You may have seen this little fella in Funko POP form already, but thanks to some new promo stills for tonight's fourth episode of The Acolyte, we have a first official look at Bazil, the Tynnan tracker who will help our heroes on a very important mission.
We're not going to go into too much detail about the episode, but if you'd rather know as little as possible before watching, here's your spoiler warning.
In an attempt to reach Mae's next target before she does, Master Sol, Osha and the others travel to the planet of Khofar, where they enlist Bazil to find Wookiee Jedi Master Kelnacca's home deep in the jungle. Unfortunately, Mae has already arrived, and she's not alone.
Tynnans were actually introduced in the 1979 novel Han Solo’s Revenge by Brian Daley, but creature & droid FX creative supervisor Neal Scanlan and his team incorporated elements of otters and beavers to make Bazil even more adorable-looking.
“We spoke about those kinds of things,” Scanlan tells StarWars.com. “We thought about how we could include some of these things that were not only, you know, cute and lovable and adorable, but also showed signs of a bigger sort of character makeup. A character like this is much more engaging. What qualities are [fans of all ages] going to see in him that they would identify with? That will only work if they feel like there's an element that they could give him a cuddle or that he's friendly. You know, it's an important part of, I think, the Star Wars world.”
Check out the new images of Bazil and Kelnacca below.
In The Acolyte, an investigation into a shocking crime spree pits a respected Jedi Master (Lee Jung-jae) against a dangerous warrior from his past (Amandla Stenberg). As more clues emerge, they travel down a dark path where sinister forces reveal all is not what it seems.
The series stars Amandla Stenberg, Lee Jung-jae, Manny Jacinto, Dafne Keen, Charlie Barnett, Jodie Turner-Smith, Rebecca Henderson, Dean-Charles Chapman, Joonas Suotamo, and Carrie-Anne Moss.
Leslye Headland created the series, based on Star Wars by George Lucas, and serves as an executive producer along with Kathleen Kennedy, Simon Emanuel, Jeff F. King and Jason Micallef. Charmaine DeGraté and Kor Adana are the co-executive producers. Rayne Roberts, Damian Anderson, Eileen Shim and Rob Bredow are the producers.
Headland also directed the premiere episodes (Eps. 101 & 102). Directors Kogonada (Eps. 103 & 107), Alex Garcia Lopez (Eps. 104 & 105) and Hanelle Culpepper (Eps. 106 & 108) round out the directing duties on the series.
"I really wanted to tell a story about the Sith," showrunner Headland told EW in a recent interview. "That was kind of my dream Star Wars idea. But it felt like the time period to do that in would be something pre-Phantom Menace. That seemed to be the most interesting trajectory for the Sith: How did the Sith go from the Rule of Two and being quote-unquote 'extinct' to Palpatine coming into power without the Jedi knowing about it?"
Award-winning composer Michael Abels, known for his work on Get Out and Us, scored The Acolyte.