Warning! The Following Contains Spoilers from the Season 1 Finale of The Acolyte.
The revelation isn’t nearly as impactful as that of Darth Vader revealing he is Luke Skywalker’s father. However, most Star Wars fans already knew, or, at least, strongly suspected Darth Plagueis the Wise was the Stranger’s Sith Master, but The Acolyte’s showrunner Leslye Headland has officially confirmed their relationship. While Qimir, aka the Stranger (Manny Jacinto), and Lord Plagueis never shared a scene together, fans were treated to a very quick shot of the Sith Master hiding in the shadows during the Season 1 finale. Headland said in an interview with Entertainment Weekly:
We wanted to answer a lot of questions. We wanted to show Qimir’s master [Darth Plagueis]. We weren’t going to wait a second season for that.
Qimir is arguably the most intriguing character to grace the eight-episode Disney+ series. Obsessed with finding his own acolyte, the Stranger is revealed to have powerful connections to both the Sith and the Jedi. As mentioned, fans glimpse Plagueis playing a little peek-a-boo in his quick cameo, but Qimir’s connection to Jedi Master Vernestra Rwoh (Rebecca Henderson) is also revealed.
After Osha (Amandla Stenberg) Force chokes the life out of Master Sol (Lee Jung-jae), à la Darth Vader, the Jedi arrive too late. And without his special cortosis helmet, which blocks all senses, Master Vernestra is able to “feel” her former apprentice’s presence somewhere on the planet. The Stranger quickly puts his mask back on to block out Vernestra, but their once Padawan/Master relationship is exposed to audiences.
Leslye Headland Admits ‘You Have to Take a Break’
The Acolyte’s creator and showrunner Leslye Headland regrets not exploring Master Vernestra’s backstory, but there was only so much storytelling she could squeeze into Season 1 of the Star Wars series. The cameos by Master Yoda and Darth Plagueis were intriguing to be sure, but even if the powers-that-be greenlight a second season, Headland insists on taking a break first. The showrunner said during the same interview:
“You have to take a break, especially after something like this.
I don’t even know how many years my brain has been going, Star Wars, Star Wars, Star Wars, Acolyte, Acolyte, Acolyte — just constantly solving problems, constantly thinking about it.
It is very weird to now be in a place where I don’t need to do that.I always say to budding writers,
‘The most important thing that you can do is sit around and do nothing,
because the second you start to manufacture a story, you’re going to get stressed out.
And the story can’t start that way.’”
Related
The Acolyte Showrunner Teases Eerie Darth Plagueis Connection with Star Wars’ Magical Twins
The Acolyte’s creator, Leslye Headland talks about the twins and compares Plagueis’ life-creating power to an “atomic bomb” in the Sith’s competition.
If The Acolyte can overcome its low ratings and a Rotten Tomatoes audience score that still registers only 17%, Season 2 would be influenced by Darth Plagueis. But the player dynamics will be vastly different if further stories are explored revolving around Headland’s creation. Osha is now aligned with the Stranger, while twin sister Mae’s memory has been wiped clean — and she is now in the hands of the Jedi.
Season 1 of
The Acolyte
is available to stream or binge-watch on
Disney+
at the time of this writing.