The Acolyte: 3 questions we have after the trailer

The upcoming Star Wars show on Disney+, The Acolyte, just dropped its first trailer. It fulfilled on the promise that we would see plenty of Jedi in this new series and established the basic plot. However, we still have several questions after the trailer.

3 questions we still have after the Star Wars: The Acolyte trailer

This show comes from the Russian Doll creator Leslye Headland. She has promised that this series will not portray the Jedi in the friendliest light. The trailer even reveals that someone has been hunting Jedi when this series is set in the era of The High Republic, roughly 100 years before the events of The Phantom Menace.

Question 1: Who is the dark side user in the trailer?

In The Phantom Menace, we are led to believe that the Sith have been lying dormant for some time as the Jedi have reigned supreme over the galaxy. This trailer suggests that there is some sort of dark side user, if not necessarily a Sith, that we will encounter in this series.

We see a red lightsaber ripping through trees at the end of the trailer. It is unclear whether the lightsaber belongs to the character played by Amandla Stenberg, who appears to be some sort of assassin-type character in the trailer.

It will be fascinating to see what "darkness" arises during this "age of light" as the trailer teases.

Question 2: How much will the series play into The High Republic?

This is the first time that we have seen a live-action series take on the High Republic era. More casual Star Wars fans may be unfamiliar with it (and we have a wonderful guide to what the High Republic is here), but die-hards have followed the multimedia project in the books and comics and have eaten up the video games like Star Wars Jedi: Survivor which have included a good amount of High Republic references. Like all Star Wars shows, the creators will probably try to strike a balance between including Easter eggs and references that High Republic fans will dig into and ensuring that the show can be enjoyed by people who do not come in with all that knowledge.

One thing is for sure, it is cool to see the more ornate Jedi robes in this trailer. High Republic fans cannot wait to get a taste of that era in live-action for the first time.

Question 3: Where is Master Yoda?

When thinking of legacy characters who could potentially appear in this series, Master Yoda is really the only one who could make an appearance. Perhaps they are saving a big Yoda reveal for some point in the series and did not want to ruin the surprise in a trailer.

Or, perhaps the series will forego any Yoda cameos and instead try to focus on new characters. However, from the opening scene with the younglings meditating in the Jedi temple under the instruction of the Jedi Master, played by Lee Jung-jae, one cannot help but wonder where Yoda is as we saw him training younglings in a very similar fashion in Attack of the Clones.

Nonetheless, we will get answers to all of these questions and more in due time. The Acolyte is set to premiere on Disney+ on June 4th, so we will have plenty of time to speculate wildly before then.