This article contains spoilers for The Acolyte episode 5.Star Wars has just offered a tantalizing hint that The Acolyte‘s villain may not be a Sith Lord at all. The true identity of The Acolyte‘s villain, Mae’s mysterious Master, had been something of an open secret; there had been countless clues that Qimir was really the Sith. His reveal in The Acolyte episode 5 was still tremendous, though, in light of Manny Jacinto’s phenomenal performance. But so many questions remain – including whether he should be considered a true Sith at all.

Lucasfilm has updated the Star Wars Databank with a new entry on the villain, who they simply call “The Stranger.” Curiously, it drops a hint that he may not be a Sith Lord at all.

“With a specialized cortosis gauntlet and a mask permanently twisted into a frightful grin, the Stranger with a red-bladed lightsaber appears as if out of thin air. While some may call him a Sith, little is known of this dark sider who has been training Mae Aniseya in secret, hiding his face from his pupil. When needed, he has adopted the alias Qimir, acting as a shiftless drifter and supplier with seemingly no cares at all other than his own amusements.”

This echoes dialogue from The Acolyte episode 5, in which Qimir said some may call him a Sith – but did not actually claim that title for himself.

Could Qiimir Just Be A Dark Sider Who’s Absorbed Sith Teachings?

This could explain a long-standing Star Wars mystery

This raises the intriguing possibility the Stranger is not really a Sith Lord at all; rather, he is a dark sider who has somehow gained access to Sith teachings. That would explain why, when the dust has settled from The Acolyte, the Jedi still believe the Sith to be extinct; they simply consider Qimir to be someone who tried to revive their rivals. It would also potentially explain a problematic bit of lore from Star Wars: Episode I – The Phantom Menace; Qimir could tell them something of the Rule of Two.

Oddly enough, this would be the same approach taken by Legends – the previous Star Wars continuity, erased from canon after Disney acquired Lucasfilm. There, Abel Peña’s 2006 Holocron article Evil Never Dies: The Sith Dynasties revealed the Jedi encountered a dark sider named Kibh Jeen who had been exposed to Sith teachings and fallen to the dark side. The Stranger could be the canon version of Kibh Jeen.

One thing is certain, though; The Acolyte showrunner Leslye Headland likes writing stories that have many twists and turns, meaning there are still more surprises to come. It feels as though the Stranger is somehow tied to events on Brendok some 16 years ago, and the truth of these events will surely be revealed in more flashbacks. It’s only a matter of time before viewers get a true sense of who – and what – the Stranger truly is.

Source: Star Wars Databank