Just how old is Qimir? One line of dialogue in The Acolyte has the Star Wars community speculating
How old is Qimir, really?
The Acolyte episode 6 saw Qimir doing his very best to seduce Osha to the dark side (and we do mean literally), but one line of dialogue in particular has Star Wars fans speculating about his past.
Qimir reveals he was once a Jedi "a long time ago," and, when pressed by Osha, who has never heard of him, he reiterates: "It was a really long time ago."
So, does that mean Qimir is a lot older than he appears? It's certainly possible, especially since he's a Sith. We know how much the Sith love to find ways to try and cheat death…
"Look up Essence Transfer from the Darth Bane books!" is one fan's response. "It is very possible that this isn't his first body. They've already started to bring in stuff like cortosis from the Legends books. From the books it says, "Essence transfer is the secret of eternal life. The physical body will always weaken and fail, yet it is nothing but a shell or vessel. When it is time, it is possible to transfer your consciousness—your spirit—into a new vessel…" This is what Darth Bane attempted to do to Darth Zannah in their last fight."
Another fan theorizes that humans just age slower in the galaxy far, far away: "For example, Qui-Gon was 60 when he died. Dooku was 83 when he died. Palpatine was 65 when he became emperor (granted, his fairly youthful appearance for mid-60s prior to the fight against Mace could be chalked up to Sith alchemy. Although there's nothing to say that's not what he would have looked like had he not been a Sith). Based on them, I'd say it's reasonable to assume a Star Wars human's physical age might appear to be up to 15-20 years younger than they actually are, although of course it's not always the case. I'd say it's a range: someone who looks 20 might actually be 20, but also don't be surprised if they turn out to be 40, you know?" Though, Qui-Gon was 60 in Legends and 48 in canon.
"I think physically he is about 36 like Manny [Jacinto], but inside I suspect he is a much older soul since we know Sith soul transference to live is a thing," is someone else's thoughts. "My guess the body is his apprentice who tried to strike him down, an apprentice that tried to throw away his master and usurp him. The apprentice succeeded in striking down the master but little did they realize in doing so they opened the door for the apprentice to become possessed by the master. Thus the master found himself in a position where he was now down a pupil, and so he looked for another pupil."
Though, not everyone is convinced this line means anything. "Osha's line in itself is kind of dumb if I'm being honest," one person says. "There's at least, what, 10 thousand Jedi Knights. She doesn't know all of their names. If i had to guess he is between 30 and 35. Long for him at least could mean between 15 and 20 years."
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The Acolyte continues weekly on Disney Plus. For more on the show, check out our deep dives on:
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- A guide to The Acolyte
- The Acolyte release schedule
- What is The High Republic? The Acolyte’s new Star Wars era explained
- When does The Acolyte take place on the Star Wars timeline?
- Who is the masked villain in The Acolyte? What we know about the Star Wars Sith explained
- New Star Wars show The Acolyte's sets were so big and detailed, the actors needed a map to get around and were literally “tripping on mushrooms”
- Squid Game’s Lee Jung-jae on joining The Acolyte, making history as a Jedi, and why he thinks Russian Doll’s Leslye Headland has a "fresh take" on Star Wars
- The Acolyte creator talks pitching The High Republic – and the biggest challenge behind the new Star Wars era
- Star Wars' cute new droid has an incredibly wholesome inspiration behind it
- The Acolyte crew built lightsabers for the new Star Wars show that could be used "the way Darth Maul and Qui-Gon Jinn use them"
- Upcoming Star Wars movies
- Star Wars timeline
- How to watch the Star Wars movies in order
I'm a Senior Entertainment Writer here at GamesRadar+, covering all things film and TV for the site's Total Film and SFX sections. I previously worked on the Disney magazines team at Immediate Media, and also wrote on the CBeebies, MEGA!, and Star Wars Galaxy titles after graduating with a BA in English.