The Acolyte has been good at revealing twists before they go on too long, and the series finally revealed who was behind the mask. The pacing in this episode was pitch-perfect, and one can’t help but wonder how much better “Day” would have been if these two were combined for a mid-season episode.

The sun has set, and with the night, a Stranger arrives to wreak havoc on the unfortunate Jedi who have crossed their path.

Who’s Hiding Behind the Mask?

The Acolyte loves to play on duality, from the themes to the titles of the episodes, and “Night” is no exception. Everyone in the show seems to know what really happened on Brendok 16 years ago except Osha and us, the viewers.

Sol has to survive long enough to come clean about his role in the tragedy. Until then, we have a lot of allusion and wordplay between Master Sol and the Stranger, the latter challenging Sol that he is the only one hiding their face from their pupil.

As suspected by fans and heavily hinted by the show’s creators, Qimir is the Stranger. It was nice to get a straightforward reveal that did not seem out of place and provided a distraction from the devastating deaths that followed.

The unmasking was the best-executed reveal, reminding me of the best Ghostface reveals from the Scream franchise. The situation is comparable to the film series, with a masked killer (who likes to head tilt) stalking a group of people and picking them off one by one until the grand reveal.

Like Ghostface, the Stranger’s demeanor shifts to a more sinister nature while maintaining some of his charm, which we have become familiar with since “Revenge/Justice.” It was a subtle but effectively creepy performance by Manny Jacinto (who discusses how he trained for the epic fight scenes in the recently published EW exclusive).

Blending comedy and horror is the best kind of unsettling and fits perfectly with a Sith, much better than the angst of Anakin Skywalker and Kylo Ren.

The comedy part makes the Stranger more dangerous because he can be more personable than Chancellor Palpatine, who was hiding behind Senate robes and diplomacy. The Stranger is garnered in dirty civilian robes and hiding more in plain sight that the Jedi have an entire scene of questioning him to get to Mae and think so little of him as a threat that they assign a Padawan to spy on him through binocs.

One can get too focused on the fighting and forget that, at the heart of this episode, is a battle of philosophy between Sol and the Stranger mirrored between Osha and Mae. And someone is going to lose that fight.

Sol is hiding something from Osha and delayed telling her the truth. By the end of the episode, Sol has lost the opportunity to tell Osha his point of view. So now Osha is in the hands of someone with more resolution and also emotionally manipulative.

The information from Yord that the Stranger gets inside someone’s head and stays there, then to see it visually as Mae is running from him, hints that he might have been inside Osha’s head all along.

A Fight to Remember

Dynamic camera movements with minimal cuts and a metal that temporarily disarms lightsabers?

That and more were waiting in this episode as saber enthusiasts got several lightsaber fights to rival the precious “Duel of Fates” from The Phantom Menace.

Removing the comparisons, all the fights (including the hand-to-hand combat) were impressive, and kudos to Fight Choreographer Christopher Clark Cowan for mixing so many different styles and integrating the environment/set into the fighting. No one stood around, waiting to fight, and stunt performers and actors seamlessly hit their marks. Having Cortosis also helped, giving the Jedi an excuse to sit out parts of the fights.

Cortosis is a metal first introduced in Legends, but it made its first canon appearance in A New Dawn (a Star Wars Rebels novel). The metal has a high energy absorption rate that can disrupt a lightsaber, negate a stun blast, and prevent Jedi mind tricks. That is a powerful ace that the Stranger has incorporated into his uniform.

Another trick is a double lightsaber, which the Stranger uses to three-hole punch Jecki in the first shock of the episode. Jecki didn’t see it coming, and the hold on her face as the light went out and she collapsed, revealing Qimir as the Stranger was (and will be) a top Star Wars moment.

It was even more upsetting because Jecki was a capable Padawan with fighting skills to hold her own against the Stranger. But her final scream as she charged at the darksider showed that perhaps she also had a darkness in her, anger clearly a part of that decision.

And, just like that, all of the friendly (and perhaps more than friendly) banter between Osha and Jecki becomes what could have been. It is also another Padawan loss for Sol.

The Star Wars franchise has relied on animation for the lightsaber duel action for so long. The live-action stories have been limited to eras where the number of Jedi are so few that only one or two are on screen, leaving little room for creative lightsaber fighting.

And while the aforementioned “Duel of the Fates” is the crown jewel for most fans, the rest of the Prequels never lived up to that fight. Ahsoka had glimpses of what could be, but only during an Anakin and Ahsoka fight in one episode.

Even more so, the High Republic presents the opportunity for fights with multiple Jedi and has not disappointed.

Star Wars can bring this type of action innovation that no other franchise can because lightsabers are trademarked weapons. The next potential big screen opportunity to see multiple lightsabers is the Rey movie (rumored to be titled A New Beginning), as Rey will be a Jedi Master training a new crop of Padawans.

Until then, Lucasfilm should set up an office for Cowan and have him work on all fight choreography across projects.

The Rule of the Sith

“I don’t make the rules. The Jedi do. And the Jedi say I can’t exist. They see my face, they all die.”

The Stranger might as well have looked directly at the camera to Star Wars police when he said this. What the Jedi Order knew or didn’t know regarding the Sith by the time of the Prequels has weighed heavily, unnecessarily, on this show. But with Leslye Headland being a Prequel and Legends fan, it should be no surprise that all of the Jedi except Sol died.

The Stranger’s framing of his actions as a consequence of the Jedi’s rules is eerily similar to toxic discourse in the real world. It is the Jedi’s fault he has to kill all of them. It’s not his fault he killed Jecki; Sol bears the responsibility for bringing her to Khofar.

But the Sith have rules—the infamous Rule of Two: a master and an apprentice. The Stranger explicitly refers to wanting an Acolyte, not an apprentice, so that he might have a Master. Many suspect and hope for a well-known character to be revealed as his Master, but I pray this story is more contained.

Leslye Headland confirmed in the EW exclusive that the Stranger is a Sith lord but there are some questions about how this particular Sith operates. The “deal” between the Stranger and Mae makes it seems like the former wanted the four Jedi dead more than Mae. Was the darkside user mentioned in the opening text of “Lost/Found” risking exposure to seek revenge referring to the Stranger and not Mae?

Kylo Ren’s theme plays briefly but unquestionably at the end when the Stranger stands over Osha. That’s intentional, and theories abound about how that could tie into the Sequel Trilogy.

Whatever the Stranger is, let us stay with him and learn more about his motivations instead of introducing a final boss or cameo in the 11th hour just for fan service.

Facing Your Fears or Running From Them?

Osha faces Mae and her fears by returning to help defeat the Stranger and later trying to apprehend her sister.

Osha stopping Sol from killing the Stranger, while frustrating for some, is essential in preventing a victory for the Sith of destroying the Jedi’s dream.

In this episode, Osha defeats the Stranger twice: the first time, she prevents Sol from killing him, and the second time, she uses the PIP to lure the umbramoths to distract the Stranger and escape. It is the one time the Stranger is not in control of the situation.

That is the type of loyalty and thinking that might attract the Stranger to try to recruit Osha.

Meanwhile, Mae spends this entire episode running from her fears, the consequences of her actions, and her Master. Jacki dies, preventing the Stranger from killing Mae. Now, she has taken her sister’s place and is with Sol. Will whatever experience that the two have change her point of view?

Mae has the most room for growth because there are gaps in her story. Hopefully, we can start filling those in the next episode because it is already too late in the series for her motivations to be still unclear.

The One Time Yord Doesn’t Follow Orders!

Poor rule-following Yord. He only wanted to follow Sol’s orders and get Osha to the ship. But Yord is a true Jedi and does the right thing, defies an order, and returns to fight the Stranger. He wisely uses the dark sider’s helmet to disable the Stranger’s lightsaber, only to get his neck snapped in one of the most brutal deaths in live-action.

Although Yord did not survive, he did have an arc.

Farewell friend. #YordHordForever.

While Jecki and Yord’s death provides the necessary stakes for a series about the Sith, it could also present a problem for The Acolyte moving forward. Jecki and Yord were fan favorites, along with Sol. I suspect there are now many fans of the Stranger, but not many people talk about Osha or Mae.

Henderson has a chance to prove me wrong, as marketing has again shown that more will come from her.

Amandla Stenberg’s performance has been measured as the twins’, but the rest of the series will largely rest on her shoulders and her chemistry with Manny Jacinto and Lee Jung-jae, with some assistance from Carrie Ann Moss and Dean-Charles Chapman (and hopefully more Jodie Turner-Smith) in flashbacks.

I have yet to mention Rebecca Henderson’s Vernestra, primarily because she has made little impression with her time. In all honesty, she is miscast and represents the danger of a creator giving their spouse a small but critical role.

With a smaller cast, the focus should be primarily on Osha and Mae as the twins find themselves in enemy territory. The Acolyte has turned the corner towards its third act and now has the difficult task of finishing strong. Hopefully, like its action, it will rise to the occasion.