Summary
The Acolyte’s place in theStar Warstimeline is actually broken, but one small change can fix it. It’s safe to say noStar WarsTV show has been quite socontroversial asThe Acolyte, with many insisting it breaks canon - sometimes for the most absurd reasons. Oddly, though, these critics haven’t really been paying attention; there is one aspect of continuity that really is broken inThe Acolyte. The show’s place in theStar Warstimeline.
The Acolytewas marketed as though it is set 100 years before the events ofStar Wars: Episode I - The Phantom Menace, at the tail-end of what is known as the Golden Age of the Jedi and the Republic - theHigh Republic Era. MostStar Warstimelines orient themselves around the Battle of Yavin, and this would be roughly 132 BBY (Before Battle of Yavin). The problem, though, is that there’s some evidence this timeline is incorrect.
Two Scenes In The Acolyte Set Up Its Place In The Timeline… & They Don’t Work
If you’re going to understand howThe Acolytefits into theStar Warstimeline, you really need to begin with episode 7. A flashback episode set 16 years before the main events, this opens with a group of Jedi exploring the planet Brendok because of its recovery from a hyperspace disaster a century ago. This is a delightful Easter egg to Charles Soule’sLight of the Jedi, where a ship breaking up in hyperspace caused debris to rain on planets at lightspeed. It seems, then, thatit is the flashback episodes that are set a century before the Skywalker saga.
This brings us toThe Acolyte’s title crawl, which claimsthe main story is set a hundred years before the rise of the Empire- not before Anakin Skywalker was found on Tatooine. This is 13 years after the events ofThe Phantom Menace, and it’s a rough fit. It meansThe Acolyteisn’t set in the High Republic Era after all, but rather in the period of the Jedi’s decline. That fits well withThe Acolyte’s ending, where the Jedi are already visibly bogged down in the politics of the Republic. There is, however, just one problem.
The Acolyte Claims Its Main Story Is SIXTEEN Years After The Flashbacks
The Acolyteconsistently claims that its main story is set not thirteen years later, but rathersixteen. There’s no margin for error here; the dates are quoted so many times, and by so many characters, that this simply has to be the case. The only possible fix is to assume the Jedi were being less than thorough when they claimed the hyperspace disaster happened a century before their expedition to Brendok; presumably it was actually 97 years later. To be fair,that’s the kind of simplification you can imagine being made in an everyday conversation.
Still, these dates do have a massive impact on how we are supposed to interpretThe Acolyte. The mission to Brendok is the end of the High Republic Era, demonstrating the mistakes and flaws that would ultimately destroy the Jedi. The main story is set well into the Jedi’s decline; the Order may not be fully aware of this, but they surely sense that they are not what they were. The Jedi on Brendok would surely be unable to forget their part in it, meaning the sense of decline would be all-pervasive - and help explain their own individual traumas.
The Acolyte
Cast
The Acolyte is a television series set in the Star Wars universe at the end of the High Republic Era, where both the Jedi and the Galactic Empire were at the height of their influence. This sci-fi thriller sees a former Padawan reunite with her former Jedi Master as they investigate several crimes - all leading to darkness erupting from beneath the surface and preparing to bring about the end of the High Republic.
