There is only one thing that annoys fans of a story with lore more than not being right, and that is being right. That is, at least, what is always left on the table whenever a new series for weekly broadcast that lends itself to speculating theories appears. And that is what happened with The Acolyte.

The spin-off and prequel of Star Wars had the identity of the Dark Master of Mae as the big mystery of its season. An important revelation because it would canonically be the first Sith in the audiovisual universe of the franchise, since this story is set over a century before the movie Episode VI.

In the fourth episode, the series brought all its protagonists together on the planet Khofar following Kelnacca's trail. Mae and Osha arrived with their respective allies and by the end the inevitable encounter with the Sith occurred, which was resolved in this week's episode, the best of the season along with the flashback one.

A fifth episode that provided answers, left several memorable fight scenes, and did not hesitate to kill off main characters, all in just 30 minutes.  

It goes without saying, but if you haven't watched episode 1x05 of The Acolyte, we warn you that there will be spoilers ahead. 

'The Acolyte'

Fan Theories

With his face hidden under the terrifying helmet and his voice modified by a filter, neither Mae nor the viewers knew the identity of the mysterious villain, but during the broadcast the series' fans had two theories about who it could be.

The most likely candidate was Qimir (Manny Jacinto). The former smuggler acts as a kind of controller, facilitator, and ally of Mae, who prepares poison for her, acts as a confidant, gives her advice, or serves as a guide. 

Among the clues that supported this theory was, for example, that Qimir quoted the first line of the Sith code when he said "Peace is a lie", the similarities in the inflection of his voice, or even, as some on X/Twitter pointed out, the villain's bare arms.

The other option was Mother Koril (Margarita Levieva), one of the Brendok witches, and mother of Osha and Mae, whose body was not visible among the remains of the coven at the end of the third episode. During the episode, there are even several lines of dialogue that seem to point in this direction, so the clues were there. 

Qimir

Who the Sith is

In the end, the Sith turned out to be Qimir, Mae's supposed ally, but something that has proven to be totally coherent with the story they have been telling has been seen by some fans as predictable and, therefore, lacking in epicness and surprise.

That is a tricky line in this type of fiction, as the fan always wants to be surprised, but if they are, it will most likely be due to a Deus Ex Machina moment. For a revelation like this not to be expected, it is most likely that the villain had to be pulled out of the hat and introduce someone we haven't seen before, which, by the way, would take away the epicness of the revelation. 

Goodbye, Yord Fandar

The adjective predictable has been given a negative connotation it doesn't deserve. Something predictable is simply something that can be predicted because the clues were there, so it is coherent with the story. Some surprises are not designed for the viewer but for the characters, and it is undeniable that the emotional impact and consequences of this revelation in The Acolyte were devastating.

This Sith is powerful, has great control of the Force, and is lethal. In a few minutes, he took out Jecki Lon and Yord Fandar and made it clear that he could have killed them all if he had wanted to.

And so begins the third act of the season, with a new board where there are several casualties and Mae and Osha are on the opposite side of where they started. If this revelation felt lacking to you, consider that if the Sith's identity has been revealed in the fifth episode, it is because that was not the big mystery of the season. There is still a lot of story to tell. 

*This article has been automatically translated using artificial intelligence