Tomorrow, the season finale of Star Wars: The Acolyte will run, and we can be certain it will spur more conversation and open more questions than it closes.
The Acolyte has taught us so much about Star Wars and Star Wars fandom that it may be the most important property yet. The show is set in The High Republic, a time that is as fascinating for what it is as it is not. The Jedi have long been shown to be fallible tools, but things are pretty off here in what was supposed to be their heyday. Deep canon questions about bad guy wizards are being put at risk. Very cool characters are introduced and killed. Amazing lightsaber combat! Silly lightsaber combat! Lightsaber combat! Cool spaceships. Of course, there is magical force baby kidnapping, too. In short, everything we've come to know and love about a Star Wars show. So, what's controversial?
It seems The Acolyte has uncovered a division in the fandom. The normal gatekeeping "you are or are not a canon-enough" fan vs "I just really enjoy Star Wars" fans are still out there and going strong, but it feels like there is also a disturbance in the fandom. Beginning with people screaming about Rey Skywalker's magic powers being too magic, Star Wars fandom acquired a seed of exclusionary weirdo politics. In today's age of hating on Disney for loving all sorts of people's money and the need of a certain segment of Disney fandom to get mad about things like Song of the South disappearing, it is no surprise that a TV show led by a woman, and featuring many strong women characters gets a ton of shit. Star Wars has always featured strong female leads; Leia was the boss from A New Hope. This is just good TV.
There is so much criticism of the show because there is much to discuss. I've really loved some of the actors and long ago came to grips with the quality of Star Wars dialogue. The costuming, tech, choreography, and effects are bewildering. I can not wait for tomorrow night's episode.
I am on Team Sol. Indira didn't tell her Padawan where he was for seven weeks; she set this up.
Previously:
• Star Wars: From a Certain Point of View is a rewarding retelling
• Star Wars Outlaws looks intriguing, but is it doomed by its developer?
• The best way to prepare for 'Star Wars: Obi-Wan Kenobi' is to watch this 4.5-hour Episode 3 supercut a few times
