Star Wars: Canceled Show's Connection to Kylo Ren and Sith Lord Revealed

6 days ago 8

Published Jan 28, 2026, 3:29 PM EST

Sean is a senior writer for ScreenRant and has been writing about new TV releases since December 2023. He has received multiple advance screenings of popular shows and ideated his own coverage read by hundreds of thousands of readers.

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A new Star Wars detail has revealed a hidden connection between the canceled series The Acolyte and the sequel trilogy villain Kylo Ren. The main antagonist of The Acolyte was a mysterious dark side Force-user known as Qimir, aka the Stranger (Manny Jacinto). The Acolyte was canceled after just one season, however, largely due to the cost of the series to produce and extensive backlash from fans.

Due to The Acolyte's cancellation, it seemed like Star Wars fans would never learn more about who the Stranger was or how he connected to the show's Darth Plagueis cameo. Despite The Acolyte's sizable controversy and divisive effect on viewers, the Stranger was one of the more universally-liked elements of the show. Many viewers wished to see more of his story in The Acolyte season 2.

A new detail revealed in the book "The Art of the Acolyte" now confirms that the Stranger was supposed to have a meaningful connection to Kylo Ren (Adam Driver), aka Ben Solo, the main antagonist of the Star Wars sequel trilogy. Kylo Ren was the leader of the Knights of Ren, a mysterious, non-Sith group of dark side users. Now, Leslye Headland, creator of The Acolyte, has confirmed that the Stranger could have tied into the history of the Knights of Ren.

It felt like it foreshadowed a possible connection to the Knights of Ren with the Kylo Ren shape we landed on. We just started to go in that direction. It was in the design of the character, as well as knowing that we were going to introduce Darth Plagueis, who has to end up with Palpatine as his apprentice. Following the Rule of Two – a precept that limited the Sith to just two at any given time, a master and an apprentice – one way to keep it going is if the Stranger is the first knight of Ren, part of a Sith-adjacent culture that we know eventually survives.

As Headland explained, the Sith Rule of Two is an element of Star Wars lore that requires only two Sith — a master and an apprentice — to be alive at any given time. The Stranger's existence in The Acolyte would have precluded Darth Plagueis from taking on Sheev Palpatine as his own apprentice. Evidently, Headland had already worked out a solution to the Rule of Two issue by having the Stranger become the first Ren and found the group Kylo Ren would later rule.

"The Art of the Acolyte" drew further comparisons between the Stranger and Kylo Ren through the Stranger's theme music, which incorporates the same orchestral theme that defined Kylo Ren's in the sequel trilogy. Leslye Headland also drew attention to the Stranger's lack of a name — Qimir is an alias he uses to fool the Jedi — as another bit of ambiguity that could have added credence to him forming the Knights of Ren.

And since we never name him, you don’t know: Does he have a first name and then his last name is Ren? Is he the original Ren? It’s a good way to nod to it without having to give away too much information.

Creature artist Nick Tyrell also elaborated that the design of the Stranger's helmet was meant to conjure the iconography of Kylo Ren's iconic helmet, with its flat face and samurai-inspired frill at the back.

[The Stranger's helmet features] a rough-hewn and flat-faced bucket with breathing apparatus bent into a sneer and two tiny slits for eyes. The slight frill at the back of the helmet – a design element that dates back to the franchise’s samurai influence and notably first seen in Vader’s design – hints at a link between the Stranger and the Star Wars sequel trilogy’s masked antagonist Kylo Ren, an idea storytellers took from the design.

Presumably, if The Acolyte had been renewed and continued for more seasons, the Stranger's story would have developed until he founded the Knights of Ren. That likely would have been a welcome addition to Star Wars lore, as the Knights of Ren still remain a mysterious group only featured briefly in the Star Wars sequel trilogy and the "Rise of Kylo Ren" comics.

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It's also worth noting that Star Wars could still use Leslye Headland's idea for the foundation of the Knights of Ren. The Acolyte's story has already been continued by books and comics such as "The Crystal Crown" and "The Wayseeker." A future publishing effort could easily revisit the Stranger's story and canonize the idea Headland and The Acolyte didn't get a chance to explore in live action.

For now, however, there are no official plans for Star Wars to continue the Stranger's story or revisit the possibility of him founding the Knights of Ren. Disney and Lucasfilm are refocusing the franchise on theatrical releases such as The Mandalorian and Grogu, and there are no official announcements of any more tie-ins to The Acolyte. This connection between the Stranger and Kylo Ren, however, provides a glimmer of hope for fans of the series.