NOTE: The Episode of Badonkagonk this highlight is from was recorded between the airing of The Acolyte 1x4 and 1x5

‘A lot of people went into this with their blaster belt clipped in.’ Brilliant stuff!

People who have "never watched" something telling people how horrible it is just seems weird.....

This is why I love Blind Wave.

The cave of evil metaphor is so accurate with how we interact with media these days. Thank you guys for ever being a source of positivity in all your content even when you don’t like something.

Thank you all so much for sharing this! 100% with you all on all of this. Love you guys!

It is so refreshing to hear a conversation/discussion that discuss both the good and the bad in a clear and non judgemental way. If even half the Star Wars online community could discuss things as eloquently as both of you, it would be far better for it.

I think the thing for me is as a person who has been around since New Hope debuted is that there’s never been a reliable set canon. The first printings of the novelization which Lucas worked on added items that were contradicted by ESB. This is leaving aside Splinter of the Mind’s Eye, which Lucas considered canon… until he didn’t. Lucas, who changed his canon constantly, based Star Wars on pulp serials and those didn’t care about canon either. He changed his mind constantly depending on what he thought made a better story that day

This is why you guys are the best Star Wars fans on youtube, best content creators and just have a great community. Fair, balanced discussion about everything, non of this wild clickbait outrage

You guys are a fucking breath of fresh air. Thank you.

Blind Wave/Wave Squadron is the only place for Star Wars fans that's not toxic beyond belief. Things get criticised but it's always objective and never bad mannered. 👍

Genuinely thankful for you guys. In a fandom full of toxicity it’s so great to find people with positive outlooks and who aren’t always angry just to be angry. Thank you for your perspectives!

This is why I’m a fan of you guys. I love the rational, logical thinking. All art is subjective, period.

It's the Anakin mantra. If you're not with me, then you're my enemy.

There is way too much hatred in the world now a days. Social media just feels like it’s constantly throwing more and more fuel on the fire. You guys are always a breath of fresh air. You keep things civil and respectful while being open to people different opinions. That’s something we are losing more and more. So I appreciate you guys for sticking to who you are and not getting all swept up in the bullcrap. Haha. I always enjoy hearing you guys talk about things you’re passionate about.

Eric's criticism towards Star Wars Theory was SO thoughtful and really encapsulates how mature I think he is analytically.

Erick's quote about people entering the cave with a light saber belt is the strongest and most truthful statement I've heard about Star Wars in a while

Ironic that so many fans give in to hate considering the message of Star Wars...

Am I the only one who thought when seeing TPM as a kid that Mace Windu and Yoda was keeping Sith a secret, I always thought Windu’s eyebrows raised to Yoda as if they already knew.

So beyond grateful for you guys and how you're able to use nuance and positivity to share your thoughts on Star Wars!!

I just want to say thanks for being one of the few channels that comes into each star wars show with an open mind. It was clear before the Acolyte was even released that many people had already made up their minds about the show and have since focused on anything that confirms their biases, rather than giving the show an honest viewing. Regarding the subject of canon, I wish more people understood that lore evolves, and characters like Ki Adi Mundi are fallible (his dialogue regarding the extinction of the Sith was written to show that the Jedi did not know the truth).

Blind Wave is my safe space for Star Wars content

Appreciate the breath of fresh air this discussion was. You guys rock.

I don't watch your channel for the reactions I watch because it feels like hanging out with buddies watching a show. I appreciate you guys trying to curve the toxcity that seeps into a lot of these reactions and discussions for "Disney" Star Wars... Some of these canon people hold high regards to what George Lucas has done and written, yet George sold Star Wars after the prequels...was it for money sure, was it for opening himself to do other things and time with family, sure...but to touch on your prequel points, he also saw that what he wanted, and what he did.. didn't jive with Fandom when those three came out and how toxic they were. Especially when. It came to Anikan...that little kid was cut down... Hayden was almost universally hate, probably affected his career.

this is a great discussion! thank you both and to all who worked on creating this but also to shed light on current events.

Listening to this was a breath of fresh air. So so so fed up of the hate to this show. Thankyou wave squadron for being neutral in this discussion. The George lucus purists that just hate on Disney because they didn't like the sequels bring the star wars community down and make it a negative place but you guys flip that on its head. Thankyou 🙏

I’m so happy you guys are talking about this. It feels like every other youtuber is making 15 clickbait videos on the subject instead of actually trying to see whether or not the show is breaking canon!

Thank you so much for being mature, honest, and saying no to hate. I don't think people need to like the show or agree with my opinion, but it is super depressing that everywhere it is being discussed online is full of crazy hate and anger. I want to be able to celebrate the things I love about the show and have constructive discussions about the things I don't, but there aren't many places where that is possible. Many people decided before it came out that they didn't like it which shows that so much of the negativity is in bad faith, and a lot of the complaints over the last few weeks have continued to be ridiculous. We already knew that dark side users could potentially create life before Anakin was conceived by the Force, so dark side witches doing that with their magic is completely in canon with the movies. We know Ki-Adi-Mundi was blatantly wrong when he said the Sith did not exist and it seems pretty obvious that the show is covering up potential Sith existence by killing off all the witnesses and having other Jedi, including Ki-Adi, believe that it is just a rogue Jedi at work. Plus, Ki-Adi's inclusion here is obviously intentional as he represents the ignorance and arrogance of the Jedi, and there is no reason why he couldn't be there since the only place that says he would not be alive in this time is in Legends which has not been canon for years. Now, if we get to the end of the show and one of their explanations for these things doesn't line up and ends up breaking canon then I'm sure I will have a problem with that as well, but they have not done anything so far to indicate that this will be the case.

Wow, great video. The Acolyte is not my favorite Star Wars thing ever, but I have really been enjoying it (episode 5 was amazing), and have been disgusted by a lot of the conversation about the show. Thank you for talking about this topic in such an intelligent way. I appreciate you guys!

Great video guys. So happy to see this healthy discussion on these topics. I find it wild that some people who have watched star wars and claim to be friends can be so hateful and full of anger. Literally like the whole message of these stories is to turn away from feelings of hatred and anger

Art quality is subjective, it’s up to the viewer to decide how different aspects of art have or don’t have meaning

Blind wave is what gives me hope Still being a Star Wars. One of if not the only channel that tackles things from multiple perspectives. This is what constructive criticism should be

I'm so glad you addressed this. Love you guys and appreciate what you do, keep it up

Its been very hard to be a star wars fan on youtube as of late, especially when the biggest voice of star wars on youtube thinks the complete opposite from you guys

Love the non toxic attitude guys. It's so nice after seeing the storm of hate

Thank you so much for this! I'm so grateful that there still seem to be some voices of reason left in this fandom! This is the way. ❤

The Prequel is my favorite trilogy and it encouraged me to consume more of the other productions such as the books and the Clone Wars animation (which is by far what I love most about this universe), so I learned very early on in my Star Wars journey not to care/participate in fandom discussions. Your channel has been a blessing in my life, you are the only ones I follow to understand the plots and stories more deeply, (I must have already rewatched the CW react at least 5 times) and seeing the way you deal with new content as additions to the universe instead of looking for flaws just to complain is what always keeps me excited to learn more and more.

Thank you for being the voice of reason

Eric summed it up in the first 5 minutes

Eric and Aaron with the well-thought-out and very mature points! The vitriol against this show is so hilariously sad and the people that give it the 1 star are just telling on themselves. Thanks for doing what you guys are doing, keep it up!

I really had to force my self to clear my social media of star wars pages because of this overhate and negativity of the fandom. Its so frustrating seeing people complain about so little, and like, condemning who is liking/ defending the show, and most didn't even watch it, take conclusions before the show even finish. Sure there are things to criticize about, but a lot of people are just hating for hating

good video. thanks for being a bastion of reason and positivity in this online cesspool of a fandom

Thank you so much for discussing this with maturity and calmness. I’ve been so disappointed by so many creators and fans alike recently who are doing nothing but trash on the show and some even going so far as to call people who enjoy it stupid and it’s been really upsetting since I am a HUGE Star Wars nerd and fan and I know most of cannon and legends but I still am really enjoying this show. I love watching your guys videos they are a treat every time they come out and it lets me feel like I’m needing out over my favorite shows with someone too lol. Anyways thanks for being awesome!

The term “Sith” was used by Qimir saying, “A Jedi like you would call me, Sith.”…but the way that line is worded, he never actually calls himself a Sith. Seems like a very calculated way to make fans speculate wether he is or not

Just wanted to thank you guys. I am I guess more casual fan I'd seen all movies and a little of the shows. My wife had only seen 1-6 of the movies. So this year we decided to catchup so we could be ready for the new stuff. We Watched All chinama on Disney including playing fallen order and new lego game. We enjoy acolyte so far . But we know nothing about old republic or anything in books so we have been coming to your channel to watch reactions and learn more about those things. So thank you for staying positive and keeping it focused on the story. We agree with how you guys. We thought episode 3 was cool. This is a story about space wizards it's ment to be fun and explore the imagination and story telling. So thx you guys

People getting upset about wiki edits to the point of DEATH THREATS is ridiculous. The whole Wikipedia system has always been open to edits, so newly revealed or discovered information can be added about entries.

@WaveSquadron this is such a breath of fresh air to just see a dialog of star wars and not a full blown hate fest for no reason. There has been some crazy irrational things said about the acolyte. It's not perfect by any means, but the hate it has gotten to the degree it has is way to much. Keep up the good work guys. I always love watching your reactions and your dialogs.

I thank The Force itself for you guys and your rational thinking on a daily basis!

The prequel hate was different. SW fans ran George off his IP 😂 had actors on suicide watch. It was all crazy

Eric would be a great Jedi Master... great take on the state of the fandom

100% this! You guys are great!

when Eric is talking about when people use the term "shill", i have never agreed more it is so annoying that simply being a fan and enjoying something will have people yelling at me because of their sense of ownership over star wars or anything else for that matter

I love watching you guys since you're so open and generally positive to everything you try out ❤. I try to stay away from for example Instagram comment sections since all the negativity is only making me aggravated. But sometimes I try to leave som love and positivity there to balance it out a little. But after ep 5 I accidentally found a much more positive climate on Threads which made me really happy 😍

Love the discussion, the acolyte is defenitly overhated, not the biggest fan because of the acting and some weird scene that takes me out but ep5 was fire

This video feels like the perfect addressal of these topics that resonates with how I feel, and how I'd like to. I tend to struggle ignoring the toxic discourse online about Star Wars just because I love seeing others' thoughts on the media I enjoy, but this channel has helped a ton by being such a strong source of positive, respectful commentary. Over time I've gotten better at being able to just ignore needlessly hostile videos and stuff about this franchise, and I hope others can do the same. Star Wars is a franchise meant to be enjoyed, and that's really all I set out to do when I watch some new piece of content. I hope that in the future, like or dislike any new media that comes out, there can be more rational, respectful discourse like this channel does. Thanks for making this, and keep going strong!

Always loved hearing you guys talk about Star Wars, thank you for all your content. You guys are genuine and I really respect that. Can’t wait for Star Wars celebration in Japan! Hope to see the crew there! 🙌🏼

You guys, Louise Julia, and Kyle Katarn are just built differently. And I'm here for it

Paraphrasing "What happened to grace?" Grace doesn't sell. Outrage sells. That's the math, homie, and it sucks balls, but it is what it is.

Thank you for your videos Eric and Aaron! Always enjoy watching them 😊

The only thing I have to say is people are name calling and threatening those who just simply don’t like the show and say to them that the production value and script/acting just doesn’t work for them are being assaulted and called racist and biased and anti women are LBGTQ. When you have the right to not like it or like it.

Great stuff guys! I agree that this toxicity is just too much. I have my issues with The Acolyte but it's definitely not all bad, and Episode 5 was a great step in the right direction. Pretty intrigued to see where they go with it.....possibly seeing Darth Tenebrous?

Kinda nuts how much energy people put into something they hate that they'll prolly forget about pre soon

The funniest part for me about the Ki Adi Mundi controversy is that dude speaks like... three times? ... across all three prequels. Yes, he's clearly an important character, being on the Jedi High Council and all, and he has more dialogue than some of the others, but still. He's not Yoda. He's not Obi-Wan or Anakin, or Padme, or any other main character. He's just some dude as far as the typical watcher is concerned.

I wish the Star Wars fanbase could have healthy discussions like this more often. You’re entitled to not like a show or have problems with it but this whole fighting has become so toxic.

Thank you so much guys

Couldn’t have explained it better, it’s not the best show to exist, but most of the hate is totally uncalled for.

Eric has some great points in this video that seems to be in the minority and I happen to agree with everything. "Grace" is perfect here. I had problems finding the right words but spot on with the ones you used to not just describe, but also give clever comparisons with. The whole "space" and "ownership" mentality as well as the political storm just makes so much sense and is exactly what I'm seeing myself. It's okay to dislike something but you guys especially Eric approached it in a very healthy and mature way which is frankly, too good for the internet right now.

My take on the whole Acolyte situation is that the real problem with the show is not the show itself, is the people making the show. We can like or dislike any show, but once people started talking bad about The Acolyte the people making the show did the one thing they shouldn't have: they started labeling people who criticized the show as haters, racists, and other stuff. Actors, directors, writers should just shut the fuck up and let their work speak for itself, instead they engaged in toxic behaviour that makes them as bad as the toxic fans. This type of attitude was seen before in shows like Rings of Power and Velma, where in order to compensate their weak product they just deflect any type of criticism as some form of prejudice. The consequence of this is a growing resentment among the fans/audience, then things like "hate watch" happen, people will get furious and will hate the show even if is not that bad and attack people who liked the show, and the reverse will also happen with people defending the show against any criticism and attacking any one who disliked the show, and the toxic behaviour will go on and on and on. Talking now about my experience, I was ready to keep watching the show, but after everything that happened I just don't want to give audience to those people anymore, I can't see them as anything but toxic people. Even more so because at one point there was a debate in the community about "don't like, don't watch" and then people actually stopped watching, The Acolyte lost a bunch of viewership and what the people making the show did? They blamed the audience and went on with the toxic behaviour...

That’s why Blind Wave is best!

"It's anti-art" - I really do think this hits the underlying problem with a lot of modern hyper criticism towards TV and movies in general. Thank you for sharing this wonderful and even-handed conversation on the issue with Star Wars fan culture.

Always appreciate your views. I think StarWars has some really passionate fans so no matter the project that comes out nowadays, theres always gonna be a more liking or more hating sitaution... but glad you guys are here to not only inform but also entertain, coz i too probably wouldnt look to the internet to see whats going on after each episode lol Great callback with the Twins reference too.. l😊😂

I agree 100% with that entire beginning rant. I'm loving this show, but people are hating that I love it. People are telling me my taste sucks, and it's bothering me. So this was a breath of fresh air to listen to. Thank you.

At the end of the day, it's a franchise about a FICTIONAL galaxy. Six year old actors should NOT be cyberbullied into quitting acting and Wikipedia editors should NOT be getting death threats.....

This is why I adore you sweet puddins. Thank you for just having a good time. ❤

I love watching you guys. Thank you for being positive and having constructive discussions. You make being a Star Wars fan fun.

I had a completely different show in mind before this came out, I thought it would be about a Sith acolyte hiding in the shadows fighting to stay there and not reveal her existence or her masters to the Jedi. Like every episode some Jedi would find out about them and the main character would have to kill that Jedi to keep the secret. That would have been more unique I think and would not break any canon as long as the acolyte always managed to cover her tracks. Now the story is too similar to episode 1 and you get all this discussions wether canon is broken or not

Eric thank you for reminding us that these are made up stories about space wizards and not to be taken so damn seriously. 😉

Luke and the cave is such a great analogy. I do find that a lot of people have missed every entire point of Star Wars. Also, I don't get the Ki-Adi-Mundi lore break. They're treating him as if he is talking absolute facts, while the statement he says is a direct contradiction to what is actual fact "sith haven't been around for a millennia" he said that in response to a Jedi fighting a fucking sith, who was a sith apprentice... Ki-Adi-Mundi wasn't put in the acolyte as a throwaway character. Him, of all people, is in this for a reason. To show that the jedi are blind.

Spot on! Exactly my thoughts. I was trying to explain to my wife that I thought watching Disney Star Wars is a lot like the cave from ESB, people bringing their ‘wokery’ and ‘agenda’ into it and it not being specifically part of the narrative. She’s not a SW fan, so she had no idea what I was talking about

Watching you guys for years I have a complete change of heart about everything I watch. Now, I find myself unable to read or take in reviews with negative for every show or movie I see.

I am enjoying this series as of now. When I said I don't really see why it is getting the amount of hate it is getting in a comment I got a reply saying "Cause it isn't Star Wars". That reply was deleted again a few hours later but still. That's just the tip of the iceberg of the unwillingness of some people to come forward with a fair discussion as to why they don't like it.

This background is incredible

I miss the vibe star wars fans use to have. I remember seeing star wars revenge of the sith in a packed theater. In my small town at the end of the movie everyone got up and clapped. It was such a vibe never seen that happen with another film since .

You guys may be too young to remember that prequel hate was so bad that Wookiepedia had this weird alternate timeline of horrible fanfic. The darkside just didn't have twitter back then.

Old time OT fan, honestly I loooove Acolyte its so refreshing, and I see absolutely no canon breaking in it and agree with you guys its so dumb to think the show is bad before you have seen it all. Theres a reason why being a movie critic has some rules how to critique....

I think this show is pretty good. Not the best thing Disney has put out, but far from the worse.

Great discussion.

Always more thought and passion from this channel

Me and my friends are not liking this show, but I fear that that criticism is getting roped in with all the awful hate speech and thus dismissed. It’s a weird time to be a Star Wars fan.

Thats why I like you guys, damn

This is why BW is the best Star Wars content creators imo.

Honesty its just sad man, i miss the time when rebels was airing, i was in high school and the theories and excitement online around s3 i think was so good, i had many disagreements about things like thrawn and all that, but it was positive and exciting, i cant even open the comments anymore, its so sad, and to see these middle aged people with youtube channels who grew up with the prequals and experienced the prequel hate to then go and do it to the next generation is sad, star wars KZfaq is almost unwatchable now, theres only a few channels that haven't become what they used to hate

Eh I’m gonna disagree on a number of points first being that because it’s Art all criticism is subjective to the individual and can never objectively say something is bad, yes you can by that logic there are no bad movies,shows,books etc which is not true. So Morbius or Madame Web is not a bad movie? Any individual in any creative field will tell you yeah it’s artistic and self expression but also rules and patterns and templates that come with techniques. Just as you Erik are able to comment on choreography and the shortcomings and mistakes with a combat so too can people comment on mistakes in the myriad of parts that make up media(writing,editing,production) and it be just as objective and factual. So to say that all criticism is subjective and you (Erik) exist where the only person’s opinion who matters is your own is a flimsy way to hand wave any criticism as subjective nonsense that doesn’t matter to protect and prop up media you yourself said you will always love unabashedly regardless of content simply because it is Star Wars.

You guys are genuinely awesome, really appreciate how positive and rational you guys talk about topics like this

Eric is very wise.

As a storytelling perspective, it's very clever to use Ki Adi Mundi's words against him. As a lore perspective; why do people care about him anyway and all of a sudden? He was a jerk. This is very on point for him to lie about it. I don't care if there's a Sith. If anything it enhances the lore. Also as an older fan, lore changed with nearly every book came out when Lucas was in charge. And especially with the movies when it disregarded a book. I'm used to this. But there's no lore break here. The only thing that has bothered me is Force Healing introduced in the Rise of Skywalker. But that's another conversation.

Thanks to Eric and Aaron for their reasonable assessments! 🌌

i dont even get how people use the argument of the sith extinction when palpatine is right there and rubs it in the face of the jedi daily.

At the end of the final episode, I want to see a cloaked Bith species strike down Qimir.

I feel like I'm in the minority here, but I noticed that despite all the comments online to the contrary on the matter, Ki-Adi-Mundi (as of the release of Episode 5 of the Acolyte) has never once seen the Sith in question. He never see's the red blade nor does has he heard about it. In the meeting where they are all discussing Mae in episode 4 (which is the only scene Ki-Adi-Mundi has appeared so far), they theorize who might have trained her. Guesses are thrown out, including the suggestion that a former Jedi might have trained her, but the idea of a Sith Lord training her never once crosses their minds or lips. Ki-Adi-Mundi even expresses doubts that it was a Jedi who trained Mae, (showcasing his doubtful personality that would only grow and would be showcased in the prequels and Clone Wars). And then when the Jedi group heads with Osha to find Mae where Kelnacca is hiding, Ki-Adi-Mundi doesn't accompany them and isn't present when the Sith Lord shows up. When the Sith Lord does reveal himself, the Jedi don't even identify him for what he is, even openly asking "What is that?" (as if it's a horrid creature), with the 900 year gap since the last Sith went into hiding, the Jedi of the Acolyte's time period have not been trained to even recognize what they are seeing (Sol is so shaken that he has to ask who the Stranger is). Said Stranger then proceeds to immediately kill off every Jedi in the vicinity (with the exception of Sol) leaving not a single one who is able to contact the temple and alert what happened. Now Mae is following Sol back into their ship, and based off the trailer, Vernestra will arrive on that same planet, meaning they're not leaving quite yet. Based on the fact that Phantom Menace they still don't know about the Sith, best guess is that every main character in this, with the exception of the Stranger, is going to be dead by the end of the season. As for how the other Jedi don't find out, easy answer (which may not come to pass and I'm curious to see how they WILL handle it) but I'm guessing that Osha, after learning the truth of what happened 16 years ago from the Stranger that sways her to the dark side, will kill Mae and the murders will be blamed all on her, right down to placing a lightsaber in her hands to cover up why the Jedi died of Lightsaber wounds. Osha will then walk away as the "only survivor" and claim to the rest of the Jedi that she killed her sister to avenge the fallen Jedi.