Warning! This article contains SPOILERS for The Acolyte season 1.

Summary

• The Acolyte season 1 hints at a dark Sith secret with appearances from Qimir and Darth Plagueis.
• The show explores the mystery of Mae and Osha's creation, hinting at the use of a Force vergence.
• Qimir's helmet in The Acolyte may be a Force vergence, boosting his power and influencing Osha's Force connection.

Now that The Acolyte season 2 will likely dive into Qimir’s past, as well as his relationship with Darth Plagueis.

One of the biggest mysteries in The Acolyte surrounded how Master Sol (Lee Jung-jae) seemed convinced that she used a vergence to split one being into two. Despite this hypothesis, no vergence was ever found, as The Acolyte season 1 finale confirmed Mae and Osha weren’t the vergence. However, the vergence the Jedi were searching for might’ve been in plain sight the entire time.

The Acolyte's Sith Lord Helmet Has An Unusual Force Power

That Wasn’t Part of its Legends Lore

The first four episodes of The Acolyte kept the identity of its Sith Lord a mystery, though it wasn’t too shocking when it was revealed to be Qimir. As the still-masked Qimir battled and ultimately defeated most of the Jedi that went to Khofar, The Acolyte episode 6.

Despite cortosis maintaining the same powers it had in Legends, it seems The Acolyte has also given the ore a new and unusual power: blocking the Force. This had been hinted at in Master Vernestra Rwoh sensed Qimir, he immediately put his helmet back on so he couldn’t be sensed.

It is believed that Qimir is a former Padawan of Master Vernestra and that she was the one who gave Qimir the scars on his back, though this hasn't yet been confirmed.

The Acolyte's Sith Lord Helmet Could Actually Be A Vergence

One Original Trilogy Line s This Theory

It’s possible that Qimir’s unique helmet is actually a Force vergence. This potential vergence can stem from the cortosis, or possibly the teeth that are built into the helmet. This could be why Qimir’s Sith helmet also acts as a sensory deprivation headpiece, because it’s more than just cortosis. When Qimir tells Osha to put the helmet on in The Acolyte episode 6, he tells her that she will only take what she brings with her when she puts it on, a line that directly mirrors Yoda’s words to Luke about the cave on Dagobah.

While Osha wore the cortosis helmet in The Acolyte episode 8, she also had a Force vision similar to Luke's, though hers featured her sister Mae killing her former master, Sol.

It's known that the cave Luke Skywalker entered on Dagobah was a vergence that showed him a Force vision. While Osha wore the cortosis helmet in The Acolyte episode 8, she also had a Force vision similar to Luke's, though hers featured her sister Mae killing her former master, Sol. This, combined with the fact that vergences have been used to conceal both Jedi and Sith in the past from other Force-sensitives, gives this theory some legs. If The Acolyte season 2 continues to explore vergences' importance, putting Qimir’s helmet at its forefront would be interesting.

Are Osha & Qimir Tapping Into A Force Vergence?

This May Be An Important Season 2 Plot Line

If Qimir has been tapping into a Force vergence while he wears his helmet, it would explain why he was nearly unstoppable when he battled all the Jedi on Khofar. The vergence may have boosted his Force abilities and allowed him to easily take down his enemies. While Qimir didn’t seem that much weaker once Jecki Lon (Dafne Keen) broke his helmet off, he had already killed nearly all the Jedi at that point, and then failed to kill Mae and Sol.

If the cortosis helmet allows the person wearing it to tap into the Force vergence, thus making them more powerful, this would also explain what happened to Osha while wearing it. While it was believed that the sensory deprivation was what initially kickstarted her reconnection with the Force, it might’ve been the Force vergence that did it. This may also explain why she seemingly had no control while having her Force vision, and why Qimir looked so concerned for her - he knew that she was essentially a power surge and could empathize.

There are still so many questions when it comes to where The Acolyte will go from here, and if they’ll even get a season 2. However, this does present the show’s creator Leslye Headland with a unique opportunity to take an awesome Legends element like cortosis and further explore its purpose and lore. While audiences will have to wait for an announcement about The Acolyte’s future, for now, viewers can only hope for the best.

All episodes of The Acolyte are now streaming on Disney+.