Star Wars fans will be getting a brand new Disney+ show alongside the already stacked roster set for release, this time from the High Republic era: The Acolyte, which will feature a brand-new perspective on the dark side of the Force. Throughout Star Wars history since the first release in 1977, the core conflict of the Star Wars universe has always been between the Jedi and the Sith, with the terms often appearing almost synonymous with the light and dark sides of the Force respectively. This conflict is known in canon to stretch back thousands of years, long before the events of the prequel trilogy began with Star Wars: Episode I -The Phantom Menace, and the new Star Wars High Republic show will be exploring more of this history.
Both the prequels and originals featured the Sith, and therefore the dark side, primarily exemplified through Anakin Skywalker/Darth Vader, and Emperor Palpatine/Darth Sidious. The sequel trilogy built on Palpatine’s dark side legacy further doing so through the latter, alongside newcomer Kylo Ren. Disney has made the black-and-white morality of Star Wars much murkier since taking the helm, and nowhere is this more apparent than in how the House of Mouse has fleshed out the previously unexplored dynamics between the Jedi and Sith. The Jedi have already been exposed as not being the de-facto good guys of the Galaxy, and the upcoming Star Wars High Republic show The Acolyte will give the dark side a similar treatment.
Star Wars Is Changing The History Of The Dark Side
While the Sith have been featured to some capacity in all 3 eras of Star Wars canon so far, there is an era yet to be explored in a live-action Star Wars High Republic show, the time that came before the Age of Republic and The Phantom Menace. With Disney+’s The Acolyte being announced on May 4th, 2020, Lucasfilm promises to delve into this very era, with a significant twist in comparison to usual Star Wars projects. While all previous eras featured the Sith to an extent, the dark side has always been seen through the eyes of the Jedi, or Jedi being tempted by the dark side, rarely being explored in the same depth as the Jedi Order or the light side of the Force. With the High Republic era, however, The Acolyte will change how fans see the dark side altogether for several different reasons.
The Acolyte Has Star Wars’ First Real Dark Side Protagonist
While Anakin Skywalker can be argued to be the protagonist of the prequel trilogy, all 3 of those films feature more of an ensemble cast, heavily featuring a lot of different characters and their viewpoints. This means that Anakin’s tragic fall to the dark side is often explored from perspectives outside the dark side, meaning that it can never be given the same exploration as the light. With The Acolyte, Star Wars promises to change this trend. Following the announcement of Star Wars’ High Republic show in May 2020, Disney revealed The Acolyte will take place in the final days of The High Republic era and focus on the emergence of dark side powers.
With a title like The Acolyte, the term used for a Sith apprentice, it is clear this emergence of Sith power will be seen through the eyes of an assistant or follower of the Sith, something that has never been done before in live-action Star Wars. By showing how the High Republic era lead into The Phantom Menace through the acolyte’s viewpoint of emerging dark side powers, Star Wars will provide the first in-depth perspective of the dark side that has never been shown in live-action. Star Wars‘ High Republic show will reveal how the Sith defeated the Jedi, with the series’ protagonist being directly involved in the Sith ways throughout the show’s run.
The High Republic Setting Reveals More Of The Sith Ways
While The High Republic was first introduced in a book series starting in 2021, The Acolyte will feature the era’s first on-screen canon appearance. This, therefore, allows the dark side to be viewed in an era not yet featured in live-action Star Wars. While the prequel trilogy featured the Sith operating behind the scenes, it was never exactly a secret that Emperor Palpatine was the Sith Lord Darth Sidious from the onset of that trilogy. This meant that the prequels featured a view of the Sith from the biased, often blinded point-of-view of the Jedi, never truly exploring Palpatine/Darth Sidious’ schemes.
With The High Republic era and the promise of a focus on the dark side powers of that time, this will no longer be the case. The High Republic may feature the Sith still operating in the shadows of the Jedi Order, but this era will allow for a more focused look at the schemes and plans of the dark side users due to the blank slate of the timeline at this point with no canon stories already taking place here. In turn, this will remove many obstacles for the writers, with them not having to fit into the established stories of the main Star Wars franchise aside from setting up the prequels, and thus allowing more freedom for The Acolyte to truly explore the dark side of the Force in the High Republic. In fact, the Star Wars High Republic show could even introduce characters more dangerous than Star Wars‘ most powerful villains.
The Acolyte Is A Different Kind Of Dark Side User To The Sith
Not only has Star Wars always shown the dark side from the outside in, it has also only shown dark side force users who, like Darth Sidious, Darth Vader, Darth Maul, and Darth Tyrannus at least claim to obey the Sith Rule of Two, being either the master or apprentice. With the High Republic and The Acolyte, however, this will not be the case. With the protagonist being a dark side user, fans will see firsthand how the Sith regime operates. Rather than seeing this from the eyes of an all-powerful Sith lord, The Acolyte will instead feature a mere follower of Sith teachings which can give a fresh perspective on the ways of the dark side despite the general concept having been explored for decades at this point.
The Sith and the dark side of the Force have been mainstays in Star Wars storytelling since the beginning of George Lucas’s original trilogy of films. Jedi who turned to the dark side are among the franchise’s most central characters. Being the main antagonistic driving force of the series, the dark side has corrupted, twisted, and interfered with Star Wars‘ most iconic heroes, directly or more discreetly, in every major installment in the franchise. While this may be the case, the announcement of the High Republic era being brought to live-action storytelling with The Acolyte on Disney+ promises to showcase such a malevolent force in a way fans of the series have never seen before.
With Star Wars being one of the most famous, iconic franchises in film history, a fresh perspective and new take on something so ingrained with its identity is rare to behold and is something that fans should be extremely excited about. Audiences might even get to glimpse more of Yoda’s experiences with the dark side, who is already several centuries old at the time of Star Wars‘ High Republic show. Not only will fans get to discover more secrets of the Sith (and Jedi), but they will get to do so by traveling back in time to the waning days of the High Republic, witnessing firsthand the shroud of the dark side secretly enveloping a galaxy far, far away.
Tales Of The Jedi Laid Groundwork For The Acolyte
Disney’s animated series Tales of the Jedi already set the stage for the Star Wars High Republic show’s morally gray take on the Sith and the dark side, particularly by showing the early days of Count Dooku as a Jedi Master. While the prequel trilogy showed Dooku as a former Jedi fully consumed by the dark side, Tales of the Jedi revealed the murky beginnings of Count Dooku’s fall, which was effectively hinged on the Jedi’s failure to protect the galaxy. Indeed, while Dooku succumbing to the dark side is a decision he undertook himself, Tales of the Jedi also exposed the flaws in how the Jedi Order operated throughout the galaxy, which resulted in the Jedi becoming more of a neutral arbitrator than guardians of the people they swore to protect. The Acolyte looks to hammer this point home, but Count Dooku’s story arc in Tales of the Jedi definitely put the nail firmly in place.
