The Acolyte is introducing Star Wars fans to a Jedi Order at the height of its power, but because the new Disney+ show is set much further back in the timeline than anything else we’ve ever seen in live-action, the specifics can get blurry. Here’s everything you need to know about where The Acolyte sits on the Star Wars timeline, and what it means for the story.
When is The Acolyte Set?
The Star Wars timeline is centered around the Battle of Yavin, the climactic fight in A New Hope. For example, The Mandalorian is set in 9 ABY, nine years after the Battle of Yavin, while the first season of Andor is set in 5 BBY, five years before the Rebels win their first major victory.
We don’t know the exact year The Acolyte is set, but when the series was announced, it was described as taking place a century before The Phantom Menace. That movie is set in 32 BBY, which means The Acolyte is set in 132 BBY. Showrunner Leslye Headland describes this setting as “the final days of the High Republic era,” before the Republic began the decline we see in the prequels.
What is The High Republic?
The High Republic spans from around 500 to 100 BBY. The Republic ruled over the galaxy in peace, and the Jedi oversaw that peace. The Order was huge and active all across the galaxy, unlike the smaller and more bureaucratic Jedi Council we see in the prequels.
In our universe, The High Republic is a multimedia series of comics, novels, and audio adventures depicting this era and its Jedi’s fight against the pirate-esque gang known as the Nihil. However, these projects are set around 232 BBY, a whole century before The Acolyte, so only one character from other High Republic works appears in The Acolyte.
Who is Vernestra Rwoh?
Vernestra Rwoh is the green-skinned Jedi apparently leading The Acolyte’s murder investigation. But before she was an esteemed Jedi Master, she was a child Jedi prodigy who attained the rank of Jedi Knight at only 15 years old. Around that age, she had a dream that prompted her to design a lightwhip, a flexible lightsaber variant that will appear in a future Acolyte episode.
This means Vernestra is 116 years old in The Acolyte. She’s a Mirialan, an alien species that doesn’t have a firm lifespan nailed down, so she could still be considered young or old. Hopefully, we’ll learn much more about her in future episodes of The Acolyte — and see her fancy whip in action.
