Warning! This article contains SPOILERS for Star Wars: The Acolyte episode 5.

Manny Jacinto’s true role in The Acolyte has been shrouded in mystery since the beginning of the show, and he’s been keeping that secret since before the show had even premiered. Initially portraying Qimir, an unassuming drifter who helps Mae (Amandla Stenberg) carry out her instructions from the mysterious Master, the true identity of Jacinto’s character is much more sinister. Amazingly, he’s been keeping that incredible twist under wraps for years.

Star Wars’ official profile on X posted a video of Jacino poking fun at his character’s duplicity. After the revelations of The Acolyte episode 5, his comment makes perfect sense.

“I’m passing the phone to someone who is… untrustworthy,” Jacinto says in the video as he pretends to think. The video changes swiftly to a clip of the mysterious masked dark side user before returning to Jacinto, who feigns confusion before pointing at himself.

Manny Jacinto Did Almost Slip Up Once

But He Still Managed To Keep The Secret

The idea of a mysterious masked supervillain is a pretty iconic aspect of the Star Wars franchise. First started by Darth Vader in A New Hope, the trend continued with Kylo Ren in the sequel trilogy. In a video re-shared by alexleonis from an interview done by Victor Lucas that predates the show’s premiere, Jacinto talks about connecting with Hayden Christensen and being inspired by his performance in the prequel trilogy. Though Qimir’s role in the show – let alone his true identity – was a complete mystery at the time, Jacinto mentions taking up Christensen’s mantle.

I loved getting to meet the guy behind the mask, Hayden Christensen, because he kind of paved the way.

Jacinto covered it nicely, saying his tie to Christensen was being a Canadian in the Star Wars universe. However, now that Qimir’s identity has been revealed, the comment seems to have been more of a direct reference to both actors’ roles as masked villains in Star Wars. Amandla Stalberg can be seen slightly widening her eyes as she turns to Jacinto as he talks about his possible similarity to Darth Vader, but Jacinto’s calm demeanor keeps his comments from raising eyebrows. Still, the interview came pretty close to giving away one of The Acolyte’s biggest twists.

The Acolyte episode 5 is now streaming. New episodes release Tuesdays at 9 PM ET on Disney+.

Source: Star Wars, Victor Lucas