This show is set ~100 years before the prequels. It's actually really weird, because the Jedi are depicted more or less as a police force, but it's very ambiguous what kind of jurisdiction they have, or who they are accountable to. I guess they serve the Galactic Republic, but they also have their own agendas? It feels like the writers just didn't think too hard about the whole thing, which is a shame because Andor fucking nailed depicting the Empire and its bureaucratic functions, and managed to make the whole thing interesting.
Star Wars slop for anyone interested:
The central/starting conflict of The Acolyte is a disaster that is implied to be the fault of the Jedi making a visit to investigate a tribe/covenant of non-Jedi force users, that results in the deaths of everyone from said tribe save for two twin children that make it out alive. But the exact cause of the disaster is left a mystery, and the show seems to be barreling towards "this mustache-twirling Sith dude orchestrated it to pin on the Jedi, and also take in one of the kids as an apprentice." And then there's a bunch of shenanigans over one of the kids being drawn to the Jedi with the other taken as a Sith apprentice, but then they switch places
It's a shame, because there's a lot of interesting stories you could tell about Jedi from the perspective of questioning their institutional legitimacy and authority, but I think this show is just stuck in capitalist realism. Even the "rogue force users" stuff was interesting, we're shown what is basically a witches covenant but with force magic, that was aligned to neither Jedi nor Sith. But then they were all immediately killed off before we could learn anything more about them
During the Jedi visit to the tribe, which honestly feels like a liberal depiction of a police raid (ostensibly non-violent, just unwelcome and intrusive), the kids have an argument with each other. This tribe, that is depicted as social outcasts hiding on a remote planet to stay off of the Jedi Order's radar, somehow raises one twin (Osha) to be a total Jedi bootlicker, while her sister has the complete opposite attitude. I actually burst out laughing when child Osha blurts out "The Jedi are good!" What?? Her entire family and everyone she's ever known since birth seems, at best, extremely distrustful of the Jedi! We're given no snippet or anything like she read stories or something about Jedi doing heroic acts or whatever. She just inherently loves the Jedi for some reason, because the writers wanted to do a "one twin is drawn towards the light, the other darkness." It's such shitty, lazy writing.
Also, this show is hilarious for how each and every Jedi is a completely uncharismatic dork. I'm talking completely stiff, painfully uninteresting characterizations. But it's impossible to tell if the show actually intended that, or if they were going more for "serious, by-the-book guardians of justice" or w/e and just fell flat. I guess that's the problem with trying to depict warrior monks whose entire dogmatic religion is about not forming emotional attachments, lol.
This show is set ~100 years before the prequels. It's actually really weird, because the Jedi are depicted more or less as a police force, but it's very ambiguous what kind of jurisdiction they have, or who they are accountable to. I guess they serve the Galactic Republic, but they also have their own agendas? It feels like the writers just didn't think too hard about the whole thing, which is a shame because Andor fucking nailed depicting the Empire and its bureaucratic functions, and managed to make the whole thing interesting.
Star Wars slop for anyone interested: The central/starting conflict of The Acolyte is a disaster that is implied to be the fault of the Jedi making a visit to investigate a tribe/covenant of non-Jedi force users, that results in the deaths of everyone from said tribe save for two twin children that make it out alive. But the exact cause of the disaster is left a mystery, and the show seems to be barreling towards "this mustache-twirling Sith dude orchestrated it to pin on the Jedi, and also take in one of the kids as an apprentice." And then there's a bunch of shenanigans over one of the kids being drawn to the Jedi with the other taken as a Sith apprentice, but then they switch places
It's a shame, because there's a lot of interesting stories you could tell about Jedi from the perspective of questioning their institutional legitimacy and authority, but I think this show is just stuck in capitalist realism. Even the "rogue force users" stuff was interesting, we're shown what is basically a witches covenant but with force magic, that was aligned to neither Jedi nor Sith. But then they were all immediately killed off before we could learn anything more about them
Another funny thing to pick apart from this show,
During the Jedi visit to the tribe, which honestly feels like a liberal depiction of a police raid (ostensibly non-violent, just unwelcome and intrusive), the kids have an argument with each other. This tribe, that is depicted as social outcasts hiding on a remote planet to stay off of the Jedi Order's radar, somehow raises one twin (Osha) to be a total Jedi bootlicker, while her sister has the complete opposite attitude. I actually burst out laughing when child Osha blurts out "The Jedi are good!" What?? Her entire family and everyone she's ever known since birth seems, at best, extremely distrustful of the Jedi! We're given no snippet or anything like she read stories or something about Jedi doing heroic acts or whatever. She just inherently loves the Jedi for some reason, because the writers wanted to do a "one twin is drawn towards the light, the other darkness." It's such shitty, lazy writing.
yeah that sounds dumb as hell
liberals probably can't write a critique of the republic anyway
Also, this show is hilarious for how each and every Jedi is a completely uncharismatic dork. I'm talking completely stiff, painfully uninteresting characterizations. But it's impossible to tell if the show actually intended that, or if they were going more for "serious, by-the-book guardians of justice" or w/e and just fell flat. I guess that's the problem with trying to depict warrior monks whose entire dogmatic religion is about not forming emotional attachments, lol.