Where does The Acolyte land on the Star Wars timeline?

The Acolyte is the third Star Wars series to premiere this year on Disney Plus, after The Bad Batch’s final season and Star Wars: Tales’ second season. Not only is The Acolyte the singular live-action show of the three, but it is also a brand-new narrative with completely original characters set within the Star Wars universe.

In addition, a few episodes of yet another Star Wars animated series also aired earlier in 2024. And while it does not tonally fit within the proper Star Wars universe for one key reason, it happens to have something in common with The Acolyte. That show is called Young Jedi Adventures. It is basically PJ Masks with Jedi instead of superhero kids and aims to get more children into Star Wars, unlike the other animated shows that cater to hardcore Star Wars fans, regardless of their age.

Both Young Jedi Adventures and The Acolyte take place before Star Wars: The Phantom Menace. Aside from select chapters of Tales of the Jedi, they are the only stories that jump that far back on the timeline. A major draw for Young Jedi Adventures is Yoda’s participation as an overseer of the Jedi training program. He is not in a majority of the episodes, but his placement in key parts of the first season certainly satisfies Yoda fans.

Yoda is also the most feasible Jedi to make a possible appearance in The Acolyte, especially since the Jedi base on Coruscant is a setting in the pilot and could be revisited in future plot points. Other familiar Jedi from this High Republic era could also pop up, but so far, the show has been introducing fresh faces across the board, with several standout force-wielders leading the show (Lee Jung-jae and Amandla Stenberg are first-rate), as well as a shocking Jedi death in the series opener, and even a rare Wookie Jedi.

The only other force-sensitive Wookie across film and television is Gungi, who was trained by Yoda and Ahsoka toward the end of Star Wars: The Clone Wars and then makes friends with Omega in an episode of Star Wars: The Bad Batch. This is long after Kelnacca’s time in the Jedi Order. The Acolyte’s opening text dates the plot as “a hundred years before the rise of the Empire”, a.k.a. the prequel trilogy. And the third chapter takes us 16 years further, revealing the events that set the narrative in motion, and consequently offers audiences extra time with departed characters.

Currently, this is how the Star Wars chronology roughly lines up:

• The Acolyte
• Tales of the Jedi - Life and Death, Justice, and Choices
• The Phantom Menace
• Tales of the Jedi - The Sith Lord
• Attack of the Clones
• The Clone Wars - Seasons 1-4
• Tales of the Empire – The Path of Fear
• The Clone Wars - Seasons 5-7
• Tales of the Jedi - Practice Makes Perfect
• Revenge of the Sith
• Tales of the Empire – Devoted
• Tales of the Jedi – Resolve
• The Bad Batch
• Tales of the Empire – Realization
• Solo
• Obi-Wan Kenobi
• Tales of the Empire – The Way Out
• Rebels - Seasons 1-2
• Tales of the Empire – The Path of Anger
• Rebels - Seasons 3-4
• Andor
• Rogue One
• A New Hope
• The Empire Strikes Back
• Return of the Jedi
• The Mandalorian - Season 1
• Tales of the Empire – The Path of Hate
• The Mandalorian - Season 2
• The Book of Boba Fett
• The Mandalorian - Season 3
• Ahsoka
• Resistance - Season 1
• The Force Awakens
• The Last Jedi
• Resistance - Season 2
• The Rise of Skywalker

While The Acolyte is the first live-action Star Wars series to come out in 2024, it might not be the only one. Another new endeavor, The Skeleton Crew, is hoping to release before the end of the year. And the second part of Andor is also on the horizon, currently eyeing late 2024/early 2025 on Disney Plus’ calendar.