Is Yoda Alive During The Acolyte?

The thing about watching a tale set an even longer time ago than we're used to in a galaxy far, far away is that it limits the chances of seeing familiar faces from elsewhere in the "Star Wars" story. Given that "The Acolyte" is set a whole century before "Star Wars: Episode I," there's not a strand of the Skywalker-affiliated story in sight (though X (formerly Twitter) has already theorized that a "Star Wars" prequel Jedi will make an appearance). Honestly, though, this is probably the most refreshing thing about Leslye Headland's cloak-and-dagger Jedi tale. But it doesn't mean that surprise appearances are completely off the table — particularly when it comes to legendary Jedi master and word jumbler extraordinaire, Yoda.

To quote Dagobah's chattiest local in "Return of the Jedi," shortly before he dies, "When 900 years old you reach, look good, you will not." This confirms that Master Yoda could be within the halls of the Jedi temple during the events of "The Acolyte" and may simply not be aware of Master Sol's (Lee Jung-jae) current investigation.

That said, with such important matters being addressed, is it possible that Master Yoda is being kept in the loop and is therefore teeing up a surprise appearance in a future episode? Possibly — but then again, Headland has provided some clarification regarding the use of cameos in "The Acolyte," and it might not be the answer some fans were hoping for.

In an interview with ComicBook, "The Acolyte" creator Leslye Headland gave the impression that, as much as she may have wanted to have Yoda hobble into a scene, the legendary little green man was off limits, along with any other existing "Star Wars" characters, for that matter. "Can you imagine?" the fan-turned-showrunner said at the prospect of Master Yoda swinging by. "Can you imagine if they were like, 'No problem, you can use Yoda. Not a big deal. Go for it.'"

But while it sounds like we won't be seeing any familiar Jedi jumping into scenes for "The Acolyte," it doesn't mean other existing characters from the era won't make appearances. "We are pulling characters from the High Republic and characters from EU," Headland shared, "but that's it."

We don't want to be too skeptical about Headway's Yoda denial, but this wouldn't be the first time a creative behind one of Disney's big franchises tried to pull the Jedi cloak over fandom's eyes in order to avoid spoiling an eventual surprise. Logistically, it just makes sense that, with a backstory as long as Yoda's, having him be present for the events of "The Acolyte" is totally plausible. At this point in time, he'd be pushing 800 years old, so he should still be a prominent presence within the Jedi order. For now, though, we'll take Headway at her word — but we won't be surprised if Yoda shows up before "The Acolyte" wraps its first season.