The Acolyte (Disney+)

[Rob]

It’s so bad.  It’s grounded in nothing.  The characters are bland and expected.  The dialogue is cringey.  The plot and conflict are milk toast. 

I can’t stop thinking about how bad it is so far.

[Dave]

One thing in the Star Wars universe that I'm kind of tired of is cute droid sidekicks.   I'm not sure if that is something that Dave Filoni insists on with many writers, or if that is just the model that many feel they need to follow, but they need to stop it.

[McMetal]

Walking. Talking. Walking AND talking!   

I think I speak for many when I say I would have liked to have seen a lot more from that character before their untimely exit. Or anything really.

On the bright side, we are halfway done. 

[Jeff]

One thing in the Star Wars universe that I'm kind of tired of is cute droid sidekicks.

My daughter; lover of Lola, Chopper, and now Pip; would like a word with you. .  At least this droid side-kick isn't just an astromech and they tried to do something a little different.

I think I speak for many when I say I would have liked to have seen a lot more from that character before their untimely exit. 

100% agree. Was really disappointed by how that whole sequence on Khofar played out.  And the cliffhanger ending was just mean.

[Rob]

Just finished it.  It’s certainly a better episode than that absolute train wreck last week.  But that’s not saying much.  This all feels so small, so local… so… inconsequential. 

[Nicklab]

I'm taking the show as it is.  I had few expectations for the series, and little to go on other than it's set in the era of the High Republic, and this might be the beginning of the emergence of the Sith.

So far I think the show has achieved some of its goals.  It's showing the Jedi at their peak, but also some of their flaws.  The orthodoxy among some, and the arrogance of others.  The detachment from ordinary people.  The way the order is perceived by those outside of the Jedi - notably, the taking of children.  The politics creeping in with the mention of the High Council and the Senate this week.

It was interesting to see Ki-Ad-Mundi turn up in the series.  And I'm wondering if the Kel Dor on the mission to Khofar was actually Plo Koon?  Definitely sorry to see one character go before they could really be explored further.

This is showing why the Sith might be finally emerging from hiding.  And this could be why the Master is setting events in motion by sending Mae to kill Jedi, and having agents like Qimir at their command.  IIRC, I remember him saying something that came from the Sith Code - either in the show or in a clip.

I didn't have an issue with the Coven in the third episode.  In a galaxy of trillions of beings, there are bound to be more Force practitioners than just the Jedi.  And I think it's more than likely that the Jedi would come into conflict with these smaller sects given the status of the Jedi within the Galactic Republic.  Conceiving children through the Force?  It's not unheard of, but it is surprising to have it occur with the characters in this series.

Are there picking points?  Some, sure.  I do NOT like the design of the Jedi starship.  It doesn't look like anything that was reminiscent of the PT.  The interior seemed like it was a used universe design, but different from what we've seen before.

[Jeff]

And I'm wondering if the Kel Dor on the mission to Khofar was actually Plo Koon?

I wondered that too with Dave's love of Plo but the SW.com twitter said that was Ithia Paan.

[Dave]

I'm a little fuzzy on my lore, but in Episode 1 didn't the Jedi Council say that they thought the Sith were destroyed or in hiding for 1,000 years, and that Darth Maul's sighting was the first?

The Acolyte takes place only 100 years before Episode 1.  How are we supposed to think about Mae and her master?  Are the creators splitting hairs and neither are Sith, but something else Sith-like?  I know there are the Witches of Dathomir, and The Acolyte introduces us to a similar (but different?) coven of force witches that Mae and Osha come from.  And I guess Baylan Skoll and Shin Hati from Ahsoka are Dark Jedi, which technically are not Sith. 

[Nicklab]

I think it's certainly possible that Mae's abilities could have been written off as the product of her origins with the witches in episode 3.  There are definitely other Force users in the galaxy.  Linking them directly with the Sith, in light of the disappearance of the Sith a millennia earlier?  I think what complicates our perception of THIS story is our knowledge of that history, along with the re-emergence of the Sith at the time of TPM.  Are there more Dark Side users in the galaxy than we've been led to believe?  It seems like that's a possibility since people leave the Jedi order - like Osha.

It also seemed that Vernestra Rwoh was trying to keep this off of the radar of the Jedi High Council.  Correct me if I'm wrong, but it seemed like if that information got to the Council, there was the possibility of it getting back to the Senate.  And I guess she was trying to prevent that from getting out.

[GrandMoffNick]

One thing in the Star Wars universe that I'm kind of tired of is cute droid sidekicks.

My daughter; lover of Lola, Chopper, and now Pip; would like a word with you. .  At least this droid side-kick isn't just an astromech and they tried to do something a little different.

I think I speak for many when I say I would have liked to have seen a lot more from that character before their untimely exit. 

100% agree. Was really disappointed by how that whole sequence on Khofar played out.  And the cliffhanger ending was just mean.

How dare you share a non 50 year old white heterosexual male opinion about Star Wars.

[GrandMoffNick]

When they first said, "don't tell the council, the senate will find out", I thought they wanted to explain why Jedi council isn't in show. But once the episode ended I took it to be how they will explain TPM's reaction to Maul.

[McMetal]

The thing I keep coming back to is that it’s really NOT the emergence of the Sith. Darth Tenebrous would definitely have been active during this time and Plagueis would more than likely already be his apprentice by this point. They can’t retcon Plagueis either because he is mentioned in ROTS. It seems like kind of a stretch having all these different bands of Sith running around IMO and no one suspecting anything.

[Nicklab]

I think a lot of people have been wracking their brains about who this possible Sith might be.  Especially in light of the established lore about the Sith.  But then I think about what the franchise has done with movies and shows when previous stories (usually in print) have potentially limited where a show or movie might go - they plow it under and do their own thing.  George Lucas was notorious for doing this.  And the entire Sequel Trilogy did its own thing, because otherwise adhering to a lot of the previously written EU stories could have left those movies painted into a storytelling corner.

The uproar surrounding a certain Jedi Master has been ridiculous.  Because how many people REALLY embraced that character before they felt like they had a vested interest in poking holes in this series?  He had some moments in the 2D and 3D Clone Wars series.  A lot of his scenes in AOTC were cut.  And I would defy any of these "critics" to be able to name the actor who played him without looking it up online.  Just stop it!

What I think is actually going on here with the Sith?  I think it's becoming clearer that we've already seen his face, and it's Qimir.  The tidbits that he has fed to Mae, the insights, and the bits of the Sith code?  He seems to know too much to simply be a procurer of useful items.  He knew where Kelnacca was.  And I don't think a snare was going to stop him.

[McMetal]

 I read the Reddit thread on last night’s episode right at 10pm and I’m out. I’m not wasting another second on this stupidity until i know how it ends.

This show just makes the Jedi look stupid, weak and generally incompetent. And soooo easy to kill.

We really need to reverse this trend of glorifying villains and making them unbelievably powerful and invincible. It’s just stupid.

And I never liked the whole idea of cortosis, it just seems silly.

[Nicklab]

And I never liked the whole idea of cortosis, it just seems silly.

People bought into the idea that Beskar could defend against a lightsaber.  Why not Cortosis as well?