The acolyte would be 100x better if Osha and Mae were just removed entirely. Sol and Qimir should’ve been the leads and vernestra needed a larger role. A Jedi murder mystery sounds so cool, but instead we just got a sibling break up story that portrays the Jedi as the real villains (Again 🙄)
I absolutely agree. Sop and Qimir carried the series. Mae/Osha have no substance or real contribution to the plot line. It nearly caused me physical pain watching their scenes.
I don’t know, I haven’t watched the show but I think the way he pivoted the story and the two characters meant that they couldn’t had a more impactful narrative and overall characterization
@@ja_jangmyeon7131without the forced entry of the twins made from the force into the story, this show could have been about a Jedi apprentice who went rouge and turned to the dark side. (Qimir). There’s way more interesting narratives that can be sculpted from this concept alone rather than all the nonsense about witches and force kids who were one entity split in two somehow in the middle of a murder mystery. There’s too much the show throws at you with zero explanation at all to who to root for and why. These aren’t the witches of Dathomir so we don’t know them, the twins aren’t made the same way as Anakin so we don’t really understand how that’s possible. Heck we’ve never seen a creature being split into separate beings before so another thing to explain, and why is Mae killing Jedi when she doesn’t look like she even has emotions let alone the fact that she flip flops on if she wants to kill the Jedi or not.
I don't like how the main character literally watches Qimir murder all of her friends, but then goes "oh its okay that he did that, because he's HOT!" And then its portrayed as triumphant that they get together at the end... Like _excuse me?_ It really says a LOT about the writers of this show.
@@terraventusaqua123 worst of all they killed the lesbian love interest and said it would have just been one sided, that he can go 'deeper' than she can??? Ladies and gentlemen the writers blatant fetish.
I agree. I would say, If they want to have them fall in love, fine but you need to add many more supporting scenes and time to for the transition. You can't just have her see his junk and instantly be in love. That's just ridiculous.
I think the audience is more attracted to Qimir than Osha ever was. She never once seemed swayed by his presence. She repeatedly rejects his offers and only goes with him in the very end after she taps into her dark side energy. I think headland assumed we’d ship them bc theyre attractive but the writing/acting never shows any chemistry between them. I actually thought Osha and Jecki were flirting a few times!
Part of the (broader) issue of "Is it right / legal to use the Dark Side?" is that Star Wars and The Force is a binary, all-or-nothing universe. Thus it's not whether it's "right" to use the Dark Side... but that using the Dark Side will inevitably corrupt the user. Setting aside KOTOR because video game power fantasies, the Dark Side is an allegory for addiction and evil, and thinking you have control over it is exactly how someone goes from fine to killing their entire family, several thousand people, and destroying themselves. Disney's tossed it out in favor of some sort of Yin-Yang theology and "maybe the Sith are the good guys and maybe we need a little bit of Dark Side" but it doesn't quite stick because the Sith are mass murderers and the Dark Side as corruption is so deeply ingrained into the fabric of Star Wars the franchise. I don't think this series had bad ideas... but it's the wrong universe to tell a story of "moral grey human flaws" made all the worse by the protagonist choosing to befriend and fall for a cold-blooded murderer and this be a triumph of her "taking back agency," especially after witnessing said murderer kill her supposed friends just 24 hours earlier.
"The point of these witches narratively is that they use the dark side - but does that make them evil? Is it illegal for someone to use the Dark Side of the Force?" I genuinely don't know how anyone can answer that with anything other than "yes, it absolutely does." I empathise with the argument about other cultures seeming strange & unusual, but there comes a point where moral relativism leads to apologia for clear harm. In Star Wars, use of the Dark Side is *always* viewed as morally wrong, even (in fact, especially) when it's something like Luke using force choke in Return of the Jedi. It isn't a matter of different cultural values, the Dark Side is demonstrably dangerous, corrupting, & destructive to life itself. The thing is, Star Wars already was very Taoist, with an in-built Yin-Yang philosophy - but it wasn't "Light Side (a term never actually used in the films) is Yin, Dark Side is Yang." This is the big misconception, especially regarding Anakin "bringing balance to the force." The Force has Yin & Yang aspects, and that there can be imbalance within them, which is how the Jedi failed in the Prequel Era. The Dark Side is neither Yin nor Yang, but Chaos - it actively works against life and balance.
The ancient Je'daii order of Tython used Ashla and Bogan in balance. Never to one too extreme. The Dawn of the Jedi comics provides this aspect in Star Wars Legends. That order lasted around 11,000 years before the Force Wars of Tython. That's a pretty good record if you take into account all 4 of the schisms that happened afterwards in the EU timeline, and how far apart they were. Though you could argue the point of how long of a time between the 1st Great Schism and 2nd Great Schism lasted even longer. At that point, the reformed Jedi order was all about using just the light side of the force at that time. So you do see examples of dual aspects in Legends that have worked before.
It would be nice to see the jedi actually be the keepers of the peace in a successful way. Feels like everything is just reinforcing the jedi will always faill narrative. Yes the jedi will always fail. Thats part of the light and dark cycle but damn it would be nice to see them win as heroes
I want to see the Actual RISE and Creation of the Jedi in a Trilogy....why don't we have that??? The first movie would be how the first group of force sensitive "masters" came together. The second movie would be a schism between them that creates the Sith. The last movie would be the establishing of the Temple on Coruscant.
I mean, we got that in the Clone Wars. Sure, the Jedi weren’t perfect, but they were still the good guys (Especially compared to most of the Separatists *Cough* Viceroy Gunray *Cough* )
That was honestly it's biggest downfall. I didn't hate most of the show, I found it mediocre but enjoyable. The fights were really well done. But all of the emotional impact rested on what happended 16 years ago and it turned out that it was mostly just a big miscommunication. And even then, so much didn't make sense. Why was Sol so fascinated by Osha? Why did the head witch suddendly turn into a smoke monster? What was the Ascension? A whole complex made mostly out of stone burned down from one lamp? Was the Padawans motivation for defying his masters really just "I want to go home"? Nothing added up.
@@theomnitorium7476 The obsession Sol had with Osha was creepy. When the master told the cover story at the end to blame him falsely, I was not sure what was true. Was Sol the villain? Nothing made sense!
For the bit on Virgin birth in the lore its literally one of the hardest things that anyone can do. Not even Plaguis and Palpatine could manipulate the force to create life. So the idea that some random witches are almost gods of the force yet get stomped by a couple of Jedi is frustrating
Yeah it’s not so much about the chosen one prophecy which I strongly disagree with his take on, it’s the the force itself literally created Anakin in response to plagueis fucking around
@@thegoldman25 mine was no dark side user ever gets dark side eyes It's been established when you make a kyber crystal bleed that happens Yet it never happens in any live action shows or movies other than the Inquisitors It's been established the Sith don't own the dark side and we've seen non sith with dark side eyes throughout the cartoons like Savage Oppress, Maul, and the night sisters And Darth Plagueis just let Qmir and Mae/Osha go? He would of killed them both
The streaming system is becoming a problem for the entertainment industry as everyone wants to do a live action show. Some shows don't work with this formula. Kenobi was supposed to be a movie like Rogue One, and Ahsoka was clearly intended to be an animated series like its predecessor, Rebels. People need to understand that they don't need everything to be a live action series.
Lol, there is no way Acolyte would have worked as a cartoon, or garnered nearly as much attention as it did. I mean the romance stuff alone.. we would have lost so much if it was a cartoon. What's the point of catering to the kind of fans who hate everything star wars no matter what anyway? You can't please them, the franchise moved on. Meanwhile on all my social media timeline I can see a lot of genuine excitement about Acolyte, a lot of new fans being brought in
Someone else saw that with Ashoka! My own feelings about Filloni aside.. his strength in animation. Every time he does something love action can tell someone is off. He should such to animation.
It's not a problem. It's just the evolution of entertainment and how we consume said entertainment. Kenobi would have never worked as a movie. A show was the best easy to tell his story. Just so happened that Kathy and her cuck Filloni didn't give a damn about his character and wanted to use that show to make a huge focus about Reva.. a character fans didn't then and still don't now care about.
The reason this show failed its because theyre making content for lil kids and theyre trying to pander to young girls but theres not a lot of lil girls watching star wars
Nice analysis, though I would say that Sol was quite 'justified' in killing Mama Witch. For starters, we don't actually know that the witches didn't mean to harm the children. In one scene Sol views the mother pushing both children to the floor. By most evaluations by our modern society this would be considered child abuse. And there is the fact that we allow law enforcement today to take children away from their parents for such acts, so it is a bit odd to criticize something that we ourselves view as a necessary thing in our own culture. Then there is Mae's statement that they there is supposed to be a sacrifice of some kind. This may or may not be anything of sinister intent but it at least bears investigating. And we don't actually know what the end of that ritual entails. For all we know it could have been an actual human sacrifice of some kind. But more than all that, in both confrontations with the witches, it is the witches themselves who attack first. First when they mind control Torbin without any real provocation, an act itself which would justify killing her. Like this needs to be stated clearly, this is not a small infraction. She usurps his free will and takes control of his body to do what she pleases with it. In the real world this is called r***, most people consider it one of the worst and most evil actions any person can take! Then later it is Koril who draws her weapon first. Again it is the witches that are the aggressors not the Jedi. So when Aniseya goes force demon and starts to disintegrate Mae there is really no reason for Sol, and for the Audience, NOT to think her life was in danger. Hell the show never even really confirms that Aniseya WASNT trying kill her. You can assume that because the mothers supposedly care for them kids they wouldn't actually do that, but the witches have shown themselves to be irrational and violent. And real people have certainly harmed people they claim to love and care about too. So we just don't know, and the show doesn't tell us, but from all the evidence it is certainly not outside the realm of possibility she was actually was trying to kill Mae. And in the context of the situation, I think Sol actions where not only understandable, but entirely justified. At least for that very specific moment. Afterward he gets real dumb about so many things.
Headland confirmed the head witch was trying to “Be one with the force” with Mae during the smoke demon scene, and being one with force means dying so it was either Sol does something or galaxy headlines is about to report of a mother killing her own child
I do want to point out something about episode 5. People say that the action is great. I would say that the fight scenes are fantastic, but that the action as a whole is not good. The continuity of the action is baffling. Go back and watch with this in mind, and you'll see what I mean. Sol is completely absent from the fight for several minutes with no explanation. The stranger randomly sees osha and tries to kill her, even though he easily could have done so minutes earlier. Mae makes no effort to leave the house until well after the action has moved away. When she does, Jekki is suddenly there for no real reason. IDK. I get why people like this episode, but to me it just illustrates a consistent issue with the show. The plot drives the characters instead of the characters driving the plot.
@@thegoldman25 I loved your analysis. The biggest problems with this show weren't the lore, or wokeness, or even the uneven acting performances. It was just that the main characters didn't seem to have clear reasons for their actions. The concept is so good but the execution was not. I think if they had made Osha a person with clear anger issues who happens to want to be a jedi and Mae a calmer person with an extremely strong sense of justice who is sickened by the jedi and ends up with qmir because he's the only one who is offering a chance at justice it would make more sense
@@thegoldman25 see, I'm not gonna go on a bender trying to critique the specifics of blow by blow bad choreography... no... my big issue... is that Qimir using Cortosis to knock out lightsabers... ISN'T used as a gimmick to KILL those Jedi.... it's just a stalling tactic while he kills them a more conventional way.... then in Ep 8 Qimir ditches the gauntlet, and doesn't even use the Helmet in combat vs Sol.... like what? Also the logic of Jecki having 2 Lightsabers... it'd have been better if the dual saber fight between Jecki and Qimir had Jecki using them separately so that if Qimir shut off one with the gauntlet... she had another. Instead she attacks with them as if they're a single weapon. And dies because Qimir blocked both in a single action. Yes, I get that they're writing the scene for her to die, but... it didn't feel good to end that way.
Yeah, this whole show seems to revolve around the writers thinking 'it would be great if X happens' but they didn't bother to set things up properly with character's randomly completely changing their personality/motivation scene to scene with no reason just so they can get to scene X . Same thing applies to the whole plot, everyone acts like a complete idiot, because otherwise nothing would make any sense, but there have to be better ways of telling a story than just 'things happen because everyone has rocks in their head''! Also Star Wars is very heavily based about good and evil, this series seems to want to say being evil is fine, which it just isn't.
@@paulelephant9521 I think the issue is that the finished TV show... cobbled together scenes filmed from 2 or more different script incarnations. they rewrote stuff and refilmed so many times that it lost coherency.
Hey Goldman, I don’t usually comment on UA-cam but this video is awesome. These are genuine criticisms of The Acolyte and Disney Star Wars that aren’t just unfair nitpicks, manipulation of fans for viewership, or attacking the people involved with Star Wars. Its a breath of fresh air to see someone highlight REAL problems with this show that actually matter and offer solutions rather than “fire in space = this show is the worst (even if we see fire in space in Star Wars all the time).” If more people in the fanbase watched your stuff, we could see actual improvement in the franchise we love. Keep it up!!!
The principal mistake you make in analysing episode 7 is saying that the Jedi are controlling those who use The Force or not. The opening text in episode 1 alludes to this but the actuality is not so. A very very important point to note is in Episode 7 when Indara reports to the Jedi Council. The Council tells the for Jedi to 1. LEAVE THE WITCHES ALONE 2. LEAVE THE CHILDREN WITH THE WITCHES. 3. Return to their work investigating the planet for the vergence (which Torbin got upset about being the response to the query to return home. I think this is a very very important point which you have glossed over and which goes on to show how POORLY this show has as written. It is as if a idea is thought of but never remembered as the plot progresses
Thank you for pointing out the insane tone at the end, truly hogwild stuff to frame it as triumphant. It makes the whole show feel like it doesn’t even know where it stands on crazy basic moral question, like “is murder wrong to do”
I've said this elsewhere, but the show feels schizophrenic or bipolar or something. I can't imagine that every single person was just cool with the plot/ character beats. Either they were scared to tell Headland that something was wrong and the show sucked, or they truly all were incompetent and should never be hired to work on anything again.
I heavily agree with your point about Star Wars not being meant for television. In my opinion, I think Star Wars is truly a franchise that belongs on the big screen. Star Wars animation however is the perfect supplemental for the tv show experience which allows characters to develop over multiple seasons. But when it comes to live action, it’s best when it’s in a movie format.
I just have to point out the part where you said Anakin and Obi-wan spinning their lightsabers in episode 3 was stupid was done that way because it shows how they know each other's exact moves and it's a mirror match of two "brothers" that have been by each others side for most of Anakin's life. You totally missed the whole point if you were like "it's just a big saber fight".
@@RedCaio I'm referring to his greasy strawman and attempts to shame the fandom for not liking the sequels. Channels like continually find disingenuous claims and comparisons to downplay mid Disney content, and patronising remarks about "toxic" channels.
The Acolyte is so bad that something written by J.J. Abrams is used as a counterpoint example for how to have told part of the story in a way that sucked less. That's an incredible level of incompetence.
Personally, I think Abrams gets WAY too much flack for the sequel trilogy. Now, was he partially responsible for how they turned out? Possibly. However, it’s a little unfair that Abrams seems to be used as a scapegoat as opposed to merely being partially responsible. Heck, according to a friend of mine, Abrams was apparently one of the few people who had a general outline and ideas for what should happen in the sequel trilogy. Sorry for the tangent, I’m just tired of seeing people dump on Abrams like he was the one responsible for the sequel trilogy failing.
What do you guys think about George's idea for bringing back Darth Maul and having Darth Talon as the main antagonists for the sequel trilogy? I know it wasn't his full idea, but he was entertaining it. I personally love Darth Talon as a character from the Legacy comics, so I would've liked to see a live action version of her
@@TF2Fan101I think he got too little. He damaged the whole saga trying to overwrite everything and came up for an “outline” is a lazy rip off of the originals. Death Star 3 and clone Palpatine etc People blame Johnson for shit he did I think he’s the worst thing that happened to the series
@@thegoldman25 You know thinking again... the REAL issue I have with how Aniseya describes the Force.... is how she STARTS by saying the Jedi are wrong. She does all of it as analogies that hinge on how the Jedi explain it. That killed my ability to see it as a genuine different perspective.
I think the Chosen One of Prophecy part of the Star Wars narrative is fun, actually. It dictates how some of Jedi interacted with Anakin. Some have this belief that he’s a prophesied savior, which adds to their blindness in handling him. Some are skeptical of such prophesies, adding nuance to the issue. Is it real or is it fake? The Chosen One does indeed bring balance to the force, as was said, only in an almost cruel way. He brought the Jedi Order to ruin, and then he was the one who did in Sidious at the end, destroying the Sith and their Rule of Two. It plays a part in how he was treated, it shows the Jedi being blind their beliefs, it has a twist on it all by the end. And there’s other points to be made as well.
You missed the most important thing about Anakin being created by the Force. The Force made Anakin in retaliation to Darth Plagueis and Darth Sideous attempting to create life themselves. It's impossible for people to create life, and the Force set the stage for them to be destroyed for their tampering. So it is a severe lore breaking issue that the witches succeeded.
@@CRYSTAL_CUSTOMS sure it is. Disney can screw off. For all of human history, mythological/fictional canon is whatever the people accept and retell. The vast vast vast majority of people reject the Disney corporation's stories. But Star Wars stories like Plagueis will have a longer fictional legacy than Disney's copyright.
@CRYSTAL_CUSTOMS The entire argument about canon is frankly ridiculous. I don't think anyone on Earth has ever needed a company to dictate to them which telling of a story is "true". It isn't true, it's fiction. And Disney writes garbage fiction these days. They will publish their stories, their stories will die out, and the better Star Wars fiction will be retold. The fictional stories which are retold most often are canon, culturally.
This show failed on so many levels...you can't blame just 1 tbh... The Directing, Editing, and Score were atrocious....the pacing and decision to hold entire episodes in the past to inform the audience SUCKED any momentum the show would build up and the decisions on when to end a show and the edits are beyond perplexing. This show felt like it was made as a Student Project with Disney Money. The Good were the Set & Costume Designs, Fight Choreography, and the Acting (they did what they could with the material they were given) Beyond that...WOOF.
39:30 if you use it and it looks like you’re going to erase a little girl from existence then the Jedi is more than justified to intervene, this could have been avoided if the witches just talked clearly to the Jedi, who NEVER intended to steal the girls away
I think it was Gary Owens (sp?), a UA-camr who describes Acolyte as a show for ten year olds, and thus the evaluation has to start from that perspective. Of course with THAT in mind, then the consistency of the show and Star Wars in general would be that of the average Simpsons episode, where the plot and its effects stop at the end of 30 minutes and starts anew in another.
Thank you for your excellent analysis! I also had serious issues with the writing of this show, especially how much of a distraction the flashback episodes were. For me, the flashbacks actually went back to the wrong time. For us to get invested in Osha and her anger, we should have flashed back to the time she dropped out of the Jedi. THAT was the time when her relationship with Sol was at a crisis, when her view of him as a father figure was permanently altered, and would have informed the climax of the show so much more. But no... the show creators were too invested in their plan for the witches that they couldn't "kill their darlings."
No way you said qimir is consistent, the only reason he wasnt exposed is because the plot decided he wouldn't be, sol should've called in a sith, vernestra blamed it all on sol, and to even destroy that point completely vernestra knows hes a sith and the one who actually committed the murders so his second goal wasnt even achieved, and he clearly didnt care when he told sol he was a sith
As someone who reacted to and enjoyed the show quite a bit, I have to say that I really appreciate this video and how you made your points here. I love the fact that you are really thoughtful in your points and really try to be constructive in your criticism. I also appreciate seeing so many differing opinions in the comments but no one out to mock or attack those with a different opinion. Stuff like this gives me hope for the Star Wars fandom. P.S. I personally feel like that if there were 2-3 more episodes with 15-20 minutes added to each episode a lot of the issues I've had with the show could have been fixed. I feel like they had too much story for just 8 episodes that didn't seem to run past 35 minutes (if you take out credits and recaps)
My interpretation was that Osha is very selfish, such as that she does not want to share everything with her sister or even do the same things. I agree that it would have been preferable to have seen her overwhelming feelings early on. Mae on the other hand is looking for belonging to something, which motivates her to be part of the coven, but also to try doing the same things as her sister. She would not make a good sith.
I like how unlike everyone else, you bring up some valid criticisms and even bring up examples that could have improved the story. I may not have enjoyed the series, but I agree with the main problems about the main cast. Although in my opinion, The Bad Batch is a fantastic example on how to do a Star Wars show
Agreed. The Last Jedi when considered as themes and plot points is pretty good. In execution, it's pretty lucky But TLJ seems like Shakespeare compared to Acolyte. The longest string of nonsense decisions, plot contrivences, and character 180s ive ever seen. I don't even really hate any of it, but it's so incredibly clumsy and mediocre
@@the_inquisitive_inquisitor I doubt Disney is winging it. KK is probably more at fault than the other Bob. I forget which one is in charge of the whole of Disney. It almost feels like they just let her go without regulation (Kennedy or KK as I abbreviated earlier).
@@the_inquisitive_inquisitor I am NOT saying you a totally wrong, just putting the blame on both parties. Kennedy needs to be monitored or Disney will continue to fail Star Wars. They need to hire competent writers, actors and directors and not go for the one who has 0 movie or TV show credentials (Look it up, Acolyte was Headlands first ever project)
@@darkstarplays6315 My brother in Christ, they let Ryan Johnson do _whatever he wanted_ and JJ Abrams had to figure out how to pick up the pieces. You can't convince me KK had a plan
5:49 I'm so glad you brought up the force awakens because yes it does a much better job of conveying information to the audience. Rule number one show don't tell 👍
My opinions on this channel is mixed. First and foremost i enjoy it because you teach good story telling and do not majorly care about anything else. Secondly i sometimes look past storytelling while experiencing it, especially for the first time, and seeing something like this just makes me a bit sad because it makes something that i originally saw as fine or good look worse. Third and finally i am once again thankful because it makes me more strict about what i watch and use storytelling basis above cool explosions and fight scenes.
I really enjoyed hearing your thoughts. Personally, I think that the morality of the show was the biggest issue. I see what they were going for, but it was not executed well in any way.
The lore reason on why the virgin birth is controversial is because not even the Sith could pull it off, and the Sith are the literal definition of op as they use the force to the extent of it deteriorating their body, establishing the rule of two, and by George Lucas words it’s a cheat code that amps your power. So if we want to give the space witches the benefit of the doubt here and make them likable and their philosophy on “The Thread” true, it doesn’t compute on how they created them.
I’ve been waiting for your take on this! Valid criticisms and I agree with your takes! Thanks for providing a fair and balanced review, we need more of that in the community
My issue with the Jecki Qimir fight is that a Padawan is holding her own against an experienced Sith. Earlier in the episode they show Jecki in a Padawan light saber training class using a stick to practice. Makes it seem like she is still a beginner with a light saber, so there is a big contradiction. Could have been easily solved by changing the class earlier in the episode. Instead show Jecki in a light saber training/sparring using real light saber with Jedi Knights. Then when she leaves class to talk with Osha, have a line where Osha is impressed at Jecki's advanced light saber skills and Jecki can respond that it comes very naturally to her and Sol moved her from training with other Padawans to training against Knights in order to keep improving her skills. Then Jecki being good in the light saber fight against Qimir makes sense.
I don’t even understand why they’re using sticks on Coruscant like we didn’t see younglings also use lightsabers. Also, every knight or master got murked, but somehow Jecki suddenly out of nowhere after struggling with Mae could stand up against qimir
@@champ7139The sticks really took me out of the episode a bit. This is the Jedi Temple on Coruscant, not Yoda's hut on Dagobah! Couldn't they have used Training Sabers?
I mean, stick training honestly makes more sense than giving lethal weapons to kids imo. Also we all forgot Obi-Wan was a Padawan when he defeated Maul?
@@chefkochkawasaki4127 That's why there are training sabers. We see the Younglings train with them in Episode 2 and even the Sith had something like that-only that their training weapons delivered painful shocks. So, why downgrade to sticks?
Disney Star Wars was on point when they still pretended the Prequels didn't exist. Now we're stuck in this paradox where the things fans who maintain an online presence (20-35 yr olds) lash out at-poor dialogue, weak acting, plot holes, strange execution decisions, contradictions in lore, etc-are equal to the Star Wars they put a pedestal.
Hate is a strong word. Critical? Yes. Not any moreso than the subtext of the prequels/clone wars or The Last Jedi. I see episode 7 of The Acolyte as highly humanizing of the Jedi; everyone really is acting from best intentions and it falls apart anyway.
I really wish this show was a Game of Thrones or Succession-style political drama where the Jedi Order is struggling to preserve the peace while dealing with a new non-force related enemy faction, the demands serving of the Galatic Senate, trying to adhere to their increasingly outdated doctrine; and in the end, the Jedi lose. They can't do everything and are forced to compromise in a way that leaves them vulnerable in the future. Meanwhile, in the shadows, it turns out the Sith are there laughing at the Jedi as they planned this whole situation to slowly pave the way for the Prequels and the rise of the Empire under Palpatine/Sidious.
30:26 NEVER diss the Obi-Ani spin ever again. they're basically trying to bait the other into attacking which would leave them open, its like a game of chicken because they're both so cautious about the other's skill.
Channels like this can only make bad faith criticism of what Lucas made in order to justify praising the Disney era. You'll never get a channel like this to admit Disney era duels happen in the dark, in boring locations between disposable characters. They aren't capable of distinguishing between imaginative and inventive scenes from the generic fan fiction they are given now. It's hopeless. It's like Nick Gillard said, they just resort to copying existing real world martial arts, which makes it look obvious.
Yeah it can be spun in both ways, one the choreography hit the crapper on that scene, or two it’s one of those instances where two professionals have a stalemate and played the same move
Yeah idk, that explanation sounds a lot like the "force kick" thing in Return of the Jedi... Like Revenge of the Sith is my favorite SW movie, but I can admit it has problems
lol nope. Imagine doing insane mental gymnastics to defend a silly 2 second choreography. the TRUTH is they thought it looked cool but the spin lasted a little too long so people chuckled at it. that's all. it's not a disaster but it's also defo not some deep bit of storytelling lol
@@RedCaio The trilogy shows us that Obi-Wan trained Anakin and they fought alongside each other, so know each other's tactics. TPM established that Jedi have a degree of precognition that seems like lightning instincts. Any attack leaves the attacker vulnerable to a counter. How is that "insane mental gymnastics"? "The TRUTH is..." Show me a quote from Lucas or Gillard, where they say there's no reason for it. Nobody claimed this "deep storytelling", but that it *makes sense* that two opponents that know each other's moves would try to bait each other. Any time you hear someone tell you, "the TRUTH is" they are feeding you their own narrative, dude. Don't fall for that and don't use that kind of phrasing or mindset. It's DUMB.
I noticed how the flashback episodes are pretty removed from the show in general, and they can be basically be watched at any point of the show and it doesn't change much. With that in mind, would you watch the show in the order they put it or would you change that order and watch it differently?
I think it's more that it now completely retcons Darth Plagueis the one almost universally agreed upon Legends story to be damn near perfect, both in its content and interpretation of the force.
For me it was when Jecki died. :p It told me that this show doesn't really care about having a cast.. there's a TINY handful of mains.. and everyone else is cannon fodder.
The Acolyte suffered from the same issues as the rest of Disney Star Wars projects: BAD WRITING. With the exception of Andor, every piece of content has been poorly written, and riddled with plot armor, contrivances, and absurdities that require an astonishing suspension of reality to make even a bit of sense. The studio can blame the fans, the patriarchy, racism, white oppression, and men, all they want. It doesn't change the fact that the writing is the actual culprit.
I actually enjoyed this show. Sol and Qimir carried hard though. Lot of weird writing and the flashback episodes weren’t great. But the real problem with the show is that Osha just wasn’t a very interesting main character
Weren't the witches squatting on that abandoned mine? I believe it was mentioned that they only recently arrived there and no witch was ever shown mining. If an authority figure like the Jedi breaks in to that facility, do they need permission from them?
22:00 I remember reading Trent Reznor saying much the same thing about song-writing: that he'd often have a favourite riff or part of a song that he was working on, but when he listened back to the song to figure out why it wasn't working a whole, it was often that favourite part that he'd have to cut out to make the song work.
If the fire in space had just been a background visual then I would agree that pointing it out is a nitpick. However, it was a drawn out scene with a close-up shot of the fire. They WANTED the audience to look at it.
A note on the witches interpretation of the force. The High Republic era books deal in this, and I really like to hear how it can vary from person to person, group to group. Jedi interpret their connection with the force differently from one another. One hears a symphony, while another feels the ocean’s tide. There’s a group that believes the force should not be used, and for every “take” or use of the force, there will be a consequential “take back” from that force used. The force provides, but should not be taken. So the thread interpretation is a welcome one, because it further solidifies that the force is an enigma that no one can really explain. Two people can feel the force in different ways, and that’s okay.
That "everyone feels the force individually" thing is even older. While I can't definitely say it didn't exist before then, the first Coruscant Nights book (from 2008) has this as well and the book trilogy states it repeatedly. Specifically, the arguable main protagonist, Jax Pavan, experiences it as bands of light connecting everything, and tugging them causes different outcomes depending on where they are attached (eg tugging on a band leading to an item has it fly around).
I love how whenever anyone tries to make fun of prequel fighting they use the one and only clip, where it could be explained as them thinking about going for an attack, seeing obi wan do a similar move so he knows he's ready to block it, that situation can at least be explained as 2 swordsman squaring each other up meanwhile the acolyte is just bad fighting
30:26 it actually is When i and my friend are sword fighting sometimes it happens that even we have so good changes to strike each other, we completly miss each other multiple times Once it took us whole minute to clash our sabers against each other and it was hella akward
The fight in episode 5 wasn't bad regarding choreography but because of what came before it, there was no emotional connection. The nameless extras are normal but when Jackie and Yord were killed, many people actually cheered for Qimir.
I've seen and heard people view the yord neck snap as a joke. That was clearly not the writers', nor Headland's, intentions. That means you have bad writing and/or bad editing and directing if people are misunderstanding your intentions.
Can someone explain to me how anyone can do a review that isn't "biased" in some way? I have no idea how that would work. It seems accusations of "bias" are made when someone disagrees with the reviewer and they're too lazy to explain why.
You're thinking too hard on what the writers wanted in episode 4 and May's backtracking on killing the jedi. They wanted a reason the sith master had to kill her, that's basically it. They wanted to have a cool fight in episode 5 but didn't know how to get there. It's basically the whole show, they have these ideas they want; Sith, twins, jedi bad, and then try to focus the story to be that. If you listen to Headlands interviews a lot of her story beats are things from what she admires in her life, and she wanted them all in the show, but it's evident she didn't know how to follow through. So things like episode 5 happens is why episode 4 was the way it is. So episode 5 doesn't mean anything to me, because the setup for it is just lame, the characters are lame, the story is lame, the reason the sith master is there is lame. You reveal yourself, and then say you want to do what you want in peace. May had no idea what or who you were, you could of just left it as is. It's just so stupid.
You said the jedi say people can't use the dark side, and that's false, the premise of this show is based on false facts. The Nightsisters, they use the dark side, the Jedi leave them alone! Back in the clone wars, they go to their plant and don't have any problems with them directly. The Jedi don't say who can't use what side of any force, the Jedi have a problem with the Sith and people murdering others or controllers others with their power. The show constantly wants you to believe this by making the jedi make stupid decisions in the show, but that's not what Jedi have been like in the whole of the other shows/moives.
41:53 Here is the problem with the Jedi are too corrupt for the Acolyte argument. First, the Acolyte take place during the LAST years of the High Republic, meaning that this era of Star Wars is coming to a close. Second, if you want The Acolyte to plant the seeds of the Jedi downfall then you should expect the Jedi to do something that morally questionable or even wrong. Unless you think the Jedi became corrupt by an accident then we need to see them make questionable choices in order for their downfall to make sense.
The crazy thing is, KK is probably undervthe delusion that a male lead show would get better ratings but that she's fighting the good fight by sticking with female lead shows. She's a martyr. But I totally diagree... male lead shows by her team will crash and burn spectacularly.
27:12 No, Osha being alive is NOT the only reason Mae betrayed Qimir, it also because she got tired of pointless tasks where she was to kill a Jedi WITHOUT A WEAPON (which may think is impossible). That is why she decides to take her chances with Jedi and reunite with her sister. But when the Sith lord makes to the wookie Jedi before she does, her plan to turn herself in is undermine. I really believe this is all there if you are paying attention.
My problem with Osha's character is the same as Jyn Erso from Rogue One. She is a passive character who didn’t make any active decisions, only makes minor decisions throughout the show. I have a few issues with The Acolyte, but overall, it's just fine. But hey, it's good to see Darth Plageius at the end of the show. It's awesome to see him as a brief cameo.
In the TV show "The X-Files", most episodes began with the entire mystery being revealed to the audience, followed by the main characters puzzling through it.
19:59 I belive the issue is not a virgin birth, but the fact that they were born because of a vergence in the force, ie created by the force. Which of if I recall correctly was what happened with anakin, specially plague created him. Now this show says that plagus the wise did not create ability, like it said in Legends (I belive). Therefore braking the cannon.
You’re right, the writing is not the biggest problem with the show, it’s the fact that Leslie Hedlan wholeheartedly believes the narrative of her show… and her arrogance and ego shows through her interviews, which somehow makes a horrendous show even worse
Leslye Headland has a profoundly skewed sense of morality. She thinks Qimir's reason for murdering the Jedi was valid and that Osha murdering Sol was a good thing.
Episode 3's lore issue was the twins creation aspect. None of the rest is a non-issue. As for the lore issue it is relatively minor. It was more a EU book (to my knowledge) that inferred that Anikin came about due to Sidious attempting to do something else. My biggest problem with episode 3 is Osha's motivation to join the jedi (inspite of the total lack of context for her to join, and the covens confrontational attitude towards the jedi in general). And the stone and steel fortress catching fire the way it did. This show has a fire problem.
The force itself created him to spite plagueis and palps for trying to create life. 2 of the strongest recent sith couldn't do it, but these random witches no one has ever heard of could?
41:32 I disagree with that, since The Jedi Concil spends most of the prequels and the Clone Wars cover up stuff. - Qui Gonn told that he meet a Sith - the Jedis dismissed, saying that "it's impossible" and that they will do more investigation (which they didn't, they just send Qui Gonn and Obi Wan to face Maul). - Obi Wan told them that Darth Sidious is controlling the Senate - The Jedis told him to not trust Dooku and didn't bother to investigate or do anything about it. It gets worse during the Clone Wars, when they found more evidence about Sidious manipulations and still decide to be quiet and wait until the war is over. - Ashoka is framed for a crime she didn't commit - Only Anakin tries to prove her innocence while the Jedi pretty much just kicked her out of the order and send her to be judge by Palpatine (basically trying to disassociate themselves from Ashoka). When she's proven innocent, all they say to her is that she proved herself instead of apologizing for they way they treat her. - Anakin told Windu that Palpatine is Sith Lord - They don't even try to come up with plan to expose Palpatine and arrest him. Instead they just go to his officer and try kill himm which not only would just damage their image in the eyes of the public (unless they were planning to cover it up) but, as Anakin pointed out: killing Palpatine would go against what the Jedis taught him, so Windu use the same "he's too powerful to let him live" execuse just comes off as hypocritical. Much like Vader "I am your father" speech works as reality shock to Luke (and the audience), that his father wasn't this saint he tought, the Jedi behavior in the prequels and Acolytes works in the same way: They were never these perfect heroic wizards with light swords. They were pridefull and ego driven warriors who cover things up bc they don't want to accept of face their own flaws (the opposite of the Sith, who let their failures define them and became this hateful villains). This reason why a character like Luke Skywalker is such a great hero is because unlike the Jedi he didn't deny his flaws. He faced his fears and insecurites and still chooses to do the right thing and belive in his own values. Instead of covering up (like the Jedis) or being define by his failures (like the Sith), Luke learned from those experiences and improved himself. As Yoda said "The greatest teacher failure is."
48:45, you say that Qimir is the best because he has 2 CONSISTENT goals: find an Acolyte and keep his identity a secret. That's bullshit, if he wanted to stay anonymous, he would have never attacked the Jedis in the forest. He is as bad as the other caracther in his goals/motivations. Also, runtime is way lower, under 30mins/episode. Credits and "Last episode recap" ain't no runtime. Lastly: episodes 3-7 were on the same set, episode 4-5 was on a mountain/forest, and 6-8 were half outside. So the budget didn't went to sets, no more than Mandolorian episode.
It breaks the lore in episode 3 because they created life... the reason anikan was created by the force was in retaliation from plagues attempting to do this. The force literally gave plaguis the middle finger and created a being to destroy him and bring balance, just for trying it. So to say these random witches were able to defy the force beyond plaguis means a lot in the lore and makes zero sense. Even they acknowledge that the power they use is considered dark. And therefore makes no sense that the force would allow the creation of life for one group and not another. Plaguis' knowledge of the force and science was unmatched in starwars lore and even he failed. So yes, its frustrating to see these girls in a virgin birth, because it vastly undermines why Anikan's conception was important and unheard of til that point.
As far as the point of this being the high republic and expecting the Jedi to not be corrupt and arrogant, acolyte is set near the end of the high republic, I feel like its point is going to be to show the end of the high republic and how that era ended
What is with disney's fetish with depicting Jedi as failures? Even Luke's order, failed. The Acolyte Jedi, failures. George Lucas himself admitted the Jedi are a force for GOOD. The prequels were an anomaly in their history.
I agree Osha and Mae needed more work, but overall the show wasn't bad, I had fun. I 100% agree that the D+ format is hindering Star Wars shows big time.
And even as a prequel fan, I did like the lightsaber fights in episode 5 in fact I dare say there’s some of the best lightsabers fights since the prequels beat the ever loving hell out of the fights in the sequels
Lol!!!!! Anyone else feeling a bit nostalgic? Clone Wars, Phantom Menace, Attack of the Clones, Revenge of the Sith... Same ****ing comments. I KNOW that simply enjoying anything is bad these days, but geez! At least get a little original people.
@@thegoldman25 i actually agree that this show is not as good as The Mandalorian, but even then, some of the commentary said it was trash, lacked depth and would never succeed. I guess all the people who enjoyed THAT are just as dumb as anyone who DARED to enjoy ANYTHING that random posters on the internet hate. PS: I don't want to know you politics, so PLEASE stop shoving them down my throat. (All sides)
But to answer your clear question, minus the woke/anti-woke BS, everyone is making the same comments as I saw for the original Clone Wars. Omg it sure sux! This is destroying my childhood! Lucas has lost his mind! Star Wars is doomed! And now? Well, who cares? Spout more hatred to make yourself feel better
The chosen one prophecy makes sense from the side of the jedi. He was made to literally spite the sith, so the jedi interpreting in as hes our savior kind of makes sense. They were just halfway right
George said that Anakin brings balance by destroying the Sith, but never once mentioned attacking the Jedi was part of achieving that balance. So it looks like Anakin simply moved off-track before coming back to his senses and fulfilling his destiny.
Why it failed: Because Leslie Headland is one of those people who hates George Lucas to a point she thinks she can manage the franchise better than him only to find that the opposite is true Its akin to JJ Abrams
Haven’t seen the video yet but to me this show relies on the audience being invested in the twins both as individuals but also we need to care about their bond and the reason the show feels so mediocre, so bland and so lifeless is because they utterly failed to make the twins interesting or compelling. Their bond is barely explored, in the entire season we get ONE episode (before the very end) where we see them as sisters interacting with each other, it’s insane how little screen time was dedicated to their connection as sisters. As individuals it might actually be worse, we know next to nothing about them as people. Osha basically has no character traits and we never really find out what her motivations are. Mae at first is motivated by wanting to kill the Jedi but she abandons that by episode 5 and spends the rest of the season changing from wanting to be with Osha, to abandoning an unconscious Osha…. She wants to turn herself into the Jedi to then fighting the Jedi…. She wants to kill the Jedi, to not wanting to and then she wants to again so she disguises herself as Osha… by the end I don’t know what she is doing or why. The interesting characters were Sol and Qimir and if we hit more about them it would’ve been good. Ultimately it’s just a very mediocre show, it’s not awful but it’s not good at all
My theory is that this show was actually hush money for headland and her wife. Because why else would her wife be a main character in the show. She has little to no acting experience.... like it's very clear this show was never meant to be good, it was meant to service somebody and shut her up about previous history
37:33 going out on a limb here. I’m guessing when she spoke with Osha, Mae could see she’d get nowhere with her sister without a confession from Sol. So that’s why she left her to go see for herself what their dynamic was? I don’t know. At this point, I wish there were books to read to get a better insight of what’s going on
talking about the bit where you were unsure if practicing dark side arts is illegal or not, and if the dark side is evil or not; while the emotions that can lead you to the dark side are not inherently evil (at least most of them) the dark side IS... it is a subversion of the natural order and unbalances the force, it's not simply a "2 face of the same medal" situation, contrary to popular beliefs of them being unequivocally connected, it's a much more black and white case, so there are plenty of reasons for the jedi or anyone to be suspicious of dark side users, sith or not they are abusing the Force. Even the Father, who was no Jedi at all, calls the Dark Side a corruption and a temptation when talking about the Son in the Clone Wars S3, that means Dark Side is bad even from a non jedi and non mortal standpoint. the idea of making them equally powerful and equally righteus is an unicum in this series, and many did not appreciate that (even people who like Siths and Dark Side, as myself, agree on the fact that Dark Siders ARE evil, by choice... and evil in Lucas mind meant selfishness and all the actions that selfishness makes you do)
@@garbotoxins840 still to this day, Rey being palpatine's granddaughter is one of the dumbest decisions ever made. Along with him returning. Kylo should've been the main villain from the beginning. It's so frustrating that JJ changed Rey from being a nobody to a palpatine.
I didn't wanna see this show at first cuz I heard how bad it was But curiosity got the better of me And man... it's like they wrote the story per episode. As in, they didn't have any clue how to reach the end goal and just winged it. Yord telling Osha's backstory how her family and specifically her SISTER was killed yet later saying he didn't know she had a twin sister Osha surviving a literal fall from orbit in a spaceship Osha running away from the Jedi after saying on the spaceship "I trust the Jedi"? like? hello? Aniseya transforming into a smoke monster but then when she's stabbed saying "I would've let her go" Qimir murders all of the Jedi, even Jecki who Osha clearly liked on a more personal level, yet she goes with him like nothing happened just cuz she saw his personal lightsaber Mae literally telling Osha that she'll kill her to prevent her from leaving but then later they're trying to portray her burning the place down as an "accident" even though she does nothing to try and help her sister regardless I could go on There are SO many plotholes, plot contrivances, character issues etc in this show that I genuinely wonder if actual people wrote this
Most of the episodes had contrasting names…this/that. The 2 exceptions were the flashbacks & final episode. I think if they kept the flashback at episode 3 but showed both sides (20 minutes each) things would have worked. That way we could have watched what happened from both points of view and chose a side to “cheer” for.
I love witches in star wars, but the Nightsisters are just way better than this random tribe. The things they say are just annoying the actions they make and the setup it's just not it for me.
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The acolyte would be 100x better if Osha and Mae were just removed entirely. Sol and Qimir should’ve been the leads and vernestra needed a larger role. A Jedi murder mystery sounds so cool, but instead we just got a sibling break up story that portrays the Jedi as the real villains (Again 🙄)
I absolutely agree. Sop and Qimir carried the series.
Mae/Osha have no substance or real contribution to the plot line. It nearly caused me physical pain watching their scenes.
I don’t know, I haven’t watched the show but I think the way he pivoted the story and the two characters meant that they couldn’t had a more impactful narrative and overall characterization
@@ja_jangmyeon7131without the forced entry of the twins made from the force into the story, this show could have been about a Jedi apprentice who went rouge and turned to the dark side. (Qimir). There’s way more interesting narratives that can be sculpted from this concept alone rather than all the nonsense about witches and force kids who were one entity split in two somehow in the middle of a murder mystery. There’s too much the show throws at you with zero explanation at all to who to root for and why. These aren’t the witches of Dathomir so we don’t know them, the twins aren’t made the same way as Anakin so we don’t really understand how that’s possible. Heck we’ve never seen a creature being split into separate beings before so another thing to explain, and why is Mae killing Jedi when she doesn’t look like she even has emotions let alone the fact that she flip flops on if she wants to kill the Jedi or not.
I don't like how the main character literally watches Qimir murder all of her friends, but then goes "oh its okay that he did that, because he's HOT!" And then its portrayed as triumphant that they get together at the end... Like _excuse me?_ It really says a LOT about the writers of this show.
I really don’t care about the whole objectification debate. But they really try their hardest to make the bad guy hot.
The “gayest Star Wars story ever” everybody! This is the straightest, most milquetoast, wattpat fanfic story I have ever heard…
@@terraventusaqua123 worst of all they killed the lesbian love interest and said it would have just been one sided, that he can go 'deeper' than she can??? Ladies and gentlemen the writers blatant fetish.
I agree. I would say, If they want to have them fall in love, fine but you need to add many more supporting scenes and time to for the transition. You can't just have her see his junk and instantly be in love. That's just ridiculous.
I think the audience is more attracted to Qimir than Osha ever was. She never once seemed swayed by his presence. She repeatedly rejects his offers and only goes with him in the very end after she taps into her dark side energy. I think headland assumed we’d ship them bc theyre attractive but the writing/acting never shows any chemistry between them. I actually thought Osha and Jecki were flirting a few times!
Part of the (broader) issue of "Is it right / legal to use the Dark Side?" is that Star Wars and The Force is a binary, all-or-nothing universe.
Thus it's not whether it's "right" to use the Dark Side... but that using the Dark Side will inevitably corrupt the user. Setting aside KOTOR because video game power fantasies, the Dark Side is an allegory for addiction and evil, and thinking you have control over it is exactly how someone goes from fine to killing their entire family, several thousand people, and destroying themselves.
Disney's tossed it out in favor of some sort of Yin-Yang theology and "maybe the Sith are the good guys and maybe we need a little bit of Dark Side" but it doesn't quite stick because the Sith are mass murderers and the Dark Side as corruption is so deeply ingrained into the fabric of Star Wars the franchise.
I don't think this series had bad ideas... but it's the wrong universe to tell a story of "moral grey human flaws" made all the worse by the protagonist choosing to befriend and fall for a cold-blooded murderer and this be a triumph of her "taking back agency," especially after witnessing said murderer kill her supposed friends just 24 hours earlier.
It's a bit like with the Ring of Sauron: It doesn't matter if you have the best intentions, eventually, this power WILL corrupt you.
"The point of these witches narratively is that they use the dark side - but does that make them evil? Is it illegal for someone to use the Dark Side of the Force?"
I genuinely don't know how anyone can answer that with anything other than "yes, it absolutely does."
I empathise with the argument about other cultures seeming strange & unusual, but there comes a point where moral relativism leads to apologia for clear harm. In Star Wars, use of the Dark Side is *always* viewed as morally wrong, even (in fact, especially) when it's something like Luke using force choke in Return of the Jedi. It isn't a matter of different cultural values, the Dark Side is demonstrably dangerous, corrupting, & destructive to life itself.
The thing is, Star Wars already was very Taoist, with an in-built Yin-Yang philosophy - but it wasn't "Light Side (a term never actually used in the films) is Yin, Dark Side is Yang." This is the big misconception, especially regarding Anakin "bringing balance to the force." The Force has Yin & Yang aspects, and that there can be imbalance within them, which is how the Jedi failed in the Prequel Era. The Dark Side is neither Yin nor Yang, but Chaos - it actively works against life and balance.
The ancient Je'daii order of Tython used Ashla and Bogan in balance. Never to one too extreme. The Dawn of the Jedi comics provides this aspect in Star Wars Legends. That order lasted around 11,000 years before the Force Wars of Tython. That's a pretty good record if you take into account all 4 of the schisms that happened afterwards in the EU timeline, and how far apart they were. Though you could argue the point of how long of a time between the 1st Great Schism and 2nd Great Schism lasted even longer. At that point, the reformed Jedi order was all about using just the light side of the force at that time. So you do see examples of dual aspects in Legends that have worked before.
Star Wars can be morally grey if it does involve the force. Just look at Andor.
My biggest pet peeve with this show is we've already seen how the Jedi have failed MULTIPLE times. I want to see a story were the Jedi are the heroes
I'm with you completely
It would be nice to see the jedi actually be the keepers of the peace in a successful way. Feels like everything is just reinforcing the jedi will always faill narrative. Yes the jedi will always fail. Thats part of the light and dark cycle but damn it would be nice to see them win as heroes
@@thegoldman25 I agree! I'd love to see a show where we actually get some heroic jedi!
I want to see the Actual RISE and Creation of the Jedi in a Trilogy....why don't we have that???
The first movie would be how the first group of force sensitive "masters" came together.
The second movie would be a schism between them that creates the Sith.
The last movie would be the establishing of the Temple on Coruscant.
I mean, we got that in the Clone Wars. Sure, the Jedi weren’t perfect, but they were still the good guys (Especially compared to most of the Separatists *Cough* Viceroy Gunray *Cough* )
Just watch the pitch meeting: "Without misunderstanding there would be no plot"
Was it funny
@@thegoldman25 yes, it felt good. It was just honest and objective about how lazy the show was written.
That was honestly it's biggest downfall. I didn't hate most of the show, I found it mediocre but enjoyable. The fights were really well done. But all of the emotional impact rested on what happended 16 years ago and it turned out that it was mostly just a big miscommunication. And even then, so much didn't make sense. Why was Sol so fascinated by Osha? Why did the head witch suddendly turn into a smoke monster? What was the Ascension? A whole complex made mostly out of stone burned down from one lamp? Was the Padawans motivation for defying his masters really just "I want to go home"? Nothing added up.
@@theomnitorium7476that was very concise. You hit the whole nail on the head . Well said
@@theomnitorium7476 The obsession Sol had with Osha was creepy. When the master told the cover story at the end to blame him falsely, I was not sure what was true. Was Sol the villain? Nothing made sense!
For the bit on Virgin birth in the lore its literally one of the hardest things that anyone can do. Not even Plaguis and Palpatine could manipulate the force to create life. So the idea that some random witches are almost gods of the force yet get stomped by a couple of Jedi is frustrating
literally i don't think most people understand this at all
And remember Plagueis was so strong in the darkside his mere presence fucked up the weather on Naboo.
Yeah it’s not so much about the chosen one prophecy which I strongly disagree with his take on, it’s the the force itself literally created Anakin in response to plagueis fucking around
I liked this video, but that whole bit about him saying that was "lore friendly" for some random witches to do was hard to listen to.
Yeah, i think He just made this for the views
I like how said the biggest problem with the acolyte is not the writing and then proceed to explain why the writing sucks.
The writing does suck, but it’s not the biggest problem imo
It’s a clusterf*ck of everything hitting the fan
@@thegoldman25 mine was no dark side user ever gets dark side eyes
It's been established when you make a kyber crystal bleed that happens
Yet it never happens in any live action shows or movies other than the Inquisitors
It's been established the Sith don't own the dark side and we've seen non sith with dark side eyes throughout the cartoons like Savage Oppress, Maul, and the night sisters
And Darth Plagueis just let Qmir and Mae/Osha go? He would of killed them both
@@thegoldman25objectively it's the biggest problem
@@thegoldman25the writing is the reason behind all the other problems
The streaming system is becoming a problem for the entertainment industry as everyone wants to do a live action show. Some shows don't work with this formula. Kenobi was supposed to be a movie like Rogue One, and Ahsoka was clearly intended to be an animated series like its predecessor, Rebels. People need to understand that they don't need everything to be a live action series.
Lol, there is no way Acolyte would have worked as a cartoon, or garnered nearly as much attention as it did. I mean the romance stuff alone.. we would have lost so much if it was a cartoon.
What's the point of catering to the kind of fans who hate everything star wars no matter what anyway? You can't please them, the franchise moved on. Meanwhile on all my social media timeline I can see a lot of genuine excitement about Acolyte, a lot of new fans being brought in
@@tiffanyy6376 What gives you the idea that romance can't be done in a cartoon?
Someone else saw that with Ashoka! My own feelings about Filloni aside.. his strength in animation. Every time he does something love action can tell someone is off. He should such to animation.
It's not a problem. It's just the evolution of entertainment and how we consume said entertainment.
Kenobi would have never worked as a movie. A show was the best easy to tell his story. Just so happened that Kathy and her cuck Filloni didn't give a damn about his character and wanted to use that show to make a huge focus about Reva.. a character fans didn't then and still don't now care about.
The reason this show failed its because theyre making content for lil kids and theyre trying to pander to young girls but theres not a lot of lil girls watching star wars
Nice analysis, though I would say that Sol was quite 'justified' in killing Mama Witch. For starters, we don't actually know that the witches didn't mean to harm the children. In one scene Sol views the mother pushing both children to the floor. By most evaluations by our modern society this would be considered child abuse. And there is the fact that we allow law enforcement today to take children away from their parents for such acts, so it is a bit odd to criticize something that we ourselves view as a necessary thing in our own culture. Then there is Mae's statement that they there is supposed to be a sacrifice of some kind. This may or may not be anything of sinister intent but it at least bears investigating. And we don't actually know what the end of that ritual entails. For all we know it could have been an actual human sacrifice of some kind. But more than all that, in both confrontations with the witches, it is the witches themselves who attack first. First when they mind control Torbin without any real provocation, an act itself which would justify killing her. Like this needs to be stated clearly, this is not a small infraction. She usurps his free will and takes control of his body to do what she pleases with it. In the real world this is called r***, most people consider it one of the worst and most evil actions any person can take! Then later it is Koril who draws her weapon first. Again it is the witches that are the aggressors not the Jedi. So when Aniseya goes force demon and starts to disintegrate Mae there is really no reason for Sol, and for the Audience, NOT to think her life was in danger. Hell the show never even really confirms that Aniseya WASNT trying kill her. You can assume that because the mothers supposedly care for them kids they wouldn't actually do that, but the witches have shown themselves to be irrational and violent. And real people have certainly harmed people they claim to love and care about too. So we just don't know, and the show doesn't tell us, but from all the evidence it is certainly not outside the realm of possibility she was actually was trying to kill Mae. And in the context of the situation, I think Sol actions where not only understandable, but entirely justified. At least for that very specific moment. Afterward he gets real dumb about so many things.
Headland confirmed the head witch was trying to “Be one with the force” with Mae during the smoke demon scene, and being one with force means dying so it was either Sol does something or galaxy headlines is about to report of a mother killing her own child
@@def3ndr887 Yeah nothing the Witches did looked... sane or safe.
I do want to point out something about episode 5. People say that the action is great. I would say that the fight scenes are fantastic, but that the action as a whole is not good. The continuity of the action is baffling.
Go back and watch with this in mind, and you'll see what I mean. Sol is completely absent from the fight for several minutes with no explanation. The stranger randomly sees osha and tries to kill her, even though he easily could have done so minutes earlier. Mae makes no effort to leave the house until well after the action has moved away. When she does, Jekki is suddenly there for no real reason.
IDK. I get why people like this episode, but to me it just illustrates a consistent issue with the show. The plot drives the characters instead of the characters driving the plot.
you make some good points
@@thegoldman25 I loved your analysis. The biggest problems with this show weren't the lore, or wokeness, or even the uneven acting performances. It was just that the main characters didn't seem to have clear reasons for their actions. The concept is so good but the execution was not.
I think if they had made Osha a person with clear anger issues who happens to want to be a jedi and Mae a calmer person with an extremely strong sense of justice who is sickened by the jedi and ends up with qmir because he's the only one who is offering a chance at justice it would make more sense
@@thegoldman25 see, I'm not gonna go on a bender trying to critique the specifics of blow by blow bad choreography... no... my big issue... is that Qimir using Cortosis to knock out lightsabers... ISN'T used as a gimmick to KILL those Jedi.... it's just a stalling tactic while he kills them a more conventional way.... then in Ep 8 Qimir ditches the gauntlet, and doesn't even use the Helmet in combat vs Sol.... like what?
Also the logic of Jecki having 2 Lightsabers... it'd have been better if the dual saber fight between Jecki and Qimir had Jecki using them separately so that if Qimir shut off one with the gauntlet... she had another. Instead she attacks with them as if they're a single weapon. And dies because Qimir blocked both in a single action.
Yes, I get that they're writing the scene for her to die, but... it didn't feel good to end that way.
Yeah, this whole show seems to revolve around the writers thinking 'it would be great if X happens' but they didn't bother to set things up properly with character's randomly completely changing their personality/motivation scene to scene with no reason just so they can get to scene X .
Same thing applies to the whole plot, everyone acts like a complete idiot, because otherwise nothing would make any sense, but there have to be better ways of telling a story than just 'things happen because everyone has rocks in their head''!
Also Star Wars is very heavily based about good and evil, this series seems to want to say being evil is fine, which it just isn't.
@@paulelephant9521 I think the issue is that the finished TV show... cobbled together scenes filmed from 2 or more different script incarnations. they rewrote stuff and refilmed so many times that it lost coherency.
Hey Goldman, I don’t usually comment on UA-cam but this video is awesome. These are genuine criticisms of The Acolyte and Disney Star Wars that aren’t just unfair nitpicks, manipulation of fans for viewership, or attacking the people involved with Star Wars. Its a breath of fresh air to see someone highlight REAL problems with this show that actually matter and offer solutions rather than “fire in space = this show is the worst (even if we see fire in space in Star Wars all the time).”
If more people in the fanbase watched your stuff, we could see actual improvement in the franchise we love. Keep it up!!!
I appreciate this, thank you so much!
The principal mistake you make in analysing episode 7 is saying that the Jedi are controlling those who use The Force or not. The opening text in episode 1 alludes to this but the actuality is not so.
A very very important point to note is in Episode 7 when Indara reports to the Jedi Council. The Council tells the for Jedi to
1. LEAVE THE WITCHES ALONE
2. LEAVE THE CHILDREN WITH THE WITCHES.
3. Return to their work investigating the planet for the vergence (which Torbin got upset about being the response to the query to return home.
I think this is a very very important point which you have glossed over and which goes on to show how POORLY this show has as written. It is as if a idea is thought of but never remembered as the plot progresses
Thank you for pointing out the insane tone at the end, truly hogwild stuff to frame it as triumphant.
It makes the whole show feel like it doesn’t even know where it stands on crazy basic moral question, like “is murder wrong to do”
It was weird for me for sure
I've said this elsewhere, but the show feels schizophrenic or bipolar or something. I can't imagine that every single person was just cool with the plot/ character beats. Either they were scared to tell Headland that something was wrong and the show sucked, or they truly all were incompetent and should never be hired to work on anything again.
It was triumphant! According to Headland Osha murdering Sol was a good moment because it showed her breaking free from his "benign sexism".
I heavily agree with your point about Star Wars not being meant for television. In my opinion, I think Star Wars is truly a franchise that belongs on the big screen. Star Wars animation however is the perfect supplemental for the tv show experience which allows characters to develop over multiple seasons. But when it comes to live action, it’s best when it’s in a movie format.
True but shows like The Mandalorian worked well season 1 & 2
I just have to point out the part where you said Anakin and Obi-wan spinning their lightsabers in episode 3 was stupid was done that way because it shows how they know each other's exact moves and it's a mirror match of two "brothers" that have been by each others side for most of Anakin's life. You totally missed the whole point if you were like "it's just a big saber fight".
I don't know if stuff like this goes over his head, or he intentionally tries to find fault with Lucas' movies to justify praising what they make now.
@@Ruylopez778it’s because the only somewhat good thing about the show was the fights, and no it did not best Duel of the Fates
@@Ruylopez778 I don't know what video you watched but Gold Man was not kind to this show
@@RedCaio I'm referring to his greasy strawman and attempts to shame the fandom for not liking the sequels. Channels like continually find disingenuous claims and comparisons to downplay mid Disney content, and patronising remarks about "toxic" channels.
He meatrides the sequels and shits on the prequels any chance he gets where there both bad but the sequels are way worse by a margin
The Acolyte is so bad that something written by J.J. Abrams is used as a counterpoint example for how to have told part of the story in a way that sucked less. That's an incredible level of incompetence.
Personally, I think Abrams gets WAY too much flack for the sequel trilogy. Now, was he partially responsible for how they turned out? Possibly. However, it’s a little unfair that Abrams seems to be used as a scapegoat as opposed to merely being partially responsible. Heck, according to a friend of mine, Abrams was apparently one of the few people who had a general outline and ideas for what should happen in the sequel trilogy.
Sorry for the tangent, I’m just tired of seeing people dump on Abrams like he was the one responsible for the sequel trilogy failing.
What do you guys think about George's idea for bringing back Darth Maul and having Darth Talon as the main antagonists for the sequel trilogy? I know it wasn't his full idea, but he was entertaining it. I personally love Darth Talon as a character from the Legacy comics, so I would've liked to see a live action version of her
@@TF2Fan101I think he got too little. He damaged the whole saga trying to overwrite everything and came up for an “outline” is a lazy rip off of the originals. Death Star 3 and clone Palpatine etc
People blame Johnson for shit he did
I think he’s the worst thing that happened to the series
Very very good video. This helps me realize why people actually dislike the show, and what a lot of the flaws are.
Thanks for watching!
@@thegoldman25 You know thinking again... the REAL issue I have with how Aniseya describes the Force.... is how she STARTS by saying the Jedi are wrong. She does all of it as analogies that hinge on how the Jedi explain it. That killed my ability to see it as a genuine different perspective.
I think the Chosen One of Prophecy part of the Star Wars narrative is fun, actually.
It dictates how some of Jedi interacted with Anakin. Some have this belief that he’s a prophesied savior, which adds to their blindness in handling him. Some are skeptical of such prophesies, adding nuance to the issue. Is it real or is it fake?
The Chosen One does indeed bring balance to the force, as was said, only in an almost cruel way. He brought the Jedi Order to ruin, and then he was the one who did in Sidious at the end, destroying the Sith and their Rule of Two.
It plays a part in how he was treated, it shows the Jedi being blind their beliefs, it has a twist on it all by the end. And there’s other points to be made as well.
You missed the most important thing about Anakin being created by the Force.
The Force made Anakin in retaliation to Darth Plagueis and Darth Sideous attempting to create life themselves. It's impossible for people to create life, and the Force set the stage for them to be destroyed for their tampering. So it is a severe lore breaking issue that the witches succeeded.
That lore isn't canon
@@CRYSTAL_CUSTOMS sure it is. Disney can screw off. For all of human history, mythological/fictional canon is whatever the people accept and retell. The vast vast vast majority of people reject the Disney corporation's stories. But Star Wars stories like Plagueis will have a longer fictional legacy than Disney's copyright.
@CRYSTAL_CUSTOMS The entire argument about canon is frankly ridiculous. I don't think anyone on Earth has ever needed a company to dictate to them which telling of a story is "true". It isn't true, it's fiction. And Disney writes garbage fiction these days. They will publish their stories, their stories will die out, and the better Star Wars fiction will be retold. The fictional stories which are retold most often are canon, culturally.
I don't get why Disney can not reuse sets and props between all their live action shows to save money.
This show failed on so many levels...you can't blame just 1 tbh...
The Directing, Editing, and Score were atrocious....the pacing and decision to hold entire episodes in the past to inform the audience SUCKED any momentum the show would build up and the decisions on when to end a show and the edits are beyond perplexing.
This show felt like it was made as a Student Project with Disney Money.
The Good were the Set & Costume Designs, Fight Choreography, and the Acting (they did what they could with the material they were given)
Beyond that...WOOF.
39:30 if you use it and it looks like you’re going to erase a little girl from existence then the Jedi is more than justified to intervene, this could have been avoided if the witches just talked clearly to the Jedi, who NEVER intended to steal the girls away
I think it was Gary Owens (sp?), a UA-camr who describes Acolyte as a show for ten year olds, and thus the evaluation has to start from that perspective.
Of course with THAT in mind, then the consistency of the show and Star Wars in general would be that of the average Simpsons episode, where the plot and its effects stop at the end of 30 minutes and starts anew in another.
Thank you for your excellent analysis! I also had serious issues with the writing of this show, especially how much of a distraction the flashback episodes were. For me, the flashbacks actually went back to the wrong time. For us to get invested in Osha and her anger, we should have flashed back to the time she dropped out of the Jedi. THAT was the time when her relationship with Sol was at a crisis, when her view of him as a father figure was permanently altered, and would have informed the climax of the show so much more. But no... the show creators were too invested in their plan for the witches that they couldn't "kill their darlings."
Thank you for watching!
No way you said qimir is consistent, the only reason he wasnt exposed is because the plot decided he wouldn't be, sol should've called in a sith, vernestra blamed it all on sol, and to even destroy that point completely vernestra knows hes a sith and the one who actually committed the murders so his second goal wasnt even achieved, and he clearly didnt care when he told sol he was a sith
As someone who reacted to and enjoyed the show quite a bit, I have to say that I really appreciate this video and how you made your points here. I love the fact that you are really thoughtful in your points and really try to be constructive in your criticism. I also appreciate seeing so many differing opinions in the comments but no one out to mock or attack those with a different opinion. Stuff like this gives me hope for the Star Wars fandom.
P.S. I personally feel like that if there were 2-3 more episodes with 15-20 minutes added to each episode a lot of the issues I've had with the show could have been fixed. I feel like they had too much story for just 8 episodes that didn't seem to run past 35 minutes (if you take out credits and recaps)
My interpretation was that Osha is very selfish, such as that she does not want to share everything with her sister or even do the same things. I agree that it would have been preferable to have seen her overwhelming feelings early on. Mae on the other hand is looking for belonging to something, which motivates her to be part of the coven, but also to try doing the same things as her sister. She would not make a good sith.
Interesting perspective
There's more character development in your comment than in the whole show
I like how unlike everyone else, you bring up some valid criticisms and even bring up examples that could have improved the story. I may not have enjoyed the series, but I agree with the main problems about the main cast. Although in my opinion, The Bad Batch is a fantastic example on how to do a Star Wars show
I have always said Disney Star Wars has good ideas, just poor execution. If they can fix that, almost no one would have a problem
Agreed. The Last Jedi when considered as themes and plot points is pretty good. In execution, it's pretty lucky
But TLJ seems like Shakespeare compared to Acolyte. The longest string of nonsense decisions, plot contrivences, and character 180s ive ever seen. I don't even really hate any of it, but it's so incredibly clumsy and mediocre
Disney Star Wars had no PLAN to execute. They just winged it
@@the_inquisitive_inquisitor I doubt Disney is winging it. KK is probably more at fault than the other Bob. I forget which one is in charge of the whole of Disney. It almost feels like they just let her go without regulation (Kennedy or KK as I abbreviated earlier).
@@the_inquisitive_inquisitor I am NOT saying you a totally wrong, just putting the blame on both parties. Kennedy needs to be monitored or Disney will continue to fail Star Wars. They need to hire competent writers, actors and directors and not go for the one who has 0 movie or TV show credentials (Look it up, Acolyte was Headlands first ever project)
@@darkstarplays6315 My brother in Christ, they let Ryan Johnson do _whatever he wanted_ and JJ Abrams had to figure out how to pick up the pieces. You can't convince me KK had a plan
5:49 I'm so glad you brought up the force awakens because yes it does a much better job of conveying information to the audience.
Rule number one show don't tell 👍
My opinions on this channel is mixed. First and foremost i enjoy it because you teach good story telling and do not majorly care about anything else. Secondly i sometimes look past storytelling while experiencing it, especially for the first time, and seeing something like this just makes me a bit sad because it makes something that i originally saw as fine or good look worse. Third and finally i am once again thankful because it makes me more strict about what i watch and use storytelling basis above cool explosions and fight scenes.
I really enjoyed hearing your thoughts. Personally, I think that the morality of the show was the biggest issue. I see what they were going for, but it was not executed well in any way.
The lore reason on why the virgin birth is controversial is because not even the Sith could pull it off, and the Sith are the literal definition of op as they use the force to the extent of it deteriorating their body, establishing the rule of two, and by George Lucas words it’s a cheat code that amps your power. So if we want to give the space witches the benefit of the doubt here and make them likable and their philosophy on “The Thread” true, it doesn’t compute on how they created them.
I’ve been waiting for your take on this! Valid criticisms and I agree with your takes! Thanks for providing a fair and balanced review, we need more of that in the community
I try my best
Preach
My issue with the Jecki Qimir fight is that a Padawan is holding her own against an experienced Sith. Earlier in the episode they show Jecki in a Padawan light saber training class using a stick to practice. Makes it seem like she is still a beginner with a light saber, so there is a big contradiction. Could have been easily solved by changing the class earlier in the episode. Instead show Jecki in a light saber training/sparring using real light saber with Jedi Knights. Then when she leaves class to talk with Osha, have a line where Osha is impressed at Jecki's advanced light saber skills and Jecki can respond that it comes very naturally to her and Sol moved her from training with other Padawans to training against Knights in order to keep improving her skills. Then Jecki being good in the light saber fight against Qimir makes sense.
I don’t even understand why they’re using sticks on Coruscant like we didn’t see younglings also use lightsabers. Also, every knight or master got murked, but somehow Jecki suddenly out of nowhere after struggling with Mae could stand up against qimir
This show is full of inconsistencies.
@@champ7139The sticks really took me out of the episode a bit.
This is the Jedi Temple on Coruscant, not Yoda's hut on Dagobah! Couldn't they have used Training Sabers?
I mean, stick training honestly makes more sense than giving lethal weapons to kids imo.
Also we all forgot Obi-Wan was a Padawan when he defeated Maul?
@@chefkochkawasaki4127 That's why there are training sabers. We see the Younglings train with them in Episode 2 and even the Sith had something like that-only that their training weapons delivered painful shocks.
So, why downgrade to sticks?
Disney Star Wars was on point when they still pretended the Prequels didn't exist.
Now we're stuck in this paradox where the things fans who maintain an online presence (20-35 yr olds) lash out at-poor dialogue, weak acting, plot holes, strange execution decisions, contradictions in lore, etc-are equal to the Star Wars they put a pedestal.
Leslye H hates the jedi... "there is no good or evil... it all depends on what wide you're on"
Hate is a strong word. Critical? Yes. Not any moreso than the subtext of the prequels/clone wars or The Last Jedi. I see episode 7 of The Acolyte as highly humanizing of the Jedi; everyone really is acting from best intentions and it falls apart anyway.
@@gavinmangini120 She made them into covering up criminals. She torn down what came before on purpose... for "modern audiences"
@@gavinmangini120clone wars did it better, end of story
The main actress is really bad at acting. Barely changes her facial expressions.
I really wish this show was a Game of Thrones or Succession-style political drama where the Jedi Order is struggling to preserve the peace while dealing with a new non-force related enemy faction, the demands serving of the Galatic Senate, trying to adhere to their increasingly outdated doctrine; and in the end, the Jedi lose. They can't do everything and are forced to compromise in a way that leaves them vulnerable in the future. Meanwhile, in the shadows, it turns out the Sith are there laughing at the Jedi as they planned this whole situation to slowly pave the way for the Prequels and the rise of the Empire under Palpatine/Sidious.
By the end of the series I lost track of the difference between the Osha and Mae characters.....and no longer cared
30:26 NEVER diss the Obi-Ani spin ever again. they're basically trying to bait the other into attacking which would leave them open, its like a game of chicken because they're both so cautious about the other's skill.
Channels like this can only make bad faith criticism of what Lucas made in order to justify praising the Disney era.
You'll never get a channel like this to admit Disney era duels happen in the dark, in boring locations between disposable characters. They aren't capable of distinguishing between imaginative and inventive scenes from the generic fan fiction they are given now. It's hopeless. It's like Nick Gillard said, they just resort to copying existing real world martial arts, which makes it look obvious.
Yeah it can be spun in both ways, one the choreography hit the crapper on that scene, or two it’s one of those instances where two professionals have a stalemate and played the same move
Yeah idk, that explanation sounds a lot like the "force kick" thing in Return of the Jedi...
Like Revenge of the Sith is my favorite SW movie, but I can admit it has problems
lol nope. Imagine doing insane mental gymnastics to defend a silly 2 second choreography. the TRUTH is they thought it looked cool but the spin lasted a little too long so people chuckled at it. that's all. it's not a disaster but it's also defo not some deep bit of storytelling lol
@@RedCaio The trilogy shows us that Obi-Wan trained Anakin and they fought alongside each other, so know each other's tactics. TPM established that Jedi have a degree of precognition that seems like lightning instincts. Any attack leaves the attacker vulnerable to a counter. How is that "insane mental gymnastics"?
"The TRUTH is..."
Show me a quote from Lucas or Gillard, where they say there's no reason for it. Nobody claimed this "deep storytelling", but that it *makes sense* that two opponents that know each other's moves would try to bait each other. Any time you hear someone tell you, "the TRUTH is" they are feeding you their own narrative, dude. Don't fall for that and don't use that kind of phrasing or mindset. It's DUMB.
I noticed how the flashback episodes are pretty removed from the show in general, and they can be basically be watched at any point of the show and it doesn't change much. With that in mind, would you watch the show in the order they put it or would you change that order and watch it differently?
I think it's more that it now completely retcons Darth Plagueis the one almost universally agreed upon Legends story to be damn near perfect, both in its content and interpretation of the force.
When Sol died, so did any potential interest I would have had for a second season.
For me it was when Jecki died. :p It told me that this show doesn't really care about having a cast.. there's a TINY handful of mains.. and everyone else is cannon fodder.
Agreed. He was the only likeable hero. Can’t really do anything with your story when the only compelling character left is the main villain
@@Cybele1986 I at least somewhat liked Jecki. Not as much as Sol, but more than Osha.
It’s amazing the arrogance of the people who run Disney and the Star Wars crew….They are just absurdly confident in the disasters they create😂
The Acolyte suffered from the same issues as the rest of Disney Star Wars projects: BAD WRITING. With the exception of Andor, every piece of content has been poorly written, and riddled with plot armor, contrivances, and absurdities that require an astonishing suspension of reality to make even a bit of sense. The studio can blame the fans, the patriarchy, racism, white oppression, and men, all they want. It doesn't change the fact that the writing is the actual culprit.
Made it to 30 min and have to nope out. Best lightsaber fight in the whole franchise is clown talk lol
Bye!
I actually enjoyed this show. Sol and Qimir carried hard though. Lot of weird writing and the flashback episodes weren’t great. But the real problem with the show is that Osha just wasn’t a very interesting main character
I kinda enjoyed it too! I just don’t think it’s very good
Got the the nearest mental institution and check in
@@lilturbo2657 speak English buddy
Weren't the witches squatting on that abandoned mine? I believe it was mentioned that they only recently arrived there and no witch was ever shown mining. If an authority figure like the Jedi breaks in to that facility, do they need permission from them?
22:00 I remember reading Trent Reznor saying much the same thing about song-writing: that he'd often have a favourite riff or part of a song that he was working on, but when he listened back to the song to figure out why it wasn't working a whole, it was often that favourite part that he'd have to cut out to make the song work.
If the fire in space had just been a background visual then I would agree that pointing it out is a nitpick. However, it was a drawn out scene with a close-up shot of the fire. They WANTED the audience to look at it.
You voiced my complaints about the series. The series had a lot going for it with good ideas behind it and just wasted it all
I’m glad you liked it
A note on the witches interpretation of the force. The High Republic era books deal in this, and I really like to hear how it can vary from person to person, group to group. Jedi interpret their connection with the force differently from one another. One hears a symphony, while another feels the ocean’s tide. There’s a group that believes the force should not be used, and for every “take” or use of the force, there will be a consequential “take back” from that force used. The force provides, but should not be taken. So the thread interpretation is a welcome one, because it further solidifies that the force is an enigma that no one can really explain. Two people can feel the force in different ways, and that’s okay.
That "everyone feels the force individually" thing is even older. While I can't definitely say it didn't exist before then, the first Coruscant Nights book (from 2008) has this as well and the book trilogy states it repeatedly. Specifically, the arguable main protagonist, Jax Pavan, experiences it as bands of light connecting everything, and tugging them causes different outcomes depending on where they are attached (eg tugging on a band leading to an item has it fly around).
I love how whenever anyone tries to make fun of prequel fighting they use the one and only clip, where it could be explained as them thinking about going for an attack, seeing obi wan do a similar move so he knows he's ready to block it, that situation can at least be explained as 2 swordsman squaring each other up meanwhile the acolyte is just bad fighting
30:26 it actually is
When i and my friend are sword fighting sometimes it happens that even we have so good changes to strike each other, we completly miss each other multiple times
Once it took us whole minute to clash our sabers against each other and it was hella akward
I'm doing show fighting and sometimes choreography can demand strikes that are really hard to make clash properly.
Finally someone, who doesnt shit on EVERYTHING of the show.
Agreed! Because not all of the show was bad!
I really liked this show. It gets way too much hate
The fight in episode 5 wasn't bad regarding choreography but because of what came before it, there was no emotional connection. The nameless extras are normal but when Jackie and Yord were killed, many people actually cheered for Qimir.
I've seen and heard people view the yord neck snap as a joke. That was clearly not the writers', nor Headland's, intentions. That means you have bad writing and/or bad editing and directing if people are misunderstanding your intentions.
Thank you for making essay style videos about Star Wars which are constructive and not just hate-filled and blinded by personal bias ❤️
My pleasure!
Just watch his prequel stuff, its hate, just sugarcoated
Can someone explain to me how anyone can do a review that isn't "biased" in some way? I have no idea how that would work. It seems accusations of "bias" are made when someone disagrees with the reviewer and they're too lazy to explain why.
You're thinking too hard on what the writers wanted in episode 4 and May's backtracking on killing the jedi. They wanted a reason the sith master had to kill her, that's basically it. They wanted to have a cool fight in episode 5 but didn't know how to get there. It's basically the whole show, they have these ideas they want; Sith, twins, jedi bad, and then try to focus the story to be that. If you listen to Headlands interviews a lot of her story beats are things from what she admires in her life, and she wanted them all in the show, but it's evident she didn't know how to follow through. So things like episode 5 happens is why episode 4 was the way it is. So episode 5 doesn't mean anything to me, because the setup for it is just lame, the characters are lame, the story is lame, the reason the sith master is there is lame. You reveal yourself, and then say you want to do what you want in peace. May had no idea what or who you were, you could of just left it as is. It's just so stupid.
You said the jedi say people can't use the dark side, and that's false, the premise of this show is based on false facts. The Nightsisters, they use the dark side, the Jedi leave them alone! Back in the clone wars, they go to their plant and don't have any problems with them directly. The Jedi don't say who can't use what side of any force, the Jedi have a problem with the Sith and people murdering others or controllers others with their power. The show constantly wants you to believe this by making the jedi make stupid decisions in the show, but that's not what Jedi have been like in the whole of the other shows/moives.
41:53 Here is the problem with the Jedi are too corrupt for the Acolyte argument. First, the Acolyte take place during the LAST years of the High Republic, meaning that this era of Star Wars is coming to a close. Second, if you want The Acolyte to plant the seeds of the Jedi downfall then you should expect the Jedi to do something that morally questionable or even wrong. Unless you think the Jedi became corrupt by an accident then we need to see them make questionable choices in order for their downfall to make sense.
I'm baffled that you didn't mention the f#ing BEAVER in the finale 😂😂
The crazy thing is, KK is probably undervthe delusion that a male lead show would get better ratings but that she's fighting the good fight by sticking with female lead shows. She's a martyr. But I totally diagree... male lead shows by her team will crash and burn spectacularly.
the accolyte really forgot that the main chacracter is usualy the most developed
27:12 No, Osha being alive is NOT the only reason Mae betrayed Qimir, it also because she got tired of pointless tasks where she was to kill a Jedi WITHOUT A WEAPON (which may think is impossible). That is why she decides to take her chances with Jedi and reunite with her sister.
But when the Sith lord makes to the wookie Jedi before she does, her plan to turn herself in is undermine. I really believe this is all there if you are paying attention.
My problem with Osha's character is the same as Jyn Erso from Rogue One. She is a passive character who didn’t make any active decisions, only makes minor decisions throughout the show. I have a few issues with The Acolyte, but overall, it's just fine. But hey, it's good to see Darth Plageius at the end of the show. It's awesome to see him as a brief cameo.
Great comparison
Did she decide to go back to help the Jedi when Yord was trying to get away from Qimir?
Dramatic Irony is a legimate story telling technique(the audience possessing info, the characters don't)...if applied well
Absolutely, but in a mystery like this one I don’t think it works
Mate, stop defending a drunk driver who ploughed the franchise directly into a crowd of innocent fans and talking about what a great car it is.
“Why The Acolyte Failed” man, what a string defense of this show
This was not his best work. He is defending the show in some misguided sense of balance and positivity.
In the TV show "The X-Files", most episodes began with the entire mystery being revealed to the audience, followed by the main characters puzzling through it.
19:59 I belive the issue is not a virgin birth, but the fact that they were born because of a vergence in the force, ie created by the force. Which of if I recall correctly was what happened with anakin, specially plague created him. Now this show says that plagus the wise did not create ability, like it said in Legends (I belive). Therefore braking the cannon.
You’re right, the writing is not the biggest problem with the show, it’s the fact that Leslie Hedlan wholeheartedly believes the narrative of her show… and her arrogance and ego shows through her interviews, which somehow makes a horrendous show even worse
I believe hiring Leslie is where trouble began
I believe George Lucas selling Lucasfilms to Disney is where the problems started
Leslye Headland has a profoundly skewed sense of morality. She thinks Qimir's reason for murdering the Jedi was valid and that Osha murdering Sol was a good thing.
Episode 3's lore issue was the twins creation aspect. None of the rest is a non-issue.
As for the lore issue it is relatively minor. It was more a EU book (to my knowledge) that inferred that Anikin came about due to Sidious attempting to do something else.
My biggest problem with episode 3 is Osha's motivation to join the jedi (inspite of the total lack of context for her to join, and the covens confrontational attitude towards the jedi in general). And the stone and steel fortress catching fire the way it did. This show has a fire problem.
The force itself created him to spite plagueis and palps for trying to create life. 2 of the strongest recent sith couldn't do it, but these random witches no one has ever heard of could?
41:32 I disagree with that, since The Jedi Concil spends most of the prequels and the Clone Wars cover up stuff.
- Qui Gonn told that he meet a Sith - the Jedis dismissed, saying that "it's impossible" and that they will do more investigation (which they didn't, they just send Qui Gonn and Obi Wan to face Maul).
- Obi Wan told them that Darth Sidious is controlling the Senate - The Jedis told him to not trust Dooku and didn't bother to investigate or do anything about it. It gets worse during the Clone Wars, when they found more evidence about Sidious manipulations and still decide to be quiet and wait until the war is over.
- Ashoka is framed for a crime she didn't commit - Only Anakin tries to prove her innocence while the Jedi pretty much just kicked her out of the order and send her to be judge by Palpatine (basically trying to disassociate themselves from Ashoka). When she's proven innocent, all they say to her is that she proved herself instead of apologizing for they way they treat her.
- Anakin told Windu that Palpatine is Sith Lord - They don't even try to come up with plan to expose Palpatine and arrest him. Instead they just go to his officer and try kill himm which not only would just damage their image in the eyes of the public (unless they were planning to cover it up) but, as Anakin pointed out: killing Palpatine would go against what the Jedis taught him, so Windu use the same "he's too powerful to let him live" execuse just comes off as hypocritical.
Much like Vader "I am your father" speech works as reality shock to Luke (and the audience), that his father wasn't this saint he tought, the Jedi behavior in the prequels and Acolytes works in the same way: They were never these perfect heroic wizards with light swords. They were pridefull and ego driven warriors who cover things up bc they don't want to accept of face their own flaws (the opposite of the Sith, who let their failures define them and became this hateful villains).
This reason why a character like Luke Skywalker is such a great hero is because unlike the Jedi he didn't deny his flaws. He faced his fears and insecurites and still chooses to do the right thing and belive in his own values. Instead of covering up (like the Jedis) or being define by his failures (like the Sith), Luke learned from those experiences and improved himself. As Yoda said "The greatest teacher failure is."
46:19, we already saw that in the Clone Wars with Ventress for gosh sakes!
48:45, you say that Qimir is the best because he has 2 CONSISTENT goals: find an Acolyte and keep his identity a secret. That's bullshit, if he wanted to stay anonymous, he would have never attacked the Jedis in the forest. He is as bad as the other caracther in his goals/motivations.
Also, runtime is way lower, under 30mins/episode. Credits and "Last episode recap" ain't no runtime.
Lastly: episodes 3-7 were on the same set, episode 4-5 was on a mountain/forest, and 6-8 were half outside. So the budget didn't went to sets, no more than Mandolorian episode.
It breaks the lore in episode 3 because they created life... the reason anikan was created by the force was in retaliation from plagues attempting to do this. The force literally gave plaguis the middle finger and created a being to destroy him and bring balance, just for trying it. So to say these random witches were able to defy the force beyond plaguis means a lot in the lore and makes zero sense. Even they acknowledge that the power they use is considered dark. And therefore makes no sense that the force would allow the creation of life for one group and not another. Plaguis' knowledge of the force and science was unmatched in starwars lore and even he failed. So yes, its frustrating to see these girls in a virgin birth, because it vastly undermines why Anikan's conception was important and unheard of til that point.
As far as the point of this being the high republic and expecting the Jedi to not be corrupt and arrogant, acolyte is set near the end of the high republic, I feel like its point is going to be to show the end of the high republic and how that era ended
What is with disney's fetish with depicting Jedi as failures? Even Luke's order, failed. The Acolyte Jedi, failures. George Lucas himself admitted the Jedi are a force for GOOD. The prequels were an anomaly in their history.
I agree Osha and Mae needed more work, but overall the show wasn't bad, I had fun. I 100% agree that the D+ format is hindering Star Wars shows big time.
And even as a prequel fan, I did like the lightsaber fights in episode 5 in fact I dare say there’s some of the best lightsabers fights since the prequels beat the ever loving hell out of the fights in the sequels
Lol!!!!!
Anyone else feeling a bit nostalgic?
Clone Wars, Phantom Menace, Attack of the Clones, Revenge of the Sith...
Same ****ing comments.
I KNOW that simply enjoying anything is bad these days, but geez! At least get a little original people.
???
@@thegoldman25 i actually agree that this show is not as good as The Mandalorian, but even then, some of the commentary said it was trash, lacked depth and would never succeed.
I guess all the people who enjoyed THAT are just as dumb as anyone who DARED to enjoy ANYTHING that random posters on the internet hate.
PS: I don't want to know you politics, so PLEASE stop shoving them down my throat. (All sides)
But to answer your clear question, minus the woke/anti-woke BS, everyone is making the same comments as I saw for the original Clone Wars.
Omg it sure sux!
This is destroying my childhood!
Lucas has lost his mind!
Star Wars is doomed!
And now? Well, who cares? Spout more hatred to make yourself feel better
@@dwrdwlsn5Why are you even commenting? You obviously didn't watch the video and you sound like an idiot.
The chosen one prophecy makes sense from the side of the jedi. He was made to literally spite the sith, so the jedi interpreting in as hes our savior kind of makes sense. They were just halfway right
George said that Anakin brings balance by destroying the Sith, but never once mentioned attacking the Jedi was part of achieving that balance. So it looks like Anakin simply moved off-track before coming back to his senses and fulfilling his destiny.
To be honest , the biggest flaw I found in these episodes was tht the show lacks quality and attention to details
True
I agree with a lot of the points you made in this video like I agree that the Disney plus Star Wars shows are way too short
Why it failed:
Because Leslie Headland is one of those people who hates George Lucas to a point she thinks she can manage the franchise better than him only to find that the opposite is true
Its akin to JJ Abrams
It was bad. That’s why it failed. That simple.
Nah I like it
Haven’t seen the video yet but to me this show relies on the audience being invested in the twins both as individuals but also we need to care about their bond and the reason the show feels so mediocre, so bland and so lifeless is because they utterly failed to make the twins interesting or compelling. Their bond is barely explored, in the entire season we get ONE episode (before the very end) where we see them as sisters interacting with each other, it’s insane how little screen time was dedicated to their connection as sisters. As individuals it might actually be worse, we know next to nothing about them as people. Osha basically has no character traits and we never really find out what her motivations are. Mae at first is motivated by wanting to kill the Jedi but she abandons that by episode 5 and spends the rest of the season changing from wanting to be with Osha, to abandoning an unconscious Osha…. She wants to turn herself into the Jedi to then fighting the Jedi…. She wants to kill the Jedi, to not wanting to and then she wants to again so she disguises herself as Osha… by the end I don’t know what she is doing or why. The interesting characters were Sol and Qimir and if we hit more about them it would’ve been good. Ultimately it’s just a very mediocre show, it’s not awful but it’s not good at all
folks forget that the Sith had their own "chosen one" prophecy in the "Sith'ari".
What happened with Star Wars? How did the future of this franchise turn into a terminator type apocalypse.
Terminator Resistance?
My theory is that this show was actually hush money for headland and her wife. Because why else would her wife be a main character in the show. She has little to no acting experience.... like it's very clear this show was never meant to be good, it was meant to service somebody and shut her up about previous history
We don't often agree, Mr Gold Man
However, you hit many nails on their heads with this analysis.
Well done. 👏👏👏👏
37:33 going out on a limb here. I’m guessing when she spoke with Osha, Mae could see she’d get nowhere with her sister without a confession from Sol. So that’s why she left her to go see for herself what their dynamic was? I don’t know. At this point, I wish there were books to read to get a better insight of what’s going on
talking about the bit where you were unsure if practicing dark side arts is illegal or not, and if the dark side is evil or not; while the emotions that can lead you to the dark side are not inherently evil (at least most of them) the dark side IS... it is a subversion of the natural order and unbalances the force, it's not simply a "2 face of the same medal" situation, contrary to popular beliefs of them being unequivocally connected, it's a much more black and white case, so there are plenty of reasons for the jedi or anyone to be suspicious of dark side users, sith or not they are abusing the Force. Even the Father, who was no Jedi at all, calls the Dark Side a corruption and a temptation when talking about the Son in the Clone Wars S3, that means Dark Side is bad even from a non jedi and non mortal standpoint. the idea of making them equally powerful and equally righteus is an unicum in this series, and many did not appreciate that (even people who like Siths and Dark Side, as myself, agree on the fact that Dark Siders ARE evil, by choice... and evil in Lucas mind meant selfishness and all the actions that selfishness makes you do)
You like the sequels, I liked The Acolyte. Perfectly balanced, as all things should be.
I like episode 7 and episode 8 (the good parts mostly). Episode 9 is an absolute dumpster fire. I liked the acolyte too.
@@kdusel1991 Ditto
@@garbotoxins840 still to this day, Rey being palpatine's granddaughter is one of the dumbest decisions ever made. Along with him returning. Kylo should've been the main villain from the beginning. It's so frustrating that JJ changed Rey from being a nobody to a palpatine.
Anyone who likes the acolyte sounds like a Disney Star Wars fan.. tell me did you like She Hulk too? I probably know the answer
@@nerevar2185 how can I even try to talk to someone like you? I don't know whT your struggles are but find some help bro.
I didn't wanna see this show at first cuz I heard how bad it was
But curiosity got the better of me
And man... it's like they wrote the story per episode. As in, they didn't have any clue how to reach the end goal and just winged it.
Yord telling Osha's backstory how her family and specifically her SISTER was killed yet later saying he didn't know she had a twin sister
Osha surviving a literal fall from orbit in a spaceship
Osha running away from the Jedi after saying on the spaceship "I trust the Jedi"? like? hello?
Aniseya transforming into a smoke monster but then when she's stabbed saying "I would've let her go"
Qimir murders all of the Jedi, even Jecki who Osha clearly liked on a more personal level, yet she goes with him like nothing happened just cuz she saw his personal lightsaber
Mae literally telling Osha that she'll kill her to prevent her from leaving but then later they're trying to portray her burning the place down as an "accident" even though she does nothing to try and help her sister regardless
I could go on
There are SO many plotholes, plot contrivances, character issues etc in this show that I genuinely wonder if actual people wrote this
Most of the episodes had contrasting names…this/that. The 2 exceptions were the flashbacks & final episode. I think if they kept the flashback at episode 3 but showed both sides (20 minutes each) things would have worked. That way we could have watched what happened from both points of view and chose a side to “cheer” for.
I love witches in star wars, but the Nightsisters are just way better than this random tribe. The things they say are just annoying the actions they make and the setup it's just not it for me.
This show never promised to be about Jedi in their glory days. It's at the _end_ of that period and it's showing how they're beginning to fall