The final episode of The Acolyte featured the surprising appearance of Darth Plagueis. However, you might have been left scratching your head, wondering what was going on—much like the rest of the series.
Before we dive in, showrunner Leslye Headland has confirmed that it is Darth Plagueis and not Darth Tenebrous.
It is also my understanding that, since The Acolyte takes place in the High Republic Era in 132 BBY, Darth Tenebrous is still alive. He was killed by Plagueis in 67 BBY (dates decrease like B.C.).
So, since Darth Tenebrous and Darth Plagueis are the two top Sith at the time (known as Darths, and there can only be two), this means Qimir wasn’t one of the top two Sith. However, Qimir could likely have been a Sith Lord or simply a Sith.
Leslye Headland confirms Darth Plagueis in The Acolyte
Regarding what Leslye Headland has to say, you’ll recall in my review that I guessed Darth Plagueis was added at the last minute in reshoots. Headland claims otherwise.
“Plagueis was always in the finale, in every version,” Headland told IndieWire.
Headland does say there was a version where instead of Yoda appearing at the end, it was going to be Darth Plagueis. However, Headline says she felt that took too much away from Osha’s story.
“There was a version where he was the button of the finale [instead of Yoda],” Headland said. “But having the sinister figure be the last thing that we see never felt quite right. You want to feel Osha’s triumph. You want to feel her joining forces with The Stranger. Plagueis stepped on [that moment].”
Headland added, “I was OK with having the cameo come so early if it meant I could wrap up these characters in a way that their final shot was not a, ‘And he’s been pulling the strings the whole time’ feeling.”
What is going on with Darth Plagueis in The Acolyte?
Qimir is a Sith Lord
Well, we don’t what is going on with Darth Plagueis in The Acolyte, but we can guess.
Again, it’s my guess Qimir is a Sith Lord trained by his master, Darth Plagueis (why the show never explains things, I don’t know).
In Star Wars lore, the hierarchy of the Sith goes something like: Darth, Sith Lord/Sith, Acolyte.
We know in The Acolyte that the Jedi sensed the Vergence on the witch planet when they found Osha and Mae.
We can likely guess that either Darth Tenebrous and/or Darth Plagueis also sensed the Vergence. Plagueis probably sent his Sith Lord, Qimir, to the planet to investigate. However, upon arriving, Qimir discovered the Jedi were already there.
That big fight happens between the Jedi and the witches, and the Jedi leave with Osha, believing Mae to be dead.
We can guess that Qimir finds Mae when she escapes via the sewer by the tree and decides to train her because, just like Sol with Osha, he realizes Mae has the Force.
Qimir then takes Mae back with him, possibly to Darth Plagueis and/or Darth Tenebrous (this would explain why Mae feels she can tell the Jedi what she knows even after murdering them, because she has been in contact with Darth Plagueis and/or Darth Tenebrous).
Mae is a Sith Acolyte
So, when The Acolyte series begins with the first two episodes, Mae is already a Sith Acolyte and has been training under Qimir to become a Sith.
The actors playing Qimir and Mae are around 11 years apart, so assuming that sticks for the show, that means Qimir was around 19 years old when he first finds Mae, who was 8 years old at the time. This also explains why Mae was able to defeat Master Indara, as she had been training under Qimir for the past 16 years.
As part of Mae’s training as a Sith Acolyte to become a Sith, she needs to pass tests (now that she’s old enough), with her tests given by Qimir (or Plagueis, more on that below) to kill the four Jedi who destroyed her family.
What ends up happening is that Qimir thinks Mae has failed him (and vice versa). So, Qimir decides to train Osha as his new Acolyte, knowing full well the power she wields due to training Mae.
Qimir under orders by Darth Plagueis?
Darth Plagueis appearing in the cave on the island where Qimir has trained Mae (and now Osha) could be Darth Plagueis checking up on his Sith Lord to see if Mae has passed her tests.
You’ll note how Qimir often came across as being desperate to have his own “Padawan,” so it could be possible he was given that assignment by Plagueis.
Why would Plagueis give Qimir that assignment? Because Plagueis realized the power of Mae, and Plagueis’ ultimate plan is to have Mae become his apprentice and kill his own master, Darth Tennebrous.
It’s also possible that Qimir wants to train either Osha or Mae and eventually kill both Darth Plagueis and Darth Tenebrous so he can become Darth Qimir, with Osha or Mae as his apprentice known as Darth Mae or Darth Osha.
If you think about it, why would Darth Plagueis bother checking up on one of his Siths if it was simply a Sith training an Acolyte? No, Plagueis knows something more—he has to, otherwise he wouldn’t be there. Plagueis might even suspect that Qimir wants to replace and eventually kill him.
Not a “happily ever after” story
The kicker? We know that never happens. We know Qimir and Osha never ascend to Darth status and it’s not a “happily ever after” story.
We can speculate that Plagueis kills Qimir and Osha before they have a chance to kill him. Eventually, Plagueis ends up killing his own master, and in turn, Plagueis is killed by his apprentice, Darth Sidious (Palpatine), who is then killed by his own apprentice, Darth Vader at the end of Return of the Jedi.
Kathleen Kennedy strikes again
Credit to a user on X (I can’t find it now) for also pointing this out, but it also appears that Osha and Mae being created by the Force also gives Darth Plagueis the idea to do the same, which means Osha and Mae are (of course) responsible for the creation of Anakin.
This also means Kathleen Kennedy and her Disney Star Wars are now responsible for the very creation of George Lucas’ Star Wars (just as I said back in May).
Via Wiki, in Star Wars lore, Darth Plagueis didn’t directly create Anakin. Plagueis’ “Grand Experiment” involved manipulating midi-chlorians, microscopic organisms that allow some beings to use the Force, to create life. However, his efforts backfired, causing the midi-chlorians to create Anakin, the prophesied Chosen One who would destroy the Sith and restore balance to the Force. It is believed that the Force created Anakin in response to the Sith (Plagueis and Sidious) attempts to manipulate it and make it darker. Anakin gave birth to Luke and Leia who balanced the Force.
What happened???
Assuming any of the above is correct, it makes you wonder what happened with The Acolyte and why none of it was incorporated into the series? Why did they never explain Qimir’s origins? How did Qimir find Mae? Where did Osha and Mae come from? Why did the witches create Osha and Mae? Why did they apparently split one being (to destroy both the Light and the Dark Side???)?
As I said in my review, if they were saving it for Season 2 or additional seasons, that backfired big time. All they had to do was tease some of the above in any of the episodes and weave it in subtly, which they really didn’t do. It’s a colossal misfire. It wouldn’t have taken anything away from the story of Osha and Mae; in fact, it would have added to the story. What happened?
