Star Wars: The Acolyte: Episode Two: Revenge / Justice

[Dave]

I haven't seen this yet myself. Here is a synopsis though. Remember, you can only discuss this episode or anything learned earlier in this thread.

Mae attempts to kill Jedi Master Torbin in a temple on the planet Olega, but is prevented by his Force meditation; Torbin has been floating in silent meditation for over a decade. Vernestra sends Sol, Jeckie, Yord, and Osha to investigate this attack. Mae regroups with her supplier, Qimir, who is helping her hunt the four Jedi that were stationed on her and Osha's home planet, Brendok, at the time of the fire: Indara, Torbin, Sol, and the Wookiee Kelnacca. Qimir provides Mae with a poison and warns her that she still needs to kill one of the four without a weapon. Mae offers the poison to Torbin as absolution for his past. He stops meditating and willingly takes it, dying just as the others arrive. Mae escapes, and Osha poses as her to get information from Qimir. He reveals the existence of Mae's master and her overall plan. That night, Sol confronts Mae and reveals to her that Osha is alive. Osha attempts to stun Mae but misses, and Mae escapes again. She later threatens Qimir over talking to the Jedi, but he convinces her to spare him because he has learned that Kelnacca is living on the planet Khofar.

 

[Parson]

This episode pushes one of my buttons. It seems that there is some information in regard to characters that are known to the character and that viewers are expected to have which I don't have. If I'm right about this it is one reason why the audience for this shows is not growing.

 

[Culhwch]

This episode pushes one of my buttons. It seems that there is some information in regard to characters that are known to the character and that viewers are expected to have which I don't have. If I'm right about this it is one reason why the audience for this shows is not growing.

What information would this be?

 

[Parson]

What information would this be?

This usually has to do with who characters are (ie the first Jedi in the series) and the historical context. I only know that this is 100 years earlier than the Phantom Menace during the "high republic." I've watched all the movies, and some of the animated stuff but that bit of info tells me next to nothing. Or at least next to nothing that I am aware of. And also I had the feeling that Indara was someone who had a reputation that I should have known. --- I'm guessing that if you are a real hard core Star Wars fan you would have a lot of the backstory about these and other things at your disposal. But for us lesser fans we are left guessing and saying "What? Who?"

 

[Dave]

Am I correct in my understanding that the High Republic has been more a subject of the medium of Games rather than film, TV and books? However, that doesn't take anything away from what @Parson says. Even if these are completely new characters, never before seen or heard of, because of the experience of previous Disney TV shows, it is true that the "lesser fans" are left to wonder whether or not there is something more they should know about in order to have the full picture.

I realise that this is mostly me alone, but this is one reason why I like my stories to start at the beginning. I'm absolutely sure that we are going to get flashbacks and info dumps that will reveal the back-story here (probably about half-way through the season as the current story grinds to a complete halt, also based upon the previous experience) but couldn't it begin at the beginning and end at the end, just for once?

Jecki Lon needs to know the whole story from Sol if she is to perform her job, so if they wished, we could sit and listen while he told her, rather than the drip feeding she is getting.

 

[Phyrebrat]

This episode pushes one of my buttons. It seems that there is some information in regard to characters that are known to the character and that viewers are expected to have which I don't have. If I'm right about this it is one reason why the audience for this shows is not growing.

Hi Parson. There’s no knowledge needed. It’s all new. I suppose Yoda could show up at some point but I’m guessing you know him .

I wish the names were more easy to recall, and memorable. Where are the ‘Tatooine’, ‘Korriban’ ‘Luke’, and ‘Leia’s??

The biggest contribution to the HR canon is in books and comics @Dave — no games yet.

 

[Dave]

We really do need to know what actually happened when they were children and the house was on fire for it all to make sense. Osha thought Mae was dead, Mae thought Osha was dead. Each now mistaken for the other. As I said already, it's all very Twelfth Night isn't it?

I thought the 'disappears in a cloud of dust when the ship's sensors weren't working' was unlikely, and the ending with a Wookie Force-user, I'm sure that had some fans hyperventilating. It was a bit short in length, I thought mainly.

 

[Culhwch]

This usually has to do with who characters are (ie the first Jedi in the series) and the historical context. I only know that this is 100 years earlier than the Phantom Menace during the "high republic." I've watched all the movies, and some of the animated stuff but that bit of info tells me next to nothing. Or at least next to nothing that I am aware of. And also I had the feeling that Indara was someone who had a reputation that I should have known. --- I'm guessing that if you are a real hard core Star Wars fan you would have a lot of the backstory about these and other things at your disposal. But for us lesser fans we are left guessing and saying "What? Who?"

As Phyrebrat said, this is pretty much a clean slate as far as Star Wars goes. The only established character is Vernestra Rwoh, the green Mirialan Jedi master, who is a carryover from the High Republic novels and comics, but I don't think the show is leveraging that in any way or expecting viewers to know anything about her. I doubt Yoda will show up, but I wouldn't be surprised to see one of the longer-lived Jedi masters from The Phantom Menace pop up somewhere along the way.

But after Ahsoka, I get where your expectation comes from, and I don't know how they counter that - except perhaps by making less stuff like Ahsoka, which ties heavily into previous stories in other mediums and that doesn't take the time to do any establishing or catch-up storytelling.

I realise that this is mostly me alone, but this is one reason why I like my stories to start at the beginning. I'm absolutely sure that we are going to get flashbacks and info dumps that will reveal the back-story here (probably about half-way through the season as the current story grinds to a complete halt, also based upon the previous experience) but couldn't it begin at the beginning and end at the end, just for once?

Jecki Lon needs to know the whole story from Sol if she is to perform her job, so if they wished, we could sit and listen while he told her, rather than the drip feeding she is getting.

I think the idea is that it's a mystery/thriller, and what happened in the past is central to that - so giving everything away in the first episode takes away any tension. Whether or not the audience thinks they execute this effectively is another thing altogether, of course - they need to make sure that there is justification for Sol not just telling Jecki the whole story. This is often where stories like this fall over. But given there's a secret here one Jedi master chose to commit suicide over, it seems like there is definitely something Sol is not comfortable sharing with his Padawan or the others - yet.

The biggest contribution to the HR canon is in books and comics @Dave — no games yet.

Haven't played it through yet, but Jedi Survivor ties into the High Republic - though obviously not set in that era.

 

[Phyrebrat]

Haven't played it through yet, but Jedi Survivor ties into the High Republic - though obviously not set in that era.

I'm still halfway through Fallen Order. I am at one of those annoying places where there is a need to jump from ice onto a rope. I have been trying for over two years on and off. It ceased to be fun. This is the biggest pebble in my Star Wars shoe; not knowing the canon those games are introducing, trying to avoid spoilery spoilers, and also just wanting to enjoy the game (Dathomir is one of my favourite Star Wars inventions and if Mother Talzin appears in live action SW other than name-checked as in Ahsoka, I will wet me frillies!)

 

[Culhwch]

I'm still halfway through Fallen Order. I am at one of those annoying places where there is a need to jump from ice onto a rope. I have been trying for over two years on and off. It ceased to be fun. This is the biggest pebble in my Star Wars shoe; not knowing the canon those games are introducing, trying to avoid spoilery spoilers, and also just wanting to enjoy the game (Dathomir is one of my favourite Star Wars inventions and if Mother Talzin appears in live action SW other than name-checked as in Ahsoka, I will wet me frillies!)

Yeah, I get that. My biggest gripe with FO was the lack of fast travel back to the ship after finishing a level - and the paths were always so windy I spent half again as much time looping around trying to find the way I came, or the right way back.

You could always look for a cutscene compilation on YouTube - that way you can catch up on the story without needing to play through the game.