Editor’s Note: The following includes spoilers for The Acolyte Episode 5.

The Acolyte Episode 5, “Night,” ultimately revealed that Qimir (Manny Jacinto) has been behind the Stranger’s mask all along, and, in common Star Wars style, this ended up raising additional inquiries than answers. For instance, is he definitely a Sith or is he deceiving the Jedi? In the episode’s final scene, as he finds Osha (Amandla Stenberg) knocked unconscious in the Khofar jungle, a section of Kylo Ren’s (Adam Driver) theme in the Sequel Trilogy can be heard. That was adequate to open the gates of speculation, with fans now scratching their heads asking yourself if the Stranger could somehow be associated to Kylo or the Knights of Ren. His helmet does bear some similarities with Kylo’s, as well, so that is not fully out of the query.

The Acolyte

The Acolyte is a mystery-thriller that will take viewers into a galaxy of shadowy secrets and emerging dark-side powers in the final days of the High Republic era. A former Padawan reunites with her Jedi Master to investigate a series of crimes, but the forces they confront are additional sinister than they ever anticipated.

Release Date

June 4, 2024

Main Genre

Sci-Fi

Seasons

1

Studio

Disney+

Franchise

Star Wars

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Who Are the Knights of Ren in ‘Star Wars’ Lore?

“Ghouls.” That’s what a Stormtrooper aboard Kylo Ren’s flagship calls the Knights of Ren in Star Wars: Episode IX – The Rise of Skywalker. By the time of the Sequel Trilogy, the Knights certainly never have a great reputation, and most of that comes from their history prior to the arrival of Kylo Ren as their master. They had been 1st pointed out in Star Wars: Episode VII – The Force Awakens, but not a lot additional is mentioned about them on screen, and are swiftly defeated by Ben Solo following he turns back to the Light Side at the finish of The Rise of Skywalker.

The events of the Sequel Trilogy certainly make the Knights of Ren appear terrible and even incompetent, and some of that is explained in the comics. They 1st seem in the 2020 miniseries The Rise of Kylo Ren, operating into Ben Solo and his master and uncle, Luke Skywalker (Mark Hamill) on the planet Elphrona. Luke conveniently defeats them, but their leader, a gray-haired man referred to as Ren, feels Ben’s darkness and invites the boy to join them just before operating away. Some time later, following Ben turns on Luke and destroys his Jedi Temple, he agrees to join the Knights of Ren, obtaining a crash course on their philosophy. They are Force-sensitive marauders who idolize the Dark Side, which they get in touch with “the shadow,” and see it embodied in their master’s red-bladed lightsaber, which they get in touch with “the Ren.” The Ren performs as a symbol of energy for the Knights, and it really is what enables them to trigger as a lot violence and destruction as they want, even if there appears to be no explanation for it.

During the Imperial era, the Knights of Ren had been currently active beneath Ren’s leadership. They had several skirmishes with the Empire and even Darth Vader (James Earl Jones) himself, but it wasn’t till Ben Solo joined them that they definitely became a force to be reckoned with. When that takes place, the boy chooses one more name and earns the title of Ren by killing the Knights’ old master, definitely becoming Kylo Ren. He also bleeds his personal kyber crystal, generating his unstable red-bladed crossguard lightsaber.

“I have no name. But a Jedi like you might call me… Sith.” This line, along with Kylo Ren’s theme playing in the final scene, is what ignited speculation about what the Stranger definitely is. He does not get in touch with himself a Sith, and he does not claim a Sith title such as “Darth” — and the Sith are significant on flattering themselves with that, they want their enemies to know their names. He is merely stating that the Jedi would get in touch with him that, implying that the Jedi would almost certainly get in touch with any Dark Side user a Sith considering the fact that the Sith are the Jedi’s greatest enemies.

Another hint is how Yord Fandar (Charlie Barnett) describes the Stranger’s fighting procedures. He says the villain does not stick to the guidelines of combat and that there is no logic to his movements, generating it complicated to counter. Indeed, there are moments in which it appears like the Stranger is just hammering at the Jedi with his red-bladed lightsaber, the point getting that a Sith would almost certainly show additional talent and method with a blade. In the comics, the Knights of Ren are all formidable warriors and opponents, but they also never look to stick to fighting patterns and method, normally winning by just overpowering their prey.

It’s not recognized if, by the time of The Acolyte, the Knights of Ren are active or not, but they do have ancient origins in canon, older than their contemporary iteration in the course of the New Republic era. Hailing from the Unknown Regions, for centuries they have been the topic of legends and tales about the dangers of venturing into uncharted territories with out right precautions. Even so, the Stranger’s complete figure appears closer to the Knights of Ren’s aesthetics than the Sith. His cortosis helmet, with a significant grinning speaker, appears created to be spooky, like a monster from a scary tale that comes to swallow these who are not cautious adequate. Even the bending at the back of the helmet feels reminiscent of Kylo Ren’s helmet, specifically following its kintsugi-inspired restoration in The Rise of Skywalker.

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The 5 Things You Need To Know Before Watching ‘The Acolyte’ Episode 6

We’re nonetheless not more than episode 5.

It’s Not Clear If Qimir Is Sith or a Knight of Ren Yet

The final scene in “Night” is not the only moment in the episode when Kylo Ren’s motif can be heard, basically. Right when it begins, Osha wakes up and finds PIP lying in the jungle, and that is when we 1st hear the motif in a reduce and slower version. Then, it plays once again as Osha is knocked out at the finish of the episode, so this song marks the starting and the ending of an episode exactly where the Stranger is the one particular who shines. This may well hint at the correct starting of the Knights of Ren, with the Stranger almost certainly getting the 1st Ren.

If it definitely turns out that the Stranger is a Knight of Ren, it implies that this organization definitely only goes downhill following him. It’s challenging to visualize Ren top them to face eight Jedi at after and coming out victorious considering the fact that, in the comics, all it took was one particular Jedi — Luke Skywalker — to chase them away. In The Rise of Skywalker, Ben Solo conveniently beats them all as quickly as he gets a weapon to level factors at least in theory, the Knights know how to fight lightsaber-wielding foes. They just shed miserably. The Stranger may well be the 1st Ren, but it does not look probably that his acolytes would finish up getting such incompetent warriors.

Another possibility is that the Stranger just took up the Sith legacy following it was forgotten for a lengthy time. They may well have certainly been extinct for a millennium, as Ki-Adi-Mundi (Silas Carson) infamously remarks in Star Wars: Episode I — The Phantom Menace, and had been reborn when a drunken Force-sensitive drifter such as Qimir came in get in touch with with their forgotten teachings. The Stranger would not have pointed out the Sith with out a goal, be it landing a jab at the Jedi for their arrogance, marking the return of the Sith, or deceiving the Jedi. For the sake of his legacy, although, let’s hope he is not a Knight of Ren.

New episodes of The Acolyte air weekly just about every Tuesday on Disney+ in the U.S.

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