Star Wars: ‘The Acolyte’ Takes Place During 'The Age of Enlightenment’
The Acolyte is one of the more mysterious Star Wars properties in development right now. For a long time, all we have had to go on was the title and knowledge that the plot will be set in the High Republic era. We now know the show is in the casting phase and the writing is largely complete. The showrunner Leslye Headland spoke with Vanity Fair about the show in their latest issue, which finally reveals Lucasfilm's grand plan for television.
The most interesting aspect of the show is that it will be largely removed from Star Wars as we know it on the screen. Set during the High Republic, The Acolyte takes place roughly one hundred years before the events of The Phantom Menace. This period of galactic history looks very different from the prequel era. The Jedi are more regal in appearance with gold and white robes that seem to never get dirty, and the capital of the Republic is glistening and sleek. Leslye referred to the setting as, "The Age of Enlightenment.”
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One thing that the showrunner also teased was the nature of the story. It will be a thriller, that focuses on the political and spiritual things that led the Jedi Order to the point of letting a Sith Lord take control of the Senate. Headland also lets us know that her inspiration for the show comes from Episode I. She says that she always thought it would be interesting to see how the Jedi got to this point and explore those scenarios.
This could mean we will see the Jedi as we never have before. At the apex of the Jedi Order and the Republic; at the tail end of a thousand-year gilded age. Perhaps this will give us some development of the things we see in the prequels that could be considered flaws in the Jedi. Like the beginnings of the hubris, the order has in regards to the return of the Sith. This would also be an interesting place to see what Master Yoda is up to as he would only be in his late seven or early eight hundreds, and still training Padawans.
It seems that the Star Wars universe must seek out new timelines to explore, or at least that seems to be Lucasfilm's plan. The studio head Kathleen Kennedy says that there will be no more recasting for older characters. This should come as no surprise seeing that the last old character to be recast, Boba Fett, was taken up by Temuera Morrison. The actor who played Jango Fett and every clone trooper onscreen during the second and third prequel movies.
Given that the High Republic era is now the focus of several books and graphic novels it makes a lot of sense that we will see it come to television next. Since it will be an era of Star Wars we have yet to see translated to an audio/visual medium The Acolyte sounds like it will be an excellent foray into the space. Choosing to focus the story through a different lens than typical Star Wars will hopefully prove to be an exciting experience for both long-time fans of the franchise and newcomers.
It seems that we will still be waiting for a while before we get to see the new show grace our screens. As the show has only finished most of the story and they are still casting roles. But given the breakneck pace that Lucasfilm has taken with developing content for Disney+, we hope it will only be a year or two before The Acolyte releases. For now, however, it seems that those of us anticipating the show have a lot of reading to do in the High Republic Era to bring us up to speed with major events that might be referenced or actively happening in the show.
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Source(s): Vanity Fair