‘The Acolyte’ Trailer Breakdown
The veil of secrecy has finally been lifted on The Acolyte, Leslye Headland’s Disney Plus series telling a tale from the perspective of the dark side in a time when the light is at its brightest. Set 100 years before The Phantom Menace, at the waning days of the High Republic era, the investigation of a series of shocking crimes sends the Jedi deep into a dark conspiracy.
With a new trailer, there are plenty of hints at the larger story so let’s break it down and see what we can uncover. Here’s the trailer if you haven’t had chance to watch it yet.
The trailer opens with younglings at the Jedi Temple on Coruscant. Jedi Master Sol (Lee Jung-jae) counsels his class to close their eyes and reach out with the Force. In dialogue reminiscent of Luke’s training of Rey in The Last Jedi, he asks the students what they see. While two give expected answers “life”, “balance”, the third gives a more cryptic “I see fire”. This is likely hinting at the chaos to be unleashed in the series but is also fitting of the High Republic era, where Jedi were encouraged to interpret the Force in their own way, such as Jedi Master Avar Kriss, who perceived the Force as music.
Speaking of The High Republic, the white-and-gold robes seen in this scene tie directly into the more ornamental robes introduced in the publishing initiative, which is set 200+ years before the movies. The class of younglings includes a Tarsunt (first seen in The Force Awakens) and an entirely new species.
Interspersed with this dialogue we have scenes of Mae (Amandla Stenberg), the protagonist of the series, entering a town full of colourful characters. There isn’t much to go off but the rough-and-ready look of the town as Outer Rim written all over it. We’ve known Stenberg is the main protagonist of the show since the very beginning, and most recently, she told Magazine C that her role in the series is quite large: “I have a really, really heavy load in this show, an abnormal load.”
As Mae enters the bar she draws the attention of Jedi Master Indara. A brief scuffle ensues with a delightful mix of high-speed martial arts and Force powers. Seeing Trinity from The Matrix as a Jedi was definitely a highlight for me. We also see her robes are much more reminiscent of Jedi that we know, again likely an indication that she is far from civilization and adopting less flashy attire.
The teaser poster of a lightsaber leaving a trail of blood was a pretty strong hint but this trailer spells it out for us – “someone is killing Jedi” and we get a brief look at Mae taking her knife to an unprepared Jedi Knight.
Next, we meet new Jedi characters Yord Fandar (Charlie Barnett), described as a “by-the-books Jedi” and Jecki Lon a half-Theelin Jedi, described as a “badass” by actor Dafne Keen. These two strike me as an odd couple pair-up with Jecki wanting to rush in while Yord wants to wait for backup. Whatever role they play they look awesome!!
More Jedi in this shot – the one on the right looks like a Kel Dor, sparking speculation that it could be Plo Koon but it could be a new Kel Dor character – either option is pretty cool in my book!
We get a brief look at Jedi Master Kelnacca, played by Chewbacca actor Joonas Suotamo. The Wookiee is described as a “loner” and seems like he has a heavy heart just from this brief image.
As the investigation ramps up we see Sol use a Jedi mind trick on a convict to get information out of him. It looks like he’s simply trying to calm the man down but it seemed sinister somehow. This is likely intentional as the series aims to get us as the viewer to question the perspective of “the good guys”.
We see a ship approaching a ruined castle. It seems to match the design of a ship we later see crashing into a snowy planet. This is likely Sol’s ship which we will follow around the galaxy as he picks up the trail of breadcrumbs left by the dark side. We see Sol get into a fight with Mae, again using martial arts rather than sabers.
Vernestra Rwoh! A big win for fans of The High Republic publishing as the Mirialan Jedi, one of the youngest ever to be Knighted, steps of the page and onto the screen, played by Rebecca Henderson. It’s clear she’s based on Coruscant, who knows maybe she’s on the Jedi Council by this point?
A super-brief shot of Manny Jacinto’s character Qimir, a trader and former smuggler who is swept up by the Jedi investigation
We see a group of our Jedi, including Jedi Master Torbin (right, played by Dean Charles Chapman) approaching a stranger but what’s fascinating me is the robed figures behind them carrying longbows. This series definitely looks set to take us to some fun places!
Mother Aniseya has been described as a Force-user who is neither Jedi nor Sith and leads an order of women. More detail has been added, describing her group as a coven of witches. The only witches we know as the Nightsistsers but I think this is something new. Her dialogue talks about power and who is allowed to use it, likely referring to the Jedi who would seem to have a monopoly on the Force in this era and might react to her group with hostility. This is again reminding me of Luke’s dialogue in The Last Jedi.
As the trailer draws to a close we finally get to see Mae unmasked, standing by the sea. So many details are hidden still but I am so fascinated by this character and I can’t wait to experience her story.
And then the shot that shocked me! A red lightsaber slices through the forest before being caught in a human hand. While I knew we were getting lightsaber combat I wasn’t expecting to see such a bold display of a red lightsaber. I imagined all the combat would be more subtle, such as we see with Mae using a knife when she attacks Jedi.
This is very interesting for the series. First, it seems to confirm the obvious – that the Sith are behind the attacks on the Jedi. But how does this work with Ki-Adi Mundi’s statement “The Sith have been extinct for a millennium”? I’m fascinated to see how this pairs up, though I’m afraid it’s going to involve a lot of dead Jedi!
And then the money shot. Sol and a ton of other Jedi ignite their lightsabers and charge into battle only to be thrown back by a powerful blast from the mysterious red blade wielder. Seeing so many lightsabers on screen at the same time was a real fist-pumping moment and I can’t wait to see it all play out.
What did you think of the trailer? Did I miss anything? Let me know in the comments!
A teacher from Wales in the UK, Aled has loved Star Wars ever since that Star Destroyer flew over his head and blew his mind.
