Acolyte showrunner Leslye Headland has denied that the unknown ocean planet in Episode 6 is Ahch-To (from The Last Jedi). That being said, it could have a deeper connection to the Star Wars saga.
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After the success of Episode V, reviews for Disney and Lucasfilm’s latest live-action Star Wars installment, The Acolyte, have improved overall, but it remains to be seen whether it can maintain momentum and succeed. Right now, Episode VI is the biggest Star Wars episode in a long time (Reilly is celebrating), and it also reveals the troubled past of Manny Jacinto’s Chimire, aka The Stranger, the Sith (or Sith-like, we’re not sure) bad guy that has everyone and their mother eager to see it.
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One of the biggest observations for hardcore Star Wars fans is that the “unknown planet” where the Chimire Base of Operations is located (as presented in the show) is similar to Ahch-To from the sequel trilogy, where Luke Skywalker plans to live out the rest of his life in solitude. Rian Johnson’s The Last Jedi did a much better job of fleshing out the planet (or at least Luke’s island) and its ecosystem, and this week’s episode of The Believer alluded to it several times.
However, series showrunner, creator, co-writer and director Leslye Headland shot down these theories in a chat with Collider: “It’s not Ahch-To. I know it’s similar, and it should be similar in terms of topography and feel, being surrounded by water, not as lush green, more rocky. But the idea is that Cortosis is mined on this planet, so I don’t think that’s Ahch-To. Part of the reason this is his base is because Cortosis is a very rare metal. I don’t think we’ve explicitly said that in the show, but that’s why it’s not Ahch-To.”
Beyond that, the key information here is the Cortosis connection she mentions, which the episode hints at via shots of mineral veins within the caves of Qimir. For those who haven’t seen the show yet, but are curious, or simply didn’t pay enough attention to the mechanics of what happened last week: Cortosis is the material of the villain’s helmet and gloves, which allows him to “break” the lightsabers of his Jedi enemies, as the mineral has the unique ability to briefly short-circuit lightsabers and absorb blaster fire.
If we delve deeper into Star Wars lore, both current canon and Legends, we find a planet called Bal’demnic, which fits everything we’ve seen so far, including “rich deposits of Cortosian ore” that “fell into the hands of Sith Lords Darth Tenebrous and Darth Plagueis.” While we don’t yet have confirmation of Chimire/The Stranger’s Dark Side identity (perhaps he’s just a fallen Jedi) and if there are any Sith Lords lurking in the shadows, Headland has repeatedly expressed interest in exploring some of the most famous Sith names and buried lore in Legends, so Bal’demnic ticks all the boxes in this case. Note that its name may change if it makes the transition from Legends to current canon, but we can’t think of a better candidate to explain where Osha and Chimire are now.
