Ricky Church on Star Wars: The Acolyte’s mysterious new villain Qimir…
There are plenty of reasons to love Star Wars as any fan of the galaxy far, far away knows: the epic space battles, the lightsabers, several of the characters whether they’re the main heroes, supporting ones or someone who appears for not even 10 seconds. We can all agree, though, one of the most memorable elements of the franchise are its villains.
Star Wars does not lack in its antagonists. From Darth Vader’s iconic look and stunning revelation in The Empire Strikes Back to Darth Maul’s epic double-sided lightsaber, so many of the most seminal moments throughout the franchise comes from the bad guys. Even the small scale villains such as Boba Fett and Jabba The Hutt have had a lasting impact. And though Darth Vader still holds the #1 spot among Star Wars baddies for most fans, the franchise’s latest TV series The Acolyte has introduced one of their most interesting antagonists yet.
In The Acolyte we meet Qimir, a seemingly simple pawn of a mysterious dark side user who turns out to be the master pulling the strings in Mae’s quest for vengeance. Though we have two episodes left in its season, Qimir has already made a memorable mark as a Star Wars villain not just through his vicious fighting style that left seven Jedi dead, but his philosophy and temperament that is unlike any Sith or dark side user we’ve seen onscreen so far.
In the time that we’ve known him, he has been a mixture of Yoda and Palpatine. He pretended to be a bit of a goofball who was useful to Mae while hiding his power in plain sight, tricking several Jedi who ‘caught’ him. Even his status as a Sith is questionable at this stage as he told Sol “a Jedi like you might call me Sith” The most recent episode saw Sol angry with himself and bewildered how he could not have felt Qimir’s power. It is also where Qimir stands out among the franchise’s villains.
Ever since the Original Trilogy, we have been so used to seeing Sith Lords gloat over their enemies, whether it was Vader taunting Obi-Wan and Luke over their weakness or Kylo Ren’s attempts to turn Rey to the dark side through their mutual abilities and experiences. Qimir stands apart in how, though ruthless as he is, he doesn’t talk back to his enemies in the way most Sith have, focusing more on the combat and quickly finishing them off than enjoying the fight as Maul, Sidious and Vader later do. When he does reveal his identity, it’s not with complete malice – even if he does mock Mae’s lack of recognition or Yord’s shock at his true nature – but with a quick acceptance of who he is and what he wants.
And that is where he is completely different from other evil Force wielders Star Wars has presented audiences with. Qimir seems much more in tune with the Force than any Sith we’ve yet met. While villains like Vader and Palpatine have emphasized the power of the dark side, they’ve only really viewed it as a tool and a means to their power. Qimir, however, seems to actually view the Force in a more philosophical way.
Take his use of his helmet, which is made of the metal Cortosis that acts as a dampener to lightsabers and greater Force powers. He likens it to the type of helmet Jedi younglings use, much like Luke’s in A New Hope where Obi-Wan has him learning to trust his senses above everything else. Qimir willingly strips himself of any advantages the dark side might offer him, using the Force to his most basic instincts. Most Sith would not place their trust so fully in the Force but rather their own arrogance in their power. Either Qimir is so confident in his abilities or he uses the Force to the best of his knowledge.
His conversations with Osha also mark a very different tone than most Sith masters and potential pupils. Qimir is soft spoken, non-aggressive and even vulnerable with Osha, letting her know tiny pieces of his past as a Jedi Padawan and letting her use his own lightsaber against him. He doesn’t even give her the usual “give into your anger, let the hate flow” pitch most Sith use. His point about how the Jedi judge others who connect to the Force without their consent echoes Luke Skywalker’s own comments to Rey in The Last Jedi on how the Force does not belong to them but to all beings. Qimir ‘s arguments are hard to ignore as he mixes truth and lies, but seems to rely more on the truth to get Osha to see things from his perspective. It is especially effective with Osha’s already shaky faith and personal reasons for leaving the Jedi Order.
In just a few episodes, Qimir has already presented himself as quite a different villain from most Star Wars villains. Showrunner Leslye Headland and Manny Jacinto deserve all the praise with how they’ve presented Qimir through Headland’s writing and Jacinto’s layered performance that makes us wonder what Qimir’s motives really are. Maybe at face value he really does want an apprentice to pass on his knowledge to, especially if he’s a true Sith and following the Rule of Two (“a master and his apprentice, no more”), or maybe he doesn’t quite care about any of that, though that is unlikely given how he admitted his mistake in believing Mae was searching for a purpose beyond revenge.
Two episodes are left and there is still much to be discovered of Qimir’s true motives, but already he is among Star Wars‘ most interesting villains due to his demeanor, philosophy and brutal combat style. It is a refreshing take compared to the Sith Lords we’ve seen in previous media and ironically makes him the most honest Sith we’ve seen. Whatever happens in the rest of the season, it cannot be denied Qimir is the most intriguing character of The Acolyte and one of Star Wars‘ most interesting villains.
What are your thoughts and theories on Qimir? Let us know on our social channels @FlickeringMyth…
Ricky Church – Follow me on Twitter for more movie news and nerd talk.
