THE ACOLYTE Season 2 Planned the First “Sex Scene” in STAR WARS History
For nearly 50 years, Star Wars has given us forbidden romances, charged glances, passionate kisses, and enough Force-related yearning to power a Star Destroyer. What it hasn’t given us is an actual sex scene. Apparently, The Acolyte Season 2 was prepared to change that.
According to Knight Media, the canceled second season of The Acolyte was developing what would have essentially been the first love scene in Star Wars history, involving Amandla Stenberg’s Osha and Manny Jacinto’s Qimir.
The idea reportedly involved Osha and Qimir entering a Force meditation tank where their consciousnesses would intertwine through the Force. Nothing explicit would have been shown, but the intent apparently would have been pretty clear.
The concept has been compared to the spiritual intimacy seen in Avatar, although one commenter offered a much funnier description: “Demolition Man ass sex.”
That would have been quite a departure for a franchise that has spent decades carefully keeping romance from getting too physical.
Sexual tension has certainly existed since the beginning. Luke Skywalker immediately develops a crush after seeing Leia’s hologram in A New Hope. Han Solo and Leia spend much of The Empire Strikes Back circling each other before finally giving in to their feelings.
Anakin Skywalker and Padmé Amidala’s forbidden relationship drives a huge part of the prequel trilogy. Rey and Kylo Ren even get their strange Force connection that occasionally feels like the galaxy’s most intense supernatural FaceTime call.
Then, of course, there’s Slave Leia. Carrie Fisher’s famous Return of the Jedi costume became one of the most recognizable images in the franchise and even appeared on the cover of Rolling Stone before the movie was released.
Still, Lucasfilm historically drew a pretty firm boundary when it came to sex. George Lucas was protective of the family-friendly nature of Star Wars, even contacting magazines publishing explicit fan fiction during the early 1980s. Lucasfilm also maintained restrictions for licensed novels and other expanded material.
Legacy Star Wars novelist A.C. Crispin once explained the rule: “Hugs and kisses are fine. But don’t go beyond that.” Characters reportedly weren’t even supposed to be depicted sharing a bed.
Lucas himself acknowledged that sex obviously exists in the Star Wars galaxy and clarified that Jedi weren’t required to be celibate. The old Expanded Universe also had no problem with romance, marriage, and children.
The Courtship of Princess Leia, for example, went pretty hard on the romance. Leia finds herself pursued by a handsome interstellar prince while Han desperately tries to win her back, eventually kidnapping her before the pair finally get married. Their relationship would eventually lead to children and an entirely new branch of Expanded Universe storytelling.
The novel was important beyond the romance as well. It introduced Dathomir and its witches, concepts that would become major pieces of Star Wars mythology.
Basically, the old rule seemed to be that characters could fall in love, get married, and have children. Just don’t spend much time discussing exactly how step two became step three.
The Acolyte was already starting to play around with those boundaries during its first season. Jacinto quickly became one of the franchise’s newest sex symbols after Qimir ditched his helmet, stripped down, and went swimming while Osha watched.
The moment wasn’t included simply to show off Jacinto’s physique. Although, yes, the internet certainly noticed that part.
Qimir was intentionally using attraction as another weapon against Osha. His attempt to lure her toward the dark side wasn’t only philosophical. He was trying to break through her defenses on a much more personal level.
Leslye Headland, the show’s creator and showrunner, explained the thinking behind that dynamic: “I always really loved the line in A New Hope when Obi-Wan says ‘Vader was seduced by the Dark Side’. Always loved that word, ‘seduced’.”
Taking Osha and Qimir’s relationship further in Season 2 certainly fits with where The Acolyte appeared to be heading. A Force meditation tank love scene, however, would have taken the franchise into territory it has avoided.
Whether fans would have embraced it or completely lost their minds over it, but like the show itself, it certainly would’ve divided fans. The Acolyte didn’t make it to Season 2, leaving Osha and Qimir’s strange Force connection unfinished.