Summary
- Amandla Stenberg’s character in The Acolyte uses knives instead of a lightsaber due to the unique High Republic Era setting.
- The Acolyte will offer new insights into the ways of the Force.
- The upcoming show is set to be an innovative addition to the Star Wars universe.
Star Wars: The Acolyte actress Amandla Stenberg revealed in a recent interview why Mae, Star Wars‘ new mystery assassin, doesn’t carry a lightsaber. The Acolyte is the thrilling upcoming Star Wars Disney+ TV show set approximately 100 years before Star Wars: Episode I – The Phantom Menace, in the High Republic Era. Because it serves as a prequel to the prequel trilogy, The Acolyte is primed to explore this period in the Star Wars timeline that has yet to be depicted on-screen. With that brand-new territory comes numerous exciting updates, Mae’s unique weaponry among them.
In an interview with Empire Magazine, Mae actress Amandla Stenberg shared the logic behind her character opting for knives rather than a traditional lightsaber in The Acolyte. Stenberg explained:
“Well, being in the High Republic era opens up the terrain a bit for what kinds of weapons we might be interested in. The series relies upon very specific tropes and archetypes, and we wanted to follow in that lineage. So that’s why those knives are there. I also just think they’re super cool. It’s a time in the galaxy where the way people use the Force is… in canon, it’s very expansive. It doesn’t necessarily have the more rigid conceptions that it might have later in the Galactic Republic. So that provides us the opportunity to maybe explore the different way this character relates to the Force.”
In addition to highlighting the incredible depth of knowledge that many Acolyte cast members are bringing to the table, this quote reveals that The Acolyte is thinking about the larger Star Wars galaxy in innovative ways while drawing from canon; this combination is sure to make The Acolyte an incredible addition to Star Wars movies and TV shows.
Related
Star Wars: The Acolyte – Cast, Story Details & Everything We Know
The upcoming Star Wars show The Acolyte will take the franchise into the grand High Republic era, but what mysteries await in the Jedi’s golden age?
There’s More To The Force Than Lightsabers
As Amandla Stenberg’s interview with Empire Magazine makes clear, The Acolyte is exploring a brand-new era of Star Wars, and with that comes the chance to be truly innovative. In fact, because The Acolyte is set a century before the prequels and will explore the history of the Jedi and the Republic and the reasons each fell, there is really no better time to get a bit more creative with the Force, the Jedi, and the weaponry than right now. Indeed, as Stenberg pointed out, the prequel era’s rules don’t have to be set in stone.
There is really no better time to get a bit more creative with the Force, the Jedi, and the weaponry than right now.
Rather, it makes considerable sense that the Jedi and other Force-users before the prequels would have different approaches to and relationships with the Force. For one, it’s clear that the Jedi way had been somewhat abandoned during the Clone Wars era. After all, war and politics didn’t align with the Jedi’s role as peacekeepers whatsoever. While that may apply to their involvement in the galaxy, it follows that other practices, such as the Jedi almost exclusively using lightsabers, would have been more recent changes.
This also opens the door for The Acolyte to offer new insights into the ways of the Force, which is especially exciting. Despite the length and complexity of the Skywalker Saga and more recent Star Wars movies and TV shows, the Force remains a mysterious power, and there is seemingly always more to uncover about it. The highly anticipated Star Wars: The Acolyte will surely dive so much deeper into Star Wars lore than weaponry alone, making Mae’s preference for knives over a lightsaber just one thrilling element of the upcoming show.
The Acolyte premieres on June 4 on Disney+.
Source: Empire Magazine
The Acolyte
The Acolyte is a television series set in the Star Wars universe at the end of the High Republic Era, where both the Jedi and the Galactic Empire were at the height of their influence. This sci-fi thriller sees a former Padawan reunite with her former Jedi Master as they investigate several crimes – all leading to darkness erupting from beneath the surface and preparing to bring about the end of the High Republic.
- Cast
- Dafne Keen , Lee Jung-jae , Amandla Stenberg , Jodie Turner-Smith , Joonas Suotamo , Carrie-Anne Moss , Margarita Levieva , Charlie Barnett , Dean-Charles Chapman
- Seasons
- 1
- Streaming Service(s)
- Disney+
- Writers
- Leslye Headland , Charmaine De Grate , Kor Adana
- Directors
- Leslye Headland , Alex Garcia Lopez
- Showrunner
- Leslye Headland
ALL STAR WARS MOVIES AND TV SHOWS ARE AVAILABLE TO STREAM ON DISNEY+
