A brand new Star Wars element has revealed a hidden connection between the canceled sequence The Acolyte and the sequel trilogy villain Kylo Ren. The primary antagonist of The Acolyte was a mysterious darkish aspect Drive-user generally known as Qimir, aka the Stranger (Manny Jacinto). The Acolyte was canceled after only one season, nonetheless, largely as a result of the price of the sequence to supply and intensive backlash from followers.
Because of The Acolyte‘s cancellation, it appeared like Star Wars followers would by no means study extra about who the Stranger was or how he linked to the present’s Darth Plagueis cameo. Regardless of The Acolyte‘s sizable controversy and divisive impact on viewers, the Stranger was one of many extra universally-liked parts of the present. Many viewers wished to see extra of his story in The Acolyte season 2.
A brand new element revealed within the guide “The Artwork of the Acolyte” now confirms that the Stranger was presupposed to have a significant connection to Kylo Ren (Adam Driver), aka Ben Solo, the primary antagonist of the Star Wars sequel trilogy. Kylo Ren was the chief of the Knights of Ren, a mysterious, non-Sith group of darkish aspect customers. Now, Leslye Headland, creator of The Acolyte, has confirmed that the Stranger may have tied into the historical past of the Knights of Ren.
It felt prefer it foreshadowed a doable connection to the Knights of Ren with the Kylo Ren form we landed on. We simply began to go in that path. It was within the design of the character, in addition to figuring out that we had been going to introduce Darth Plagueis, who has to finish up with Palpatine as his apprentice. Following the Rule of Two – a principle that restricted the Sith to only two at any given time, a grasp and an apprentice – one approach to preserve it going is that if the Stranger is the primary knight of Ren, a part of a Sith-adjacent tradition that we all know finally survives.
As Headland defined, the Sith Rule of Two is a component of Star Wars lore that requires solely two Sith — a grasp and an apprentice — to be alive at any given time. The Stranger’s existence in The Acolyte would have precluded Darth Plagueis from taking up Sheev Palpatine as his personal apprentice. Evidently, Headland had already labored out an answer to the Rule of Two difficulty by having the Stranger change into the primary Ren and located the group Kylo Ren would later rule.
“The Artwork of the Acolyte” drew additional comparisons between the Stranger and Kylo Ren via the Stranger’s theme music, which includes the identical orchestral theme that outlined Kylo Ren’s within the sequel trilogy. Leslye Headland additionally drew consideration to the Stranger’s lack of a reputation — Qimir is an alias he makes use of to idiot the Jedi — as one other little bit of ambiguity that might have added credence to him forming the Knights of Ren.
And since we by no means title him, you don’t know: Does he have a primary title after which his final title is Ren? Is he the unique Ren? It’s a great way to nod to it with out having to present away an excessive amount of data.
Creature artist Nick Tyrell additionally elaborated that the design of the Stranger’s helmet was meant to conjure the iconography of Kylo Ren’s iconic helmet, with its flat face and samurai-inspired frill on the again.
[The Stranger’s helmet features] a rough-hewn and flat-faced bucket with respiratory equipment bent right into a sneer and two tiny slits for eyes. The slight frill in the back of the helmet – a design component that dates again to the franchise’s samurai affect and notably first seen in Vader’s design – hints at a hyperlink between the Stranger and the Star Wars sequel trilogy’s masked antagonist Kylo Ren, an concept storytellers took from the design.
Presumably, if The Acolyte had been renewed and continued for extra seasons, the Stranger’s story would have developed till he based the Knights of Ren. That seemingly would have been a welcome addition to Star Wars lore, because the Knights of Ren nonetheless stay a mysterious group solely featured briefly within the Star Wars sequel trilogy and the “Rise of Kylo Ren” comics.
It is also value noting that Star Wars may nonetheless use Leslye Headland’s concept for the inspiration of the Knights of Ren. The Acolyte‘s story has already been continued by books and comics corresponding to “The Crystal Crown” and “The Wayseeker.” A future publishing effort may simply revisit the Stranger’s story and canonize the concept Headland and The Acolyte did not get an opportunity to discover in stay motion.
For now, nonetheless, there are not any official plans for Star Wars to proceed the Stranger’s story or revisit the potential of him founding the Knights of Ren. Disney and Lucasfilm are refocusing the franchise on theatrical releases corresponding to The Mandalorian and Grogu, and there are not any official bulletins of any extra tie-ins to The Acolyte. This connection between the Stranger and Kylo Ren, nonetheless, offers a glimmer of hope for followers of the sequence.
- Launch Date
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2024 – 2024-00-00
- Showrunner
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Leslye Headland
- Administrators
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Leslye Headland, Alex Garcia Lopez
- Writers
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Leslye Headland, Charmaine De Grate, Kor Adana