‘The Acolyte’ Has Another and Possibly a More Powerful Villain Up its Sleeve For Season 1, Leslye Headland’s Comments Reveal

Spoiler Alert!

The latest installment of the Star Wars franchise, The Acolyte, is taking viewers on a wild ride through the High Republic era, and it has more twists and turns than a Coruscant speeder chase. The show is exploring the conflict between the Jedi and the Sith, when the Jedi were at their peak.

But even though the Jedi are supposed to be at the top, there’s something evil in the dark. So far, viewers have already seen some pretty intense stuff go down, with Jedi getting picked off and dark forces at work. It’s got everyone wondering, who’s really pulling the strings here?

Leslye Headland Reveals There Is More Than One Sith in The Acolyte

Now, viewers might think there’s nothing more to know, especially after that big reveal in episode 5. But it looks like The Acolyte has even more surprises up its sleeve. The show’s creator, Leslye Headland, has been dropping some hints that have got fans coming up with theories. Could there be an even bigger Sith Lord waiting?

In episode 5, Manny Jacinto turned out to be The Stranger, which was quite surprising. But according to New Rockstars, Headland already said there will be two Siths this season. And the show has revealed one so far, which apparently fails to stand by all the Sith Lord traits. 

The Stranger might not be the main Sith Lord of the season. He never actually claimed the Sith title for himself. He just said some people might call him that. Plus, he got unmasked pretty easily and nearly got beat by a Padawan. That’s not exactly top-tier Sith behavior.

So, who could this other Sith be? There have been some speculations about Darth Tenebrous and Darth Venamis. In the old Star Wars Legends, Tenebrous was Darth Plagueis’ master, and Venamis was Tenebrous’ secret apprentice. 

These were supposed to be active around this time in the Star Wars timeline. Tenebrous also used cortosis, just like Qimir in The Acolyte and Venamis could levitate.

Headland has been quite secretive so far, but she did mention while talking with Entertainment Weekly that the finale of The Acolyte is going to involve Sith in a big way. She hinted at many twists out there, and it seems like they are setting the audience up for a big climax.

The Stranger Was a Last-Minute Game Changer in The Acolyte

One of the most surprising plot twists is that The Stranger almost didn’t get its revelation in Season 1 at all. In an interview with Inverse, Headland confessed that the plan was to hide The Stranger’s identity right up to season 2. She said,

This is an interesting tidbit: Originally, even up until shooting, The Stranger was not in a lot of the rest of the season. He was much more of a tee-up for a second season arc. But I saw Manny’s screen test early on in pre-production, and I just thought, ‘There will be riots in the streets if I don’t [go further]. Here we go. I guess I’m rewriting an episode.’ Manny was so impressive in every aspect.

Jacinto’s screen test forced Headland to rewrite the script to give him more screen time, and she’s probably right. Jacinto has been killing it as The Stranger, literally too. 

This last-minute change benefited the show in a big way by solving a major issue that was faced by the show’s crew. Fans were already speculating that Qimir might be the Sith Lord and stretching that into an entire season could have become repetitive.

Moreover, the show was already pretty mysterious. If they had kept The Stranger’s identity secret for too long, viewers might have got frustrated with all the unanswered questions.

So, while viewers are excited about The Stranger, it looks like The Acolyte might have an even bigger surprise waiting. Who knows? Maybe the real Sith Lord is still hiding in the shadows, ready to make The Stranger look like nothing.

The Acolyte is now streaming on Disney+.