The first episode of The Acolyte ended with the introduction of The Master, a mysterious new villain who appears to be a Sith. He wields a red lightsaber and intends to destroy the Jedi, so short of us meeting a new group of dark side Force users, this character must fall somewhere into that Sith lineage.
Fans have been speculating ever since about who might be beneath the mask and, given the secrecy surrounding who he is both in the show and promotional materials, The Master must be either a character we've met or someone from the wider Star Wars franchise.
Today, it seems the Loth-cat is officially out of the bag.
Footage and photos from the set of The Acolyte appear to have been shared online by a crew member, and while we'd imagine they were swiftly deleted, they're now all over X, Instagram, Reddit, and TikTok.
We won't be sharing them here but can tell you that they show a tense confrontation between Jedi Master Sol (who is joined by Osha) and a lightsaber-wielding character who may be The Master or Mae.
Osha or Mae hold a lightsaber at the throat of Manny Jacinto's Qimir who, yes, seems to be decked out in The Master's gear. Many fans have theorised that there must be more to the smuggler than meets the eye, and we believe that's now confirmed.
While this is a sizeable spoiler, we still don't know how we get to this point or where in the Disney+ series this sequence takes place. We also can't discount this possibly being a misdirect or case of mistaken identity.
If you'd like to see the leaked footage and images for yourself, you can do so by clicking here.
In The Acolyte, an investigation into a shocking crime spree pits a respected Jedi Master (Lee Jung-jae) against a dangerous warrior from his past (Amandla Stenberg). As more clues emerge, they travel down a dark path where sinister forces reveal all is not what it seems...
The series stars Amandla Stenberg, Lee Jung-jae, Manny Jacinto, Dafne Keen, Charlie Barnett, Jodie Turner-Smith, Rebecca Henderson, Dean-Charles Chapman, Joonas Suotamo, and Carrie-Anne Moss.
The next Star Wars TV series comes from creator and showrunner Leslye Headland (Russian Doll), who also serves as executive producer alongside Kathleen Kennedy, Simon Emanuel, Jeff F. King, and Jason Micallef. Charmaine DeGraté and Kor Adana are the co-executive producers, and Rayne Roberts and Damian Anderson are producing.
The first two episodes of The Acolyte are now streaming on Disney+.