Some Star Wars viewers dislike certain storylines in The Acolyte and cite bad writing and choppy dialogue as their biggest complaints. Others who loved The Acolyte looked past some issues the show had and immediately connected with characters like Yord (Charlie Barnett) and Master Sol (Lee Jung-jae). Despite this, The Acolyte episode 5, which featured a Jedi massacre and some of the best lightsaber duels seen in years, easily making it the show’s best episode. It’s disappointing that The Acolyte didn’t get the chance to live up to its potential with more seasons, but the story isn’t over.
The Acolyte’s Story Can Still Wrap Up—Just in Book Form
Star Wars Fans Can See These Characters Live On
While The Acolyte won’t be returning for a season 2, there’s no doubt that showrunner and creator Leslye Headland had a larger arc planned for these characters. The Acolyte season 1 truly felt like an origin story, with season 2 exploring Osha’s place in the Sith and Jedi like Vernestra Rwoh navigating how to cover up Sith involvement. It wouldn’t be too hard to see these ideas and story points adapted into a Star Wars novel. In fact, it would provide the characters’ inner thoughts and may help audiences relate to them a little bit more.
Star Wars has a long history of publishing novels that help expand audiences’ knowledge of a galaxy far, far away. All books published before 2012 are part of the Star Wars Expanded Universe (also called Legends) and are no longer considered canon. Since Disney acquired Lucasfilm, certain aspects of Legends have slowly been re-canonized. The Acolyte continued this trend by re-introducing cortosis ore, and having Darth Plagueis appear as a Muun in The Acolyte season 1 finale. With so few canon novels set before Star Wars: Episode I – The Phantom Menace, adapting The Acolyte would help fill that gap.
Darth Plagueis was established as a Muun in James Luceno’s Darth Plagueis novel, which is part of Legends. In canon, Plagueis’ species was never disclosed.
The Acolyte’s Season 2 Arc Would Work Great As A Book Series
Leslye Headland Must Have Many Ideas to Keep This Story Going
With so many complex characters introduced in The Acolyte, a book trilogy or series might be the best way to wrap up all of these very complex storylines.
While standalone Star Wars novels are not uncommon, some of the best novels are a part of a series. Book trilogies like Timothy Zahn’s Thrawn and Thrawn: Ascendancy are incredibly popular, as well as E.K. Johnston’s Queen’s trilogy, which follows Padmé Amidala and her loyal handmaiden Sabé. With so many new characters introduced in The Acolyte, a book trilogy or series might be the best way to wrap up all of these very complex storylines. It would also give the authors time to construct the story in a meaningful and entertaining way.
It’s hard to imagine that when Leslye Headland pitched and wrote The Acolyte, she didn’t have an ending pictured in her mind. After all, the events of The Acolyte couldn’t hinder anything that came after it in the Star Wars timeline, meaning she had to have a plan for how this story ended. Having all these plot points already established means that a book series would have direction. Instead of planning for a two or three-season arc, if Headland and her team could pivot to a trilogy, they still might be able to tell the story they sought to tell.
Star Wars Has a Precedent of Canceled Storylines Becoming Novels
It’s Been Done Multiple Times
It’s unfortunate, but a part of the entertainment business, that not every idea and story arc can make it to the screen. However, Lucasfilm has been great at adapting scrapped storylines into successful Star Wars novels. One example is Christie Golden’s novel Dark Disciple, which was adapted from a canceled arc in Star Wars: The Clone Wars season 6. The book was a hit and allowed for an interesting character study of both Jedi Quinlan Vos and former Sith apprentice Asajj Ventress.
This has also happened with Solo: A Star Wars Story. Solo wasn’t a commercial success, meaning many loose threads needed to be resolved, especially when it came to Qi’ra’s role in Maul’s Shadow Collective. This led to a comic series that revolved around Qi’ra and tied up many questions about what happened to Han Solo’s first love. While The Acolyte enthusiasts may have preferred the show to continue, seeing these character’s stories continue in book form is just as good. The Acolyte may be canceled, but audiences may see these characters again.
