Star Wars: The Acolyte showrunner Leslye Headland confirms that cameo within the finale is strictly who you suppose it’s

SPOILERS for the season finale of The Acolyte. After eight episodes, The Acolyte has come to an finish with loads of surprises, nevertheless it additionally left numerous dangling threads that may hopefully be picked up in a second season, together with a sure cameo from a personality who has by no means been seen in a Star Wars film or TV present till now.

A mere 12 minutes into the finale, The Stranger (Manny Jacinto) and Osha (Amandla Stenberg) depart in the hunt for Mae, however they’re watched by a mysterious determine lurking within the shadows. While talking with IndieWire, The Acolyte showrunner Leslye Headland confirmed that the cameo was none apart from Darth Plagueis, the longer term grasp of Sheev Palpatine. The character was first talked about in Revenge of the Sith when Palpatine tells Anakin Skywalker about “the tragedy of Darth Plagueis the Wise,” a Sith who was so highly effective he had the ability to create life.

Headland at all times needed to incorporate the character in The Acolyte. “Plagueis was always in the finale, in every version,” she mentioned, however added that Plagueis was initially set to seem within the last moments as a substitute of the episode’s different cameo. “There was a version where he was the button of the finale [instead of Yoda],” Headland mentioned. “[But] You want to feel Osha’s triumph. You want to feel her joining forces with The Stranger. Plagueis stepped on [that moment].”

Plagueis is understood to be obsessive about attaining immortality, so you possibly can perceive why he could be eager about Osha and Mae as step one to his plans. Given what we all know of the longer term, his presence additionally probably spells doom for Osha and the Stranger. “Even though [Osha and The Stranger] are standing there, sort of looking out at the sunset, ready to conquer the world, the tragedy is we know they don’t,” Headland defined. “We know there can solely be two. We know Plagueis is there. We know that these two are doomed indirectly. So to me it’s a bittersweet tragedy, this foreboding ending. But that’s as a result of I do know in regards to the Sith lineage and all these different issues, whereas I feel a unique subset of the viewers could be like, ‘They’re married!’“

Despite a fairly divided response, The Acolyte has confirmed to be successful for Disney+ because it was the streaming service’s largest collection premiere of the 12 months. You can try a assessment from our personal Alex Maidy proper right here.