Editor’s note: The below contains spoilers for The Acolyte Episodes 1 & 2.
The Big Picture
The Acolyte
explores Sith lore and dogmas, challenging Jedi ideals with quotes like “an acolyte kills the dream.”
Mae’s master hints at Sith connections with teachings like “peace is a lie,” indicating Mae may be training to become a Sith.
The villain’s plan in
The Acolyte
suggests a network of skilled followers, possibly defying the Rule of Two and posing a threat to Mae.
Everyone who has ever watched Star Wars can easily tell you one truth about the Jedi: they’re a bit dramatic. Now, The Acolyte is reminding us that it isn’t just the Jedi, but also the Sith who love to use platitudes like mantras for dramatic effect. In the first two episodes of the new Disney+ show, two particular quotes call for attention. First, at the end of Episode 1, Mae (Amandla Stenberg) talks about how “an acolyte kills the dream.” Then, in Episode 2, Mae and Qimir (Manny Jacinto) both mention that “peace is a lie,” which is tied to the core of the Sith creed. Both these quotes are also tied to Sith dogmas, and spell trouble for the Jedi.
The Acolyte
The Acolyte is a mystery-thriller that will take viewers into a galaxy of shadowy secrets and emerging dark-side powers in the final days of the High Republic era. A former Padawan reunites with her Jedi Master to investigate a series of crimes, but the forces they confront are more sinister than they ever anticipated.
Release Date June 4, 2024
Main Genre Sci-Fi
Seasons 1
Studio Disney+
Franchise Star Wars
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What Does “An Acolyte Kills the Dream” Mean?
A nice surprise revealed by the first two episodes of The Acolyte is that they contain most of the footage revealed in teasers and trailers. This means there’s a lot more we haven’t seen, but, at the end of Episode 1, a key scene from the trailers is expanded. Mae arrives on an ocean planet to find her master, the nameless main villain of the series. He praises her for her success in killing Master Indara (Carrie-Anne Moss), and then talks about how the Jedi may be immune to weapons, but that “an acolyte kills the dream.”
Of course, Jedi are not immune to any sort of weapon — if you strike them, they die like anybody else. But their power with the Force and skill with the lightsaber lead most people to believe them to be unbeatable. Young Anakin Skywalker (Jake Lloyd) even mentions in The Phantom Menace, saying “No one can kill a Jedi.” So Mae’s master doesn’t mean it literally, but rather that the Jedi know how to deal with almost anything except for challenges to their philosophy. When something like that happens — like there being a Force user openly targeting Jedi in assassination attempts — their faith in themselves shatters, because, as the dominant Force-based order and religion, they are not used to being challenged or dealing with different points of view. They are supposed to be right about everything they stand for, so how come someone hates them to the point of becoming a Jedi serial killer? The dream that dies, then, is the Jedi’s idea of bringing peace and justice to the galaxy, because they are wrong.
The fact that Mae’s master talks about “an acolyte” also implies a master-student relationship. In Episode 2, Mae and Qimir are both implied to be working for the villain, so he apparently has more than one student. This goes against the Rule of Two, according to which only two Sith may exist at the same time: a master and an apprentice. This is pretty much the single dogma the Sith follow, but, assuming the villain is indeed a Sith Lord, the same can definitely not be said about Mae and Qimir. Mae struggles with her Force use, and Qimir hasn’t shown any sensitivity at all so far. So who is “the acolyte” in the villain’s speech? Is it Mae’s master himself, and then Mae is just a pawn in his game? That sounds more likely and more Sith-like than Mae herself being the acolyte.
What Does “Peace Is a Lie” Mean?
In Episode 2, Mae goes on to the planet Olega, where she intends to kill Jedi Master Torbin (Dean-Charles Chapman), but fails spectacularly. Locked in a meditative state, Torbin blocks all her attacks without even moving, forcing her to change her approach. She then seeks Qimir for help, asking him to make poison from the Bunta plant, which she will then convince Torbin to take. Qimir likes the idea and starts talking about the Jedi’s arrogance and how they think they are at peace. And then Mae interrupts him, saying: “I know, peace is a lie!” She says this as if she has heard it countless times before, meaning she probably heard it from her master.
It just so happens that “peace is a lie” is the first line in the Qotsisajak, the Code of the Sith. It first appeared in the fan-favorite game Knights of the Old Republic, preaching: “Peace is a lie. There is only passion. Through passion, I gain strength. Through strength, I gain power. Through power, I gain victory. Through victory my chains are broken. The Force shall free me.” It was created by the original Sith acolytes and was taught by Darth Bane millennia before the events of The Acolyte, and has finally been incorporated into canon in some capacity, even if just this first line as a repeated lesson (unfortunately, the game itself isn’t considered canon).
The code itself is basically an inversion of the verses in the Jedi Code, and it all but confirms that Mae is indeed working for the Sith and is perhaps even training to become one. It also confirms that her master is at least aware of Sith canon, if not a fully-fledged Darth himself. Although the words themselves aren’t meant to be taken literally, it does seem that at least Mae needs to be set free from the weight she carries from her past, as well as her lust for revenge against the Jedi.
What Do These Two Quotes Mean About the Sith in ‘The Acolyte’?
They may have shown up many times before in Star Wars, but The Acolyte promises a first deep dive into ancient Sith lore. Even if the first two episodes are centered on the Jedi investigating a case that’s related to them, they are clearly part of a plot devised by Dark Side acolytes, and, by the look of things, Mae’s master is indeed connected to the Sith. He may be a Dark Side user who simply resents the Jedi, but his line about “killing the dream” and the fact that he taught his followers about the Code of the Sith go beyond that.
The questions that remain are about his plan. He has gone to great lengths to hide his identity even from his followers and seems to have built a whole network of them with multiple power sets. Mae is an assassin, and Qimir is a versatile apothecary, meaning the villain probably has more disciples with other skills. Still, if he is indeed a Sith, his practices so far have bent the Rule of Two. Taking this into account is important because it’s known they have followed it at least until the end of the Empire in Star Wars: Episode VI – Return of the Jedi. So, if the villain is indeed a Sith, he must abide by it, meaning he either has a vacant spot for an apprentice, or he is the apprentice himself — the acolyte, if you will. In either case, Mae’s position is in danger, so she’d better watch out.
The first two episodes of The Acolyte are available on Disney+. New episodes air weekly on Wednesdays.
WATCH ON DISNEY+