So who is The Acolyte’s Master? We think episode 4 makes it pretty clear

polygon.com:

The Acolyteis keeping the identity of the mysterious Sith Master secret, but — in our humble opinion — it couldn’t be clearer.

[Ed. note: This post is going to discuss the end of episode 4 of The Acolyte; spoilers are below.]

For a second, things look really bad for the Master: Mae (Amandla Stenberg) and her loyalties have crossed over to the Jedi, leaving whatever her mission was unfulfilled. But when she shows up to the house of Jedi Master Kelnacca to find him dead (pour one out for a real one), the house surrounded, and herself under suspicion, who should appear but her Master? Kicking ass even in a roughly four-on-one fight.

There’s not many who could hold their own like that, even with the fearsome power of the Dark Side. But now that the Master has bared their teeth — literally, with that bitchin’ helmet — we’ve gotten a better sense of who they are.

The answer is so clear!!! Just ask any of us.

If it wasn’t clear enough before, it’s certainly clear now. We last see Qimir (Manny Jacinto) when he gets caught in Mae’s trap, pleading with her to let him down and not defect to the other side. But we really last see Qimir when he shows up to fight all the Jedi and show off the finer points of his mask.

Let’s look at the facts, shall we? He’s dropped from the narrative (opportunity); he’s thus far scanned as wily and full of guile (means) in a way Star Wars characters historically aren’t; and his conversations with Mae this episode seemed remarkably… loaded (motive, or whatever we want to call it). And what better way to watch his plan unfurl, masterfully shaping it as he goes along? After all, it worked for Sauron. —Zosha Millman

Boy, it sure does seem like it’s Manny Jacinto’s character, Qimir, right? And like the writers are playing that off as a big secret? But I’m reckoning that The Acolyte is cleverer than that. This show is fundamentally built around withholding as much information from the audience as possible, sometimes producing a pretty confusing