Warning! This article contains SPOILERS for Star Wars: The Acolyte episodes 1 and 2.

With the premiere of The Acolyte, Star Wars is yet again proving it can break new ground, 5 years after the debut of The Mandalorian on Disney+. The Acolyte is a bold project for Star Wars in a splendid variety of ways, but most notably for The Acolyte‘s place in the Star Wars timeline. It’s the first live-action project to explore an era of Star Wars outside the Skywalker saga, with it taking place during the High Republic era. Though this era is quite storied in The High Republic books and comics, it’s yet to be explored in this way.

Taking place 100 years before the events of Star Wars: Episode I – The Phantom Menace, The Acolyte is laying the groundwork for the Star Wars prequel trilogy, which has since become one of the franchise’s most revered eras – if not its most revered. This unique look at the Jedi Order in the golden age of the Galactic Republic has already started to explain why they act the way they do in the prequel trilogy. The Acolyte, however, is not the first to reset Star Wars in this way, as The Mandalorian also did so five years ago.

The Mandalorian Re-Launched Star Wars On Disney Plus

The Mandalorian Ushered In The Era Of Live-Action Star Wars Television

The Acolyte exists solely because of what The Mandalorian was able to do first: carve a new path for Star Wars television. The Mandalorian arrived at the perfect time for Star Wars, when the sequel trilogy was coming to an end and Disney+ was preparing to launch. The streaming platform needed a flagship TV show to debut alongside it, and Star Wars audiences needed something fresh after the conclusion of the Skywalker saga.

Even better was the fact that The Mandalorian wasn’t going to rely on familiar characters or narratives. While certain characters were certainly echoes of others, from the bounty hunter Din Djarin evoking Boba Fett to the adorable Grogu drawing upon prime Yoda nostalgia, each addition was brand-new in a rarely explored part of the canon Star Wars timeline. It was only after the massive success of The Mandalorian season 1 that other Star Wars TV shows received a green light, including The Acolyte itself.

The Acolyte Proves That Star Wars Can Go Beyond The Skywalker Saga

Star Wars Can Explore New Eras With A Healthy Amount Of Nostalgia

Now, The Acolyte is carving its own path in the Star Wars galaxy. While previous Star Wars TV shows after The Mandalorian have all followed familiar characters, such as Boba Fett, Obi-Wan Kenobi, Cassian Andor, and Ahsoka Tano, in established eras, The Acolyte is introducing a brand-new cast of characters in an entirely new era. More importantly, however, The Acolyte is proving that Star Wars can not only go beyond the Skywalker saga, but it can also succeed in doing so.

What works about The Acolyte and its timeline thus far is that it ties clear threads to familiar Star Wars content within the Skywalker saga. Just two episodes in, it’s already easy to see how the events of this show will have consequences that make the Jedi of the prequel era who they are. It’s able to accomplish this without relying on familiar faces, even if Vernestra Rwoh does have an origin in The High Republic books and comics. The narrative itself is compelling yet familiar enough on its own to make this work.

Both Stories Prove Star Wars Is At Its Best When Fresh

Brand-New Characters & Storylines Keep Star Wars Alive

Star Wars has certainly succeeded with its shows focused on familiar characters, with Andor often being considered the franchise’s best, but there’s no doubt that fresh stories such as The Mandalorian and The Acolyte have a charm that’s difficult to ignore. They evoke the true spirit of Star Wars in bringing something new to life while still connecting to the sweet nostalgia of the greater galaxy. Elements of the original trilogy are sprinkled all over The Mandalorian, while The Acolyte‘s first two episodes have left no shortage of prequel trilogy head-nods in their wake.

It’s encouraging to see Star Wars trying new things 47 years after the very first movie. The overall reception of The Mandalorian and, thus far, The Acolyte proves that this can be a risky yet beneficial venture for the franchise. The Mandalorian has easily become one of Star Wars’ most successful sub-franchises, as it will soon take the franchise to the movie theater for the first time since Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker. The Acolyte certainly has audiences divided, but for the most part, it has been met with promising reviews from critics – proving that freshness works.

The Acolyte episodes 1 and 2 are now available to stream. New episodes release Tuesdays on Disney+.