A recent behind-the-scenes video from the set of The Acolyte has confirmed the appearance of a classic Star Wars species from Knights of the Old Republic. The Old Republic is a section of the Star Wars timeline that has largely been absent from Star Wars canon. With The Acolyte‘s intriguing story being set in the era of the High Republic, however, some remnants of the Old Republic could creep into the show. this has caused excitement to grow over the upcoming Star Wars show, bolstered by a recent BTS video celebrating the production crew of a galaxy far, far away.
The video was posted on YouTube by Autodesk, a company that celebrates the production design of Star Wars every year on May 4. This video included some set reveals from The Acolyte, with eagle-eyed Star Wars fan JordanMaison taking to Twitter/X to point out an interesting Old Republic connection. In the background of the video, a mask can be spotted that resembles a Selkath. Selkath were an iconic species in the Knights of the Old Republic video games, making many familiar with the lore of that series much more excited about its connections to The Acolyte.
The Selkath being involved in The Acolyte is causing such a stir due to the species’ absence from live-action Star Wars. The Knights of the Old Republic series is now dubbed Legends, outside of Star Wars canon, and consists of two video games. As such, the main design for the Selkath had only been shown in video game format before. Despite this, the Selkath continued to appear in Star Wars canon, though never in live-action.
The Selkath were mentioned in Star Wars: Light of the Jedi, the first book in the High Republic era. This book is set before The Acolyte, though their existence in the same era of the Star Wars timeline explains the appearance of a Selkath. While they were mentioned in Light of the Jedi, the Selkath were not described in any major way, meaning The Acolyte‘s live-action designs have caused a lot of excitement.
Similarly, the Selkath have appeared in several episodes of Star Wars: The Clone Wars. Much like their appearances in KOTOR, The Clone Wars is an animated show. With this in mind, the appearance of the species in The Acolyte will be their first in live-action, bringing an iconic Legends species to life in a way they have never been before. This, combined with further potential links between The Acolyte and the era of the Old Republic, causes the high level of anticipation for the upcoming Star Wars TV show to skyrocket even further.
Source: Jordan Maison