If you had to reduce Star Wars to its simplest shorthand, it would probably be: “Jedi = good, Sith = bad.” That moral polarity — the Light side versus the Dark — has driven the Skywalker Saga since A New Hope. Over time, though, the line between the two has grown less distinct.
George Lucas first complicated that neat duality with the prequel films, showing how the Jedi’s confidence and blind spots led to catastrophe. More recently, showrunner Leslye Headland stretched that idea further in The Acolyte: set a century before The Phantom Menace, her Disney+ series portrayed Jedi as fallible guardians whose authority could be questioned. Now Takanobu Mizuno — in Star Wars: Visions season 3 — continues dismantling the franchise’s moral shorthand.
Ed. note: Spoilers ahead for Star Wars: Visions season 3 episode 1, “The Duel: Payback.”
Image: Lucasfilm
“The Duel: Payback” functions as a loose sequel to season 1’s “The Duel,” an entry many viewers may not recall. You don’t need that backstory to follow this one: the lead is an ex-Sith turned hunter who preys on his former kind and defends those who can’t defend themselves.
Mizuno returns with the same studio that produced the original — Kamikaze Douga — this time joined by ANIMA, and the collaboration yields spectacular results. While the first “Duel” felt intimate and stripped-down, “Payback” expands the canvas: it takes place on a populous, strategically important world full of urban sprawl, armed forces, and civilian life. Ronin tracks a Sith to a skyborne battleground where combatants leap between floating panels suspended beneath a colossal, AT-AT-like behemoth. Just as Ronin is poised to strike the final blow, a Jedi intervenes.
Image: Lucasfilm
The Jedi here is far from a paragon: though he wields a blue blade, his methods are vengeful and his body is augmented with retro-futuristic cybernetics — an aesthetic that recalls Vader as he manipulates a mechanical jaw between duels. He claims to represent the Republic, but his anger has long since tainted his cause.
After an initial clash, Ronin slips away and — in a turn that reconfigures expectations — allies with the Sith he was hunting. They recruit locals (including a surprising band of Ewoks) to mount an assault on the corrupted Jedi and his Republic support. Their scheme succeeds: amid the ruins of an ancient temple, the hostile Jedi is broken, and the Sith survives to fight another day. Mizuno and his team accomplish something notable: they stage a victory for a villainous faction that nevertheless feels emotionally satisfying. (Admittedly, Ewoks do a lot of heavy lifting in the empathy department.)
Image: Lucasfilm
Disney canceled The Acolyte after its first season, citing weak viewership and high costs — a decision that many outlets linked to the show’s poor ratings and expensive production. The vitriol aimed at lead actor Amandla Stenberg likely didn’t help the series’ prospects, either. Had Headland been allowed to continue, season 2 might have pushed the franchise’s moral ambiguity further, probing the virtues that can exist in the Sith as well as the faults of the Jedi.
Even if The Acolyte’s run was cut short, it’s heartening to see the Jedi/Sith binary still fertile ground for storytellers. Visions is uniquely suited to this kind of experimentation: outside the constraints of mainline canon, the anthology lets creative studios reinterpret Lucas’ universe freely. Here’s hoping we don’t have to wait another four years to see Star Wars where the supposedly righteous are morally compromised and the traditionally villainous are the ones left to resist.
Star Wars: Visions season 3 is now streaming on Disney Plus.
Source: Polygon
