Dafne Keen’s latest work, The Acolyte, has been ripped to shreds online. Seeming to be the last straw for fans of the Star Wars franchise, it has been criticized for every imperfection, and a lot of blame has been thrown around as they tried to figure out who exactly was to blame for the failures of the series.
However, there suddenly seems to be a calm after the horrible storm the series has been in since it released its first episode. All of a sudden, audiences seemed to have a change of mind when it came to one aspect of the series.
So much so, that they are labeling it to be one of the best seen in the franchise for a while, even bringing down the polarizing series, Ahsoka.
Dafne Keen’s Lightsaber Combat Gets Praise
There are very few things in The Acolyte that haven’t been criticized by fans. Everything, ranging from the character writing, the storytelling, the passing, and even the loyalty to the rest of the franchise, has been ripped apart, and rightfully so. However, one fan seems to have had a change of heart, and others are following in their direction, all because of the latest episode.
With the release of the fifth episode of the show, hellikait on X commented on one aspect of the series that has changed their perspective on it. Pulling up a specific fight sequence in the episode involving Dafne Keen, they mentioned how the combat with lightsabers is a lot better in the show compared to the rest of the franchise in the past few years.
Can we all agree that the lightsaber wielding we saw in yesterday’s episode is the best we’ve gotten since (Star Wars: Episode III – Revenge of the Sith)? You can tell all the actors were properly trained on how to do it and Dafne Keen & Manny Jacinto KILLED IT
It felt a lot more lived-in, like the characters actually knew how to fight with lightsabers and weren’t just pretending as they did. There was more ease to it—a dance of sorts like other fight scenes in Hollywood. They were able to perform more tricks and actually fight each other, much like in the movies from the early years of the franchise.
The Best in Years?
The fan then went on to point out how, in the past few years, the Star Wars franchise has really been missing when it comes to the fight sequences. It felt like they were holding back, seeming inexperienced, when they were playing some of the greatest warriors and fighters known to the franchise.
This is the kind of standard we deserve and we know can be achieved since the 2000s. This is the kind of dueling we deserved on Ahsoka and Kenobi (I mean, Ewan and Hayden delivered, but they were the only ones). I can only hope future shows keep this going, because going back to what we were getting before this is going to be extremely depressive.
With the exception of the Vader vs Obi Wan duel in Kenobi, most of the LA lightsaber fights before the Acolyte have felt off to me. Slow, full of weird poses and flourishes that look awful
Speaking along the same lines, they mentioned how shows like Ahsoka seemed to really miss on this one aspect that fans have loved for decades. Taking into account the expectation of the fight between Anakin Skywalker and Obi-Wan Kenobi, where both Ewan McGregor and Hayden Christensen killed it, the rest of the fights lacked luster.
WAY better than Ahsoka. Ahsoka fighting was slow motion compared to this. Rosario needs to up her game big time. Hayden had to throttle his skill down to match Rosario's speed, which clearly showed Hayden holding back when they dueled.
— 🇺🇸 Icecommando 🇺🇸🎖️( う-´)づ︻╦̵̵̿╤── (@SwtSwtVengeance) June 26, 2024
I was honestly very impressed. These actors all went hard during these fights and the choreography was🔥👌🏽💯
— Tony Grant (@Tony_Grant_) June 26, 2024
Agreed.
— Spiral Out (@OutSpiralling) June 26, 2024
Best part of the show
— Woo (@woopreme_) June 27, 2024
Manny Jacinto’s movements are so menacing and wild, truly insane to watch this fight unfold through its multiple stages.
— Joe No (@JosephPNoel) June 26, 2024
I liked how the Sith samurai destroyed Jeki’s second light saber as part of a long game to stab her with his short saber later on.
Her took away her defence for the second fight her knew he’d have.
— Tony Robbins (@PartyMelon69) June 26, 2024
Other fans seemed to agree with the sentiment, mentioning how the show really surprised them with its fight scenes. The choreography was on point, and the actors were giving the fights their all.
The Acolyte is available for streaming on Disney+.
