‘The Acolyte’ Visual Guide Uncovers How the Republic Was Born from the Defeat of the Sith Empire

A new visual guide for The Acolyte dives deeper into the early days of the Jedi, the fall of the Sith, and how the Republic rose from the ruins. The book includes a noteworthy line that gives fresh insight into galactic history: “After the defeat of Sith conquerors, the Republic emerges from the ashes of galactic conflict to reach unprecedented heights in the long strength of peace that follows.”

This suggests that the Sith once conquered large parts of the galaxy and ruled it, but they were eventually defeated. Once that threat was gone, the Republic was born.

This challenges the idea that the Republic and the Sith always existed side by side. Instead, it shows a timeline where the Sith Empire once held power, and only after its fall did the Republic form. The darkness of their rule must have been so great that a new era of peace was needed, peace strong enough to build a galaxy-wide government.

These details come from the The Acolyte: Visual Guide, which serves as an official resource or companion book for the series. It aims to expand on the show’s lore by exploring what came before it.

The Acolyte has already raised some eyebrows by challenging parts of established Star Wars canon, and many fans haven’t reacted kindly.

While the show doesn’t directly break canon, it’s faced heavy criticism for introducing ideas that seem to contradict long-held lore. One major point of controversy is the reveal that twins Osha and Mae were portrayed as something close to “the Chosen One” before Anakin Skywalker.

Another issue came from the character Qimir, who not only killed several Jedi but also appeared to be a Sith, despite the franchise stating that no Sith had been seen for centuries.

The show sidestepped a major canon conflict by ensuring that all the witnesses to these events were killed, leaving no one to report the truth. The closest The Acolyte actually came to breaking canon was with Ki-Adi-Mundi’s appearance and apparent age. But even that isn’t a solid argument, since his exact age has never been confirmed in official canon.

Fans of The Acolyte, which is set during the High Republic era, know that this time period was long before the fall of the Sith and well before events like Revenge of the Sith. But knowing that the Republic only took shape after the Sith’s defeat adds deeper weight to the story. It changes how we think about the Jedi and how they came to serve at the heart of a galaxy that once knew darkness.

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