Warning! This post contains SPOILERS for The Acolyte episode 4

A new Acolyte theory suggests an important Star Wars scene from The Phantom Menace was actually a bold-faced lie. Coming as a major surprise, none other than Jedi Master Ki-Adi-Mundi had a brief cameo in The Acolyte episode 4. As such, this new appearance has raised some valid questions as to why he seemingly still believed the Sith had long been extinct, having expressed doubt about Qui-Gon Jinn’s Tatooine encounter with Darth Maul.

Ki-Adi-Mundi’s appearance in The Acolyte episode 4 confirms in the official Star Wars canon that both he and his species are more long-lived than was previously assumed based on non-canon materials now known as Legends. Regardless, what matters far more is his involvement in a meeting where Jedi Master Sol (Lee Jung-jae) reports on the assassin Mae Aniseya (Amandla Stenberg) and her dark master in this show set 100 years before the Skywalker saga. As such, a new theory suggests that Ki-Adi-Mundi was perhaps lying about “the Sith having been extinct for a millennium” as he so claims in The Phantom Menace.

Ki-Adi-Mundi Was Part Of A Jedi Cover-Up About Mae and Her Master

Deciding Not To Tell The Jedi Council

Following his encounter with Mae and having witnessed her apparent training in The Acolyte episode 2, Master Sol and his fellow Jedi return to the Jedi Temple on Coruscant at the beginning of The Acolyte episode 4. Fearing the existence of a rogue Jedi or splinter order, a younger Ki-Adi-Mundi is notably present during Sol’s report. He’s seemingly a member of a group of leading Jedi Masters led by Vernestra Rwoh (Rebecca Henderson), while not yet a member of the Jedi High Council as he appears in the prequels.

To that end, Rwoh, Mundi, and more Jedi elect to keep Mae’s recent Jedi murders and her dark master a secret from the High Council, seeing as how they’d be obliged to inform the Republic Senate, which would undoubtedly spark “a scandal leading to fear and mistrust”. At present, these Jedi Masters recognize the danger posed by Mae and her master. Ki-Adi-Mundi himself warns that Mae could become a major threat. However, they’re seemingly content in their assumption that Mae was taught by one of their own, likely a Jedi who walked away from the Order.

It seems these Jedi Masters have yet to even consider that their old Sith rivals still live, lying in wait in the shadows and darkest corners of the galaxy. However, there are still four more episodes of The Acolyte left. There’s plenty of time for the Jedi to get wise, especially considering The Acolyte episode 4’s major cliffhanger which sets up a brutal Jedi massacre at the hands of Mae’s master (who certainly embodies the classic Sith aesthetic while wielding a red-bladed lightsaber).

How This Can Explain Ki-Adi-Mundi Confusing Sith Comments In The Phantom Menace

Was Mundi Lying During Episode I?

Ultimately, it’s certainly possible that the Jedi could remain ignorant about the truth due to their established pride and hubris. The Acolyte could wrap up with the Jedi simply assuming that they encountered a rogue Jedi rather than a genuine Sith Lord, fully trained in the dark side of the Force and a follower of Darth Bane’s Rule of Two (regardless of whether he actually is or not). In this way, Ki-Adi-Mundi’s claims about the Sith’s millennia-long extinction in The Phantom Menace could be maintained, especially if the Jedi determine that the being their facing in The Acolyte is not a legitimate Dark Lord of the Sith.

However, the other possibility is that Ki-Adi-Mundu is lying in The Phantom Menace, and that the Jedi did secretly face a genuine Sith Lord 100 years prior. If that’s the case, this would open up some pretty intriguing questions as to why Ki-Adi-Mundi would lie to begin with. Perhaps it’s a further extension of the Jedi’s cover-up that’s already been enacted by Master Vernestra in The Acolyte episode 4, with the High Council currently being kept in the dark about what happened to Mae and her dark master.

Theory: The Acolyte Is The Story Of The Jedi’s Darkest High Republic Sin

A Massive Conspiracy To Hide A Shameful Event In The Jedi’s History

There is a possibility in which Vernestra and her fellow masters at the Temple eventually learn the full truth about the tragedy on Brendock seen in The Acolyte flashback (episode 3). After all, there’s no way that Mae’s fire was the sole reason for the entire coven’s destruction, as Sol claimed to Osha before taking her to be trained as a Jedi. There’s more to the story that has yet to be revealed, and there are multiple clues suggesting it won’t be putting the Jedi who were stationed on the world in a good light (Master Sol, Indara, Torbin, and Kelnacca).

Something incredibly dark happened that night which the Jedi more than likely caused. This in turn led to Mae’s dark path where she was trained by her master to kill these same Jedi. As such, perhaps whatever truly happened Brendock combined with what’s about to happen in future episodes is enough that the entire series of events will be covered-up by the Jedi even further with records being deleted, and those who were aware of what happened sworn to secrecy (including Ki-Adi-Mundi).

As such, it would certainly provide some dark reasoning as to why Ki-Adi-Mundi might be lying years later following Qu-Gon Jinn’s encounter with Darth Maul. After all, the High Republic Era was believed to be a period of great peace and prosperity. Perhaps those perceptions came at a dark cost with the Jedi’s dark sins being swept under the rug, even from future Jedi. Whether Ki-Adi-Mundi is lying or not in The Acolyte, there are still logical ways in which his Phantom Menace comments don’t break the established Star Wars canon.

The Acolyte episode 4 is now streaming. New episodes release Tuesdays on Disney+.