It took five episodes and a concerning number of casualties, but now the Jedi of The Acolyte finally know who they’re dealing with. But just because the enemy now has a name and face, that doesn’t mean we know everything about him. Is he who he claims to be? What’s his endgame? Does he have a master too? We have potential answers, but be warned, spoilers for The Acolyte Episode 5, “Night,” are ahead.
Now that we know Mae’s Sith Master is none other than her sidekick and confidant, Qimir, we rounded up the best theories as to what he has planned, and where the show’s final episodes could take us.
What is Qimir’s Plan?
At the end of Episode 5, Mae swaps places with Osha. Bazil is still tracking Mae, now in Osha's civilian robes, while Osha wakes up on the forest floor of Khofar to find Qimir looking down at her— and her distinctive tattoo.
This episode told us Qimir wants an acolyte, but he wasn’t about to take Mae back after her betrayal. A now-deleted theory from Redditor sobeobe suggests the twins swapping identities has given Qimir exactly what he wants: an apprentice strong with the Force. Qimir instantly detected Osha when she tried to take her place in Episode 2, so it’s not like he’ll be fooled for long.
Qimir, in fact, already seems to have figured out what happened, given that he healed Osha instead of murdering her, like he planned to murder Mae. He also, notably, shoved Osha out of the way before the fighting began, a mercy he did not extend to anyone else. Given time and a convincing argument, perhaps Osha, who left the Jedi, could find purpose in the Sith, or whatever interpretation of the Sith Qimir has.
It’s possible this was part of the plan all along, a way for Qimir to get himself and Mae closer to the other side. Mae is now close to Sol, the one Jedi left on her and Qimir’s revenge list, and Qimir now has access to another person strong with the Force. Mae’s desire to walk away from the Dark Side was genuine, and Qimir was trying to murder her, but who knows what could happen now that his furious former apprentice was rejected by her sister and has a foothold in the Jedi Order. The only flaw here is that it’s hard to imagine Master Sol being fooled by Mae’s switcheroo for long, but a moment may be all she needs to get her vengeance.
Who is Qimir Working For?
This still leaves the question of how Qimir became a Sith. He used the term — the first time it’s been used in The Acolyte — but does he have a master of his own? With the Sith presumed extinct at this point, the Jedi — and the viewer — know so little about them. Is there a bigger reveal coming in the next three episodes? Could Palpatine’s master Darth Plagueis, or even Plagueis’ master Darth Tenebrous, be who taught Qimir his powers?
In the non-canon Legends timeline, Darth Tenebrous trains multiple apprentices, keeping one on the back burner in case his current acolyte proves weak. Qimir could be Tenebrous’ first attempt at training an apprentice before he settles on Darth Plagueis and sets Palpatine’s rise to power in motion.
In the novel Darth Plagueis by James Luceno, Tenebrous trains another acolyte named Darth Venamis, who Plagueis has to hunt down and destroy. Maybe Qimir is another backup who will get a nasty visit from Darth Plagueis down the line to keep the Star Wars timeline on track and the Sith’s Rule of Two intact.
Is Qimir Really a Sith?
There’s another theory behind Qimir’s endgame. When he said he had no name, he followed it up with, “But a Jedi like you might call me… Sith.” Redditor Revanur has taken this to mean he’s not actually a Sith, it’s just the closest term to what he is. That would explain why, a century later, the Jedi of the prequels would believe the Sith had been extinct for millennia.
Qimir could just be someone who stumbled upon the Dark Side of the Force and decided to make his way through the galaxy with it, but maybe, just maybe, he could be one of the first Knights of Ren, the Dark Side cultists introduced in the sequel trilogy. This would retroactively set the stage for their sudden introduction over 100 years later, and it would provide an intriguing counterpart to the witches of Brendok. Just as you can use the Light Side without being a Jedi, you can also use the Dark Side without being a Sith.
