these forums totally undercover?

 

My main complaint is it ended right when it started to get interesting. I know they're going for a cliffhanger, but I waited one week for an episode-long flashback and another that ended right at the start of the fight.

Also, if Quirm is the guy in the helmet, why is he lugging around such a bulky object? If he's trying to be subtle, wouldn't that attract some curiosity, especially from Mae?

Finally, I can see how others believe he is merely the apprentice and the Master is still out there. If so, that's a scary thought. I mean, he took down a bunch of Jedi with one hand!

As for the ending, I see the villains failing, but at the cost of most of the Jedi on the mission, if not all. The Jedi decide to bury the secret to keep things stable, but that's exactly what the Sith wants, since it destabilizes the Jedi from within. So the Jedi win the battle, but the Sith are one step closer to winning the war.

 

And wouldn't prequel CGI Yoda be on a server somewhere for them to use?

 

Also the writer for episode, said Filoni approves all scripts. And Rocha are known for his leaks with Jeff.

 

In “ICT time” it would be like asking your grandad if you can quickly grab his 1910 Oldsmobile sitting in the chicken shed since 60 years untouched to go run some errands…

 

Yeah, I saw the mentions about a writer saying Filoni signed off on it all, but that still means the show runner is most responsible imo. Filoni still has some responsibility though for sure.

As to Rocha, I don’t remember him getting that many scoops. I’ve watched/listened to a lot of his shows with Jeff and Jeff does get loads of legit scoops, but not many on Star Wars. In fact it’s kind of a running joke, people constantly put in super chats asking if he has any scoops for Star Wars and he never does and tells them to stop asking.

 

Oh yes. I almost forgot how much hate there was in the prequel era.

 

I thought it looked pretty good. Even if it needs some tweaks they are not starting from scratch.

 

They may not want to use CGI Yoda.

 

They have to if they use him before the Prequels. So thats why we may not seen him in soo long.

 

A few comments

-- the theory that Mae was manipulating the master is intriguing and not completely unconvincing, though when she sees that Kelnacca is dead she has a terrified look and she say "he's here" with surprise and terror in her voice.

-- Q says Osha was very fond of Sol, but Sol's name was never mentioned and nothing suggested that Osha had any personal relationship with Sol during the only time Q got to interact with them. This seems to confirm that Q is definitely hiding something.

-- Nitpick: It was a bit funny when the Jedi master who's training the kids makes them do useless acrobatics with the stick, and then he tells them to "keep each movement tight and subtle".

 

@3sm1r

I think you mean Mae in that first paragraph

 

Yes, thank you.

 

I'm not so sure--having watched the episode a couple of times, Mae's reaction to the "master's" arrival seems less terrified and more awe-struck. I think (hope) that Mae, suspecting Qimir is in fact a competitor, manipulated him by only seeming to "turn back to the light," hoping to achieve exactly what she (apparently) got: the IRL appearance of the Big Bad. She's expressed a prevailing desire to meet him in person throughout. For what reason? Who knows!

 

that's definitely a neat idea, I definitely didn't catch that/that no of that when I watched the episode

 

Because of the Appearance look established. It be jarring if he dosent look close to Prequels Yoda. The High Republic comics show his Prequels look. They could try doing puppet and CGI but that only works so far. Even Grogu cant do mutch.

 

I agree. I can see the argrument both ways. That said, the scene was definitely played for suspense and horror. The camera slowly moves through the set, all bathed in red lighting. It's meant to be eery.

If this was Mae's plan, it would make more sense for her to watch her master do it. The shot would have shown the Sith enter the home and kill the Wookie and then leave. Then the camera pans up to show Mae silently sitting in the trees, like the Predator, watching the entire thing unfold as she planned it. That would then clue the audience in that this was all her real intention.

Instead, it shows Mae is kind of clueless. And that might still be her plan, but when its just and her in the room and no one else, there's no reason to keep it up. Hell, there's no reason to keep up the manipulation after her master has killed Kelbecca...because if she meets her master she can just go "Thanks, I figured out my final lesson".

 

You would think that but nothing is stopping the showrunner from saying they want a puppet like the OT and we would get the puppet.

Would it be a bit odd? Maybe. But Star Wars has done that before so hey.

 

It’s not about looking good it’s about that era cgi model not working with the technology we use now I think?
Not my line of work but I am in ICT and I would see that as saying we still have that vhs from back then we can watch it on the dvd player…softwares,supports, coding language, models, resolution, the core technology… everything changes drastically in so many years… but as I said not my original line of work and if someone here is in it would be nice to have and informed opinion because my geek nerd I is interested!