Last week, when Disney canceled “Star Wars: The Acolyte” after one season, it was as if millions of voices suddenly cried out in relief — and immediately rushed to rewatch “The Phantom Menace” to cleanse their minds.

Even Jar Jar Binks is a masterpiece by comparison. The Disney+ show was the franchise’s worst disaster since the infamous 1978 holiday special. Fans gave it a dismal 18% on Rotten Tomatoes, while 78% of critics managed a thumbs-up.

Turns out, even lightsabers can’t cut through bad taste. As Erik Kain wrote in Forbes, the show was “poorly written, riddled with plot-holes, had very uneven acting…and looked cheap despite its enormous ($180 million budget).”

By every metric, “The Acolyte” was an expensive flop. Nielsen ratings tanked, giving it the lowest viewership of any Star Wars streaming series. The finale barely registered. That’s no longer going to fly with Disney CEO Bob Iger.

If it were a hit, Disney would’ve greenlit a second season, especially given its diverse cast and showrunner Leslye Headland’s ultra-“woke” agenda — embraced by Lucasfilm CEO Kathleen Kennedy.

But ask diehard fans of “The Acolyte” what went wrong, and they’d rather blast critics.

“This will now open the floodgates for a sea of bigotry,” one fan tweeted. “I’m really tired of sharing the franchise I love with toxic, misogynistic, immature racists,” another griped.

Their attack-dog mentality mirrors loyalists to Dave Williams, the now-deposed ex-chairman of the Colorado Republican Party.

Williams and his acolytes, Hope Scheppelman and Anna Ferguson, lost their leadership roles on Saturday but still cling to delusions of grandeur.

Just as the wokest “Acolyte” defenders reject critics as racists and sexists, Williams’ backers brand his opponents “RINOs” and “establishment shills.” Williams denies the meeting’s legitimacy, insisting rebel organizers were “a fringe minority faction.”

But this rebellion wasn’t led by a ragtag band of Ewoks. It included state legislators, county leaders and party heavyweights like State Rep. Richard Holtorf, former Secretary of State Wayne Williams and former chair Kristi Burton Brown.

District Attorneys Michael Allen from Colorado Springs and Anne Kelly from Alamosa led the rhetorical charge, prosecuting the case for Williams’ removal and interpreting an ambiguous bylaw about the required threshold for removal with the skill of a Jedi master.

“The chairman’s actions have alienated candidates and grassroots activists, and he cannot lead us to victory in November due to his failure of duty and unethical behavior,” Allen told the SCC.

Meanwhile, Williams, Scheppelman, and Ferguson each mustered no more than 12 votes each against more than 160 in favor — a defeat as devastating as the Empire at Endor.

“We will recognize the new party leadership and look forward to working with them to grow the Republican House majority,” said Delanie Bomar, spokeswoman for the National Republican Congressional Committee.

With nationally critical races in the 3rd and 8th districts, that’s a big deal. It’s only a matter of time before the Republican National Committee does the same, though they might delay pending formal adjudication of the dispute.

Newly elected Chairman Eli Bremer received congratulatory calls from former U.S. Senator Cory Gardner and congressional candidates, including Lauren Boebert. He said his calls with candidates Gabe Evans and Jeff Hurd and state Senate Republican leader Paul Lundeen marked “the first time a sitting GOP chair had called (them) and offered support.”

Let’s be real: When the mutiny boasts so many credible figures, you can’t just ignore it as illegitimate and organized by fringe traitors.

For Republicans, this ought to feel refreshing — a chance to finally focus on November’s elections.

Meanwhile, an attempt to remove Todd Watkins, who spearheaded last Saturday’s meeting, as vice chair of the El Paso County GOP failed that same day in a vote of 151-147, even though Watkins wasn’t there to defend himself.

Ahead of Saturday’s showdown, Williams and his allies desperately tried to thwart the grassroots insurgency, even running to court. Judge Thomas W. Henderson dismissed their request to block the meeting, ruling Williams misled the court and failed to prove his case.

Saturday’s meeting had 182 eligible votes, including proxies. Williams’ defenders claim those proxies delegitimize the meeting, even though they’re legal and vital for members like farmers who can’t attend in-person.

When Williams’ executive committee previously met to discredit the rebel meeting, member Chuck Bonniwell, purveyor of the pro-Williams RINO Watch, carried the proxy of RNC Committeeman Randy Corporon. Bonniwell personally penned the committee’s decision. Ironic, isn’t it?

“We had more of his supporters at our meeting than he got at his bridge meeting,” Bremer noted. “Let that sink in.”

Still, the Colorado GOP risks becoming a clone of Michigan’s.

“After our former chair, Kristina Karamo, was voted out as party chair, she refused to leave, even after being ordered to do so by the courts,” said Randy Schaffer, a Michigan conservative.

“She still won’t accept that she’s no longer chair. She showed up at our state convention last weekend and caused enough of a ruckus to get arrested,” Schaffer warned. “The Colorado GOP ought to move forward. Don’t pursue the same course.”

Alas, Williams’ crew is charging ahead with their own meeting this weekend — a sequel to a five-minute, rain-soaked gathering Scheppelman held under a Bayfield bridge last month, with just three members.

At this rate, they might as well join #RenewTheAcolyte. As Obi-Wan Kenobi might say, “The farce will be with them. Always.”

Jimmy Sengenberger is an investigative journalist, public speaker, and longtime local talk-radio host. Reach Jimmy online at Jimmysengenberger.com or on X (formerly Twitter) @SengCenter.