Star Wars: The Acolyte Echoes An Underrated Video Game With Its Villain Twist

"The Acolyte" is unique among "Star Wars" titles. It is a murder mystery that shakes the entire Jedi Order, set in a refreshing and brand new age in the history of the galaxy that both adds to and comments on the prequels and its portrayal of the Jedi as a corrupt institution. The show also brings in an inventive perspective to "Star Wars" action, with fantastic wuxia-inspired choreography that makes the fight scenes feel like nothing else in the franchise. Plus, making Jedi less impulsive to just take out their lightsabers at the first chance is fascinating.

But that's not the most surprising thing about the show. The biggest surprise comes in the premiere episode, when it is revealed that the assassin that murdered Carrie-Anne Moss' Master Indara is actually the twin sister of our protagonist, the former Jedi Osha. Twins are nothing new in the galaxy far, far away of course. There was Luke and Leia and the Solo twins, Jaina and Jacen, of Star Wars Legends. Even "Rise of Skywalker" did something similar with the concept of the Force Dyad between Rey and Ben Solo. But "The Acolyte" takes things a step further by combining both concepts in having twins where one turns to the dark side. 

This is reminiscent of a vastly underrated "Star Wars" game that may hold the key to the biggest mystery in "The Acolyte." We're talking about "Star Wars: The Old Republic," the sequel to the massively popular "Knights of the Old Republic" games.

"Star Wars: The Old Republic" takes place 3,000 years before the original "Star Wars" trilogy and 300 years after the events of "Knights of the Old Republic," during a tense and fragile cold war between a reconstituted Sith Empire and the Galactic Republic following a great war. "Knights of the Fallen Empire" is the game's fifth expansion and it follows the arrival of the Eternal Empire, whose two princes, the twins Arcann and Thexan, all but conquer both the Republic and the Sith Empire in a surprise campaign of horror.

Though the game got some lukewarm reactions initially, "The Old Republic" is a fantastic follow-up to its predecessor, and it only got better with each expansion, which added to the mythology of "Star Wars" and its distant past. The trailer for "Knights of the Fallen Empire" alone is a stunning piece of "Star Wars" storytelling, showing the thrilling story of Arcann and Thexan, its heartbreaks and twists. It is a tragic story, of twins where one falls to the dark side while the other tries to resist it, and how it ends in death. 

What does this mean for where "The Acolyte" is going? Nothing good, probably. If we go by the story of Arcann and Thexan, then a fight between sisters is on the horizon, and it may not end with both of them alive.

Twins have a tendency of not really having a good time in the "Star Wars" universe. The "Star Wars Visions" episode "The Twins" is another prime example of that. Produced by Studio Trigger and directed by Hiroyuki Imaishi (the hype machine that is "Gurren Lagann"), "The Twins" focuses on Karre and Am, twins born from the dark side of the Force and raised by Sith acolytes in order to destroy the enemies of the Sith. 

The twins are meant to use their power, channeled through a kyber crystal, to fire up a hyper cannon that can destroy any planet or star system (think Starkiller Base, but on a massive dual Star Destroyer). But the plan went sideways when Karre decided to redeem himself, steal the crystal, and run away. What ensues is one of the most visually stunning and creative "Star Wars" fights ever, one that can only be done in anime, and can only be done by Imaishi. There are suits of armor that grow multiple arms, lightsaber whips, and a move that out-Holdo-Maneuvers the Holdo Maneuver, with Karre standing atop an X-Wing going to lightspeed, his lightsaber held high as he slashes through time and space, slicing through the massive Star Destroyer like butter and destroying the crystal that would kill his sister. It is ridiculous. It is incredible. It is pure "Star Wars."

The best parts of "Star Wars" are those that recognize that the original "Star Wars" worked because George Lucas put everything he loved — fast vehicles, "Flash Gordon," Akira Kurosawa movies — and told an original story using those elements. If "The Acolyte" can bring a new story with echoes of a great game and a great anime together, it can result in a phenomenal season of TV.

The first two episodes of "Star Wars: The Acolyte" are on Disney+, and new episodes debut on Tuesdays at 9:00pm ET.