Star Wars fans' latest wild theory on The Acolyte suggests Yord might be the Sith Lord

Yord in The Acolyte
(Image credit: Lucasfilm)

The Acolyte breakout Yord may be the internet’s new favorite Jedi, but being the subject of countless memes from a new fanbase – the Yord Horde – doesn’t exclude you from any theorycrafting. 

Case in point: some Star Wars fans think Charlie Barnett’s Jedi Knight is the mysterious Sith Lord teased during The Acolyte premiere.

First signal boosted by Den of Geek, it appears a small corner of viewers have identified Yord as the man behind the toothy mask in The Acolyte.

"Hiding in plain sight," one commented after a suggestion was made that Yord is the Sith who has sent Mae (Amandla Stenberg) on a path towards killing multiple Jedi.

"Controversial opinion: I think Yord is either gonna turn to the Dark Side and become ‘The Acolyte’ OR he is the sith character that Mae is trying to impress," another speculated. "I'll happily be proven wrong but something is making my theory brain tingle."

Some, though, aren’t so sure – and are already second guessing themselves.

"Yord feels like he's so obviously the plot twist Sith that I wonder if it's just a red herring for us nerds trying to predict," one wrote on Twitter.

Another on Reddit said, "My current thoughts are Yord is another dark side user … just not sure if he’s full Sith."

A major rebuttal to the Yord Sith theory is that the Jedi can be seen fighting someone holding a red lightsaber in pre-release marketing. 

Of course, those sorts of misdirects are possible – the Star Wars show did hide the whole twin thing pretty well until its debut – but this feels concrete enough that Yord could be ruled out. Besides, we still think Qimir (Manny Jacinto) is at the top of our Sith leaderboard. The signs are there…

For more on The Acolyte, dive into our latest explainers, cast interviews, and Star Wars guides below:

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.

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