The Acolyte Episode 1 featured a major death that left Star Wars fans rattled, but showrunner Leslye Headland has defended the controversial decision.
Things in a galaxy far, far away kicked off with a bang, as the cold open ofThe Acolyte Episode 1killed off a character viewers had been excited to see in theStar Warsuniverse.
While it could be argued that it“wokebaited” fanswith this character’s fate, Headland has defended her decision to start the show on a jaw-dropping note.Warning: spoilers for The Acolyte below.
“The truth is that I just wanted to create a cold open,” HeadlandtoldEntertainment Weekly. “I think it’s the TV writer in me, to create a cold open that you were just shocked by.”
She continued: “Not to compare myself at all to Vince Gilligan, but the cold open to Breaking Bad is one of the best cold opens ever.
“So whenever I sit down to write anything, I’m like, ‘Well, I won’t be able to top that, but in my show, what’s the version of that?’ And it felt like the best I could come up with was killing Carrie-Anne Moss. It was icing Trinity and just having everyone go, ‘I’m sorry. What’s happening in this?’”
The Acolyte Episode 1 begins with a visually stunning fight between Indara (Moss) and theshow’s big twistcharacter Mae (Amandla Stenberg).
While Indara was described as a Jedi Master proficient in “Force-fu” fighting before the show began, she was quickly killed by Mae, as the young warrior used the Force to drive a knife into her chest.
It was a truly shocking turn of events, as Moss had been touted in the press as one of the show’s biggest draws, so it didn’t take long for someStar Wars fans to slam The Acolytefor killing her off so quickly.
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The Acolyte is streaming weekly on Disney Plus. Find out about moreupcoming Star Wars movies and TV shows, thebest Star Wars quotes, and moreTV shows streamingthis month.
Kayla Harrington was a TV & Movies Writer on Dexerto’s US team, specializing in The Boys, The Walking Dead, House of the Dragon, Marvel and Star Wars. She also has bylines at Mashable, BuzzFeed, and The Mary Sue.
