Lucasfilm’s new Star Wars series The Acolyte has deserved praise for its mere existence outside of the Skywalker Saga – after 47 years of stories set in the same timeline, a jump back “100 years before the rise of the Empire” to the shinier era of the High Republic is all it takes for aching Star Wars fans. But even with a prohibitively old setting and a cast of characters separate from Anakin and Luke, The Acolyte Creator Leslye Headland still finds ways to spice up the drama with Easter eggs. Episode 4 offered those in the know a huge surprise: Plo Koon.
Plo Koon, the Kel Dor Jedi known for his fancy oxygen mask, first appeared in scenes of the Jedi Council in Star Wars: Episode I – The Phantom Menace and became a fan favorite when he took on an action role in Star Wars: The Clone Wars. Plos biggest fan is perhaps The Clone Wars Creator Dave Filoni, who has made his passion for the B-tier Jedi extremely clear to the Star Wars fandom over the past 20 years by dressing up as a Jedi at conventions, taking photos with other cosplayers, and showing off his Plo Koon toy collection on social media. His Personal Life section on Wookieepedia are purely facts about his Plo Koon collectibles. Even though he’s a level or two away from a Glup Shitto, Dave Filoni is all about Plo Koon.
I believe Filoni when he says he spoke at length with George Lucas about Plo Koon. Reportedly, when the animator pushed for Plo’s role in the The Clone Warsthere were plans to cast an actor who sounded like Toshiro Mifune in Seven Samurai to give the Jedi a samurai feel. But Lucas found the character sillier and wanted a Jim Carrey type. Filoni chose actor James Arnold Taylor for his Gandalf charisma. The Lucas vs. Filoni Plo contest doesn’t end there; at Star Wars Celebration 2023, Filoni admitted that he argued to his boss that Plo Koon would have obviously survived Order 66 because of his #Skillz. Lucas denied the canon change request, but Filoni stood by his defense.
None of this was relevant to The Acolyte…until now. For a split second, you stand with Osha in a drop shop on the way to the Wookiee Jedi Kelnacca and see Plo Koon, who hasn’t appeared in live action since, just blink. Revenge of the Sith. How could Plo be alive during the High Republic era? That’s very human of you, but just like Yoda, he’s technically old enough to be trampling around; nerd number crunching based on decanonized Legends materials His age is about 382 years, at the time of The Clone Warswhich should already make him an experienced Jedi veteran in The Acolyte.
For a moment it sounded as if Filoni had his man in The Mandalorian. Leaks hinted at a possible reveal in the season 2 finale, but as it turns out, the early storyboards and VFX shots were all an elaborate plan to hide the return of a rejuvenated Luke Skywalker. “All it takes is one person color correcting the film, one person going on social media and saying, ‘Guess what I saw today?'” Mark Hamill said in the Disney Gallery Making-of documentary about this episode. What nobody seemed to care about at the time was how angry Filoni’s Plo Koon colleagues must have been!
Technically, The Acolyte is one of the few Star Wars projects that Dave Filoni does not appear to be directly involved in; he is not involved in the series as a writer, director, or producer. (It seems that his attention is focused entirely on Ahsoka Season 2.) And maybe it’s THE Plo Koon. In theory, this nameless Jedi is just another Force-sensitive Kel Dor.
But come on, it’s Plo Koon. And it makes sense why Headland wanted the cameo. As the showrunner said, she purposely set up her writers’ room to a wide range of Star Wars fandoms and surrounded themselves with people who brought their own Easter egg wish lists. So while long-time fans may have prayed at the altar of George Lucas, others involved were weaned from The Clone Wars — and Filoni’s pro-Plo fan base. So it’s no surprise that The Acolyte would find ways to allude to the OT, the prequels, and even the cartoons that have little in common with his world: Those who are on the right side of Star Wars history make way for Plo Koon.
Correction: An earlier version of this story stated that Plo Koon’s last live-action appearance was in The Phantom Menace, but his last live-action appearance was in Revenge of the Sith. We have edited the article accordingly.
