The Acolyte Trailer Breakdown and Analysis

Written By Jack Lawrenson-Leroux · March 23, 2024

The fans have seen many corners of the Star Wars and many different time eras ranging from the Fall of the Jedi Order all the way to the Fall of First Order. However, within the books set within the Star Wars canon, our view has been expanded to the depths of the High Republic, when the Jedi were at their peak and major exploration of the galaxy took place. Although we have only seen glimpses of the High Republic in the ‘Jedi: Survivor‘ video game, upon the release of The Acolyte Trailer, we have had our first look at the High Republic era in a live action capacity.

The Acolyte Trailer Finally Releases

This article will have a breakdown and analysis of the Acolyte Trailer as a whole, and will review and theorise where the story will be taking us in our first High Republic show. The beginning of the Acolyte Trailer shows us a room filled with young students being taught by Master Sol, played by Lee Jung-Jae. Right off the bat we see the room in the Jedi Temple is much cleaner and looks more colorful and new in comparison to when we have seen it in the Prequel Trilogy and ‘Obi-Wan Kenobi‘ series.

We see Master Sol walking around the children telling them not to rely on their eyes as it can deceive them. Master Sol shows up a few times during the Acolyte Trailer, which could be a sign that he will most likely play a more pivitol role within the story.

The Acolyte Trailer initially gives us a good feel as to what the show will be about. A few Jedi are killed by an unknown individual and the Jedi Order must discover who is behind the deaths. What Sol could be telling us as the audience is that we cannot trust what we see in the Acolyte Trailer and the show itself. I also believe that this line sets up the reason the Jedi was so ignorant to the Sith returning when Palpatine came into power, but I must digress.

As the Acolyte trailer goes on we see a hooded figure walk into a settlement on a planet which is one that has not been seen in live action as of yet but as this is the High Republic era, this planet, if not a new one, could be an earlier version of Takodana from the ‘The Force Awakens‘. We cut to  Sol back in the temple teaching the younglings and asking what comes into their minds.

One student tells Sol that she sees “life”, another states she sees “balance”. As this interaction is happening we see the hooded figure enter a bar, seemingly on the same planet and approach a table of people as another youngling states she sees “fire”. 

As we hear this we are shown who the hooded figure was approaching and it is Master Indara, played by Carrie-Anne Moss, who seems to be one of the target Jedi of the show. We then cut to a small clip of a fight between Indara and the hooded figure who is Mae, played by Amandia Stenberg. Mae is wielding what seems to be a vibroblade against Indara, but the Jedi manages to use her Force Push on Mae to throw her backwards.

The Mystery

The Acolyte Trailer seems to be hinting at Mae being the individual who is behind the Jedi deaths, however her character description describes her as a person who “gets swept up into a sinister mystery-one that puts her into the center of a conflict in unexpected ways. Judging from her fighting style, she is a very skilled individual but she struggles to fight against Indara, making me believe that if she is not able to face one Jedi then how would she be able to kill one at all.

We then cut to a hallway with a hooded figure approaching a Jedi in white robes as we hear someone state that “someone is killing Jedi” as we cut to Mae again, possibly revealed to be the cloaked figure in the previous shot, using her knife against the white robed Jedi. Once again I believe that this is an example of the Acolyte Trailer deceiving us. Either meaning that Mae is not necessarily the killer the show refers to, or that the trailer has been altered digitally to deceive us. We then cut to a cavernous area with Jecki, played by Dafne Keen, and Yord, played by Charlie Barnett.

Jecki is the padawan of Master Sol and is seen as a mature and calm character whilst Yord is a Jedi Knight who is an overachiever but rule follower. Yord is actually shown wielding a yellow bladed lightsaber which has not been seen in live action since ‘The Rise of Skywalker‘ when Rey Skywalker revealed it at the end of the movie. The High Republic had a vast array of lightsabers among the Jedi Order rather than the classic Blue and Green which would be great to see in a live action setting.

We then cut to Yord stating that the Jedi being killed “doesn’t make sense”. This will be due to the fact that the Sith have not been seen for around 900 years at this point and with the Jedi being at the peak of their power, an individual capable of killing Jedi one by one would seem absurd to him.

We cut to the next shot which shows a group of Jedi looking upon an enormous forested area which I believe may be Kashyyyk, homeworld of the Wookies of which Chewbacca is one of. This could be Kashyyyk as we see the next showing the wookie Jedi, Kelnacca, played by Joonas Suotamo, in a similar forested area.

The Jedi as part of the group seems to be Sol, Jecki and Yord, although other Jedi are there it is hard to determine who is who, however one seems to be the same species as Plo Koon for the Prequel Trilogies, that species being a Kel Dor. This individual would not be Plo Koon as his species only lives up to around 60 years, give or take a few decades due to Plo Koon’s connection to the force which would expand his life span. However, this could be a relative of his at best.

In an Age of Light, A Darkness Rises

The Acolyte Trailer then shows us Sol using a Jedi Mind Trick on a man asking what had happened, most likely at a crime scene. We then see another planet, looking similarly to Ach-to from ‘The Last Jedi‘, however I believe this could be a new planet that we have not been introduced to yet. We hear a female voice stating that they “have sensed darkness” as we are shown with a scene of Mae fighting Master Sol, possibly next on her list of targets, if she is the assassin. Master Sol shows his incredible abilities here as Mae flips to kick him and he simply catches her foot mid air and throws her aside like nothing.

The Acolyte Trailer then shows the line ‘In An Age of Light’, referring to the High Republic Era, before cutting to another Jedi Master, Vernestra Rwoh, played by Rebecca Henderson. Vernestra plays a role in the High Republic Novels so it is great to see her in a live action format, however it can be assumed that she only plays a minor role as her connection to the books may be too valuable. The next shot in the Acolyte Trailer is another new character who is Qimir, played by Manny Jacinto, who is described to be a smuggler.

The next shot we see is of a few Jedi including Indara, Kelnacca and Sol as well as another Jedi who seemed to be part of the Jedi group in the earlier shot. However, Sol looks far younger here so it could be a flashback of sorts. They seem to be on a sand planet, by looking at the structures around them, this could be Tatooine.

Among the Jedi are hooded figures wielding bow and arrows and the person the Jedi are speaking to, is Mother Aniseya, played by Joie Tuner-Smith, who is the leader of a witch coven. The Acolyte will be showing us a side of Star Wars that we have not yet seen before so showing us a new group of witches in the Acolyte Trailer is a good sign for more to come.

Her coven are wielding bow and arrows, similar to the Nightsisters shown in various Star Wars media, however their attire and appearance to not match any Nightsisters we have seen previously. This coven could be witches of the same dark magic, however they have no affiliation with the planet Dathomir nor the Nightsisters. The Acolyte Trailer then presents us with the line ‘A Darkness Rises’ which possibly refers to an enemy arising in this time of the High Republic. Later on this.

The Sith Return?

We see a shot of Mae and Indara’s fight again, most likely of their fight earlier on in the Acolyte Trailer, as Mae points her knife blade at the Jedi only to have her arm frozen in mid air by the force. We see a better shot of Aniseya around her witch coven as we hear the line “this isn’t about good or bad”. We see a quick shot of someone running through a burning forest, this could be a flashback to Mae’s origin and how she is connected to the conspiracy of the story.

The Acolyte Trailer then shows us a ship crash landing on a snowy planet, now there are many snow covered planets in the Star Wars universe, however this one could be Ilum which holds a special place in the hearts of Jedi. Ilum is a planet in which Jedi Younglings go and pass a trial to receive their first lightsaber crystal. The Acolyte Trailer is showing us the Jedi Order 100 years before ‘The Phantom Menace’ so Ilum would be a great opportunity to show Star Wars fans this important planet in live action.

We see another shot of the Jedi group with Sol and Yord in a snowstorm as we hear Aniseya stating that “this is about power”. So it seems that Aniseya is the one who is telling the Jedi that she has sensed darkness and that the situation isn’t about good or bad but about power. This leans into my theory which I will discuss towards the end of this breakdown but this could be showing us that the Jedi will not be so pure of heart in this show.

We then are shown Mae, more clearly than we have seen her throughout the rest of the Acolyte Trailer. She is standing around an ocean at what is later revealed to be a figure standing on a cliff’s edge as we hear Aniseya finish her sentence about who is allowed to use the power that she previously referred to. I believe that this figure could be Darth Tenebrous who is the Master of Darth Plaguis who was the Master of Emperor Palpatine himself.

This is due to the fact that Mae falling into this situation, it could be that Darth Tenebrous recruits her to kill Jedi or she kills the Jedi to get to Tenebrous and become his apprentice. However it is possible that Tenebrous is decanonised and ignored completely, making this a complete original character.

The next shot we see is of Jecki, Yord and another young Jedi preparing for a fight. As Jecki asks “what is that?” we are then shown a red lightsaber flying through the air and slashing trees. Of course with the Sith and Dark Jedi not being around for a significant amount of time, the Jedi would not know what a red bladed lightsaber would look like. The lightsaber flies past the camera and lands in the hands of an unknown individual, however this seems to be a human character but, as stated before, we cannot trust our eyes.

We see the Jedi activating their lightsabers to fight this person as we see Sol ignite a blue lightsaber and numerous other Jedi wielding a mix of blue, green and yellow lightsabers. However as they charge at their foe a red cloud of smoke pushes them violently backwards. It could be that this is a new force ability or is simply a powerful force push, lit up by the red blade.

The Acolyte Trailer then ends with the logo and the Disney Plus logo ignited by a red lightsaber. So in terms of my theory on what is happening in the Acolyte trailer, I believe that the Jedi, at the height of their power, discover a threat against them. I believe Mae is either happily recruited or reluctantly recruited by a Sith Lord and starts to kill Jedi, stirring up an investigation. It could be that Mae could be defeated in this show and it is her who wields the red lightsaber towards the end of the Acolyte Trailer.

We could see that at the end of the show, the Jedi cover up what has happened so that the rest of the Order do not find out about a Sith Lord still being around, whether that be Darth Tenebrous or not. The Acolyte Trailer has also hinted at the fact that we cannot trust our eyes so Mae could also just be caught in the crossfire between the real villain and the Jedi.

However, I do believe the denial of the Jedi in this show will escalate all the way down to the prequel trilogy where the Jedi were clouded by Palpatine’s presence allowing him to infiltrate and destroy the Jedi Order. The Acolyte Trailer showed us a cool insight into the High Republic in live action and many fans are hopeful that the show can provide us with a breath of fresh air for the Star Wars universe.