The Acolyte fails because it lacks two key Star Wars staples: morality and hope

The latest Star Wars show, The Acolyte, has ended its run on Disney+, and it's far from perfect. The Acolyte suffers from bad writing, poor acting, and less-than brilliant production design. But there's an even bigger problem at its heart: it just doesn't feel like a Star Wars show and seems to have completely misunderstood what the franchise is about.

The main plot of The Acolyte follows twin sisters Osha and Mae. They are raised on a remote planet by a coven of Force-sensitive witches who are discovered by a team of Jedi. Realizing the potential of the twins, the Jedi want to take them back to the temple on Coruscant for training. Through a series of misunderstandings, it all ends in a fight and the witches are destroyed. Osha is taken to Coruscant to be trained, while Mae, thought to be dead, starts on her own path to seek revenge.

The strangest thing about The Acolyte is that it tries to act as though there's no objective measure of what's good or bad, moral or immoral, but rather it all depends on your point of view. The Jedi are bad for invading the witches' planet and should be punished for what they did, even though they do it all with good intentions, genuinely believing the twins are in danger. We're meant to believe that Mae is justified in her quest for revenge and doesn't deserve punishment for murdering the Jedi, and it seems as though Osha has somehow become the protagonist by the end of the show, despite killing Sol in cold blood. This is a particularly serious problem as Star Wars has always dealt in good and bad, and not in an abstract way, but with a very clear definition of right and wrong. This is all the more important when dealing with Star Wars' most important element, the Force.

There's no ambiguity in the way that people use this mystical power, you either tap into the Light or Dark Side, with no room for compromise. No matter what you might think you're doing, you can't use the Dark Side for good, it's not possible and anyone who takes that path will be consumed by it. Qimir can't, for instance, be considered just another Force user who happens to have different powers, he's literally drawing upon evil to give him strength, which always has terrible consequences, so it's right for the Jedi to challenge him. At the same time, Osha can't be considered right for choosing this path and siding with Qimir, as she's chosen the side of darkness.

The show tries to play with the idea of there being no absolute measure of good or bad, there are only shades of gray, a theme that works on shows like Game of Thrones, but not for Star Wars. Even when show's like Andor try it, they feel like they stand apart from the rest of the franchise, although Andor cleverly sidesteps criticism by not involving use of the Force in any meaningful way.

While they may be flawed, the Jedi still draw upon the Light Side of the Force for their strength, which means that they are always actively working against evil. Even though they can, and do, make mistakes, on the whole they are a force for good in the galaxy and a necessary defense against worse things. The way The Acolyte views things, it tries to remove the idea that there are true heroes and villains, but that's never been the way of Star Wars. The galaxy is built upon and defined by the actions of both heroes and villains, and in particular by the heroes who always rise to the challenge. Characters like Luke Skywalker and Obi-Wan Kenobi are good, striving to make the galaxy a better place, and driven by a strong sense of personal morality. They are at the center of the stories, giving hope to those who need it most, and always refusing to use their enemy's weapons, which makes their victories all the more powerful.

The Acolyte and the unforgiveable lack of hope

This leads, in turn, to another big problem with The Acolyte. It's missing a key theme present throughout the Star Wars franchise: a strong sense of hope.

If I was to sum up in one word what Star Wars represents, it would be hope. The hope that things will get better, that good does exist and can win; hope that evil can and will be defeated. It's present right from the first movie, which was even renamed A New Hope in anticipation of its sequels. The heroes bring hope to a desperate galaxy, striking a winning blow against the omnipotent Empire, and destroying its planet-killing superweapon.

Throughout the whole of the original Star Wars movie trilogy, hope remains alive and is a clear driving force for the heroes. Despite everything that Vader has done, Luke continues to hope that some part of his father is still alive, and that he can be saved and the galaxy along with him. This hope is eventually vindicated. In The Empire Strikes Back, often considered one of the darkest Star Wars movies, the final scene is one filled with hope. Luke has lost a hand, Han Solo is captured and frozen in carbonite, the Rebel fleet is drifting in space, yet Luke and Leia look out into deep space planning how they will overcome these obstacles, showing an indomitable spirit to always recover from every setback and keep on fighting for a better future.

This feeling continues throughout The Phantom Menace, with Gungans and Naboo united in peace against a common enemy. In Attack of the Clones, the marriage between Anakin and Padme on the doorstep of a galaxy-wide conflict is a sign of a deep belief that there's always hope. Even in the dark days of Revenge of the Sith, the movie ends with the twins Luke and Leia being handed over to their new families, proving that even as the galaxy descends into a dictatorship, hope still survives in some corner of it.

While the Disney-produced movies are less good at handling it, they still have their moments, such as Leia in The Last Jedi saying they have everything they need to rebuild the Resistance despite their terrible defeat. Or the references in Rogue One, where the heroes give up their lives to keep the light of hope burning.

The Acolyte lacks this theme completely, partly as a result of it trying to blur the lines of morality so there is no genuine evil to overcome, but also in the way that it treats its characters. Though he terrorized the galaxy, Luke still give Anakin the chance of redemption. He forgave him and by his actions helped to destroy the even greater evil of Emperor Palpatine. But on The Acolyte, Osha refuses to accept Sol's explanation that he was acting with the best of intentions and kills him, and the show treats her as though she were justified and Sol was completely wrong. Her sister Mae was driven by revenge to kill the Jedi involved, but doesn't suffer for it and never repents. The way that characters like Torbin are treated suggests that the only way they can atone for what they did is by dying, with no hope of redemption.

This introduces a sense of moral relativity that feels out of place in a galaxy far, far away, especially as it never leads to any kind of payoff. The reaction to all the events shown are treated as though there is no absolute solution to them; rather, it all depends on who's eyes we see it through. While some of this could be down to the poor writing, it forms the basis of the plot and is present throughout the entire series.

While these aren't the only themes present in Star Wars, they're some of the most important. Ignoring them completely for a whole series feels like making a Star Trek show without a sense of optimism and discovery. It's not necessary to include them in other IPs, which often manage fine without them, but they are a key part of this one, and their exclusion is what makes The Acolyte not just a bad show, but a bad Star Wars show.

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