Taking place around 100 years before the events of Star Wars: The Phantom Menace, TV series Star Wars: The Acolyte tells a largely self-contained story. However, the now-cancelled show still featured some notable connections to the Skywalker Saga. The finale memorably included cameos from Darth Plagueis and Yoda, characters who would have had larger roles in future seasons had The Acolyte continued. Bringing Plagueis into the fold would have fleshed out elements of the prequel trilogy, shedding light on Palpatine’s master. But the prequels weren’t the only thing on showrunner Leslye Headland’s mind as she developed The Acolyte Season 2. There would have been something that linked the show all the way to the sequel trilogy and Kylo Ren.
The upcoming book The Art of Star Wars: The Acolyte features a comment from Headland where she states fan-favorite character The Stranger would have been revealed as the founder of the Knights of Ren. “It was in the design of the character, as well as knowing that we were going to introduce Darth Plagueis, who has to end up with Palpatine as his apprentice,” Headland said (via X account The Sietch of Sci-Fi). “Following the Rule of Two – a precept that limited the Sith to just two at any given time, a master and an apprentice – one way to keep it going it is if the Stranger is the first Knight of Ren, part of a Sith-adjacent cult that we know eventually survives.”
The Acolyte Could Have Fixed One of the Sequel Trilogy’s Missed Opportunities
Image Courtesy of Lucasfilm
During the time the sequel trilogy was produced, there was abundant speculation about the Knights of Ren and what they were all about. Unfortunately, the group did not have much screen time across the films. After appearing in Rey’s Force vision in Star Wars: The Force Awakens, the Knights had a minor role in Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker and are ultimately defeated by the redeemed Ben Solo on Exegol (Star Wars: The Last Jedi makes no mention of the Knights). After all the fan theories, it was underwhelming to see the Knights largely be an afterthought in the movies. The Knights have been featured in other canon materials (mainly comics) and haven’t appeared on screen since Rise of Skywalker.
Considering the massive time gap between The Acolyte and the sequel trilogy, there isn’t much The Acolyte could have done to improve the Knights in those films. However, it sounds like the show would have added some depth to the overall concept, which in turn could have further fleshed out Kylo Ren and his followers. It would have been interesting to see the beginning of the Knights, getting some insight into their goals and philosophy. Based on Headland’s comments, it seems like the Knights would have started in response to the Sith’s strict Rule of Two; perhaps The Stranger was turned down as Plagueis’ apprentice and he decided to carve out a different path to show there is strength in numbers.
Since The Acolyte was cancelled, The Stranger actor Manny Jacinto has continuously expressed interest in returning. However, the odds of the show being saved any time soon are rather low — and not just because of the budget concerns that led to Disney pulling the plug. Lucasfilm seems to be pivoting away from TV shows in favor of a new slate of Star Wars films. The only live-action series coming through the pipeline is Star Wars: Ahsoka Season 2, and after that, the future is up in the air. At this year’s Star Wars Celebration, Lucasfilm highlighted various movies that are in development, but did not announce any new live-action shows. Disney told Andor showrunner Tony Gilroy “streaming is dead,” so the studio could be shifting away from an abundance of TV shows.
It’s a shame The Acolyte Season 2 will likely never see the light of day. Though the first season was somewhat divisive, the series still had a lot of potential to tell some interesting stories, especially with Plagueis and Yoda part of the action. It’s frustrating that those threads won’t continue on screen, but there are other ways for Lucasfilm to follow up on The Acolyte‘s teases. Perhaps the ideas for the scrapped Season 2 could be repurposed as a novel or comic series, taking advantage of Lucasfilm’s publishing division (where the High Republic era had a fruitful run). Obviously, that’s not the same as seeing the story brought to life, but it’d be better than nothing.
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