Episode 5 of Star Wars: The Acolyte, “Night,” pulls no punches as it changes the game for the rest of the season. Excellent fight choreography and phenomenal acting prove this show is Star Wars at some of its absolute best

The rest of this article contains spoilers for episode 5 of The Acolyte.

A Thread of Mysteries

“What extraordinary beings we are,” Qimir (Manny Jacinto) says as he kneels next to an unconscious Osha (Amandla Stenberg). “Even in the revelation of our triumph, you see the depth of our despair.”

With the confirmation that Mae’s (Stenberg) bumbling travel companion, Qimir, is in fact her mysterious masked Master, this final line in episode 5 left me feeling a bit unsettled. What triumph has been revealed? What despair is still hidden in the depths? Though these are questions we can only guess at for now, they also reflect what has made The Acolyte’s storytelling so intriguing.

Just when we uncover one mystery, we discover its ties to another, slightly larger mystery. In this way, The Acolyte keeps us on our toes, forcing us to view the narrative from different angles, different perspectives, to see what we might have missed. Because I don’t think I’m wrong in saying that none of us expected the route this show has taken thus far.

And so, I’ve begun to view The Acolyte’s mysteries as existing in a hierarchy of sorts. If we order both the ones we’ve solved and the ones we haven’t from least important to most, we begin to see how they work together to unravel what seems to be The Acolyte’s main question: how did the Jedi fall so far?

This is a question The High Republic book series contributes to as well. It’s also a question that, shrouded in mysteries yet to be uncovered as it is, serves as a warning. And I have a feeling Qimir’s true nature is only the tip of the iceberg.

An Unmasking

Though perhaps anticipated, Qimir’s unmasking, paired with Manny Jacinto’s feat of outstanding acting, revealed much more than just his face. From his use of cortosis — a metal that can quickly absorb high emissions of energy, such as that emitted by lightsabers — to his seeming knowledge of what really happened on Brendok 16 years ago, Qimir is the catalyst that forces uncertainties out into the open.

“You don’t… recognize me?” he asks Master Sol (Lee Jung-Jae), revelling, perhaps in the fact that a great Jedi could be so ignorant to what’s right in front of him.

“What Master hides his face from his pupil?” Sol challenges back, and Qimir doesn’t even flinch.

“You tell me.”

Before his brutal death, Yord Fandar (Charlie Barnett) tells Osha that the masked man can get inside their heads. Make them think and see things they’d rather not. Make them become as unmasked as he now is.

In my review of the first two episodes, I questioned if maybe The Acolyte has hinted at other characters wearing metaphorical masks, containing two sides. One they show to others, and one they’re afraid to confront. Indeed, Qimir seems intent on breaking these masks in this episode — Sol’s in particular. And when Osha confronts him at last, Qimir uses this method to his advantage.

“You trust him?” he asks her, nodding at Sol. “Even after everything he did to you?”

Sol pushes against this, panic and desperation lining his face. “His mind is twisted in darkness.”

“I’ve accepted my darkness.” Qimir taunts. “What have you done with yours?”

Though we leave this episode, once again, with no answer to this question, it feels closer than it ever has before. And we’re left wondering with Osha about what lies Sol has hidden under his own mask.

New Paths

Beyond Qimir and Sol, this episode of The Acolyte also furthers questions around Osha and Mae and the paths they continue to choose. With episode 4’s exploration of how the twins dealt differently with finding out the other was still alive, episode 5 pushes that difference to another level.

When Osha and Mae finally confront each other for the first time in 16 years, the resulting fight is similar to what we saw between them in episode 3. Mae clings desperately to Osha, willing to sacrifice anything to make her sister choose her. Osha pushes her away, willing to sacrifice their bond to follow what she believes to be right. And, just as she did when they were 8 years old, Mae wins.

The resulting twin swap — Mae donning Osha’s clothes and presumably luring Sol to danger while her sister lies unconscious on the forest floor — is not entirely surprising. What I didn’t wholly expect is the new possibility Mae’s actions and Qimir’s desperation leave for Osha’s storyline.

With Mae betraying Qimir, the Master is now in need of a new student. A new Acolyte. As he tells Sol, apart from the freedom to wield his power in whatever way he wants, a pupil is what he desires most. Someone whose mind he can craft, someone he can train. Someone, maybe, who is the other half of a power of two.

And it’s here where that final line comes back into my mind. “Even in the revelation of our triumph, you see the depth of our despair.”

What if the twins don’t just swap clothes? What if, in the depths of their despair, they swap paths, too?

Into the Dark

I would be remiss to end this review without reflecting on the characters, and therefore acting talent, we lost this episode.

Regardless of how serious and straight-laced Yord tried to be, Charlie Barnett brought an undercurrent of deep care to his character. Yord always wanted to be a good Jedi, to do the right thing. It’s heart breaking to see him die before he truly got a chance to figure out what that meant for him, instead of just what it might have meant for the Order he served.

Vastly different from Yord in almost every other way, Jecki Lon was still also driven by the desire to do good. Where Yord maybe saw the faults in others, though, Jecki seemed to see the possibilities. Dafne Keen portrayed this young, wise beyond her years Jedi Padawan with the gravity of someone much older. In the very best ways, Keen’s portrayal of Jecki reminded me of Ahsoka Tano. She carried with her wisdom and strength, but also love and empathy. I find myself genuinely sad that we won’t get to see her as a Jedi Knight or Master, because I have no doubt that she would have been a force to reckon with.

And maybe this all speaks to another hidden success of The Acolyte so far. In just five episodes, the creators and cast made me care so much about two side characters not just because of what they brought to the main characters, but because of what they brought to the story itself.

The Acolyte has shown us that it isn’t afraid to venture into the dark. All we have to wonder now is how afraid should we be to follow along after it?

New episodes of The Acolyte air every Tuesday at 9pm (EST) / 6pm (PST) on Disney+.