“You talk like you're a Jedi.”
“I was. A long time ago.”
the acolyteThe sixth episode of 's confirmed what his previous installment only hinted: Qimir was once a member of the Jedi Order. The powerful dark side user's past means that the Jedi helped create the very enemy that will help destroy them in the future. It also makes Qimir even more dangerous than we thought. Qimir has an institutional knowledge of his enemy and a personal reason for hating the Jedi. More worryingly, Qimir also has an intimate understanding of the fear and anger that former Jedi Padawan Osha also carries. This gives you a huge advantage in his attempts to recruit her as his new apprentice.
Qimir could speak like a Sith… and he looks like a Knight of Ren—but has long since demonstrated a deep understanding of the Jedi Order. Now we know it's because he was a Jedi with a Master “a long time ago”. His time in the Order showed him the limits of being a Jedi and eventually pushed Qimir to the dark side. the acolyte.
His methods are why he says Osha can no longer use her immense powers. “The Jedi teach that there is only one way to access the Force,” Qimir said. “If you don't do it his way, it fades away.” But Qimir knows there is another way. He told Osha, “Beneath the surface of consciousness are powerful emotions. Anger. Fear. Loss. Desire.”
Osha called this “the path to the dark side,” and as every Star Wars fan knows, she's right. Qimir didn't even disagree with her. He simply called this “semantics”, because what the Jedi see as “dark”, the acolyteQimir sees as freedom. This is what Qimir said he wants the acolyte episode five, the freedom to use his power as he sees fit rather than as the Jedi say he can. He wants the freedom to live as he wants.
Qimir wants other things too, including revenge. Osha asked about the scars on his back and Qimir did not deny that they were from his former Jedi Master. That person “threw him away”, just as he says the Jedi threw Osha away as they made him think he failed them. In reality, Qimir says that the Jedi couldn't deal with the powerful emotions that everyone lives with. These feelings make Qimir and Osha a threat to the Jedi way.
(Who was the Jedi Master who gave Qimir his strange scar? the acolyte? It is not straight like the lightsaber cuts given to Jedi Master Wookiee Kelnacca. Its vaguely V-shaped pattern is more like the kind of scar you'd get from a whip. And this episode saw Maester Vernestra use his unique lightsaber whip on screen for the first time. He also clearly kept something about his fears about killing the Jedi on Khofar, the last dark action he's taken on the show.)
Qimir also wants something else the acolyte: “the power of two”. That's why he needs an acolyte. He thought it might be Mae, but he was wrong about her. Mae just wants revenge. He wants something more. Now Qimir believes he has found a kindred spirit in an ex-Jedi Padawan who lost “everything”. the acolyte. This loss has always held Osha back. Qimir wants her to see that loss is what “finally” set her free, just as he is free. And this freedom gives Osha the opportunity to see that her immense strength in the Force is hers and hers alone, not the Jedi Order's as she was taught to believe.
It's an attractive proposition for someone carrying a lifetime of anger, fear, loss and desire, even someone “not so easily corruptible” as Osha. (Qimir didn't even need to read his mind to know what's in his soul. She didn't even need to put a lightsaber to his neck for you to know she was right.)
She is not immune to his argument. Turned on the acolyte, Qimir is offering him the same path that the mighty and heroic Jedi Knight Anakin Skywalker will one day walk. Anyone can fall to the dark side, especially when a charming, manipulative dark side user with ulterior motives knows how to appeal to their biggest insecurities.
No one knows Osha's insecurities as well as her ex-Jedi Padawan, Qimir. He can reach her in a way Sol never could.
If Qimir can use his Jedi past to recruit Osha to the dark side the acolyte, the power of two will give the Master and Acolyte the power to destroy the entire Jedi Order. We know this because more than a century after learning about Qimir's past, that's exactly what his dark side companions will do.
Mikey Walsh is a writer for Nerdist and a Manny Jacinto superfan, which makes him at least willing to listen to Qimir. You can follow it Twitter i Bluesky at @burgermike. And also anywhere someone is ranking the Targaryen kings.
