This week's sixth episode of The Acolyte was a little more subdued than last Tuesday's action-packed bloodbath, but it did reveal some new details about the mysterious Sith(?) villain known only as The Stranger.
The Dark-side warrior shows a much calmer, vulnerable side in "Teach/Corrupt," and while he is clearly manipulating Osha in an attempt to make her his new pupil, there does seem to be a genuine connection between them.
A romantic connection?
Fans have already "shipped" the characters, and during an interview with Collider, showrunner Leslye Headland did suggest that this might be the case.
"The Stranger is obviously a badass, but I just mean much more than his character. I'm not going around doing fantastic lightsaber battles and murdering people and being an all-around badass, but I would say that what he talks about in this episode and what he talked about in [Episode] 5 is something I really dug down. Then Osha's inner conflict fits with his ideology, and yet they're on opposite ends of the spectrum just like she and her sister started at the beginning of the show. I wanted to stay true to my characters. I tried my best to just stick to the tropes and the stuff that I loved and tried not to think about, especially [with] the classics. I think it would have been a little too quotes-around-it if that were the case. That being said, the relationship between Lo and Jen in Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon was an influence in the writer's room. We referenced that relationship over and over again. The intentional parallel is that they are equals and their relationship is earned through mutual vulnerability, not intimidation or manipulation."
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.
Leslye Headland created the series, based on Star Wars by George Lucas, and serves as an executive producer along with Kathleen Kennedy, Simon Emanuel, Jeff F. King and Jason Micallef. Charmaine DeGraté and Kor Adana are the co-executive producers. Rayne Roberts, Damian Anderson, Eileen Shim and Rob Bredow are the producers.
Headland also directed the premiere episodes (Eps. 101 & 102). Directors Kogonada (Eps. 103 & 107), Alex Garcia Lopez (Eps. 104 & 105) and Hanelle Culpepper (Eps. 106 & 108) round out the directing duties on the series.
"I really wanted to tell a story about the Sith," showrunner Headland told EW in a recent interview. "That was kind of my dream Star Wars idea. But it felt like the time period to do that in would be something pre-Phantom Menace. That seemed to be the most interesting trajectory for the Sith: How did the Sith go from the Rule of Two and being quote-unquote 'extinct' to Palpatine coming into power without the Jedi knowing about it?"
Award-winning composer Michael Abels, known for his work on Get Out and Us, scored The Acolyte.