This piece contains spoilers for The Acolyte and some bits of Star Wars Legends lore.
Oh boy! We finally made it through the divisive discourse and wild theories to the finale of the Disney+ series The Acolyte. If you thought that showrunner and creator Lesley Headland was going to play it safe, boy were you wrong! This is one of the wildest finale's we've seen in a while, filled with incredible action, shocking character moments, and massive cameos. So, if you're still recovering from that eventful final episode and have some questions we're here to answer them.
Was That Darth Plagueis the Wise Or Darth Tenebrous?
Though it has yet to be confirmed, we can safely say that shadowy creature on the mysterious planet watching Qimir (Manny Jacinto) and Osha (Amandla Stenberg) is more than likely Darth Plagueis, the famed Sith Lord most notable to Star Wars fans from "The Tragedy of Darth Plagueis the Wise" as mentioned in Revenge of the Sith.
If you haven't watched the prequels for a while, Palpatine (Ian McDiarmid) tells Anakin Skywalker (Hayden Christianson) about his master, who was strong enough with the Force that he could manipulate midi-chlorians into creating life and cheating death. It's a ploy to encourage Anakin to join him on the Dark Side, but is also a true story. Seeing him here is a massive reveal, as he's never been brought to life on screen before and it confirms the popular fan theory that Qimir was Darth Plagueis' apprentice. It does make sense with the timeline as we know it and offers up some very interesting potentials for a possible Season 2.
Darth Plagueis isn't the only Sith Lord we thought of though. Seeing as we haven't heard the name “Plagueis” from Lucasfilm or Headland there's still potential for another Sith Lord to have played a part, so it's worth mentioning Darth Tenebrous. While the character was introduced in the expanded universe legends canon in 2011, he quickly became another legendary sith, and is notable here as he is Darth Plagueis' master. Not much is known about him, but Tenebrous did train other potential apprentices before he took on Darth Plagueis. There is always a chance that Qimir is one of those apprentices. Even still, perhaps if that was Plagueis, he wasn't there as his master but instead as his competition
Either way, Headland is really showing her Extended Universe (EU) chops here as both of these are deep cut Sith Lords.
What Happened to the Kyber Crystal In Sol’s Lightsaber?
In one of the coolest moments in the season we saw the moment that the Kyber Crystal in Sol's lightsaber was cracked and then ultimately corrupted by Osha and her anger. It's the first time we've seen the process known as "Bleeding" happen in live action, and it was deeply satisfying. It's a rare feat for a Sith, and cements Osha as a powerful Force user. The crystal’s corruption was also only possible because her anger was so powerful that as she killed Sol, causing the Dark Side of the Force to flow through her and into the saber’s already weakened crystal. It's a really cool and much more nuanced representation of the turn to the Dark Side than what we’ve seen previously.
Why Did They Wipe Mae's Mind in The Acolyte?
Possibly the most emotional moment of the series came as Mae begged her sister to go with Qimir and utilize her powers to allow herself to finally be free and at one with the Force. It was a necessity not just for the safety of Osha and Qimir, but also for the plot. canon as we know it most of the Jedi don't know that the Sith were active at this time, so erasing one of the only witnesses to that fact was key to maintaining the story as we know it.
What is Vernestra Rwoh’s Plan?
It's gut-wrenching to watch Mae actively forget her sister and their deep connection as she's questioned by Vernestra (Rebecca Henderson) who, lucky for Mae, blames all of her crimes on Sol in order to cover up the fact she let him go rogue. There's also a selfish level to her scheme,as she needs Mae to help her find Qimir. As her ex-student, there's some unfinished business there (likely to do with that massive whip-shaped scar that he has on his back and her infamous whip-saber).
Did Vernestra try to kill her Padawan like Luke to Kylo in The Last Jedi? Did she sense that he was leaning towards the Dark Side and attempt to get rid of him? It's an interesting choice for Vern to be revealed as the master of a wannabe Sith Lord as in The High Republic books her weapon and attunement to the Force have sometimes been critiqued as being too close to a darker more chaotic side. Did that potentially draw her to him? It's going to be interesting to find out, especially as she's not embarking on the mission to find Qimir alone. Not only does she have the newly mind-wiped Mae, but she's also got one of the oldest and most powerful Jedi up her robed sleeve.
Why Was Yoda in the Acolyte?
Yep, after everything the show ends with a back of the head cameo from the fan favorite 800 year old (at this point) Jedi master. It's the first time we've seen him in live action since 2017 in The Last Jedi, and he's as zen as ever.
What was Yoda doing in The Acolyte? Well, after covering up the Dark Side murders and blaming Sol — who honestly deserved it — Vernestra heads to see Yoda and declares that they need to talk. The implication is that there is a higher power than the Jedi Council, and potentially a secret Jedi organization that is aware of the fact that the Dark Side is rising again and that they have to do something about it. Though, seeing as we know they didn't actually manage to stop Plagieus or his apprentice Palpatine in the future it's hard to claim that they did a very good job of it.
What Happened to Qimir When He Tried to Reach Out to Osha?
As we rejoined Osha and Qimir in their charming apprentice cave, Osha began to struggle to breath while in Qimir's cortosis helmet. As Qimir attempted to help Osha and take the helmet off something strange happened, he was unable to reach her and was seemingly pulled into a different mental plane. Seeing as we know that another Sith Lord was likely present on the island, could it be that someone was mind controlling him and attempting to stop him helping Osha? She's revealed as a powerful Force user later in the episode so, if the Sith Lord sensed her, they could have been trying to stop from Qimir saving her to take out the competition.
Osha's powers also offer up a different option: the Force was trying to show her the future, and didn't want anyone getting in its way. This means that it could have been the Force or even Osha subconsciously stopping QImir from interrupting. Eventually he overcame it though, meaning that no matter what the reason, Qimir was strong enough to tame it.
How Does The Acolyte Finale Set Up Season 2?
While we don't have confirmation of a second season of the show yet, the finale does set up the potential introduction of a younger version of Palpatine to show how he infiltrated the Jedi at a time when they were at their strongest. There has been little done in live-action to showcase the origins of Palpatine, let alone Plagueis — or his master Tenebrous — so there is a ton of interesting Sith canon to dive into.
We're all incredibly well versed in the Jedi and now the High Republic era is letting us into the more prosperous times that they oversaw. Getting to learn about the rise of the Sith and the origins of their lore like the Rule of Two, as well as how more burgeoning Sith like Osha and Qimir fit into the newly awakened Dark Side would be a really interesting way to expand the galaxy far, far away. Plus with Osha and Qimir being relatively relatable and sympathetic characters it would be an interesting in-road to the Dark Side that's less one sided than what we've seen. Plus, now that we know Vernestra is Qimir's old master, there's that mystery to dive into too. If you're hoping for more Jedi action, the fact we leave Vernestra with Mae sets the pair up as an unusual team-up with both of them having personal connections to their bounty. What we really want to know though is what other Jedi are part of Vern and Yoda's crack team of Dark Side knower-abouters?
Does Osha Violate The Rule of Two?
This is a big question for Sith lore lovers. As we referenced above, the Rule of Two is a key part of Sith lore that was established by the Sith Lord Darth Bane as a way to keep the number of Sith down so the Jedi wouldn't notice that they were training in secret under the cover of the Force. The rule basically means there can only ever be two sith at a time, a master and their apprentice, with the assumption that when the apprentice is ready, they'll kill their master and take on an apprentice of their own. Seeing as Bane was born almost a thousand years before Plageius, it's safe to say that this rule would be in play during the events of The Acolyte which, seeing as we already saw a sneaky Sith Lord, be it Tenebrous or Plagueis, and it's heavily implied that Qimir has been studying under a Sith Lord,then surely Osha being his apprentice breaks the Rule of Two.
All of that being said, there are plenty of ways this could easily be explained: Qimir wasn't trained by a Sith. While it appears he was trained by Vernestra early on (He knew Yord and told Osha he had previously been a Padawan) he could, instead, be self-taught with the Dark Side of the Force, because of his wish to use the Force as he willed after leaving (or being expelled). That would mean he's not technically a Sith Lord. He could also have thought that he killed his Sith master on the mysterious unnamed island, and we saw him emerging from his would-be death. There's also the fact that narratively the Sith are hardly trustworthy and Qimir could just be breaking the rule because he wants to! Whatever happens, it'll be interesting to see how a potential Season 2 would choose to explore this wrinkle.
Rosie Knight is a contributing freelancer for IGN covering everything from anime to comic books to kaiju to kids movies to horror flicks. She has over half a decade of experience in entertainment journalism with bylines at Nerdist, Den of Geek, Polygon, and more.
