Star Warsfans were obviously excited to see both Master Yoda and Darth Plagueis the Wise, but does that mean they’ll return for a second season, if there is one? For a controversial streaming series with such an uncertain future,The Acolyte’sSeason 1 finale certainly felt like a cliffhanger, teasing more stories focusing on both creator George Lucas andLeslye Headland’scharacters. And Headland confirms that if the show goes on in that galaxy far, far away, the Sith lord Plagueis will influence what happens next. Headland said in an interview withInverse:
“He’s definitely a signifier of things to come if we end up moving forward.Osha and the Stranger are aligned.Literally the last shot of the show is the two of them holding the same lightsaber.It’s the last shot of Fight Club —these are two people that are looking out under the horizon and believing that their power is intense,and strong, and shared, and passionate.”
The Acolyte
Star Wars series that take viewers into a galaxy of shadowy secrets and emerging dark-side powers in the final days of the High Republic era.
Headland couldn’t help but focus on the characters of Osha and Darth No-Name, aka the Stranger, in the same sit-down:
“The Sith line is, ‘Peace is a lie, there is only passion.’And the last line is‘The Force will set me free,’which is why the Stranger says what he says in [Episode 6]. So, they’ve really sort of come together, and they click in this beautiful way —and in this way that I would love to keep going with them.”
Leslye Headland Says, ‘Plagueis Was Always in the Show’
Fan-favoriteStar Warsvillain Darth Plagueiswas always intended to show up onThe Acolyte. Now, while the dark lord didn’t peek out from the shadows until the Season 1 finale, and only for a second at that, Emperor Palpatine’s (Ian McDiarmid) Sith master “was always in the show,” according to showrunner Leslye Headland.The Acolyte’screator elaborated on the character and her plan for revealing him to audiences in the same interview:
“Plagueis was always in the show, though.Plagueis was the plan in terms of revealing him and establishing him in live-action. My dream was always to introduce him with his hands first,because Muuns, their forefingers and their middle finger are longer than the rest of their fingers.So always my dream was to show that first,and sort of give a little bump for those that knew.”
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Headland said during the same discussion:
“But the tease is: because there’s Plagueis and because we know that Palpatine is eventually Plagueis’ apprentice,we know that these two people [Osha and the Stranger] are not going to fall into that set lineage.This is a triumph for Osha; it’s a triumph for both of them.But the added complication that master and apprentice — or in this case apprentice and acolyte — there’s always an imbalance.
One to hold the power, one to crave it.And seeing these two characters completely aligned with each other in this hugely satisfying way, the tease is:How will they survive the structure of how the Sith work?”
While seeing Darth Plagueis in a more substantial role would be a thrill for mostStar Warsfans,The Acolyte’scritical approvalstill can’t seem to rise above the Disney+ series’ poor Rotten Tomatoes audience score, which is an unfathomable 17%, at the time of this writing. Would the promise of Master Yoda and Plagueis appearing in Season 2 be enough to help greenlight another go-round?
Characters didn’t seem to beThe Acolyte’sissue, at least not entirely. However, an argument can definitely be made that better storytelling will be required for the follow-up adventures of Osha (Amandla Stenberg) and the Stranger (Manny Jacinto) should Season 2 somehow come to fruition.
The AcolyteSeason 1 is now available to stream or binge-watch onDisney+.
