By Jocelyn Buhlman
Star Wars: The Acolyte made its two-episode debut on Disney+, giving us the first live-action look into the High Republic Era of the Star Wars galaxy. With a veritable nebula of Star Wars content before you, we’re here to be your guide to keeping the fun going as you dive into the mysterious world of The Acolyte.
Books
Much of the High Republic era is explored through on the page—and our friends at StarWars.com have a comprehensive guide to the books in chronological order. But what if you just need a lightspeed look at this era? Check out Star Wars: The High Republic: Chronicles of the Jedi: An Illustrated Guide to the Galaxy’s Golden Age, an in-universe guide to the High Republic Era that provides an entry point for anyone new to both this time period and the Star Wars saga as a whole.
More curious about The Acolyte characters than its era? While there’s plenty of new faces in the series, one rather green face has already appeared in Star Wars canon. Vernestra Rwoh, a Mirialan Jedi Master, made her mark in the Star Wars galaxy in a series of Star Wars: The High Republic books, which chronicle how she becomes one of the youngest Knights in Jedi history at the age of 16. You can follow Vernestra’s adventures in the following books:
- A Test of Courage by Justina Ireland
- Out of the Shadows by Justina Ireland
- Mission to Disaster by Justina Ireland
- Tales of Light and Life, “The Force Provides,” by Justina Ireland
- Defy the Storm by Tessa Gratton and Justina Ireland
- Temptation of the Force by Tessa Gratton
Comics
High Republic stories bring the action in several comic series exploring the Jedi and Padawans adventures during this grand era. Explore these stories in Marvel’s Star Wars: The High Republic by Cavan Scott, which is an adventure story with horror overtones following Jedi Knights and Padawans as they deal with the Nihil and the Drengir. For a more all-ages story, you can read Dark Horse’s Star Wars: The High Republic Adventures by Daniel José Older which tells the stories of younglings and Padawans as they’re thrust into the fight against the Nihil.
Movies
While no Star Wars movies have explored the High Republic era or the characters we meet in The Acolyte, there are two films that were influential to the story of The Acolyte. The series’ events can be seen as the start of a journey for the Jedi that ends with Star Wars: The Phantom Menace. For series creator and showrunner Leslye Headland, The Phantom Menace was a key milestone for positioning her own story: “We straddled this gilded age where the Jedi are at their height and spiritually attuned, and then where they are in The Phantom Menace, where they’re completely politically embroiled and unable to sense what Palpatine’s doing. To me it was nice to set something between those two things and understand where the Jedi are in their journey.”
While not as key to the plot of The Acolyte, Star Wars Episode VI: Return of the Jedi was extremely influential on Headland in a different way. Fans familiar with the special edition of Return of the Jedi might remember that three alien singers were featured during the “Jedi Rock” sequence near the beginning of the film. For you, it might have been a fun sequence, but for Headland, it sparked a lifelong obsession with the character Rystáll Sant, a singer with a shock of red hair, horns, and hooves, who belongs to the Theelin species. “I thought they were so cool,” Headland explained of Theelins. “I remember watching her in the theater and just being like, that is such a cool design!” Naturally, there had to be a Theelin in The Acolyte, and so half-Theelin padawan Jecki Lon (Dafne Keen) was born. “It’s just my younger self being like, it would be so cool if there was a Theelin Jedi!” And she was right—it is very cool.
The two-episode premiere of The Acolyte is now streaming on Disney+.