Summary

• The Sith Lord in The Acolyte is more daring and powerful than even Darth Sidious, as they took on a group of eight Jedi alone.
• The Sith Lord's willingness to fight a group of Jedi, along with their power with the Force, showcased their incredible strength.
• The Rule of Two made the Sith Lords after Darth Bane progressively stronger and more prepared, and it enhanced their power against the Jedi.

The Sith Lord of Order 66, Palpatine was the most successful Sith Lord of all time, but another, earlier Sith Lord was even more daring, and they did one thing Palpatine never accomplished.

Not much is known about the Sith Lords who came before Palpatine. Many of them, such as Darth Plagueis and Darth Tenebrous, were explored in 36 Sith Lords were brought into canon, and most of them were only mentioned by name. That's because the Sith were hiding from the Jedi for nearly a millennium, but the Sith Lord of The Acolyte proved that they weren't hiding the entire time. The Acolyte episode 4 saw the Sith Lord show themselves to the Jedi, and it also had them attempt something even Palpatine never did.

The Acolyte's Sith Lord Just Took On An Entire Squad Of Jedi

At the end of The Acolyte episode 4, the Sith Lord introduced himself to the group of Jedi who were searching for Kelnacca, and it looks like they'll be fighting all the Jedi at the same time. There were eight Jedi in that group, including Sol, who was a Jedi Master, which made them an incredibly powerful force. That didn't seem to dissuade the Sith Lord, though, as they readily pushed all the Jedi back with a massive Force blast, and it doesn't seem they'll have much trouble in the coming fight.

Taking on a group of eight Jedi seems like an unwinnable fight, and it was something even Palpatine never dared to do. The most Jedi he fought at once was four, when Mace Windu, Kit Fisto, Agen Kolar, and Saesee Tiin attempted to arrest him in Revenge of the Sith. Palpatine easily defeated three of them, but he would have lost to Mace Windu had Anakin Skywalker not been there. Palpatine's duel was also only against four Jedi, and he only fought them because he absolutely needed to, while the Sith Lord of The Acolyte sought them out and took on twice as many combatants.

How Powerful Is The Acolyte's Mysterious New Sith Lord?

If they were willing to take on a massive group of highly trained Jedi all at once, the Sith Lord of The Acolyte must have been tremendously powerful. Since the fight in The Acolyte episode 4 was so short, though, there's really no telling how powerful they could be. There is one big hint about their strength, though. The Acolyte episode 4 ended with the Sith Lord pushing all the Jedi away at once with the Force, which would be quite difficult. It's a sign that they're very strong in the dark side, and there's a centuries-old reason they're so powerful.

Why Are Sith More Powerful Than Jedi?

Hundreds of years before The Acolyte, there was a Sith Lord named Darth Bane. He's most known for creating the Sith Rule of Two, a system that limited the Sith to just one Master and one apprentice at any given time. The Rule of Two was meant to keep the Sith secret and avoid the attention of the Jedi, but its other purpose was to help consolidate the Sith's power and help it grow through the generations. The goal of every apprentice was to learn everything they could from their Masters - and therefore all the Sith who came before - kill them, and take their place.

Because of the Rule of Two, each Sith Lord and apprentice was much more powerful than the Sith Lords before Bane, who were evenly matched with Jedi. They also grew in strength with every new generation as they sured their Masters. By the time of The Acolyte, the Sith Lord would have had access to over 900 years of study into the dark side of the Force, as well as an entire lifetime of consolidating their own personal power. On top of that, all Sith acolytes had to kill a Jedi to become an apprentice, meaning The Acolyte's Sith Lord already has experience fighting Jedi.

If even a group of eight Jedi fighting together doesn't pose a risk, the Sith Lord of The Acolyte could be almost as powerful as Palpatine himself, and even more daring. That would make the Sith even more intimidating than they already are, as it would prove that any number of Sith Lords would have been strong enough to seriously threaten the Jedi. The Sith Lord of The Acolyte could even prove that Palpatine was the only Sith Lord truly capable of destroying the Jedi. Palpatine won not because he was especially powerful, but because he was especially brilliant, and weakened the Jedi before he struck.

New episodes of The Acolyte premiere on Tuesday nights on Disney+.