Warning! This post contains SPOILERS for The Acolyte episode 1 & 2

25 years after the release of The Phantom Menace, Star Wars is answering a crucial Sith question. The Acolyte has finally premiered with the series’ first two episodes, revealing a major plot against the Jedi 100 years before the events of the Skywalker saga. To that end, the involvement of the Sith has helped flesh out an established concept regarding the dark side users and their traditions.

As seen in The Acolyte, an assassin known as Mae (Amandla Stenberg) is killing specific Jedi connected to her past. This prompts an investigation from the Jedi Order, one that reveals clues about Mae’s dark upbringing as well as the one who recruited and trained her who certainly appears to be a Sith Lord. To that end, new insights have been revealed involving the Sith’s Rule of Two, a dark side tradition that was first introduced in 1999’s The Phantom Menace.

The Phantom Menace Introduced The Rule Of Two

“Always Two There Are”

As seen in The Phantom Menace, the appearance of Darth Maul confirmed to the Jedi Order that the Sith Lords were not as extinct as previously believed. However, they did not yet know whether Darth Maul was the Sith Apprentice or the Master, confirming that there are only ever two in existence at a time during this period of the Star Wars canon. This was later fleshed out and confirmed to be the Sith Rule of Two as established by Darth Bane, 1000 years before the events of the Skywalker saga.

While there were once just as many Sith as there were Jedi during the Old Republic Era, in-fighting and constant betrayals motivated Darth Bane to kill all the Sith save for himself. This consolidated the majority of the dark side’s power within Bane and an apprentice he began training, ensuring the Sith’s survival and their core mission to one day reclaim the galaxy and claim revenge against the Jedi. As such, the Rule of Two states that there must always be a Master and an Apprentice, “one to embody the power and one to crave it”.

But How Does An Apprentice Become A Master Without Risking The Sith?

By Recruiting An Acolyte

Eventually, the Apprentice is expected to kill the Master and take their place, while also finding their own apprentice. However, this implies that if the Apprentice kills the Master, there will be only one Sith for a time until they find someone to train, a dangerous prospect in the interim for the Sith Lords’ survival. However, The Acolyte is now helping establish the canonical idea that an Acolye (such as Mae) is recruited by an Apprentice first before moving against the Master.

Currently, it looks as though the masked Sith Lord seen at the end of The Acolyte’s first episode is testing Mae, requiring her to prove her worth by killing Jedi without the use of weapons, or perhaps with a Jedi’s own lightsaber seeing as how Mae keeps reaching for them. However, one has to wonder if Mae has already failed her test to become the Apprentice’s new Sith Acolyte considering her use of knives and poison to kill her first two Jedi, Masters Indara and Torbin.

Acolytes Were Introduced In Star Wars Legends, But Now Are Canon

Prospective Apprentices For Sith Lords

At any rate, while the idea of Sith Apprentices recruiting Acolytes is new to the Star Wars canon, it’s worth noting that acolytes of the Sith were already established to a degree in the non-canon Legends. The Old Republic features several acolytes, prospective initiates seeking to become the official apprentice to a Sith Lord. Likewise, The Force Unleashed’s protagonist known as Starkiller was somewhat considered to be an Acolyte in Legends as well, seeing as how he was Darth Vader’s secret apprentice who was intende to help overthrow Palpatine prior to the events of the original trilogy.

One could arguably consider Asajj Ventress to have been a canonical acolyte to Count Dooku during The Clone Wars, despite being known to Palpatine. However, he did order Dooku to kill her when she became too powerful, fearing that Dooku could use her to overthrow him. Regardless, it should prove very interesting to see how Mae’s dark side journey progresses, as well as whom this masked Sith Apprentice might be as The Acolyte continues.