The first trailer for 'Star Wars: The Acolyte,' the series that explains the beginning of the end of the Jedi Order

In Star Wars Episode III: Revenge of the Sith, Darth Sidious corrupts young Anakin Skywalker, who falls to the dark side and becomes Darth Vader. The current Supreme Chancellor is the last in a line that stretches back to Darth Bane, the architect of the Rule of Two. The goal? To manipulate, corrupt, and overthrow the Republic, destroy the Jedi, and annihilate the Order. The whole plan was hatched over the centuries, including during the era of the High Republic, the historical period in which ‘Star Wars: The Acolyte,’ the new series premiering June 4 on Disney+, takes place. The first trailer - below these lines - gives a glimpse of a cloak of darkness looming over the galaxy far, far away.

How the end of the Republic came about

Though the High Republic was considered a golden age for the Jedi Order and the Galactic Republic, it was also a time of blindness and conflict. For a millennium, the light of the Jedi had illuminated the galaxy. They mediated conflicts, protected citizens, and enforced justice. The ancient Sith, an order associated with the dark side of the Force, was thought to be extinct. However, Darth Bane realized that to survive, they would have to change and adapt, leaving their armor behind, wearing simple robes, joining civil society, and hiding their status. In short, make plans for revenge, make the Jedi confident of their total victory, be patient, and strike when no one expects it.

Palpatine and Darth Vader are the last representatives of this ancestral lineage, the ones who finally carried out the master plan. The former senator of Naboo chose politics as a way to enter the government and influence the chancellors, to the point where he convinced the representatives to file a motion of no confidence and be selected as the candidate for the new chancellor. To no one’s surprise, he was elected to lead a corrupt and bureaucratic government at the service of his shadowy alter ego, Darth Sidious. He twisted reality, took on a new apprentice - Darth Tyranus, Count Dooku, replacing Darth Maul - and authorized the creation of the Grand Army of the Galactic Republic, composed of clone troopers. Through science, he implanted in their minds the inhibitor chip activated by Order 66 when the clones rebelled against the Jedi and killed them.

Full screen

The destruction of the Jedi Order brought about the beginning of Palpatine’s reign, which heralded the rise of the Galactic Empire, but The Acolyte is a story set a century before those plans were put into action. In Legends, Darth Tenebrous and his apprentice Darth Plagueis - Master of Palpatine - set their sights on the glorious day of vengeance against the Sith, though Lucasfilm had not yet established the era of the High Republic. How these stories are rewritten will depend on products like “The Acolyte,” a story that will tie into the prequels’ plot: the infiltration of the Jedi Order by the Sith.

One of the enemies of the Republic in the centuries before the Clone Wars were the Nihil, warriors, and pirates, an organization that challenged the Republic’s rulers and the Jedi. They used unknown hyperspace routes to carry out their coups. Even leaders like Marchion Ro unleashed sinister creatures like the drengir, sentient plants with a hive mind capable of controlling the minds of the living. The greatest threat to the Jedi are the Nameless Ones, creatures that infect Force-sensitive humans, turning them to stone and ash.

According to the official synopsis of ‘Star Wars: The Acolyte’, a series of crimes will lead a respected Jedi Master to confront a warrior from his past. As they follow the investigation, they will travel down dark paths that will uncover sinister forces lurking in the shadows.