The identity of the Sith Master of The Acolyte is already quite clear

The Acolyte keeps the identity of the mysterious Sith Master secret, but in our humble opinion, it couldn’t be clearer.

[Ed. note: This post is going to discuss the end of episode 4 of The Acolyte; spoilers are below.]

For a moment, things look really bad for the Master: Mae (Amandla Stenberg) and her loyalties have defected to the Jedi, leaving her mission unfulfilled. But when she shows up at the home of Jedi Master Kelnacca and finds him dead (it’s hard to imagine a real murder), surrounds the house and she herself is under suspicion, who shows up if not her Master? Even in a fight that’s about four against one, he kicks ass.

There aren’t many who could hold their own like that, even with the fearsome power of the Dark Side. But now that the Master has bared his teeth – literally, with that awesome helmet – we have a better idea of ​​who they are.

The answer is so clear!! Just ask one of us.

The master is … Qimir

Image: Lucasfilm

If it wasn’t clear enough before, it certainly is now. We last see Qimir (Manny Jacinto) when he falls into Mae’s trap and begs her to abandon him and not defect to the other side. But we Really See Qimir for the last time as he emerges to fight all the Jedi and show off the intricacies of his mask.

Let’s look at the facts, shall we? He’s disappeared from the narrative (opportunity); he’s portrayed so far as clever and full of deceit (means), which Star Wars characters historically aren’t; and his conversations with Mae in this episode seemed remarkably…charged (motive, or whatever we want to call it). And what better way to watch his plan unfold and masterfully shape it over time? After all, it worked for Sauron. —Zosha Millman

The master is… a third sister

Image: Lucasfilm

Boy, it really looks like it’s Manny Jacinto’s character, Qimir, doesn’t it? And like the writers are making that a big secret? But I assume The Acolyte is cleverer than that. This show is basically built on withholding as much information from the audience as possible, which sometimes makes for a pretty confusing experience. So I suspect the writers also withheld another basic fact. Mae and Osha are not twins, but triplets, and the third, missing sister is the secret Sith Master.

Think about it. Star Wars has already done the Force dyad. How can you take that idea further, make it more exciting, and raise the stakes? I give you: the power triad. Where was her third sister during the flashbacks of The Acolyte Episode 3? No idea. Maybe she doesn’t get along with Mae as well as Osha, and is making that even clearer by avoiding them both. Maybe she had a premonition from the Force about which way the wind was blowing for the coven, and left the ship long before the events of episode 3. Maybe Mother Koril, the Zabrak coven member, realized that Mother Aniseya would undermine her in raising her daughters, and hid the third girl for herself, making the lost daughter so angry and lonely that she turned to the dark side.

Or, I don’t know, maybe it’s three Baby Yodas in trench coats and helmets that make up the secret Sith Master. Wouldn’t that be a headline-grabbing sight? —Tasha Robinson

The master is … Mother Koril

Image: Lucasfilm

Episode 3 of The Acolyte is all about the story not show: What really caused the Book Fire to spread uncontrollably? Whatever the Jedi did to Brendok that was so traumatic that Master Torbin dedicated his life to the art of levitation? And the corpse of Mother Koril, the Zabrak witch and biological mother of Mae and Osha, who should rightly be angry about many things!

Mother Koril is one of the more obvious answers to the question of who holds the Force behind the toothy Sith mask, which almost makes me question my own theory. But the evidence is strong here; Koril would have motive (her wife and all her friends are dead!), has a deep connection to her daughter/student Mae, and has probably learned some mighty arcane stuff about the dark side of the Force over the last decade or so. Plus, she’s the ideal candidate to save Mae from seemingly certain death on Brendok. Zabrak knows how to survive a fatal fall into a cavernous pit. —Michael McWhertor

The master is … Vernestra Rwoh

Image: Lucasfilm

As a Star Wars fan, I have a bad feeling about this obstructive Jedi master. And as a Star Trek fan, I know one thing: If there is an official in the hierarchy who keeps stepping between the heroes and investigating the secret, that official will definitely find yourself involved in the mystery before the end of the story.

You could say to me, “Susana, Rebecca Henderson is married to the showrunner. Leslye Headland would not make her wife the villain.” And I would say making someone a villain is just giving them a more substantial role.

You might say, “But Vernestra Rwoh is pretty much the only character in the series who comes from the High Republic books! They wouldn’t make an established good guy into an evil one!” And I would argue that when we last saw Master Rwoh, she was so disillusioned with the Jedi Order that she has officially separated from it to seek a life of isolation in the farthest corners of the galaxy. How did she go from there to becoming a high-ranking Jedi Knight? Did she only rise to the higher ranks in order to divide the organization from within? I blame myself! —Susana Polo

The master is … Keef Girgo

Image: Lucasfilm

Who is Keef Girgo, you may ask? Who is not Keef Girgo, it is more accurate. Keef Girgo is the code name under which Cassian Andor is imprisoned in Andor. At first glance, it seems like just another very silly Star Wars name. But what if… it was more??? What if Keef Girgo was actually a long-dead Sith Lord (with a very silly Star Wars name) and Andor grabbed the first name that came to mind when facing the forces of the Empire? What if Keef Girgo is the pendulum on which the galaxy swings?

Readers, I have to be honest with you at this point. I just wanted to write about Keef Girgo again. I missed it so much. I needed my fix. So I’ll leave you with how I ended my previous write-up about Keef Girgo:

Keef. Girgo. Keef! Girgo! Say it loud and it plays (cantina) music. Say it quietly and it almost sounds like (a tauntaun) scream. Keef Girgo! I can’t stop saying Keef Girgo! —Pete Volk

The master is … Jar Jar Binks

Image: Lucasfilm

I’ve never been a fan of the Sith Lord Jar Jar theory, but if Lucasfilm wants to do it, now is the time. For those who don’t know: a fan theory on Reddit brought up the idea that Jar Jar Binks might not have been quite who he claimed to be. In fact, the theory asks what if he was only pretending to be a jerk because he was actually the secret, all-powerful Sith Lord who even manipulated Palpatine himself.

At first glance, this theory is incredibly silly, which is at least half the fun, so why bother making it canon now? Well, The Acolyte is in a tricky position. On the one hand, someone needs to be revealed as the mysterious Master that Mae is following. On the other hand, as other people have pointed out here, there aren’t many good options in the series itself, and even in the larger Star Wars canon, there aren’t too many great ones. So why not mix things up? Why not reveal that Jar Jar isn’t just a Sith Lord, but a nigh-immortal who’s been working against the Jedi, and Yoda in particular, almost since she was born – all the way back to the days of the High Republic.

You thought Star Wars was the story of the Skywalkers? No, here, The Acolyte would reveal that it is actually a thousand-year-long war between two equally stupid-looking creatures who hate each other deeply. —Austen Goslin