The Acolyte May Directly Connect to the Star Wars Sequel Trilogy

This article contains spoilers for episodes 1-6 of The Acolyte on Disney+.

As The Acolyte nears the conclusion of its first season on Disney+, the show has begun to pick up steam. Despite the confirmation that The Stranger is, in fact, Qimir, the smuggler who had been traveling with Mae throughout her vengeful quest against the Jedi, the theorization surrounding the show has only increased. Now, there are theories ranging from Vernestra Rwoh being Qimir’s former Jedi Master to Master Sol gradually falling to the Dark Side.

There is one particular arena on which theories about The Acolyte have been focused more than any other. Many fans believe the show is setting up not just one but a handful of direct connections to the sequel trilogy of Star Wars films – Episode VII: The Force Awakens, Episode VIII: The Last Jedi, and Episode IX: The Rise of Skywalker. Given that The Acolyte is set 100 years before Episode I: The Phantom Menace, this may understandably feel like a stretch, as the show would seem more likely to connect to the Star Wars prequels than the sequels. However, the show has teased some of these connections pretty heavily, and creator Leslye Headland has seemingly confirmed their intent in interviews. Here’s what we know.

Ben Solo and the Knights of Ren in Star Wars

So far, the most obvious connection to the sequel trilogy has come not on screen but rather in the show’s music. Episode 5, “Night,” was the most explosive episode of the series yet, with Qimir quickly dispatching a number of Jedi that had been sent to investigate his and Mae’s trail. To the dismay of many fans, this also resulted in the deaths of two lead characters: Dafne Keen’s Jecki Lon and Charlie Barnett’s Yord Fandar. Toward the end of the episode, Mae tricks Master Sol and takes Osha’s place aboard his ship, leaving her sister behind on Khofar. However, Osha is then discovered by Qimir.

When Qimir finds and takes Osha just before the end of the episode, fans notice the return of a musical theme that has not been heard since The Rise of Skywalker hit theaters almost five years ago. This was the theme of Kylo Ren/Ben Solo, which John Williams debuted in The Force Awakens in 2015. The Acolyte used an almost note-for-note rendition of the theme in this moment, but it was subtle enough to be easily missed. Yet, this caused fans to begin speculating endlessly about what it could mean, and that speculation has only continued to build after Headland confirmed it was an intentional choice to use Ren’s theme at that moment, saying, “It is there on purpose, but I can’t tell you why, and I can’t go into what it is. But you shall see.”

The dominant theory about this connection between Qimir and Kylo Ren proposes that perhaps Qimir is not a Sith but rather an early member or even the founder of the Knights of Ren. We first heard about this mysterious group of Dark Side users in the sequel trilogy, during which Kylo Ren served as their master. However, those three films did little to explain who the Knights of Ren were or what their role was in the galaxy.

The Star Wars books and comics have expanded upon them, depicting them as an independent group that acts in their own self-interest, completely dissociating from the Jedi and the Sith. While they weren’t mentioned in the original or prequel film trilogies, their origins date back to some time long before The Phantom Menace. With that in mind, it’s very much in the realm of possibility that Qimir / The Stranger could be the original Ren, which is why we haven’t gotten his actual Dark Side name yet.

The Stranger’s Unnamed Planet in The Acolyte

The Acolyte

2/5

Release Date

June 4, 2024

Seasons

1

Studio

Disney+, Lucasfilm

Franchise

Star Wars

Number of Episodes

8

Streaming Service(s)

Disney+

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Another potential connection to the sequel trilogy came in the sixth and most recent episode of The Acolyte, “Teach / Corrupt.” In this episode, we see that Qimir has taken Osha back to his planet of operation – we’ll call it his home planet for now, though it’s unlikely he’s originally from there. This planet is explicitly not given a name, with it only being labeled as “Unknown Planet” on-screen. However, the overall look and vibe of the planet may feel very familiar to anyone who has seen The Last Jedi.

Amid a vast ocean, Qimir and Osha are on a small group of mountainous islands that seem to have some deeper connection to the Force. This could easily be the planet Ahch-To, where Luke Skywalker went into self-imposed exile in the sequel trilogy. The Last Jedi is scarce in terms of details surrounding Ahch-To, but we know it was home to the first Jedi Temple and possibly the birthplace of the Jedi Order. Ahch-To has an ancient connection with the Force, which would align with what we’ve seen of Qimir’s Unknown Planet so far. On top of that, the Jedi and the Sith originated as the same organization, so it’s possible that Ahch-To may also be a foundational planet in the history of the Sith as well, which would explain why Qimir has made it his home.

It is far from certain that this Unknown Planet is Ahch-To, though. The galaxy is a big place, and many different planets likely share this same kind of climate. In fact, one from the non-canon Star Wars Legends material may be a closer match to what we’ve seen in The Acolyte. This is the planet Bal’demnic, which was first seen in Genndy Tartakovsky’s 2-D animated Clone Wars series before it was expanded upon in the Darth Plagueis novel by James Luceno.

In that novel, Bel’demnic was an island planet rich in Cortosis (the same metal Qimir’s helmet is made of in The Acolyte), and it was the home base of the Sith Lords Darth Tenebrous and Darth Plagueis about 50 years before The Phantom Menace. While this specific story is no longer canon in the current Star Wars universe, many fans are hopeful that The Acolyte will incorporate the likes of Darth Tenebrous and Darth Plagueis in some way, as they are two of the most infamous Sith found in any Legends materials.

Are Mae and Osha a Force Dyad?

Finally, the last major way The Acolyte could build on the sequel trilogy is through the relationship between its two main characters, Osha and Mae. The twin sisters are at the heart of this story, with each of them struggling to find a balance between the Light and the Dark sides of the Force. The tragic reality of their childhood is the central mystery unfolding week to week. The twins were raised by a group of Force-using witches on the planet Brendok, though they were ultimately killed, and their home was destroyed in a massive fire. This tragedy may have been the work of the four Jedi who discovered the witches and attempted to adopt Osha and Mae into their order, or it may have been the result of Mae’s fear and anger, leading her to start the fire herself. We are sure to get a firm answer sooner rather than later.

Looking more closely at the relationship between Osha and Mae, one can see that they share a deep connection with the Force. Episode 3, “Destiny,” revealed that they were conceived together through the Force and, as such, have no father – making their origin similar to Anakin Skywalker’s. This connection has caused many to wonder if the two of them could be a Force Dyad, which is a rare occurrence when two people share an unbreakable Force connection that makes them more powerful than most Force-sensitive beings in the galaxy. This concept was introduced in The Rise of Skywalker, where it was revealed that Rey and Kylo Ren were a Force Dyad.

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In The Rise of Skywalker, Darth Sidious states that the connection between Rey and Kylo Ren marks the first time a Force Dyad has been seen in generations. That timeline would certainly align if Osha and Mae were also a Dyad. What this would exactly mean for The Acolyte is still up in the air, as The Rise of Skywalker was pretty vague about the broader implications of this kind of connection. If The Acolyte does go down this route with its twin lead characters, though, that vagueness will provide the show with plenty of room to create its own impactful story with the concept while also further fleshing out the broader lore of the Star Wars universe and providing some solid connective tissue between stories to make them all a bit more cohesive. The Acolyte is streaming on Disney+.