Fans are currently calling for Disney to reverse the cancellation of The Acolyte in order to resolve the countless cliffhangers and explore the characters further. Reports said that there were plans to complete Season 2 just a month ago before the series was canceled last week.

Why this happened is obvious, and it’s not because of the haters screaming “woke.” It’s because The Acolyte is a show that reportedly cost an absolutely ridiculous $180 million to produce, and the viewing figures weren’t nearly high enough to justify it. But to be fair, basically no show, let alone one that had to deal with the challenge, could not any classic Star Wars characters you can rely on.

When you watch the first season of The Acolyte, it’s easy to see where cuts could and should have been made, and how a second season wouldn’t have cost more. everywhere almost enough to return to the storylines and develop them further.

There are definitely costly moments that absolutely didn’t need to happen in the first season. One that comes to mind is an undoubtedly costly VFX chase with Sol and Osha in a planet’s ring, a scene that easily could have been cut and saved who knows how many millions in the process.

What visual spectacles can you even remember from The Acolyte in this category? I certainly can from the sequel trilogy and films like Rogue One, but here? That’s not why the show worked.

When you think of the best moments of the series, what were they? The absolutely wild lightsaber battle between The Stranger and a legion of Jedi he massacres. Something that required a lot of stunt training but wasn’t a massive VFX sequence.

Beyond that, there are strong character moments like Mae and the stranger in the cave. The contrast with Sol trying to imprison Osha and the realization that his “good intentions” caused all of this in the first place. These are the reasons the show worked, because of the performances and occasionally the stunts, not the elaborate VFX sequences that cost the most.

You can also (sigh) shorten the order of the episodes. This is a common tactic, but cutting two episodes to reduce the eight episodes of the first season to six episodes of the second season is an easy way to cut costs. But at least the story would move forward, even if the plot threads have to be wrapped up fairly quickly.

And then in general: Disney has to figure out how to reduce costs for all the series. Andor cost $250 million and didn’t get anywhere near that many viewers. Luckily, a two-season deal was already signed. Marvel’s Secret Invasion cost an incredible $200 million, making it the worst thing the MCU has ever done.

The renewal of the acolyte is important. It is not Only that we want story arcs to be expanded and concluded, like Qimir’s story and Plagueis’ involvement. But The Acolyte is an example of Disney trying to make Star Wars exist outside of the Skywalker era, as it had been stretched almost to the limit at this point. Making a single series and then canceling it means they’ll never attempt anything as ambitious again, which is a disappointment to fans. And without ambition, their vision of Star Wars will wither. It feels like that has already started, as seemingly every single Disney Star Wars series outside of Ahsoka is ending in the next year or two. All other series have been canceled, are miniseries, or are ending after one more season, and no more have been announced.

The Acolyte wasn’t perfect, but first seasons of shows rarely are. Many shows need time to settle in, and you can see that even in real time in the second half of the season. Disney is being incredibly shortsighted here, not even trying to make this work by setting a more reasonable budget after spending absurd amounts of money on this and other projects. You can’t please the people who hate The Acolyte, as they’re going to hate everything there is in Disney’s Star Wars except Andor, so you just have to go ahead with an ambitious vision. And it seems like they don’t have one.

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