Star Wars: The Acolyte Finale Ending Explained

This article contains spoilers for The Acolyte season 1 finale.

After eight short episodes, The Acolyte has come to an end. The Disney+ series upped the ante with an action-packed finale that tied off most of the show’s loose ends and neatly set things up for a potential season 2. With The Acolyte being billed as Star Wars’ first Sith-centric live-action outing, the series was always going to explore the darker side of the Force and how the Jedi aren’t the white knights they’re sometimes portrayed as. 

While Amandla Stenberg was the show’s MVP in dual roles as the Force-sensitive Mae and Osha, The Acolyte ended up being a much bigger story that encompassed the Jedi trying to hold onto their power at the end of the High Republic era. Boasting a sneaky Sith cameo, a certain pint-sized favorite, and all the usual complaints that the writers have broken canon, here’s what went down in The Acolyte episode 8.

Osha Turns to the Dark Side

Everything comes to a head on Brendok, with Sol (Lee Jung-jae) chasing Mae after she escapes as his prisoner. Hot on his tail are Osha and Qimir/The Stranger (Manny Jacinto), with the latter trying to adopt her as his new protégé following Mae’s betrayal. A typically flashy lightsaber duel at the ruined temple of Mother Aniseya’s (Jodie Turner-Smith) coven has Mae sparing Sol’s life, but only so he can answer for his crimes to the Jedi Order.

Unfortunately, Osha arrives just at the right time to overhear that Sol is responsible for his mother’s death. Giving in to the dark side of the Force, there’s a parallel with Sheev Palpatine telling Anakin to kill Dooku at the start of Revenge of the Sith. Using some Vader-esque Force choking, Osha kills Sol without a weapon, inadvertently doing what Mae couldn’t for Qimir and becoming the show’s titular Acolyte. As Osha breaks bad, we get another live-action first via kyber bleeding when Sol’s former lightsaber goes from ‘good’ blue to an ‘evil’ Sith red. 

Sol Takes the Fall for the Jedi Order

The Jedi Order, led by Vernestra Rwoh (Rebecca Henderson), aren’t far behind, but by the time they get to Brendok, Sol is already dead. With the Jedi soon descending on the planet, Osha agrees to go with Qimir and become his dark side padawan, while Mae will be left behind and have her memory wiped. The Jedi arrest Mae and Rwoh questions her back on Coruscant. With Mae seemingly having no recollection of even having a sister (for now), we guess she’ll be trained by the Jedi as an anti-Acolyte if we get a second season. 

The Jedi have problems of their own, with Senator Rayencourt (David Harewood) calling for an external review of the Jedi Order. Rayencourt is worried that the Jedi have too much power and what could happen when one of them snaps. This is its own foreboding message about Anakin’s eventual fall to the dark side and the devastating events of Order 66. For the time being, Rwoh sweeps it under the rug and tarnishes Sol’s legacy by claiming he was a rogue Jedi responsible for all the murders. Given how Sol was a beloved part of the series, it’s a shame he’ll go down in history as a villain. 

Was That Darth Plagueis the Wise?

Eagle-eyed fans will notice that before Osha and Qimir leave his cortosis cave in search of Mae, a yellow-eyed Sith is lurking in the shadows. After Headland promised at least two Sith would appear in the series, it seems we were on the money that this is the live-action debut of Darth Plagueis.

The famed master of Emperor Palpatine survived until at least 32 BBY (Before the Battle of Yavin), and with the Sith Rule of Two in effect here, it’s not looking good for Qimir and Osha. Although Oshamir is going strong right now, the fact neither of them has appeared outside of The Acolyte suggests that whatever Plagueis is cooking up could be bad news for this power couple. 

Among the big reveals, the twins learn that they aren’t sisters but two halves of the same person. This was foreshadowed in the show’s logo, and with it also tying into the Force dyad connection, it all presumably leads to Plagueis’ quest to find a Force dyad of his own and the ability to create life. It’s this that will get him killed by his own apprentice, as Palpatine famously told Anakin the tale of Darth Plagueis the Wise in Episode III.  

Master Yoda Gets a Last-Minute Cameo

Like The Mandalorian season 2 gave us a younger Luke Skywalker, The Acolyte ends with a blink-and-you’ll-miss-it cameo from Master Yoda. As Yoda dies at the age of 900 in Return of the Jedi, he’s around 760 during the time of The Acolyte. Even though Yoda doesn’t speak and Vernestra doesn’t reveal why she’s coming to see him, this scene could solve one of The Acolyte’s biggest complaints.  

Some claimed that Ki-Adi-Mundi appearing in the prequel series retcons his The Phantom Menace line about the Sith having been extinct for a millennium. If Rwoh and Yoda decide to keep the Sith resurgence a secret, the rest of the Jedi Order will go on living in bliss. There’s already backlash that Yoda might’ve feigned ignorance in Episode I, but it definitely paints the all-powerful Jedi Master in a different light if he’s keeping secrets.

The Acolyte leaves Oshamir with a typical Star Wars shot of the pair staring into the sunset. We suspect their relationship will develop into more than just master and apprentice, although there are more questions than ever about who Qimir is. He has ties to Sol’s past, and in our final shocking reveal, Vernestra confirms he was “a pupil of mine before he turned evil.” We didn’t see anywhere near enough of Vern’s gnarly lightsaber whip, but the idea she inflicted the marks on Qimir’s back is looking even more likely. 

What About That Kylo Ren Tease?

Headland leaves us with one more thought to ponder, as the repeated use of Kylo Ren’s theme from the sequel trilogy isn’t explained. The showrunner suggested to Inverse that there could be more to the theory that Qimir is the OG Ren from the sequel trilogy’s underused Knights of Ren, but as she wasn’t ready to confirm it and The Acolyte finale doesn’t expand on this, we’ll have to wait and see. 

Some might’ve clocked early on that Mae and Osha were going to effectively switch sides, but with a new power couple in the galaxy far, far away, Qimir and Osha are two of its most interesting characters. Even though these bite-sized episodes have left us with more questions than answers, 100 years of gaps to fill in before we get to Anakin “The Chosen One” Skywalker means there’s plenty of ground to cover in The Acolyte‘s potential season 2 and beyond. 

All eight episodes of The Acolyte season 1 are available to stream on Disney+ now.