Star Wars: The Acolyte Ep 6 Review
Everyone, I have been a fool this whole time. When The Acolyte started, I only watched it because it was Star Wars. I didn’t care about the story; the show initially did little to change that. However, the last two episodes have given the series a potentially new context. I’ve doubted that The Stranger, AKA Qimir, was a Sith, but this episode has me convinced he’s not one. He’s not a Sith. Qimir could be a Knight of Ren- The first member of the Knights of Ren. AKA the ones who started Ben Solo on his path to becoming Kylo Ren.
This entire series might be the origin story for the Knights of Ren! Don’t believe me? This episode and the last one drop plenty of hints.
Why is Qimir Not Wearing a Shirt?
As many suspected, Qimir chose not to kill the wounded and unconscious Osha after Mae pulled that twin swap. Instead, he took her with him back to his secret hideout. That’s the good news.
The bad news? Osha has no idea where she is. The show even lampshades it with the subtitles calling it “Unknown Planet.” What is known is that it’s on an island with cortosis deposits.
After Osha comes to and tries to sneak up on Qimitr while he’s bathing, we get a scene that is…very unlike Disney. The sequel film did give us shirtless Kylo Ren, but seeing Osha pointing at Qimir’s lightsaber as he walks out of the water naked felt like something Game of Thrones would do. It just felt so out of place for Disney to do! Not that the fans are complaining. They’re calling Qimir hot and a perfect thirst trap.
As weird as it is, though, this and Qimir’s lack of actions towards Osha throughout this episode serve a greater purpose. He’s letting his guard down, letting her threaten him with his own weapon, and opening up about being a Jedi who was let go, to test her. He’s trying to see if she would make a more worthy acolyte than her sister would. But not a Sith Acolyte.
Why Qimir Could be the First of the Knights of Ren
I don’t really pay much attention to Star Wars in the Sequel Era, but I have learned a few things. Chief among them, I’ve read a little about the Knights of Ren and what they do. Like the Sith, they wield the Dark Side of the Force. Unlike the Sith, though, they are far less powerful and far less disciplined in its use. They don’t have any greater purpose, no grand plan in mind. The Knights of Ren are a very chaotic group who seek to live without restraints like morality and concern for anyone else. In other words, they want to live free to be themselves. That sounds an awful lot like what Qimir was talking about in the last episode. He wanted to live a life free from the restrictions of the Jedi, and he wanted an acolyte to inherit his way of thinking.
Then there’s his fighting style. As shown in the last episode and as Master Venestra and others confirm when they arrive to see his carnage on Khofar, Qimir’s fighting style is very chaotic. He fought less like a Jedi or Sith and more like a wild animal on instinct. That crude fighting style is nowhere near the level of the Sith, but it suits the Knights of Ren perfectly.
Lastly, we have Qimir’s helmet. I didn’t realize it until now, but bears some similarities to the helmets worn by the Knights of Ren in the Sequel Era. While I doubt Kylo Ren’s helmet served as this, Qimir tells Osha that it serves as a sensory deprivation device. When one puts it on, one must rely on one’s connection to the Force to react to one’s surroundings while virtually blind. When Osha dons it near the end of the episode, we see that it deprives her of her sight, and makes her breathing sound similar to Vader’s centuries later.
All the evidence seems to add up. Qimir might be the founder of what will become the Knights of Ren. Worse, he is now trying to tempt Osha into becoming his new acolyte. What of his old one, though?
Master Sol is Losing It
At the end of the last episode, Mae managed to disguise herself as Osha and fled with Master Sol. And just like I thought, she tried once more to kill Sol in vengeance for what happened on Brendok. The good news is that, eventually, Sol does figure out that it’s Mae and knocks her out. The bad news: Master Sol is starting to lose it.
Having witnessed his entire team slaughtered, Sol is spiraling. His appearance is far more disheveled to reflect his poor mental state, and that’s also reflected in his actions. Rather than wait for the Jedi to come to find him, he jumps to hyperspace with Bazil in tow and Mae restrained to an operating table. And while we still don’t know what happened yet, Sol makes it clear that he intends to tell Mae everything about the events at Brendok. The man is letting his guilt and fear cloud his mind, and that makes me think that he may not survive the story. However, he’s still going to try and get Mae to turn back from the path she’s on.
That’s good, but Osha might get corrupted.
I still don’t think that The Acolyte is that good of a series. However, if the fan theory involving the Knights of Ren is right, then it could reframe everything in a potentially more positive light. The Sequels desperately need more lore to make up for their shortcomings, and the origin of the Knights of Ren would be a big deal for some people. Not for me, but for others. i just want the series to stop messing around and tell us the truth about Brendok, already! It’s maddening!
