The Acolyte‘s Sith villain Qimir is deeper than many other Sith Lords in Star Wars, with one of the show’s directors outlining the process of bringing his vulnerability to life. By the time of The Acolyte‘s climactic ending, the show delivered on its promise to explore the Sith deeper than most other Star Wars properties. The shocking reveal of Darth Plagueis in The Acolyte proved this, as well as teasing more to come. Star Wars’ Sith Lords have long been the most powerful villains in the galaxy, yet The Acolyte made a distinctly vulnerable twist to that concerning Qimir.

In an exclusive interview with Screen Rant, Hanelle M. Culpepper – the director of The Acolyte episodes 6 and 8 – outlined the vulnerability the crew decided to bring to the Sith Lord of the show. Culpepper was asked about Qimir specifically, being made aware that fans of The Acolyte hold him in high regard as one of the show’s best characters. When asked what it was like to work with Manny Jacinto as Qimir and what conversations Culpepper, Headland, and Jacinto himself had about the character, the former delved deep:

“Manny [Jacinto] was so great. What was probably interesting about coming in at episode 6 is that we were seeing this version of The Stranger that had not been done… you get to see this side of him, to see who he really is, to see his vulnerability. And Manny really brought so much to that… It was really with each scene, just figuring out what’s the right amount, because the one thing we all didn’t want is him just to be a mustache-twirly bad guy. We want him to be so much more complex than that, and his story is complex, what did happen to him…”

Star Wars Should Keep Showing The Sith’s More Vulnerable Side

Qimir Was The Acolyte’s Best Character For A Reason

If The Acolyte proved anything, it is that Star Wars should continue delving into the deeper side of the Sith. Since it began, Star Wars’ most powerful Sith Lords have often been reduced to scheming, conniving, purely evil villains with little to no redeeming qualities. Especially in the case of Emperor Palpatine, the Sith have rarely been shown to be deeper than surface level. While naturally, some have received this depth, like Darth Vader and Darth Maul, the big villains of Star Wars remain evil to the core, which The Acolyte season 2 might showcase with Plagueis.

If this is the route the show goes down, it should continue using Qimir to show a more vulnerable side to the Sith. Culpepper guessed that this could be the case by stating: “I will let Leslye fill in all the blanks on his backstory, and hopefully the audience will demand a season 2 so they can learn more if that’s what’s gonna be covered in season 2…” The Acolyte proved that showcasing the Sith’s vulnerable sides was compelling beyond doubt, and we hope this will continue into season 2 and the other upcoming Star Wars projects that include Sith characters of a galaxy far, far away.