The following story contains spoilers for The Acolyte Episode 5, "Night."
PERHAPS THE MOST interesting thing about The Acolyte—and the significantly earlier point in Star Wars history at which its set—are the fact that the tables are so very turned from how we've seen things before. In the original Star Wars trilogy, the Empire is in power, led by dark force user Emperor Palptaine and his enforcer Darth Vader, and the Jedi are essentially a myth. Obi-Wan Kenobi literally lives in a cave, Yoda lives on a distant hermit planet, and that's about all there is to it.
In The Acolyte, the Jedi are as strong as we've ever seen them (even moreso than the pre-Order 66 prequel era), while the words "Sith" or "dark side" are hardly spoken at all. But from the very beginning, it's obvious that there's a darkness lurking in the shadows. Mae (one of two roles played by Amandla Stenberg) is a force user herself who has been tasked with killing a number of Jedi masters who we've been led to believe have, somehow, wronged or failed her; she's also working with a mysterious master who's voice is being distorted under a massive, scary, and very cool helmet.
While The Acolyte doesn't use the word "Sith" until Mae's master says it to describe himself in Episode 5, "Night," it's clear to all of the Star Wars loyalists watching what's at play here. But the unique part is that we're seeing the beginnings of what we know will eventually be a Sith/dark side epidemic. This Sith master lurks in the shadows, predatorily choosing vulnerable apprentices, and—if he had it his way—ruthlessly leaving no witnesses behind when things go wrong.
Mae and her twin sister, Osha, (also played by Stenberg) have a lot to work through, and it's also clear that Jedi master Sol (Lee Jung-jae) is hiding something of his own from at least one of them. But outside of hiding his identity (and even that facade is up by Episode 5), the Sith master has no secrets—he wants to use the force how he wants, when he wants, and for what he wants. And sometimes, that's all we really want or need from a villainous character.
This Sith Lord is maybe one of the first in Star Wars history; we don't know how exactly these events line up with the events of the prequel trilogy of films. Is this really Darth Plagueis, who has his own extensive Star Wars lore and was famously mentioned by Emperor Palpatine in Revenge of the Sith? Time will tell.
But what we will say with certainty right now is that The Acolyte's villain is one of the coolest force-using villains of the Disney era (competing only with Kylo Ren himself).
Qimir Was Revealed to be The Acolyte's Sith Lord
The biggest reveal of The Acolyte so far came in Episode 5, "Night," when during a fight with Jecki (Dafne Keen), the Sith lord got his mask knocked off, and, just after stabbing Jecki three times and killing her, his identity revealed. And as it turns out, the Sith Lord was really Qimir, as played by Manny Jacinto.
There's a lot to unpack here, including a past for Qimir that we don't know about yet but will clearly be explained in the near future; he asked Sol if he remembered him, so clearly we will be getting some more backstory. But it's also the kind of reveal that makes you want to go back in the show and rewatch every interaction Qimir has had with everyone else throughout the show to this point.
In a way, Qimir's villainous reveal plays into the famous "Darth Jar Jar" theory that many fans of the franchise have rallied around; Qimir was faking being a drunk goofball just to catch the heroes and those around him off guard. But perhaps the biggest hint as to his true identity was when he realized Osha was posing as Mae, and he said "You look just like her," with a quite evil tone. He still seemed like a kind of morally gray goofball at that point, but in retrospect everyone's villain alarms should've been fully blaring.
With three episodes remaining in The Acolyte, it's also good that Osha's move to incapacitate Qimir—putting Pip on his back as a light, causing the forest bugs to carry him away—didn't kill him; we've finally had the reveal of a strong Star Wars villain, and the show would be at its best to get as much as it can out of him.
Here's hoping the rest of the show plays out just as well as episode 5—and that we get just as many twists, turns, and galaxy-warping action.
