Star Wars May Have Just Massively Retconned Sith History With One Line

Warning! This article contains SPOILERS for Star Wars: The Acolyte episode 5.

The Acolyte has finally revealed the identity of its mysterious Sith Lord, but it may be retconning Sith history in the process. The Acolyte episode 5 showed a Jedi massacre at the hands of Mae’s master, who was revealed to be Qimir. The action-packed episode was truly thrilling and jammed-packed with amazing lightsaber duels, compelling storytelling, and the tragic deaths of so many Jedi.

One of the biggest revelations came from Qimir, who revealed that the Jedi would consider him a Sith. It had been speculated since before The Acolyte’s release that the masked Sith would actually be revealed to not be a Sith at all, but instead just be a dark side user, similar to how Kylo Ren was a dark side user but not a Sith in Star Wars: The Force Awakens. However, Qimir’s confirmation still raises some questions about his allegiances and what his ultimate goal is.

Qimir Seems To Be Hinting The Jedi Named The Sith

The Term’s Origins Haven’t Been Revealed

In Qimir’s speech to Master Sol in which he describes what he is, Qimir responds, “You might call me a Sith.” While this isn’t anything concrete, Qimir’s phrasing suggests that the term “Sith” doesn’t come from the dark side users, but the Jedi. Seeing as many of Qimir’s acts in The Acolyte episode 5 pointed out the hypocrisy of the Jedi and how the Jedi were the ones who created the rules, Qimir may just be putting what he is on a field that Sol and other Jedi can understand.

While this is only a hint, this theory may have some merit. Although Qimir’s statement could suggest that he isn’t a true Sith like so many have theorized, it’s possible that the term “Sith” is a catch-all term that the Jedi applied to any dark-side user. Qimir may not identify with the term Sith, and would instead consider himself part of a different order.

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Was “Sith” A Derogatory Term Used By The Jedi?

Star Wars Has Developed In-Universe Expletives Before

While Star Wars generally stays away from derogatory names, it has developed its own language of Star Wars curse words and phrases. One of the most common is “dank farrik,” which may be an expletive but is usually used to express anger or excitement. “Dank farrik” has often been used in Star Wars titles like The Mandalorian and The Book of Boba Fett. While it’s mostly used by Din Djarin, many other characters have also uttered it.

Other Star Wars expletives include “karabast,” which has been most often used by Garazeb “Zeb” Orrelios in Star Wars Rebels. Another famous example is from when Princess Leia Organa called Han Solo a “half-witted, scruffy-looking, nerf herder!” While it’s not quite as vulgar as other Star Wars curses, Leia calling Han a nerf herder is more a jab at his intelligence than anything else. Because Star Wars is still at its core for younger people, having outright curse words in its media hasn’t really been a common occurrence, though Andor has changed that a bit.

Sith-Based Derogatory Terms Were Used in Legends

In the now non-canon Legends continuity, terms like “Sithpit” and “Bane’s blood” were used as derogatory terms by the Jedi. The term “Bane’s blood” originates with the Sith Lord Darth Bane, who in Legends created the Sith Rule of Two. The Rule of Two is also part of canon and explains why there are never more than two Sith at any time. With a history of Jedi creating derogatory terms for dark side users, it’s not too much of a leap to consider that Sith was itself a derogatory term used by Jedi to describe their enemies.

It’s possible that the term Sith started as a derogatory term used by the Jedi when it came to dark side users. The Sith could’ve over time reclaimed the word and then used it for the name of their order, possibly to mock the Jedi. While there’s not much evidence for this, details regarding the origin of the word “Sith” may be revealed in later episodes of The Acolyte, or even in James Mangold’s upcoming Star Wars: Dawn of the Jedi movie.

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The Sith May Have Claimed A Slur For Their Identity

This Could’ve Been a Way To Taunt the Jedi

If this theory about the origins of the Sith’s name is true, it could change so much of what audiences understand about the history of the Sith. The dark side of the Force has been called “unnatural” so many times, so it’s possible that the Sith were oppressed by the Jedi because they were perceived as unnatural, and out of that grew the name Sith. Utilizing the name Sith could show the Sith’s strength in the face of adversity against the Jedi.

It’s been seen in Star Wars media that those who don’t conform to the Jedi’s way of using the Force are ostracized. In fact, this has already been seen in The Acolyte with the witches of Brendok. The witches called the Force “the Thread,” and Mother Aniseya even called the Thread dark and unnatural. This might explain why the witches were exiled and ended up hiding on Brendok. It seems fair to say that the Jedi were seeking out the witches to stop them from using the dark side, and the mission ultimately ended in tragedy.

If the Sith were being oppressed by the Jedi, it’s possible that the only reason there is such strife between the dark and light sides of the Force could be because the light sought to overcome and dominate the darkness. It’s hard to come to the defense of the Sith, especially knowing all the horrible things they’ve done in Star Wars and most recently in The Acolyte episode 5. If this theory is correct, however, it adds a whole new level of complexity to the conflict between the light and dark sides of the Force.

The Acolyte episode 5 is now streaming. New episodes release Tuesdays at 9 PM ET on Disney+.

The Acolyte

The Acolyte is a television series set in the Star Wars universe at the end of the High Republic Era, where both the Jedi and the Galactic Empire were at the height of their influence. This sci-fi thriller sees a former Padawan reunite with her former Jedi Master as they investigate several crimes – all leading to darkness erupting from beneath the surface and preparing to bring about the end of the High Republic.

Cast

Amandla Stenberg , Lee Jung-jae , Joonas Suotamo , Charlie Barnett , Dafne Keen , Leah Brady , Manny Jacinto , Rebecca Henderson , Carrie-Anne Moss , Jodie Turner-Smith , Dean-Charles Chapman , Lauren Brady , Anthony J. Abraham , Thara Shöön , Danielle Xin Yao Waterman , Sienna Khiroya , Jeramiah Evans , Dan Milne , Thomas Coombes , Archie Singh Swali , Nick Court , Ed Kear , Jumayn Hunter , Scroobius Pip , Abigail Thorn , Margarita Levieva , Amy Tsang , Saskia Allen , Deborah Rosan , Tabitha Alege , Paul Bullion , Indra Ové , Derek Arnold , Lewis Young

Seasons

1

Streaming Service(s)

Disney+

Writers

Leslye Headland , Charmaine De Grate , Kor Adana

Directors

Leslye Headland , Alex Garcia Lopez

Showrunner

Leslye Headland

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