The Acolyte episode 8: Who was in the cave? Explained

The Acolyte season finale, which was titled after the show itself, finally brought a close to the first season while setting up the second. The episode saw Osha, Mae, Qimir, and Sol reunite at Brendok as they confront the past and burn the bridges that have haunted them for all these years.

Note: Spoilers for The Acolyte follow.

While the season finale for The Acolyte did set up the second season in a major way with the introduction of Yoda into the show and Osha finally joining the Dark Side, it also featured a mystery character.

Appearing in Qimir's cave, viewers can see a Muun in the shadows looking at him and Osha as they leave in their ship for Brendok - and it just happens to be none other than Darth Plagueis. Given that Darth Plagueis is one of the most important Siths in the Star Wars lore and was quite active in the galaxy at that time, it certainly looks like writer Leslye Headland has huge plans for him.

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Who is Darth Plagueis?

Before appearing in The Acolyte season finale, Darth Plagueis was best known for being Darth Sidious, Sheev Palpatine's Sith master. In the Star Wars universe, he was trained by Darth Tenebrous and was obsessed with learning the ways of the Force — especially using Midi-Chlorians to create life and also achieve immortality.

While a Sith Lord, he chose Sheev Palpatine to be his apprentice and both of them worked to get the balance more in favor of the Dark Side. They experimented with the secrets of trying to achieve immortality, and Plagueis also taught him about the Rule of Two so that they could achieve the full power of the Dark Side. The two of them also tried forming a Force Dyad together but were unsuccessful.

Plagueis also helped Palpatine become the senator of Naboo on Coruscant, an event that saw the Sith infiltrate the Jedi order and destroy it from the inside. However, eventually, Palpatine failed to see the use in his master, and one day snuck into his home and killed him, taking the mantle of the Sith Lord for himself.

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What can fans expect from Darth Plagueis going forward in The Acolyte?

One of the main plot points of The Acolyte was that Osha and Mae were created through a vergence — a naturally occurring burst of force energy that is strong in a person, location, or thing. They were essentially created by Mother Aniseya with the use of the Force and were single personalities that were split into two.

Given that Darth Plagueis was also obsessed with studying bioengineering and manipulating midi-chlorians to create life, perhaps future seasons of The Acolyte can heavily focus on that part of the character. In a way, it can also tie back to the creation of Anakin Skywalker, as his birth was an indirect result of Plagueis using the midi-chlorians to create life.

It also remains to be seen exactly what he is doing on Qimir's planet, and whether Qimir knows that Plagueis is living with him. It would certainly be an interesting dynamic that can explored in the future seasons of the show.

Fans can check out season 1 of The Acolyte on Disney+ right now.