‘The Acolyte’: Leslye Headland Talks Qimir, Confirms Including Kylo Ren’s Theme Was “On Purpose”
Episode 5 of The Acolyte flipped the entire show on its head, packing surprising twists and enticing clues for the rest of the season. Showrunner Leslye Headland is stoking the flames in a new interview with Inverse, addressing internet reactions to various hot topics, such as cortosis, theories about Osha, a particular John Williams theme, and, of course, Qimir’s arms.
The biggest reveal of the episode was one most saw coming. Manny Jacinto’s Qimir is the latest Sith to enter the Star Wars canon. While it still isn’t known how exactly he fits into the pantheon of the dark side, Headland revealed Qimir wasn’t initially going to factor heavily into season 1, saving him more for a possible second season. But then screen tests started, and plans changed. She said:
“His character design was a long process. I mean, it was for everybody, but specifically for his character, to create a new Sith. Sith have been done so well, so it was very difficult to say ‘All right, this is a guy in hiding. This is the guy that moves differently. This guy’s helmet has a different purpose…’ and having to unpack that. I remember we were showing him a Qimir costume sketch, and it just showed his arms a little bit, and he was like, ‘No.’ He’s not a guy that says no very often. He’s very collaborative. He’ll do anything for you. I was surprised. But then I saw his first screen test with the whole outfit, and I was like, ‘Ha, ha, ha!’
…I saw Manny’s screen test early on in pre-production, and I just thought, ‘There will be riots in the streets if I don’t [go further]. Here we go. I guess I’m rewriting an episode.’ Manny was so impressive in every aspect.”
While the reveal was obvious, how the Stranger was introduced surprised many. Killing Yord, Jecki, and more made quite the first impression. Another distinctive feature of the Stranger was his use of a cortosis helmet. Cortosis is a rare type of metal that can uniquely affect and disable lightsabers for a few moments. It’s been around in Star Wars lore for a while, but Headland figured it was best to tread carefully if she intended to use it for The Acolyte. She said:
“It’s a tricky thing because you respect George Lucas in the sense that you don’t want to weaken the power of a lightsaber. It’s almost hallowed in that sense, not just within the series, but in pop culture. But cortosis was such a great new element, and I had always thought of it as such a cool thing to incorporate. [Lucasfilm lore consultant] Pablo Hidalgo and I worked a lot on the machinations of it before we started designing it. It was very important that it be breakable, that it basically not be super hard. It’s why Jecki can get the helmet off him so quickly. It’s kind of a brittle thing.”
On a separate note, Headland teased more Legends tie-ins to come in the same breath as that above quote. She said:
“So that’s the cortosis story, but the other Legends stuff we can talk about after the finale.”
So, something big seems to be coming in the finale. Shocking, I know. Might it be the reveal of another Sith Lord like Plagueis or Tenebrous? Or is there a different trick up the show’s sleeve? Another unanswered question ripe in fans’ minds is why Kylo Ren’s theme found its way into the show. If you missed it, here’s an example. Headland confirms that this wasn’t just a coincidence, saying:
“It is there on purpose, but I can’t tell you why, and I can’t go into what it is. But you shall see.”
Episode 5’s final switch-up was the literal switch between Mae and Osha. With the former now paired with Sol and Osha bound to wake up to a lecture on why you shouldn’t skip arm day, many dynamics are bound to change. Some sects of fans are already “shipping” Osha and Qimir. When asked about how she feels about it, Headland played into it. But she may be playing up something else entirely if you read between the lines.
“I mean, enemies to lovers, baby. But I don’t even think this is ‘good girl against bad guy.’ I think it’s more like… OK, I’ll put it this way. I always really loved the line in A New Hope when Obi-Wan says ‘Vader was seduced by the Dark Side.’ Always loved that word, ‘seduced.'”
We will have to see where things go in this week’s episode of The Acolyte. Episode 6 drops on Disney Plus tonight at 9pm ET/6pm PT. In the meantime, read our review of the latest episode here.
Nate uses his love for Star Wars and movies in general as a way to cope with the pain of being a Minnesota sports fan. When he's not at the theater, you can usually find Nate reading a comic, listening to an audiobook, or playing a Mario video game for the 1,000th time.
