This 'Acolyte' Cameo Makes 'The Phantom Menace' Even More Troubling (2024)

Editor's note: The below contains spoilers for The Acolyte Episode 4.

Not only of murders and mysteries is The Acolyte made. This week's episode in the new Star Wars series, "Day," has given fans the cameo of a character from the Prequel Trilogy, Jedi Master Ki-Adi-Mundi (Derek Arnold). He is present in the Jedi Temple on Coruscant when the Jedi are discussing the next steps regarding Mae's (Amandla Stenberg) Jedi-killing spree. While he isn't necessarily among the first when fans talk about their favorite Jedi, Ki-Adi-Mundi is a symbol of the Prequels, tying the new series to the Skywalker saga and even raising some very important questions about why the Jedi are the way they are in those movies.

The Acolyte

Sci-Fi

The Acolyte is a mystery-thriller that will take viewers into a galaxy of shadowy secrets and emerging dark-side powers in the final days of the High Republic era. A former Padawan reunites with her Jedi Master to investigate a series of crimes, but the forces they confront are more sinister than they ever anticipated.

Release Date

June 4, 2024

Cast

Carrie-Anne Moss , Amandla Stenberg , Lee Jung-jae , Manny Jacinto , Dafne Keen , Jodie Turner-Smith , Rebecca Henderson , Charlie Barnett , Dean-Charles Chapman

Main Genre

Sci-Fi

Seasons

1

Studio

Disney+

Franchise

Star Wars

Ki-Adi-Mundi Is a Unique Jedi in the Order

Over the years, the Prequel Trilogy has become a never-ending source of memes for fans thanks to its quirky dialogue (yes, Star Wars fans are that weird). One such is Ki-Adi-Mundi's (Silas Carson) "What about the droid attack on the Wookiees?" line in Star Wars: Episode III - Revenge of the Sith, a radical shift in subject during the Jedi Council meeting scene right after Anakin Skywalker (Hayden Christensen) becomes a member. Apart from this, though, the Cerean Jedi has some unique traits when compared to the other Jedi in the Order.

In the non-canon Legends continuity, Ki-Adi-Mundi is actually the only Jedi who is allowed by the Council to have a family. In the 1998 Star Wars comics by Dark Horse, it's established that the planet Cerea has problems with low birthrate, which is why Cerean society has adopted the custom of polygamous marriage. Ki-Adi-Mundi then had four wives and seven daughters. When the Clone Wars began, however, one of the first battles happened between the Grand Army of the Republic and the Separatists on Cerea, resulting in the death of every member of the Mundi family. Ki-Adi-Mundi himself would only die three years later, when Darth Sidious (Ian McDiarmid) issues Order 66 and the clones turn on the Jedi, killing most of the Order.

Since he showed up in The Acolyte, Ki-Adi-Mundi's age has also become a source of controversy. When Star Wars: Episode I - The Phantom Menace came out in 1999, reference material in the Star Wars: Episode I Insider's Guide CD-ROM states that Ki-Adi-Mundi was 60 years old by the time of the movie. However, everything published before 2012, when Disney acquired Lucasfilm, is no longer considered canon and is now part of the Legends continuity. If he were indeed 60 in the movie, his appearance in The Acolyte would make no sense, since the series is set a hundred years before it. In canon, though, there is still no reference to how long Cereans usually live, nor how old Ki-Adi-Mundi would be in The Phantom Menace.

What Is Ki-Adi-Mundi’s Role in the Prequel Trilogy?

When the Jedi are discussing Mae and the mission to capture her in The Acolyte, Ki-Adi-Mundi admits that she has skill, but vehemently deems the notion of an apprentice not knowing her master as absurd. Seconds later, he says she could become a major threat, and overhears the conversation between masters Sol (Lee Jung-jae) and Vernestra Rwoh (Rebecca Henderson) about the Brendok incident sixteen related to Mae that took place sixteen years prior. Ki-Adi-Mundi's disdain when talking about Mae's relationship with her master is nothing new, though.

Around one hundred years later, during The Phantom Menace, Qui-Gon Jinn (Liam Neeson) and Obi-Wan Kenobi (Ewan McGregor) take young Anakin Skywalker (Jake Lloyd) to be tested by the Jedi Council. Shortly before, though, Qui-Gon reports on his fight against Darth Maul (Ray Park) on Tatooine, which would supposedly be the first time a Sith has been encountered in a long time. "The Sith have been extinct for a millennium," says Ki-Adi-Mundi, pretty much dismissing the possibility. Then, in Star Wars: Episode II - Attack of the Clones, he uses the same tone to dismiss the idea that Count Dooku (Christopher Lee) could be behind the attempt on Senator Padmé Amidala's (Natalie Portman) life in the opening scene, saying Dooku is "a political idealist, not a murderer." He was wrong on both accounts, and, in The Clone Wars, is often regarded as being ruthless, even ordering his Clone battalion to burn enemies with flamethrowers during the second battle of Geonosis.

Ki-Adi-Mundi really isn't regarded as one of the finest Jedi. The arrogance displayed when dismissing important matters and the lack of tact in tense situations has made him pretty much a symbol of everything wrong with the Jedi Order at the time of the Clone Wars, and what eventually led to their demise. His appearance in The Acolyte, then, helps to establish the transition between the golden age of the Jedi during the High Republic and their downfall in the Prequel Trilogy. It's thanks to masters like him that the Order grows blind and deaf to the signs of the shifting times.

What Does Ki-Adi-Mundi’s Cameo in ‘The Acolyte’ Say About the Jedi?

Ki-Adi-Mundi's line in The Phantom Menace about the Sith being extinct has been another source of controversy since his cameo in The Acolyte. The series has already revealed that twins Mae and Osha (both Stenberg) have been created by some sort of Force manipulation, and everything points to Mae's master being a Sith Lord. First, how could Ki-Adi-Mundi say that the Sith have been extinct for a millennium? Second, he has already seen people who were conceived through the Force, so why wouldn't he mention it when Qui-Gon Jinn introduces Anakin Skywalker to the Jedi Council?

The answer to both questions is simple: because he probably didn't know. Ki-Adi-Mundi isn't part of the mission to apprehend Mae and recall Master Kelnacca (Joonas Suotamo) on Khofar, and, quite frankly, it doesn't seem that this mission will have many survivors. Although they outnumber the Sith Lord who shows up at the end of the last episode, shock and the element of surprise give the Dark Sider the upper hand. And, even if there are some survivors, since there are some main characters involved, Mae and Osha's fate may differ from that of the Jedi. Ki-Adi-Mundi may have overheard some of the conversation between Masters Sol and Vernestra, but that doesn't mean he is completely in the loop about the whole affair.

And, even if he did know about it, he might not necessarily decide to divulge that information — especially being a Jedi. Vernestra is clear about the need to keep the Khofar mission a secret and not involve the Jedi Council, since the political consequences may bring even more problems for the Jedi Order. Compartmentalizing and delegating responsibilities seems to be key at this moment in the Order's history, and Vernestra does have the seniority required to deliberate on such matters. Even if Ki-Adi-Mundi knows about everything in The Phantom Menace, the Jedi are known to cover up information that may compromise them, like the existence of a Sith Lord during the Clone Wars. With The Acolyte only halfway through its first season, there is still time for him to learn more about the Mae case, to understand that silence and compliance are the way to go, or to simply be left out of the loop, as it happens.

New episodes of The Acolyte air weekly on Wednesdays on Disney+.

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