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The Acolyte has been dealing with an oddly large number of negative online reviews since before it even launched on Disney+. Since then, many fans have shared legitimate grievances with the series, while others were quick to latch on to any minor flaw and turn it into a much bigger deal.
A good example of that was a recent cameo appearance from Jedi Master Ki-Adi Mundi. Despite him being a glorified background extra in the Star Wars prequels, it took no time at all for people to point out that it was "impossible" for him to be alive at this point in the timeline...based on non-canon information from the defunct Expanded Universe.
The new Disney-era canon never established Mundi's age, but a far more understandable complaint was the fact that, in The Phantom Menace, he confidently declared that "the Sith have been extinct for over a millennium."
The line is one many fans have rallied around as "proof" The Acolyte is breaking canon, using it as a way to condemn showrunner - and self-confessed Star Wars fan - Leslye Headland as clueless. In fairness, though, why would he say that when, as today's episode of the show made clear, the Jedi are hunting a newly emerged Sith Master during this High Republic era?
Well, The Master brutally kills the Jedi brought to Khofar by Sol. That includes fan-favourites Jecki Lon and Yord Fandar, meaning only Sol, Mae, and Osha know The Master is a Sith and secretly Qimir.
Bazil follows Sol and Osha Mae aboard the Jedi's ship and likely realises The Master's Acolyte isn't who she claims. However, with The Master discovering the downed Osha and Mae still eager to kill Sol, common sense says no one will be able to make it back to the Jedi and tell them of Qimir's true identity and allegiance to the Sith.
With that in mind, it makes sense that Mundi didn't believe the Sith had returned because, as far as the Jedi are concerned, this was probably another Force user wielding the Force in a way they don't approve of and little more.
Plus, we've already seen that the Jedi who do have suspicions about The Master are eager to cover the whole thing up to stop both the Senate and the public from learning anything that could result in their faith in the Jedi being negatively affected in any way.
So, while we still have a few weeks to go until the series ends, complaints that The Acolyte has "broken" Star Wars canon were clearly premature.
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.
Five episodes of The Acolyte are now streaming on Disney+.