So much happens in The Acolyte Episode 5 that its midpoint reveal — Qimir's unmasking as the show’s mysterious Sith Master — has been skipped over in a lot of the conversations about the game-changing installment. To be fair, many viewers had already predicted the twist, which was heavily set up in The Acolyte's fourth episode. But that doesn't take away from how genuinely imposing Qimir comes across in the series' latest installment.
Qimir easily slaughters multiple Jedi throughout the episode, titled "Night," including Jecki (Dafne Keen) and Yord (Charlie Barnett), and he does so while also testing Sol's (Lee Jung-jae) moral limits. The episode gives the character one of the most impactful entrances of any Star Wars villain since Kylo Ren (Adam Driver) and sets him up to continue being a dangerous force in the future.
There are, nonetheless, certain Star Wars fans who believe that Qimir isn’t actually the most powerful Sith in existence at the time of The Acolyte. Some viewers, specifically, believe that he may still be reporting to a Master of his own.
During their confrontation in "Night," Qimir and Sol reach a brief stalemate when the former captures Mae and presses his unignited lightsaber against her head. Whilst fielding Sol's many questions, Qimir tells him, "I want a pupil… an Acolyte." It's a confession that, while not particularly surprising in the moment, further suggests that Qimir is a Sith Master ready to raise up another in his image. However, if Star Wars fans are right in their belief that Qimir's own Sith teacher is still alive, that would mean only the second half of that assumption is correct.
For what it’s worth, it is definitely possible that Qimir’s Master isn’t dead yet, especially given how little we know right now about Qimir's backstory. It would also make sense within the confines of existing Star Wars canon for Qimir to prepare in this way for his eventual Sith ascendancy. After all, while we know that it's the Rule of Two that allows the Sith Order to stay alive during the era of Jedi rule, the Sith have never strictly followed the cycle of mentorship outlined by the Rule itself.
Darth Sidious recruited his own apprentice, Darth Maul, while he was still training under his own Master, Darth Plagueis, before eventually murdering him and taking his place. In Star Wars: Episode V — The Empire Strikes Back, Darth Vader also tries to convince Luke Skywalker to become his pupil while Sidious is still alive. Taking both those examples into account, it wouldn't be a canon-breaking revelation to learn that Qimir has begun preparing to take his Master's place by first attempting to find and train a protégé of his own.
In all likelihood, Star Wars fans will have to wait at least a few more weeks before they find out whether or not Qimir really still has a secret Sith Master. If he does, his teacher could realistically turn out to be one of two characters: Darth Plagueis or his Master, Darth Tenebrous. The character could also turn out to be an entirely original creation unique to The Acolyte. Only time will tell.
Assuming that the rest of The Acolyte's first season is dedicated to resolving the lingering tensions between Osha, Mae, and Sol, learning that Qimir still has a Master to betray would be an interesting and relatively tidy way for the Disney+ series to set up a potential second season. One could, in fact, easily imagine The Acolyte turning its gaze away from the Jedi Order altogether in order to follow Qimir and a pupil of his choosing as they team up to ascend the Sith hierarchy together. That only seems like an even more alluring and likely possibility if Sol really does, as many fans suspect, perish by the end of this season along with all the other Jedi who learned of Qimir's existence.
Either way, despite taking out most of its supporting characters in one fell swoop, The Acolyte has left itself with enough space to go in a number of wildly different directions over the course of its next three episodes. With that in mind, it'd be foolish to assume at this point that we know everything we need to about Qimir's backstory and mission. Don't be surprised if both turn out to be more complicated than he lets on in "Night."
New episodes of The Acolyte premiere Tuesday nights at 9 p.m. ET on Disney+.
