With only a few weeks until The Acolyte premieres on Disney+, it seems Star Wars viewers are missing the real continuity problem the show poses. The Acolyte‘s timeline is set about 100 years before Star Wars: Episode I – The Phantom Menace and will see the rise of the Sith. The show is expected to showcase the dark side users as the “heroes” and the Jedi as the “bad guys,” which is an interesting spin on what most other Star Wars movies and TV shows do.
One of the biggest debates currently is that The Acolyte will see the Jedi discovering the Sith a century earlier than The Phantom Menace will create a continuity problem. Based on Jedi Master Ki-Adi-Mundi’s statement in The Phantom Menace, the Sith had been wiped out a millennium earlier, not a century. Some have argued that Ki-Adi-Mundi was exaggerating and that was just another sign of the Jedi Council’s hubris; however, others argue that there was a reason why he and the rest of the Jedi didn’t know about the Sith infiltration of the Jedi.
While it’s true that the Jedi were thought to have wiped out the Sith a thousand years before The Phantom Menace, they obviously survived but lived in secret. The Sith’s ultimate goal was to take over the galaxy and destroy the Jedi—something that was accomplished by Palpatine in 19 BBY. However, this plan didn’t come together overnight. In fact, it took nearly a thousand years of planning. This strategic planning can be seen by the chess match Palpatine plays behind the scenes in The Phantom Menace. He poses no real threat but lays the groundwork for his future success.
It’s possible that The Acolyte will risk a thousand years of planning on the Sith’s part. It’s still unclear what the ultimate goal of the Sith Lord seen in The Acolyte trailer footage is, or who they are. However, the Sith’s presence puts this overarching goal of taking over the galaxy and defeating the Jedi once and for all at risk. It’s known that Jedi are being murdered in The Acolyte, but this seems to be an inefficient model to rid the entire galaxy of Jedi, especially while trying to remain hidden.
One of the only logical explanations for why the Sith would reveal themselves 100 years before The Phantom Menace would be because they thought they were ready to launch their plan to take over the galaxy and destroy the Jedi. The motive of revealing themselves preemptively doesn’t make sense unless the events will ultimately be seen as a misguided first attempt. If the Sith thought they had a good enough plan to complete their goal, there was no reason to wait an additional 100 years to make their move.
This could be where Amandla Stenberg’s The Acolyte character, Mae, comes into play. It’s known that Mae was the former Padawan to Master Sol, but it’s not known how or why she left the Jedi. It’s possible that the Sith Lord seen in trailer footage believed that Mae was far enough along in her Sith training to face the Jedi. This could be a lesson that Palpatine uses in his own right in the Star Wars prequels with Count Dooku – not someone young like Mae. This also explains why Palpatine waited so long to approach Anakin Skywalker.
The thing that many Star Wars viewers are focusing on is the Jedi and how they will fold what happens in The Acolyte into other Star Wars movies and television shows. However, it’s already been said that The Acolyte is not about the Jedi, but about the Sith. While there will surely be an explanation as to why Ki-Adi Mundi was so adamant that the Sith had been extinct for a thousand years, that’s not the only thing that needs to be explained to audiences.
There needs to be a satisfying explanation regarding why the Sith would reveal themselves at this point in the Star Wars galaxy. Without an explanation, much of how this story connects to the greater Star Wars universe will be lost. Whether it be the Sith thinking they were ready before they actually were, or a rogue Sith apprentice acting on their own, there needs to be a good reason for this story to be told. With so many questions still circulating about the Sith Lord and their motivations, audiences can only wait until the answers are revealed in The Acolyte.
The Acolyte premieres its first two episodes June 4th on Disney+.