Star Wars: The Acolyte Brings Back a Controversial Part of the Prequel Trilogy

One of the most controversial plot devices of the Star Wars prequel trilogy is revealing itself to be an important part of Star Wars: The Acolyte. We’re talking about midi-chlorians, the microscopic organisms that Qui-Gon Jinn explained to young Anakin Skywalker exist within all living things. A high M-Count in an individual usually means a higher connection to the Force, which is why Anakin’s midi-chlorian reading going “off the chart” was such a big deal to the Jedi at the time. This has often been regarded as one of the sillier elements that George Lucas introduced in the prequels, but midi-chlorians are nevertheless making a comeback with the latest Star Wars series.

In the third episode of , Torbin (Dean-Charles Chapman) took an M-Count reading of Mae (Leah Brady) and Osha (Lauren Brady), so fans knew the readings were being used at that point in time. In the penultimate episode of the season this week, The Acolyte doubled down on the device and used it to offer some pivotal information about the twin girls.

Torbin discovered that both of the twins had a high M-Count (not as high as someone like Anakin), but he was also able to see the structure of the midi-chlorians in each of them and figure out that they were carbon copies of one another. Midi-chlorians led to the reveal that Mae and Osha were actually genetic copies, creations from Mother Aniseya that weren’t “born” like most other living beings.

The whole midi-chlorian thing doesn’t appear much in other parts of the Star Wars timeline, but it makes sense for The Acolyte to be utilizing the readings based on the era in which it takes place. The Acolyte is set near the end of the High Republic Era, about a hundred years before the prequels. With the Jedi at the height of their power as an organization, and clinging to many of the flawed principles that led to their downfall during and after the Clone Wars, it’s no surprise to see them using some of their outdated approaches to the Force.

Set during The High Republic, Star Wars: The Acolyte delivers an investigation into a mysterious string of crimes, which pits a Jedi master against his former apprentice in a race to uncover the truth. The more that the pair learn about the situation, the darker their journey becomes, as they confront things that darker than either of them could have imagined.

The series stars Amandla Stenberg, Lee Jung-jae, Manny Jacinto, Dafne Keen, Charlie Barnett, Jodie Turner-Smith, Rebecca Henderson, Dean-Charles Chapman, Joonas Suotamo, and Carrie-Anne Moss. Star Wars: The Acolyte premiered on Disney+ on June 4th.