The cancellation of Star Wars: The Acolyte was disappointing for many people. The series presented the Jedi as blinkered and fallible, which seemed contrary to previous films and shows. At least, “from a certain a point of view,” to quote Obi-Wan Kenobi.
The Acolyte follow Jedi Master Sol (played by Lee Jung-Jae) as he recruits his former padawan Osha (Amandla Stenberg) to investigate a series of murders, but discovers the forces opposing them are more sinister than they anticipated. During the series, Osha discovers that her twin-sister Mae (also played by Stenberg) has been recruited by a mysterious force user, referred to only as The Stranger (played by Manny Jacinto).
The Acolyte presented multiple story arcs, some of which were unresolved at the end of the season. These storylines would have been developed and expanded in the planned second season. However, the unexpected nature of the cancellation meant that these storylines are now unlikely to be resolved.
We dig down into the lore of Star Wars, with lots of spoilers (you have been warned) and attempt to fathom how these plotlines could have developed.
What was The Stranger’s real name?
The Stranger was the antagonist of The Acolyte. His face was hidden throughout the first half of the series, until he was revealed to be a trader, known as Qimir. Most assume that The Stranger’s real name is Qimir, but why would The Stranger pretend to be someone else and still use their own name? More believably – or as believable as you can be in a universe filled with space wizards and sound in space – would be for The Stranger to adopt an alias whilst disguising themselves as Qimir.
So, the question remains, just who was The Stranger?
What is the history between The Stranger and Jedi Master Rwoh?
When the Jedi faction landed on Brendok in the final episode, Jedi Master Vernestra Rwoh (played by Rebecca Henderson) seemingly recognised The Stranger’s force presence. This could tie in with the scar on The Stranger’s back, which looked as if it might have been caused by a force whip, which Rwoh uses in the sixth episode, to devastating effect.
Interestingly, Rwoh named her VKCE-7100x Starcutter spaceship The Cantaros, after her former Padawan, Imri Cantaros. Could this mean that Imri Cantaros became The Stranger?
Or might The Stranger be another former padawan of Rwoh? If so, what happened to make The Stranger leave Rwoh’s teachings and abandon the Jedi way?
Was The Stranger a Sith?
A lot of mystery surrounds The Stranger, but most important is the question of whether he is a Sith or not. When asked what he is, The Stranger replies that “I have no name. But the Jedi like you might call me… Sith.” His response is ambiguous, because it implies that the Jedi are fallible and he is not a Sith, or does not seem himself as Sith. It could also imply that the Jedi claim anyone who uses the force and does not follow their way is a Sith.
Many of The Stranger’s teachings have Sith elements to them, such as relying on emotion, which is an antithesis of the Jedi philosophy.
One possible explanation is that the Sith is just aspect or denomination of the dark side of the force. Alternatively, The Stranger could also be one of the grey Jedi, who follow a path based on the combination of Sith and Jedi philosophies.
What would happen next between The Stranger and Osha?
The last we see of Osha and The Stranger in Star Wars: The Acolyte is them standing together. It is strongly implied that they are now romantically drawn to each other, or at least very close. The question is whether Osha sees herself as a Sith. During The Stranger and Osha’s confrontation with the Jedi, Osha killed Sol and chose to stand with The Stranger.
This could imply that Osha is now a Sith, as her lightsabre turned red. However, so is The Stranger’s, and he does not directly identify himself as a Sith – although that may be what the Jedi would call him.
There is also the question of why The Stranger was so interested in Mae and Osha. Occam’s Razor (the principle that the simplest explanation is the most correct) would indicate The Stranger’s interest in the twins was because they were created through the force by the coven of witches on Brendok, but how did The Stranger learn about their conception?
Compounding this is the cloaked figure watching them from the cave.
Who was mysterious figure in the cave?
At the end of The Acolyte, we see The Stranger and Osha standing together on an ocean planet, but it is revealed to be from the perspective of a cloaked figure watching them from the cave. Shortly after the episode aired, showrunner Leslye Headland claimed this was Darth Plagueis.
If this really was Plagueis, as it was never confirmed in the series, what is the connection between him and The Stranger? If The Stranger is a Sith, then that would imply he is an apprentice to Plagueis. As Yoda says in The Phantom Menace; “Always two, there are. No more. No less. A Master and an apprentice.” Also, as explained by Palpatine (admittedly not the most reliable of narrators) in Revenge of the Sith, Darth Plagueis was killed by his apprentice.
There is also a theory that the figure was Darth Tenebrous, who was the master of Plagueis. If that was the case, would that imply The Stranger was, or would become, Darth Plagueis?
What happened to Mother Koril?
We were led to believe that all of the coven of witches on Brendok died when the Jedi retaliated after Kelnacca (played by Joonas Suotamo) was mind-controlled. Indeed, much of the coven died when they were forced from Kelnacca’s mind (or collapsed unconscious and perished in the subsequent fire).
However, there is the question of what happened to Mother Koril (played by Margarita Levieva). Mother Koril also joined the coven in controlling Kelnacca, but we did not see what happened when she was forced from the Jedi’s mind. It would be easy to assume that Mother Koril also collapsed after being forced from Kelnacca’s mind, but she was seemingly much stronger than others in the coven and we never see her corpse afterwards.
What if Mother Koril had survived the backlash from being forced out of Kelnacca’s mind and the subsequent fire, and has spent the intervening time plotting her revenge against the Jedi? This could explain how The Stranger knows of Osha and Mae, as well as providing further justification for Mae targeting those specific Jedi.
Who was Rwoh speaking to on the comms?
In the final episode of Star Wars: The Acolyte, there is a scene where Rwoh is on comms to an unknown person, demanding to speak to someone. When others enter, Rwoh quickly shuts down the comms, indicating that she did not want to be overheard, which leads to the question; who was Rwoh speaking to?
Of course, Rwoh visits Yoda at the end, but that does not seem to connect with the tone of the earlier conversation. Rwoh could meet Yoda any time she wanted, nor would she need to obfuscate requesting an audience with a fellow Jedi master.
Given the cadence of the person on comms, some have speculated it was Palpatine. This would make the senator, at the time of the prequel trilogy, to be well over a hundred. That would be old for a human, but we have no idea of the typical aging process for Naboo – a Naboo at a hundred could well be the equivalent of someone being 40.
What was Rwoh going to do with Mae?
The mystery surrounding Rwoh’s communication overlaps her plans for Mae. At the end of the series, Mae had been brought to the Jedi temple to help Rwoh find The Stranger. However, as Mae had her memories wiped, the question remains how that would be achieved.
One possibility could be that the Jedi were going to attempt to reverse the process of the mind-wipe. We have previously witnessed this in the now non-canonical video game Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic, where the players discover their character is the mind-wiped former Sith Lord Darth Revan.
Alternatively, the Jedi could be wanting to use Mae due to her connection with her twin sister, as form of sympathetic magic, especially as they were both created using the force. Of course, the true purpose of the Jedi’s tracking of Osha could be to hunt The Stranger.
What would happen with the Jedi’s inspection by the senate?
One of the key consequences of the events in The Acolyte was that the Jedi were going to be inspected by a delegation from the senate, to ensure that the council had acted in accordance with Galactic Republic law (spoiler; they didn’t).
As we saw with senator Rayencourt (played by David Harewood), there is an element of distrust between the Jedi and a faction within the senate. As Rayencourt says; “I think the Jedi are a massive system of unchecked power, posing as a religion; a delusional cult that claims to control the uncontrollable.”
Ultimately: can the Jedi control their emotions as much as they claim? Did he have a point? During the subsequent tribunal, the Rwoh deliberately covered up the events of what happened on Brendok.
Rayencourt urges the tribunal to demand a review of the Jedi order. The Jedi have typically operated without senateoversight, so how this review would impact the Jedi is unknown. That said, as we saw in the prequel trilogy, the senate can appoint a representative to the Jedi council – as senator Palpatine made Anakin his personal representative on the Jedi Council.
How did The Stranger learn about Osha and Mae?
Finally, we have the question of how The Stranger learned about Osha and Mae. Their existence was not widely known and news of the encounter on Brendok were covered up.
One possible explanation is that if The Stranger was a former padawan of Rwoh, then he might have become aware of them through access to the Jedi archives. Alternatively, Osha might have trained with The Stranger when she was a padawan, but that does not explain why Osha did not recognise The Stranger.
Another possibility is that The Stranger learned of them from Mother Koril, who would be more than willing to work with someone against the Jedi in order to have revenge.
In conclusion…
Ultimately, the abrupt cancellation of The Acolyte has left a lot of unanswered that questions that fans of the show and Star Wars will be left wondering about. However, Star Wars has aways embraced transmedia storytelling.
Hopefully, these, and many other questions, will be answered in future stories from a long time ago, in a galaxy far, far away…
