The Sith are officially returning to Star Wars in Star Wars: The Acolyte, and a recent trailer reveals the mysterious voice of the franchise’s newest Sith Lord. The Sith have been prominent figures throughout Star Wars movies and TV shows, but they were believed to be extinct in the hundreds of years leading up to the Star Wars prequel trilogy. However, The Acolyte, set 100 years before Star Wars: Episode I – The Phantom Menace in the Star Wars timeline, will prove that notion wrong.

Previously, the mysterious Sith figure only appeared in trailers for The Acolyte silently concealed under a mask. However, the Sith finally spoke in the most recent trailer for The Acolyte, opening up a whole host of questions about the Sith’s identity. It remains to be seen whether the Sith is truly brand-new or is one of Star Wars’ most powerful Sith already known in the franchise.

Why Is This Sith Lord Hiding His Voice?

In the trailer, the Sith can be heard in a voice-over, ominously saying, “The Jedi live in a dream… but an acolyte kills the dream.” In addition to this being rather foreboding, the voice-over is fascinating because the Sith is clearly using a voice modulator. This makes sense, as previous trailers had already shown the Sith wearing a helmet and the helmet lying on the ground, implying the Sith will be unmasked.

However, this imagery of the mask on the ground and the use of a voice modulator raises a number of questions about the identity of the Sith. The layers of secrecy, from the mask covering the Sith’s face to the voice being disguised with the modulator, suggest that the Jedi may know the Sith. Why else would the Sith go to such lengths to conceal their identity?

This could mean a number of things. For one, the Sith could be a member of the Jedi Order who has fallen to the dark side and is working as a spy, betraying the Jedi. After all, Star Wars has already demonstrated how effective this strategy can be, as Palpatine used a similar method to infiltrate the Jedi Order in the prequel trilogy. This could also mean that the Sith is some other prominent figure whom the Jedi would know.

However, Star Wars also has an extensive legacy of Sith who wear helmets or masks with voice modulators, Darth Vader and Kylo Ren being two of the most prominent, especially in the Skywalker Saga. It could be that this Sith is a part of that tradition, perhaps something that goes much deeper than Vader needing a life-sustaining suit and Kylo Ren wanting to imitate Vader. It seems more likely, though, that the new Sith in Star Wars: The Acolyte has a specific reason to conceal their identity from the Jedi.

The Acolyte’s two-episode premiere releases June 4th on Disney+.

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