Star Wars has potentially just hinted that a Jedi from the High Republic era sensed the Clone Wars in a vision, many decades before they began. Star Wars’ High Republic era spans a vast stretch of time in the franchise, going backward by about 400 years from around 100 years before Star Wars: Episode I – The Phantom Menace. Star Wars’ canceled show тιтled The Acolyte is set within this era, which depicts the Jedi Order and the Republic it serves at the heights of their respective powers.
Since Lucasfilm began exploring the High Republic era, many books and comics have fleshed out this swathe of the Star Wars timeline. Some TV shows have done so as well, as have various Star Wars video games. A recent book spinning off from The Acolyte, тιтled Wayseeker, has delved deeper into two High Republic Jedi, Indara and Vernestra Rwoh. Via this story, Star Wars may have hinted that one of these Jedi envisioned the Clone Wars through the Force, almost two centuries before the conflict began in the prequel trilogy.
The Acolyte: Wayseeker Hints That Vernestra Rwoh Had Visions Of The Clone Wars In The High Republic Era
The Force May Have Been Warning The Jedi Centuries Prior
In one of the pᴀssages from The Acolyte: Wayseeker, Vernstra and Indara are shown talking about the former’s visions. Vernestra, or Vern, is described as giving Indara a tired smile, insisting that her visions are with her all too often of late. Vern goes on to explain what exactly these visions entail, telling Indara that she can see “battlefields filled with smoke and hear the screams of the ᴅᴇᴀᴅ and dying.” This could link to a major conflict in the prequel era, the Clone Wars.
As far as the broader Star Wars timeline is concerned, there are no large-scale conflicts in the franchise between the events of The Acolyte: Wayseeker and the Clone Wars. The High Republic era did include the Nihil, pirate-like enemies of the Jedi, yet they were defeated by the time of The Acolyte and its spin-offs. As such, it stands to reason that Vern’s visions are of the Clone Wars, especially with the book stating these specific visions stuck with her for much longer than others did.
Star Wars Has Already Hinted At Vernestra Rwoh’s Force Vision Abilities
Vern’s Force Ties Are Stronger Than Most
What makes this pᴀssage from The Acolyte: Wayseeker even more intriguing is that Star Wars has hinted at Vern having stronger visions than most other Jedi via a unique ability. Vern’s early Jedi years were outlined in the various books and comics of Star Wars‘ High Republic initiative, with the character being described as someone who can slip into an almost catatonic state when traveling through hyperspace. This state allowed Vern to receive visions of past, present, or future events that could help her on her missions, which her own Jedi Master, Stellan Gios, implored her to explore.
This could support the theory that The Acolyte: Wayseeker included a hint that Vern was actually witnessing the Clone Wars, as the Force has been known to show her events from the future…
Beyond that, though, little about the true nature of Vern’s hyperspace visions has been explored. Nonetheless, they prove that Vern could have a stronger attunement to using the Force specifically for sensing things throughout time. This could support the theory that The Acolyte: Wayseeker included a hint that Vern was actually witnessing the Clone Wars, as the Force has been known to show her events from the future before.
The Acolyte Hinted Vern Wasn’t The Only High Republic Jedi To Foresee The Clone Wars
The High Republic Jedi Could Have Sensed Darkness Coming
Another element that supports this theory comes from the show that inspired Wayseeker, The Acolyte. In one seemingly innocuous scene in The Acolyte, Jedi Master Sol is shown teaching a group of younglings. Sol asks the younglings to describe what they see when they align themselves with the Force, with one student stating that she sees fire. The youngling elaborates, stating that the fire she sees only grows larger until it consumes everything. Sol repositions this vision, insisting that the Force is powerful, like fire, but this could support The Acolyte: Wayseeker’s Vern theory.
As already mentioned, there are no major conflicts in the Star Wars galaxy between the time of The Acolyte and the Clone Wars. As a result, it is worth wondering what the Force was trying to tell this youngling by showing her a vision of fire. It could be in relation to The Acolyte‘s ending, which resulted in a lot of death for the Jedi. That said, this death was linked to the manipulations of Darth Plagueis, a powerful Sith Lord who eventually trains Darth Sidious/Palpatine in the prequel era.
Given that Sidious orchestrated the Clone Wars, overthrew the Jedi, and founded the Galactic Empire over 100 years after The Acolyte, it would make sense for a Jedi to sense the brewing turmoil in the galaxy linked to Plagueis’ emergence. Overall, the concept that the Force was trying to warn the Jedi about the Clone Wars, which would prove to be their downfall, centuries before it happened is endlessly intriguing. This could have been hinted at via the youngling in The Acolyte and also via Vernestra Rwoh in Wayseeker.
The Acolyte: Wayseeker’s Visions Could Be Supported By Another Star Wars TV Show
The Clone Wars Have Had A Distinct Visual Representation Before
Finally, the last piece of evidence I will raise to support the theory that Vern could have envisioned the Clone Wars in the High Republic era comes from Ahsoka. In Ahsoka season 1, episode 5, the тιтular character entered Star Wars’ World Between Worlds and journeyed into her past as a commander of the Clone Wars. These events were depicted with a specific visual style, with Ahsoka eerily traveling through various scenarios surrounded by a fog of war.
This depiction meant that a thick smoke surrounded the events, with only the flashes of explosions and sounds of battle being heard through the fog. This links to Vern’s visions, specifically her description of battlefields filled with smoke. The World Between Worlds is a plane of the Force itself, which connects all eras of the Star Wars timeline. If the Force depicted the Clone Wars this way in Ahsoka, who is to say it did not do the same centuries before when it showed Vernestra a hint of the wars to come in Star Wars‘ future?
Star Wars
- Created by
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George Lucas
- First Film
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Star Wars: Episode IV – A New Hope
- Cast
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Mark Hamill, James Earl Jones, David Prowse, Carrie Fisher, Harrison Ford, Daisy Ridley, Adam Driver, Ian McDiarmid, Ewan McGregor, Rosario Dawson, Lars Mikkelsen, Rupert Friend, Moses Ingram, Frank Oz, Pedro Pascal
- TV Show(s)
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The Mandalorian, Andor, Obi-Wan Kenobi, The Book of Boba Fett, Ahsoka, The Acolyte, Star Wars: Skeleton Crew, Lando, Star Wars: The Clone Wars, Star Wars Rebels, Star Wars: The Bad Batch, Star Wars: Resistance, Star Wars: Young Jedi Adventures, Star Wars: Visions
