Star Wars Quietly Retcons Its Cancelled TV Show (& Makes the Cliffhanger Ending Even Worse)

The Acolyte was cancelled in August 2024, the first Star Wars TV show to officially earn that fate. Set at the close of the High Republic Era, the golden age of the Jedi and the Republic, it explored the dark corners of the galaxy where the Sith threat was secretly flourishing. Manny Jacinto played the Stranger, a mysterious dark sider who claimed the Jedi would call him a Sith, although Star Wars has since been cautious about confirming whether he was a Sith or not.

All the evidence suggests showrunner Leslye Headland intended the Stranger to actually become founder of the Knights of Ren. There were musical cues to this idea in The Acolyte, an official art book has confirmed them, and even Headland and Jacinto have addressed these reports. But the cancellation means things are up in the air, and Star Wars may have just rewritten the Stranger’s fate – suggesting he was not one of the Knights of Ren at all.

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Star Wars Hints the Stranger Was Actually a Sith After All

Titan has officially released a new edition of The Secrets of the Sith by Marc Sumerak, a tremendous explainer of the Sith that (in-universe) is written by Emperor Palpatine himself. This updated edition includes references to The Acolyte, and it’s notable in that it gives Darth Sidious’ perspective on that show’s events. There’s a section dedicated to the High Republic Era, where Palpatine writes:

“The Sith briefly made their presence known near the end of an era that the Jedi arrogantly referred to as the High Republic, but it would be another century before I would finally lead our Order out of the shadows again.” This immediately implies that Palpatine considers the Stranger to be a Sith Lord, and he later confirms it in a summary of the events of The Acolyte:

“Before I became the final apprentice of Darth Plagueis, there was another attempted thread of Sith lineage at play. A former Padawan of Jedi Master Vernestra Rwoh in the waning days of the High Republic had embraced the dark side. Under a number of false identities – including that of the masked warrior simply called the Stranger – he sowed discord among the Jedi as he sought to take on a pupil of his own.

The Stranger found an acolyte in a young girl named Mae-ho Aniseya, the child of powerful witches on Brendok. It was said that Mae and her twin sister Verosha were born from the Force itself. Mae sought revenge against the Jedi for her coven’s demise but had an unfortunate change of heart when she discovered that her twin had survived the culling. However, Osha – who had foolishly devoted herself to the light – wisely gave in to the dark side and took her sister’s place as the Stranger’s apprentice.”

What Does Palpatine Mean By “Another Attempted Thread of Sith Lineage?”

We can’t say for sure what this means for The Acolyte and the show’s place in Star Wars history. That said, this in-universe reference book certainly means we can understand what Palpatine thought it meant. Notice the careful placing of events here, which strongly suggests Palpatine believed this was an attempted line of Sith succession established by his own mentor, Darth Plagueis. That would explain why Plagueis was seen monitoring the Stranger; this was his own apprentice.

The problem comes with interpreting this in light of the Sith Rule of Two. The most likely explanation is that the Stranger hoped to train an apprentice to prove himself worthy of ascending, and that he’d then go on to confront Plagueis himself. Osha and Mae’s backstory – created at a vergence of the Force – is tied to powers that Plagueis is known to have sought. So it’s safe to assume any confrontation did not play out in the Stranger’s favor, and that Plagueis then went on to study the twins. Regardless, Plagueis must have abandoned this “thread of Sith lineage,” then turning to Palpatine.

In addition to The Secrets of the Sith, Titan has also released a new edition of Sumerak’s The Secrets of the Jedi. This updated edition, too, has explicit references to The Acolyte – although they’re even more enigmatic, because Luke logically discovered a lot less about events a century before The Phantom Menace. Reflecting on the High Republic Era, Luke notes:

“Some even say that it was during this brightest of times that the Sith began to crawl their way back out of the darkness. There are even whispers that legendary Jedi like Vernestra Rwoh may have been complicit in their return. But we may never know for sure.” Sadly, Luke’s conclusion is likely true.

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