The Acolyte has finally revealed its Sith master, and it’s a darksider that everyone saw coming

Warning: This article contains spoilers for The Acolyte episode 8. Make sure you’ve seen the finale before reading on.

The Acolyte finale is here, and while the Star Wars show featured a whole load of intriguing details, perhaps the most exciting was a big cameo. No, we’re not talking about Yoda here, but Darth Plagueis – or at least, someone who looks a lot like him…

Early on in episode 8, Osha sees a vision of Mae killing Sol and decides to take action. With Qimir in tow, the pair head to his ship intent on reaching Brendok. However, as we see them taking off, a shadowy Muun-like figure emerges from the cave, watching them go.

Now, while it’s never spelled out in the episode, it seems pretty clear this is the first live-action introduction of Plagueis. The Sith Lord was first namechecked in The Revenge of the Sith by Palpatine, who tells Anakin Skywalker the legend of him using the Force to create life, as well as ultimately to cheat death. This is something that helps lure Anakin to the dark side.

The character also appeared in the 2012 Star Wars Legends novel by James Luceno as well as being mentioned in several other books and graphic novels.

It’s not entirely surprising that Plagueis makes an appearance in The Acolyte either, as there have been hints throughout about the Sith Lord after it was revealed that Mother Aniseya "created" Mae and Osha using the Force. This is a power that previously had only been linked to Plagueis.

Given that Qimir and Osha return to the planet at the end of the episode, it feels pretty likely that Plagueis could play a role in a potential season 2. Indeed, showrunner Leslye Headland previously teased just that , suggesting that if the series continued, it would tie up some details about Plagueis and Palpatine.

Given Plagueis' ability and the fact that Osha was created using the Force, it's possible even that she could be how he finds out how to manipulate midichlorians to create life. We’ll have to wait and see…

The Acolyte is now available to watch in full on Disney Plus . For more coverage, check out our guides to:

• The Acolyte episodes 1-4 review
• The Acolyte episode 5 review
• The Acolyte episode 6 review
• The Acolyte episode 7 review
• A guide to The Acolyte
• The Acolyte release schedule
• What is the Great Hyperspace Disaster ?
• What is cortosis ?
• What is vergence ?
• What is The High Republic? The Acolyte’s new Star Wars era explained
• When does The Acolyte take place on the Star Wars timeline?
• Upcoming Star Wars movies
• Star Wars timeline
• How to watch the Star Wars movies in order