The Acolyte Finale Reveals Its Sith Master: [SPOILER] Explained

Warning! This post contains SPOILERS for The Acolyte episode 8


Summary

  • The Acolyte’s finale reveals Darth Plagueis, a classic Star Wars Sith Lord, finally making his on-screen debut.
  • Darth Plagueis is identified by his alien Muun features and yellow eyes, connecting him to the Sith Lord lineage.
  • Plagueis’ appearance raises questions about his ultimate role in The Acolyte’s narrative, and his potential connection to the main characters such as Qimir.


Following months of speculation, The Acolyte’s finale has finally revealed its true Sith Master. The new Star Wars show has reached the conclusion of its first season with some major cameos, one of which being a classic Star Wars character whom many predicted, but has never been seen on-screen before. To that end, the emergence of a known Sith Lord from the Star Wars timeline is very exciting.

As The Acolyte’s finale comes to a head, Qimir (Manny Jacinto) and Osha (Amandla Stenberg) leave Qimir’s remote ocean world home to seek out Master Sol (Lee Jung-jae) and Osha’s sister Mae. However, a figure is seen in the shadows as Qimir and Osha take off, a hooded being who very much looks to be Darth Plagueis, an alien Muun who canonically trained Darth Sidious aka Plagueis. Here’s everything to know about Darth Plagueis, as well as what his role in The Acolyte means for the Star Wars canon overall.


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Darth Plagueis Is The Acolyte’s True Sith Lord

A Hooded Muun Hidden In the Shadows

Darth Plagueis in Acolyte Finale

Despite being featured only briefly and largely in the shadows, some key distinguishing features help identify this new Sith Lord as none other than Darth Plagueis himself. Firstly, Legends established that Plagueis was an alien Muun, known for their slender humanoid bodies, smooth skin, long fingers, and flat noses. To that end, The Acolyte finale’s new cameo does possess long fingers and a flat nose, as well as the yellow eyes of a traditional Sith Lord that can be seen underneath a dark hood.


As a result, The Acolyte has seemingly confirmed that Plagueis is indeed a Muun in the official canon as well. Additionally, Plagueis’ first on-screen appearance carries some major ramifications not only for the future of The Acolyte (assuming there is one), but also for Sith history and the Star Wars timeline overall. After all, there isn’t much that’s canonically known about Plagueis beyond what was revealed by his own apprentice in the prequels.

Plagueis Is Palpatine’s Sith Master

Plagueis Was Canonically Active During This Time

Cover art from James Luceno's Darth Plagueis novel.


Known as “Darth Plagueis the Wise”, the bulk of what is known about Palpatine’s master in the canon comes from Palpatine himself when he tells Anakin Skywalker about his master in Revenge of the Sith while attending the opera. This included the reveal that Plagueis allegedly had the rare power to influence and manipulate the midi-chlorians to create life. He could even prevent those he loved from dying, though not himself as he was slain by Palpatine once his apprentice power had grown strong enough.

However, the life and activities of Darth Palgueis before his demise at the hands of his own apprentice were revealed in non-canon Legends, primarily in the Darth Plagueis novel by James Luceno. In the book, Plagueis kills his own master Darth Tenebrous per the Sith’s Rule of Two, conducts various Force experiments, and also seeks out other Force sensitives and rivals in the dark side. However, he eventually discovers and begins training Sheev Palpatine on Naboo.


In the Star Wars canon, Muuns have much longer lifespans compared to humans. Likewise, the bulk of Plagueis’ experiments were primarily about artificially extending his life and achieving immortality. As such, it’s logical that Darth Plagueis would be one of the active Sith Lords during the High Republic Era and the events of The Acolyte set 100 years before The Phantom Menace. To that end, he’s either still serving as Tenebrous’ apprentice, or more likely seeking out a pupil of his own.

What Does Plagueis’ Acolyte Appearance Mean For Star Wars?

Is He Qimir’s Master…Or A Rival?

Plagueis Acolyte Sith Lord Connections Custom Star Wars Image
Custom Image by Kevin Erdmann


At the moment, it’s not yet known how Darth Plagueis fits into the grander narrative of The Acolyte, or why he appeared on Qimir’s unknown ocean world. However, it’s worth noting that this unnamed planet does resemble Baldemnic from the Darth Plagueis novel, the world where Plagueis killed his master as the two were seeking deposits of cortosis ore. Furthermore, Plagueis’ legendary powers have been teased with the show’s Witches of Brendok and their creation of Mae and Osha via a vergence in the Force.

That being said, it’s not clear if Plagueis is Qimir’s Sith Master, or if he’s simply tracked him down to kill him as a dark side user existing apart from the Sith of the traditional Bane line. Plagueis may view Qimir as a rival who could threaten his own existence as a true Dark Lord of the Sith. It’s also possible that Plagueis has come for Osha, wanting to study her unique genetics and creation through the Force for his own ends. With any luck, more about Darth Plagueis and his canonical history will be revealed in potential future seasons of The Acolyte.

All episodes of The Acolyte are now streaming on Disney+.