In this week's fourth episode of The Acolyte, titled "Day," Mae has a change of heart after learning her twin sister is alive and decides to abandon her mission and tell the Jedi what she knows about The Master.
However, upon arriving in Kelnacca's hut, she discovers that the Wookie Jedi is already dead, somehow murdered by the mysterious Sith villain mere moments before she got there. As Mae and the Jedi approach, The Master floats down from above - Count Dooku-style - and tosses Mae aside before flinging the heroes into the distance.
It's a massive cliffhanger and all signs point to the fifth episode pitting the downed Jedi against the red lightsaber-wielding baddie.
Talking to Entertainment Weekly (via SFFGazette.com), The Acolyte's showrunner, Leslye Headland, said, "I find him to be very scary. I think that because this is a show about the bad guys, he is incredibly powerful, menacing, all of those things."
"You are going to get, I would say, drawn into his world a bit, and it'll be a little different," she added, promising that answers are coming regarding who or what lies beneath The Master's sinister helmet. This is welcome news as we still have no idea how he fits into the wider Star Wars franchise and the previously established Sith lineage (which post-Disney acquisition is no longer official "canon").
"Hopefully it just continues down that road for people," Headland said of reaching the halfway mark on such an exciting note. "You have to keep watching the show, and I think the audience will continue to be excited by where we end each episode."
With only four episodes left, The Acolyte now needs to start addressing some of its mysteries and establish The Master's importance to not just this series, but the Star Wars stories already told.
What did you think about "Day"?
In The Acolyte, an investigation into a shocking crime spree pits a respected Jedi Master (Lee Jung-jae) against a dangerous warrior from his past (Amandla Stenberg). As more clues emerge, they travel down a dark path where sinister forces reveal all is not what it seems...
The series stars Amandla Stenberg, Lee Jung-jae, Manny Jacinto, Dafne Keen, Charlie Barnett, Jodie Turner-Smith, Rebecca Henderson, Dean-Charles Chapman, Joonas Suotamo, and Carrie-Anne Moss.
The next Star Wars TV series comes from creator and showrunner Leslye Headland (Russian Doll), who also serves as executive producer alongside Kathleen Kennedy, Simon Emanuel, Jeff F. King, and Jason Micallef. Charmaine DeGraté and Kor Adana are the co-executive producers, and Rayne Roberts and Damian Anderson are producing.
Four episodes of The Acolyte are now streaming on Disney+.