There are major entertainment franchises, and then there's Star Wars. Generations grew up on the galaxy far, far away, which has released projects in theaters and streaming with a Disney+ subscription. While fans are looking forward to upcoming Star Wars movies and TV shows, there's new information coming out about previous projects. And it turns out that Yoda would have shown his dark side if The Acolyte didn't get cancelled after one season.
The Acolyte's finale featured some big cliffhangers, especially the brief appearance of Master Yoda. The show's creator Leslye Headland recently appeared on The George Lucas Show, where she addressed some unanswered question about the scrapped show's planned future. When asked if Yoda was going to help Vernestra cover up the Jedi murders from the first season, she answered by saying:
For sure. Yeah. By the way, he does it, don't come at me in the comments because he does it in Clone Wars, so I don't want to hear about it.
Well, that was pretty cut and dry. Despite being the leader of the Jedi Order and having a strong sense of morality, it sounds like Yoda would have been operating in the grey if The Acolyte got a second season. And that includes covering up who killed the Jedi that perished in Season 1, and putting the blame on Lee Jung-jae's Master Sol. Cold hearted, Yoda can be.
This ambiguous side of Yoda might be surprising for some fans, but Headland cited some of his actions in the animated series The Clone Wars. During that show he did a few morally grey actions, including holding out information from allies such as the origin of the Clone troops. And now I'm lowkey upset that we didn't get a second Acolyte season so we could have seen this in live-action.
Despite having the appearance of being a moral authority, the Jedi Council was shown time and time again to be a less than perfect institution. Their refusal to name Anakin a Jedi Master is a major reason why he ended up turning to The Dark Side, and the Council was also shown to protect their own interests over the greater good. And it looks like that's exactly what Yoda would have done in relation to the deaths from The Acolyte Season 1.
It's been interesting to see the way Yoda has been used in live-action in recent years. He famously appeared as a Force Ghost in The Last Jedi, even burning down the Ancient Jedi texts in front of Luke's eyes. His voice can also be heard at the end of The Rise of Skywalker alongside other famous Jedi encouraging Rey to get up and fight Palpatine.
Star Wars will return to theaters with The Mandalorian and Grogu on May 22nd, as part of the 2026 movie release list. While the latter character has been called Baby Yoda by the fans, only time will tell if the Jedi Master gets a cameo.
