The Acolyte Hints at a Legendary Sith Lord as the Mysterious Master (2024)

The 2024 Star Wars series, The Acolyte, looks at the rise of the dark side in the waning days of the High Republic era. The first two episodes on Disney+ have introduced viewers to Osha and Mae Aniseya (Amandla Stenberg), twins who each have troubled histories with the Jedi. While Osha left the Jedi Order after being taken on as the Padawan of Master Sol (played by Squid Games' Lee Jung-jae), her sister Mae has become an acolyte of the dark side, unable to let go of the pain of losing her family as a child. Episode 2, "Revenge/Justice," revealed that Mae is on a mission to kill four Jedi Masters in a bloody quest for revenge.

The first episode of The Acolyte, "Lost/Found," also introduced Mae's master. This ominous figure was only fleetingly glimpsed at the very end of the episode, a dark silhouette wielding a red lightsaber. The figure wore a mask that altered their voice, leaving their true identity impossible to discern from this appearance alone. However, Episode 2 saw Mae discussing her master, hinting at who might be the one training her in the ways of the dark side. While her master's precise identity is shrouded in mystery, one thing that now seems clear is that he is a Sith Lord.

The Acolyte Introduces New Dark Side Users to Star Wars

The first episode of The Acolyte opens with an on-screen passage of text introducing viewers to this new moment in the Star Wars timeline. This confirms that the series takes place during an era of peace for the galaxy, but also reveals that far from the watchful eyes of the Jedi, "a powerful few learn to use Force in secret." Mae is the first of these mysterious Force users to appear in the series, and her alignment with the Dark Side is immediately evident. In the series' opening scene, she finds, fights and kills Jedi Master Indara (Carrie-Anne Moss) on the planet Ueda.

This story about dark-side wielders in a High Republic setting is a huge moment for Star Wars. As revealed in Star Wars: Episode I - The Phantom Menace (which takes place almost 100 years after The Acolyte), by the time the prequel trilogy begins the Jedi believe that the Sith have been extinct for a millennium. A thousand years before the Skywalker Saga, the Sith had taken control of the galaxy in the midst of their centuries-long conflict with the Jedi. They eventually fell due to infighting, as the lust for power that defined them saw the Sith Lords turn against each other. Darth Bane alone survived and established the Rule of Two, declaring there may only ever be two Sith -- a master and an apprentice.

The history of the Sith precludes any significant interaction between Sith Lords and Jedi from taking place in The Acolyte. However, Mae does not appear to be a Sith herself -- at least, not yet. Over the course of The Acolyte's first two episodes, she kills two separate Jedi Masters -- Indara and Torbin -- but does not use a lightsaber. In Episode 2, she is seen meeting with the trader Qimir, who provides her with the poison to kill Master Torbin. Qimir is party to Mae's plans and motivations, and she tells him that she will complete one of her planned kills without a weapon to appease her master. This suggests that Mae's current killing spree is more than just an effort to seek revenge, serving as an initiation in her Force training.

Mae is not the first wielder of the Dark Side to appear in Star Wars who is not a Sith. The Star Wars sequel trilogy introduced Kylo Ren, leader of the Knights of Ren, a cult of Dark Side wielders who followed their own philosophy rather than that of the Sith. Supreme Leader Snoke of the sequel trilogy was also an adherent user of the Dark Side who had never been trained as a Sith Lord. Elsewhere in Star Wars canon, the Nightsisters of Dathomir have been introduced as users of magic. This strange power calls upon the Dark Side, but twists it into forms not used by the Sith or any other Force-wielding faction.

Mae Reveals Her Master is a Sith Lord

Mae might not be a Sith herself as of yet, but her shadowy lightsaber-wielding master is almost certainly a Sith Lord. Not only does he use a red lightsaber and have a particular vendetta against the Jedi, but he seems to have trained Mae in Sith philosophies. When she meets with Qimir on Olega in "Revenge/Justice," Mae recites a section of the Sith Code. Qimir tells her that the Jedi justify their dominance over the galaxy in the name of peace, before Mae interjects to tell him that peace "is a lie, I know." Mae has clearly familiarized herself with -- and accepted -- these words. "Peace is a lie" is the first line of the Sith Code, suggesting she has been taught the ways of the Force by a Sith Lord.

The Sith Code was first introduced into the Star Wars Legends continuity in the 2003 video game, Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic, as a dark mirror to the Jedi Code. It became official Star Wars canon following its inclusion in Season 4 of the animated series Star Wars: The Clone Wars, in which Darth Maul was heard muttering fragments of the Sith Code to himself in a psychologically compromised state when he was found by Savage Opress. Outside of this, the Sith Code has barely ever been spoken aloud in any Star Wars media. In The Acolyte's High Republic setting, it would be especially rare to hear this Code quoted, due to the apparent extinction of the Sith.

Mae being trained by a Sith without having had the title of "Darth" bestowed upon her reveals that she herself is not yet a true Sith. It is more likely, then, that her master is a Sith apprentice preparing to overthrow his own master. The Rule of Two states that there must always be two Sith, meaning eventually the apprentice must take the master's place, usually by killing them. In order to overpower their master, a Sith apprentice may take on their own apprentice to fight alongside them. This has been alluded to in the Star Wars movies and has been seen playing out more fully on The Clone Wars.

The Clone Wars brought the character of Asajj Ventress into Star Wars canon. Ventress was a Nightsister, turned Jedi, turned apprentice to Count Dooku. Dooku, aka Darth Tyranus, was himself an apprentice to the Dark Lord of the Sith, Darth Sidious. Dooku had initially trained Ventress as an assassin, but Sidious became concerned that she was growing too powerful and that Dooku may be planning to overthrow him. He ordered Dooku to kill Ventress, which Dooku attempted (but failed) to do, shortly before taking on a new apprentice in the form of Savage Opress. In the Star Wars movies, Darth Vader attempted to convince Luke to join him so that together they could overthrow Sidious, continuing this deadly Sith tradition.

Which Sith Lord Trains Mae in Star Wars Canon?

The Acolyte takes place 100 years before the rise of the Empire, a time frame that may give some indication as to who Mae's master is. Many Star Wars fans have hoped to see Darth Plagueis, the master of Darth Sidious, appear on The Acolyte. The canon history of Darth Plagueis is still largely undetermined, meaning it is certainly possible that he could be active as a youthful Sith Lord at the time The Acolyte takes place. It's also possible, depending on his canon species and their lifespan, that Plagueis is the master of the Sith Lord who is training Mae and will end up killing or discarding his apprentice for this treachery.

Based on what has been glimpsed of Mae's master so far, both in the first episode of The Acolyte and in trailers for the series, some fans have also speculated that he may be the first Ren, a forerunner to Kylo Ren, as master of the Knights of Ren. While the first episodes appear to confirm the character is a Sith Lord and likely does not have any such knights serving him, it's possible that The Acolyte will see Mae's master become the figure known as Ren. If he is an apprentice who is ultimately cast out by his Sith master, this would pave the way for him to embark upon a new path towards mastering the dark side of the Force as the founder of his own sect.

Some fans believe they have already deduced the identity of Mae's Sith master, spotting him hiding elsewhere amongst The Acolyte's cast of characters. One theory suggests that Qimir, Mae's supplier of poison and weapons, is actually her master in disguise. "Revenge/Justice" sees Master Sol discover that Mae does not know her master's true identity, meaning he could be keeping a close eye on her in disguise. It is also Qimir who begins reciting the Sith Code before Mae interrupts and who has adopted a particularly anti-Jedi view of the galaxy. At the end of "Revenge/Justice," he even offers to take Mae to the Wookiee Jedi Kelnacca to continue her trials. Though if Qimir is revealed to be the Sith Lord, it is not clear whether he would be revealed to be Plagueis or an entirely original character.

New episodes of The Acolyte are available to stream every Tuesday on Disney+.

The Acolyte

Action

Adventure

Mystery

A Star Wars series that takes viewers into a galaxy of shadowy secrets and emerging dark-side powers in the final days of the High Republic era.

Release Date

June 4, 2024

Cast

Lee Jung-jae , Jodie Turner-Smith , Amandla Stenberg , Rebecca Henderson

Main Genre

Science Fiction

Seasons

1

Franchise

Star Wars

Creator

Leslye Headland

Number of Episodes

8