‘Star Wars’ Reveals the Sith Pulling the Strings in ‘The Acolyte,’ One of the Franchise’s Most Fascinating Characters

The Jedi Order lives in ignorance of the evil that swirls around them. For over a thousand years, the Knights have played the role of peacekeepers, but they have remained blind to what is happening on the periphery. As Ki-Adi Mundi says in “The Phantom Menace,” the Jedi believed the Sith had been extinct for hundreds of years, when in fact they never disappeared. Knowing defeat was imminent, Darth Bane imposed the Rule of Two and waited for circumstances to be more favorable for revenge. In ‘Star Wars: The Acolyte’, set about a hundred years before the rise of the Empire, Qimir is revealed to be one of the Sith, but who is the Grand Master operating in the darkness?

This piece contains spoilers for the final episode of ‘The Acolyte’.

This is the Sith who appears at the end of ‘The Acolyte’

It is only a cameo and he is not named, but the Sith is almost certainly Darth Plagueis, Darth Sidious’ master. He is a canon character mentioned by Palpatine himself in Revenge of the Sith, in the scene in the opera where the Chancellor tells Anakin Skywalker about the tragedy of his master, who was known as “The Wise”. He was able to create life, but could not prevent his own death. As in Legends, Plagueis is of the lunar race, but the rest is yet to be written.

The novel ‘Darth Plagueis’ by James Luceno is not part of the canon, but it gives a glimpse of some interesting features of the character. He was the apprentice of Darth Tenebrous, a powerful Sith whom he eventually killed. Moon led a double life: on the surface, he was Hego Damask, a wealthy businessman; in the shadows, he was a Sith plotting the destruction of the Republic and the Jedi Order. When he took Palpatine as his apprentice, he devised a plan for the two of them to rule the galaxy forever, confident that he could unlock the secret of eternal life. However, he did not have time to realize his desires, as Darth Sidious saw his weakness and killed him before he could do anything to prevent it.

The first season of ‘Star Wars: The Acolyte’ is now complete on Disney+. It has not been confirmed if it will continue with a second season, although showrunner Leslye Headland has ideas for new stories.