When it comes to releasing new projects in a pre-existing franchise, it is very important for the creators to follow some strict rules. One of the most important, unsaid rules is to stay within the bigger story of the entire series. These often take years, if not decades, to set up and have so much effort put into them that fans cannot help but be protective.
With the release of The Acolyte, Star Wars may have just made a grave and uncalculated mistake that could be detrimental to its image and relationship with its fans. Canon events are treated like the word of god in fandoms, and the new series broke it with such disregard that audiences are furious.
Star Wars Made a Big Mistake in The Acolyte
Although Star Wars is known for pushing a lot of the fans’ expectations to bring through something surprising, some lines simply should not be crossed. The Acolyte managed to do exactly this. Ever since the release of the series, audiences have not been happy with the series. They have many criticisms about its storytelling methods, direction, and characters, and even claim that the series represents everything that their viewers did not want.
However, one of the most concerning aspects of the show is that of the Sith. In Star Wars: Episode I – The Phantom Menace, Ki-Adi-Mundi mentioned that there have been no Siths in a thousand years. Despite this, the show features a mysterious Sith among its characters.
While many would argue that this works since the series is a prequel, going deeper into that rabbit hole makes the situation all the more confusing. The series is set 100 years before the rise of the Empire. This means that technically, the last of the Siths would have existed 900 years before the series’ timeline.
However, this well-known fact was completely sidelined, and a Sith was added to the story, breaking any last shred of canonity that the franchise had.
Fans Are Not Happy
Ever since the detail was noticed by the audience, they have not seemed to let it go. As fans have been noticing for the last few years, the franchise has been losing touch with what their viewers want from them. While they don’t always have to do fan service, many cannot help but think that the break in the canon timeline is a sign of an utter disregard for the bigger story by the individual filmmakers for specific projects.
The Sith debacle wasn’t all the series did. Additionally, Ki-Adi-Mundi also made an appearance in the series, even though he was born 40 years after the events of the show. This is a basic fact, and considering the series is set a hundred years before the events of the main franchise, it is simple knowledge that characters that are yet to be born, cannot make cameos in the series.
"Ki-Adi mundi said the Sith haven't appeared in over a millennium during TPM.
How do we retract this?""Let's just write him into the show. "
"But…Ki-Adi isn't born yet for another 40 years"
"no one will notice. And if they do, this is my canon now. Just do it."
– we…
— StarWarsTheory (@realswtheory) June 19, 2024
Disney: I have altered the lore, pray I don’t alter it further.
— Jason Chavez (@jasnchvz) June 19, 2024
The problem is, people making all the terrible, non-canon decisions, DO NOT understand or appreciate Star Wars story, lore or fans.
They blame fans for THEIR poor performance & now even accuse fans of being racist for not liking it. “The dark side clouds everything”.
— David (@vadeansonder) June 19, 2024
……did they just break canon?
— Parker_Luck (@Parker_Luck15) June 19, 2024
Wasn’t even born yet and now he has been retconned into being a liar on the Council.
Infuriating.
— Don ⚔️ 🌴 (@Don_UCF) June 19, 2024
Now the acolyte is officially not canon anymore since they added him because he's not alive he was only 60 at the time of The Phantom Menace
— David Watson III (@david_watson88) June 19, 2024
The Acolyte may have a lot of flaws, but the one thing audiences could count on when it came to the franchise was their loyalty to the original, bigger story. It is safe to say fans are stunned with shock after realizing that this was also taken away so easily.
The Acolyte is available for streaming on Disney+.
