STAR WARS Confirms THE ACOLYTE Was Tied Directly to Kylo Ren’s Origins
Even though The Acolyte didn’t survive long on Disney+, the series just scored a major post-cancellation win. Lucasfilm has now all but confirmed one of the most popular fan theories surrounding the show, and it ties directly into the future of the Sith and the origins of Kylo Ren.
Set near the end of the High Republic era, The Acolyte explored a galaxy where the Jedi still believed they were untouchable and the Sith were supposed to be extinct.
That illusion cracked quickly with the introduction of the Stranger, a terrifying dark side figure played by Manny Jacinto. From the moment he stepped on screen, fans questioned exactly where he fit in Sith history and whether he even counted as a true Sith Lord.
While the show may be gone, its legacy isn’t finished yet. Lucasfilm recently released The Art of The Acolyte, and it sheds a ton of new light on who the Stranger was meant to be.
One detail is his mask, affectionately nicknamed “Frank” by the crew because of its unsettling grin. Leslye Headland explained that the design came together through multiple departments, calling it “a collaboration of at least four departments – creatures, costumes, the stunt team, and visual effects – working together.”
That helmet wasn’t just made to look cool. According to the book, it was intentionally designed to echo the iconic look of Kylo Ren. Creature artist Nick Tyrell’s final concept is described as “a rough-hewn and flat-faced bucket with breathing apparatus bent into a sneer and two tiny slits for eyes.
“The slight frill at the back of the helmet – a design element that dates back to the franchise’s samurai influence and notably first seen in Vader’s design – hints at a link between the Stranger and the Star Wars sequel trilogy’s masked antagonist Kylo Ren, an idea storytellers took from the design.”
Headland openly confirmed that connection, saying: “It felt like it foreshadowed a possible connection to the Knights of Ren with the Kylo Ren shape we landed on.
“We just started to go in that direction. It was in the design of the character, as well as knowing that we were going to introduce Darth Plagueis, who has to end up with Palpatine as his apprentice.
“Following the Rule of Two – a precept that limited the Sith to just two at any given time, a master and an apprentice – one way to keep it going is if the Stranger is the first knight of Ren, part of a Sith-adjacent culture that we know eventually survives.”
Fans also picked up on musical cues that sounded very familiar. Composer Michael Abels subtly wove echoes of Kylo Ren’s theme into the score, and that was completely intentional. Headland explained how the ambiguity was part of the plan.
“And since we never name him,” she said, “you don’t know: Does he have a first name and then his last name is Ren? Is he the original Ren? It’s a good way to nod to it without having to give away too much information.”
This idea lines up with what Star Wars canon has slowly revealed about the Knights of Ren. They weren’t full Sith and were often dismissed by true Sith Lords as underpowered, but they still operated in the shadows, far from Republic space.
Their presence stretches back well before the prequel trilogy, mostly lurking in the Outer Rim and occasionally clashing with major dark side players. At one point, they even assisted Crimson Dawn in attacking Sith forces during the Dark Times.
In The Acolyte, the Stranger never outright called himself a Sith. Instead, he claimed the Jedi would label him one. That distinction matters. The late High Republic era was a breeding ground for dark side cults, and it’s possible he discovered a Sith holocron and built his own power base outside the traditional Sith lineage.
The cameo from Darth Plagueis may have represented him investigating a potential rival. Another possibility is even darker as the Stranger could have been a failed Sith apprentice who survived when he was supposed to die.
That was clearly where The Acolyte was heading before the plug was pulled. None of these threads were given time to fully play out on screen, leaving the Stranger’s true fate unresolved.
If Lucasfilm decides to revisit these ideas through novels or comics, the groundwork is already there. The Acolyte may be finished, but its shadow still stretches all the way to Kylo Ren.