Now there are two of them: The Acolyte might have another Sith waiting in the wings – according to this new theory

Manny Jacinto as Qimir in The Acolyte
(Image credit: Lucasfilm)

The Acolyte already has us seeing double with the twin leads of Mae and Osha. Now, a new theory suggests that there’s not one but two mystery Sith hiding in the show.

"Qimir is the master, training Mae to be his apprentice so that he can overthrow his own master. After this he can officially promote her from Acolyte to Sith Apprentice. That’s my theory anyway…" AspirantWarMonger – an apt name in this instance – writes on Reddit.

Qimir has long been mooted as the person behind the mask of the Sith Lord that fans lovingly refer to as ‘Darth Teeth’, who has tasked Mae with killing multiple Jedi.

As the theory goes, Qimir is training Mae to help with what all good Sith are meant to do – overthrow their master. Palpatine did it with Plagueis and Anakin with Palpatine. And so the cycle continues or, perhaps, started right here in The High Republic.

As for who that Sith master might be? "At this point it’s probably either Darth Plagueis or his master Darth Tenebrous," one replied. 

Plagueis, as some may know, was Palpatine’s master and the subject of an anecdote to Anakin during the events of Revenge of the Sith. His master, Tenebrous, has only operated at the edges of canon but the Star Wars timeline just about matches up for him to be the prime suspect here. 

So, now we can put a pair of fresh faces onto a conspiracy board that already includes Qimir, Aniseya, Koril, and Indara. Good luck guessing who might be next.

For more on The Acolyte, check out our guides, explainers, and cast interviews from the Disney Plus show:

Bradley Russell

I'm the Senior Entertainment Writer here at GamesRadar+, focusing on news, features, and interviews with some of the biggest names in film and TV. On-site, you'll find me marveling at Marvel and providing analysis and room temperature takes on the newest films, Star Wars and, of course, anime. Outside of GR, I love getting lost in a good 100-hour JRPG, Warzone, and kicking back on the (virtual) field with Football Manager. My work has also been featured in OPM, FourFourTwo, and Game Revolution.