Editor's Note: The following contains spoilers for episode 5 of The Acolyte.
The big picture
- Qimir reveals himself as the stranger within
the acolyte
Episode 5, raising questions about his true identity and connection to Kylo Ren or the Knights of Ren. - In the Star Wars sequel trilogy, Ben Solo joins the mysterious Knights of Ren and later becomes Kylo Ren.
- The Stranger's aesthetics and fighting style hint at a connection to the Knights of Ren, but his true identity remains uncertain.
the acolyte Episode 5, “Night”, finally revealed that Qimir (Manny Jacinto) has been behind the mask of the stranger all along, and, in typical fashion War of the galaxies fashion, this ended up raising more questions than answers. For example, is he really a Sith or is he deceiving the Jedi? In the last scene of the episode, when he finds Osha (Amandla Stenberg) was left unconscious in the jungle of Khofar, a section of Kylo Ren (Adam Driver) from the Sequel Trilogy can be heard. That was enough to open the floodgates of speculation, with fans now scratching their heads wondering if the stranger could be somehow related to Kylo or the Knights of Ren. His helmet also has some similarities to Kylo's, so that's not entirely out of the question.
Who Are the Knights of Ren in 'Star Wars' Lore?
“Ghouls”. This is what a Stormtrooper aboard Kylo Ren's flagship calls the Knights of Ren Star Wars: Episode IX – The Rise of Skywalker. By the time of the sequel trilogy, knights really don't have a good reputation, and most of that comes from his history before Kylo Ren's arrival as Master. They were mentioned for the first time in Star Wars: Episode VII – The Force Awakensbut not much else is said about them on screen, and they are quickly defeated by Ben Solo after he turns to the light side at the end of The Rise of Skywalker.
The events of the Sequel Trilogy make the Knights of Ren seem evil and even incompetent, and some of that is explained in the comics. They first appear in the 2020 miniseries The rise of Kylo Renmeeting Ben Solo and his master and uncle, Luke Skywalker (Mark Hamill) on the planet Elphrona. Luke easily defeats them, but their leader, a gray-haired man named Ren, senses Ben's darkness and invites the boy to join them before fleeing. Sometime later, after Ben confronts Luke and destroys his Jedi Temple, he agrees to join the Knights of Ren, taking a crash course in their philosophy. They are Force-sensitive marauders who idolize the dark side, which they call “the shadow”, and see it embodied in their master's red-bladed lightsaber, which they call “the Ren”. The Reindeer functions as a symbol of power for the Knights, and is what allows them to cause as much violence and destruction as they want, even if there seems to be no reason for it.
During the Imperial Era, the Knights of Ren were already active under Ren's leadership. They had many skirmishes with the Empire and even Darth Vader (James Earl Jones) himself, however It wasn't until Ben Solo joined them that they truly became a force to be reckoned with. When this happens, the boy chooses another name and earns the title of Ren by killing the Knights' former master, truly becoming Kylo Ren. He also bleeds his own kyber crystal, making his red-blade crossguard lightsaber unstable.
“I don't have a name. But a Jedi like you could call me…Sith.” This line, along with Kylo Ren's theme in the last scene, is what ignited speculation about what the Stranger actually is. His name is not Sith, and doesn't claim a Sith title like “Darth”, and the Sith are flattered by that, they want their enemies to know their names. He's just stating that the Jedi would call him that, implying that the Jedi would probably call any dark side user a Sith since the Sith are the arch enemies of the Jedi.
Another track is like Yord Fandar (Charlie Barnett) describes the fighting techniques of the stranger. He says that the villain does not follow the rules of combat and that there is no logic to his movements, making it difficult to counter him. In fact, there are times when it looks like the stranger is simply hitting the Jedi with his red-bladed lightsaber, the point being that a Sith would probably show more skill and technique with a blade. In the comics, the Knights of Ren are all warriors and formidable opponents, but they also don't seem to follow the patterns and strategy of fighting, usually winning by simply outsmarting their prey.
It is not known if, at the time of the acolyte, the Knights of Ren are active or not, but they have ancient origins in canon, older than their modern iteration during the New Republic era. Hailing from the unknown regions, for centuries they have been the subject of legends and stories about the dangers of venturing into unknown territories without proper precautions. Even so, the stranger's entire figure seems closer to the aesthetic of the Knights of Ren than the Sith. Its cortosis helmet, with a large smiling speaker, seems designed to be spooky, like a monster from a scary story that comes to swallow those who are not careful enough. Even the flex on the back of the helmet is reminiscent of Kylo Ren's helmet, especially after his kintsugi-inspired restoration in The Rise of Skywalker.
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We haven't finished episode 5 yet.
It is still unclear whether Qimir is a Sith or a Knight of Ren
The final scene of “Night” isn't the only moment in the episode where you can hear Kylo Ren's motive, actually. Just as it begins, Osha wakes up to find herself in PIP lying in the jungle, and that's when we hear the motif for the first time in a lower, slower version. It then plays again when Osha is knocked out at the end of the episode, like this this song marks the beginning and the end of an episode where the stranger shines. This may indicate the true beginning of the Knights of Reindeer, with the Stranger probably being the first Reindeer.
If the stranger really turns out to be a Knight of Ren, it means that this organization really only goes down after him. It's hard to imagine Ren leading them to face eight Jedi at once and coming out victorious since, in the comics, all it took was one Jedi—Luke Skywalker—to kick them out. In The Rise of Skywalker, Ben Solo easily beats them all as soon as he gets a weapon to level things up; at least in theory, knights know how to fight lightsaber-wielding enemies. They just lose miserably. The Stranger may be the first Ren, but it doesn't seem likely that his acolytes will end up being such incompetent warriors.
Another possibility is that the Stranger simply took the Sith legacy after being long forgotten. They may have been extinct for a millennium, like Ki-Adi-Mundi (Silas Carson) infamously comments a Star Wars: Episode I – The Phantom Menaceand were reborn when a drunken Force-sensitive wanderer like Qimir came into contact with their forgotten teachings. The stranger wouldn't have mentioned the Sith without a purpose, whether striking the Jedi for their arrogance, marking the return of the Sith, or deceiving the Jedi. However, for the sake of his legacy, let's hope he's not a Knight of Ren.
New episodes of the acolyte airs weekly every Tuesday on Disney+ in the US
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