The Acolyte Burning Questions: Is The Master a Sith Lord or a Knight of Ren?

Warning: this article contains full spoilers for The Acolyte’s fifth episode! If you haven’t already, be sure to check out IGN’s review of The Acolyte: Episode 5.

The Acolyte is a Star Wars series that raises some major questions about the franchise, many of them surrounding the show’s mysterious villain, a character known as “The Master.” Who is this masked figure fueling Mae’s (Amandla Stenberg) quest to murder four Jedi Masters? Are they a Sith Lord, or something else entirely? And with the recent reveal that the Witches of Brendok have unlocked the secret of creating life through the Force, will this series finally be the one that introduces Emperor Palpatine’s powerful master, Darth Plagueis?

With The Master's identity being revealed in Episode 5, now seems like the perfect time to break down the biggest burning questions surrounding the character and their role in The Acolyte. Read on to learn what we know and don’t know about this dark threat to the Jedi Order.

Is The Acolyte’s Villain a Sith Lord?

Is Mae serving a Sith Lord? That’s been one of the series’ biggest questions since the closing scene of Episode 1, where we first encountered this armored character. This villain seems to carry all the hallmarks of a Sith. He wears black armor and an imposing helmet. His voice is disguised by a modulator. He wields a red lightsaber. If it looks like a Sith, walks like a Sith and quacks like a Sith, it’s probably a Sith, right?

On the other hand, not everyone who wields the Dark Side of the Force is automatically a Sith Lord. We’ve seen as much in other Star Wars TV shows through characters like Asajj Ventress and the Nightsisters in Star Wars: The Clone Wars and Baylan Skoll and Shin Hati in Star Wars: Ahsoka. The Acolyte has already reiterated the idea that there are alternatives to the Jedi path with the introduction of the Witches of Brendok, so perhaps The Master is meant to represent an alternative to the traditional Sith.

This would certainly explain why The Master is so intent on training Mae to kill without traditional weapons. She’s not your typical Sith apprentice. She hasn’t taken on a Darth title, and she doesn’t wield a lightsaber at all. Throwing daggers and poisons are her calling cards.

The problem with introducing a Sith Lord character at this point in the Star Wars timeline is that the Jedi aren't supposed to be aware they still exist.

The problem with introducing a Sith Lord character at this point in the Star Wars timeline is that the Jedi aren’t supposed to be aware they still exist. The Acolyte takes place roughly 100 years before the start of the Skywalker Saga. During this period, the Sith are still in hiding and biding their time until they seek their vengeance against the Jedi. The Jedi Order hasn’t encountered a Sith Lord since the rise and fall of Darth Bane centuries before. As far as they’re concerned, the Sith are extinct. That belief won’t be challenged until Qui-Gon Jinn and Obi-Wan Kenobi battle Darth Maul decades down the road.

The series even calls attention to this fact with the surprise appearance of Derek Arnold's Ki-Adi-Mundi in Episode 4. It's specifically because of Mundi in The Phantom Menace that we first learned the Sith had supposedly been extinct for a thousand years. If The Master is outed as a Sith Lord here, wouldn't Mundi be a little more receptive to the possibility of Sith Lords existing 100 years later?

According to the Star Wars timeline, Darth Tenebrous is the reigning Sith Lord during this era. Little is known about Tenebrous in the official Disney canon, but in Expanded Universe lore, he was a brilliant ship designer and the master of Darth Plagueis (more on him in a bit). Physically, The Master doesn’t match the description given of Tenebrous in the EU. That said, there’s no telling how much Disney might alter the character when and if he appears in live-action.

Is The Master actually Darth Tenebrous? Could he be connected to the character, perhaps one of his pupils? Or does this villain fall outside of the traditional Jedi/Sith dichotomy? Given that he doesn’t seem to care much about hiding his presence from Lee Jung-jae’s Master Sol and the others, we’re leaning towards the last option.

Who Is Manny Jacinto's Qimir Exactly?

Episode 5 features a big reveal when The Master is unmasked in battle and revealed to be Manny Jacinto's character, Qimir. As many viewers suspected, Qimir was playing everyone during the hunt for Kelnacca in Episode 4, retreating into the jungle and switching between his civilian and Dark Side personas. His seemingly affable and carefree smuggler facade has melted away to reveal the darkness beneath.

The central question still remains, however - is Qimir/The Master a true Sith Lord or something else? It's important to note that Qimir never actually admits to being Sith. He tells Master Sol, “I have no name, but Jedi like you might call me a Sith.” That could be construed as an admission, but it could just as easily be Qimir's way of criticizing the Jedi for judging and labeling what they don't understand.

It's interesting that Qimir claims to have no name at all. Did he not take on a Darth honoriffic like so many Sith Lords before him? If he is a Sith, is there a significance to remaining nameless? Does it speak to the way the Sith are currently in stasis, quietly preparing for the day they can take their revenge against the Jedi? Or is this, again, all meant to signify that Qimir doesn't fall under the binary Jedi/Sith rivalry, and thus there's no name for what he represents?

It's important to note that Qimir never actually admits to being Sith. He tells Master Sol, "I have no name, but Jedi like you might call me a Sith."

There's a lot to analyze in Qimir's brief interaction with Master Sol. There's the implication that the two may know each other dating back even before the mysterious tragedy on Brendok. Qimir also boasts that he embraced his inner darkness, questioning what Sol has done with his own darkness. Rather than viewing the Jedi as agents of the Light Side and Sith as reprentatives of the Dark Side, Qimir seems to believe that all Force users carry darkness within them. It's all a question of whether that darkness is celebrated or suppressed.

In Qimir's mind, the Jedi and Sith are far more alike than either would like to believe. And given his hatred of the Jedi, that may be just one more reason to assume Qimir isn't a Sith at all.

Is Qimir Part of the Knights of Ren?

Episode 5 teases another possibility regarding Qimir/The Master's true nature. In the scene near the end of the episode where Qimir approaches the wounded Osha, the score briefly shifts to Kylo Ren's leitmotif from the Star Wars sequels. Is this meant to be a clue that Qimir is connected to the Knights of Ren? That's shaping up to be one likely alternative to the idea of Qimir being a Sith Lord.

Outside of their small role in the Sequel Trilogy, the Knights of Ren have mainly appeared in Marvel comics like Star Wars: The Rise of Kylo Ren and the 2020 Star Wars series, both written by Charles Soule (a writer who's also played a key role in developing the High Republic line). These nomadic warriors worship the Dark Side (what they describe as "the shadow") and travel the galaxy sowing death and destruction. The name "Ren" refers to both their bloody religious doctrine and the group's leader.

The Rise of Kylo Ren reveals that Ben Solo was recruited into the Knights of Ren shortly after falling to the Dark Side and destroying Luke's Jedi Academy. Ben needed to prove himself by giving the Knights a "good death" as tribute. He ultimately did just that by killing Ren and becoming the group's new leader.

Little is known about the origins of the Knights of Ren or their activities prior to the Original Trilogy era. That may be a blank The Acolyte is meant to fill. Is Qimir a member of the Knights of Ren? Is he the one that originally forms the group, perhaps as an outlet for those in the thrall of the Dark Side of the Force but not privy to the secretive plans of the Sith? In other words, is Qimir the first Ren? His black armor is certainly of a similar style to the other Knights. And just as Mae wields throwing daggers rather than a lightsaber, the Knights of Ren are known for carrying sharp melee weapons.

Some are even speculating that Qimir and the Ren seen in Marvel's comics are one and the same. Not only is Qimir's costume somewhat similar, his exposed, battle-scarred arms bring to mind Ren's burned and mottled flesh. Does Qimir unlock the secret of long life, allowing him to survive and lead the Knights of Ren up until being usurped in the sequel era? Here's what Ren looks like in the comics:

On the other hand, we see Ren unmasked in The Rise of Kylo Ren, and he doesn't look like Manny Jacinto's Qimir there:

This alone may squash the theory of Qimir being Ren, though perhaps it could be explained away as the show taking artistic license with its casting choice? It wouldn't be the first time the Star Wars shows have depicted something in a slightly different light from what the comics and novels have shown.

Qimir seems to take issue with the idea of being labeled a Sith. And while the Knights of Ren eventually become pawns of Supreme Leader Snoke and the resurrected Emperor Palpatine in the Sequel Trilogy era, there's also a period during the OT where they directly oppose Palpatine's Empire. The Acolyte may be showing us how this mysterious sect of fanatical warriors came to be, 100 years before the Sith resurface.

Is Darth Plagueis Connected to the Witches of Brendok?

Given the time period in which The Acolyte is set, many Star Wars fans have speculated that the series will introduce Palpatine’s master, Darth Plagueis. Like with Tenebrous, little is known about Plagueis’ life in the current Disney canon. However, there was an entire novel written about the character shortly before the Expanded Universe was shuttered. That book details Plagueis’ rise, his relationship with a young Sheev Palpatine and the plan they developed to overthrow the Jedi Order. 

Plagueis is famously referenced in Revenge of the Sith, where Ian McDiarmid’s Palpatine reminisces to Hayden Christensen’s Anakin Skywalker about Plagueis’ singular connection to the Force. Plagueis unlocked the ability to create life through the Force, something Palpatine himself covets above all else. Some fans even speculate that Plagueis was the secret hand behind Anakin’s immaculate conception.

This Plagueis backstory takes on new significance in light of The Acolyte: Episode 3. There we learn that Osha and Mae were both conceived through the Force. Jodie Turner-Smith’s Mother Aniseya created them, and they were carried by her partner, Margarita Levieva’s Koril. The Witches of Brendok may not be Jedi, but they have a powerful connection to the Force and understand it in ways even the Jedi don’t.

Is it just coincidence that the franchise is returning to the idea of the Force allowing for immaculate conception even as it ventures into this earlier era? Being set 100 years before the events of The Phantom Menace, The Acolyte is probably taking place a little too early for Plagueis himself to be the secret villain of the series. But does Plagueis have a connection to the Witches of Brendok? Is their magic the source of his own experiments on creating life? Is that the real reason the Witches were killed off in Episode 3’s flashback, so that no one but the Sith would have access to that power?

It’s impossible to say right now whether Plagueis will make his live-action debut in The Acolyte. But at the very least, there must be some connection between this series and the being that will eventually give rise to the greatest and most terrible Sith Lord the galaxy has ever seen.

What are your theories about Qimir's true loyalties? Cast your vote in our poll and let us know what you think in the comments below.

For more on The Acolyte, learn how the series continues the most important theme of The Last Jedi and see the cast break down the first episode’s major twist.

Note: this article was originally published on June 19, 2024 and updated on June 26, 2024 with the latest information about The Acolyte.

Jesse is a mild-mannered staff writer for IGN. Allow him to lend a machete to your intellectual thicket by following @jschedeen on Twitter.