The Acolyte: Leslye Headland confirms that cameo is exactly who you think it is (SPOILERS)

SPOILERS for the season finale of The Acolyte. After eight episodes, The Acolyte has come to an end with plenty of surprises, but it also left a number of dangling threads that will hopefully be picked up in a second season, including a certain cameo from a character who has never been seen in a Star Wars movie or TV show until now.

A mere 12 minutes into the finale, The Stranger (Manny Jacinto) and Osha (Amandla Stenberg) depart in search of Mae, but they’re watched by a mysterious figure lurking in the shadows. While speaking with IndieWire, The Acolyte showrunner Leslye Headland confirmed that the cameo was none other than Darth Plagueis, the future master of Sheev Palpatine. The character was first mentioned in Revenge of the Sith when Palpatine tells Anakin Skywalker about “the tragedy of Darth Plagueis the Wise,” a Sith who was so powerful he had the power to create life.

Headland always wanted to include the character in The Acolyte. “Plagueis was always in the finale, in every version,” she said, but added that Plagueis was originally set to appear in the final moments instead of the episode’s other cameo. “There was a version where he was the button of the finale [instead of Yoda],” Headland said. “[But] You want to feel Osha’s triumph. You want to feel her joining forces with The Stranger. Plagueis stepped on [that moment].”

Plagueis is known to be obsessed with achieving immortality, so you can understand why he would be interested in Osha and Mae as the first step to his plans. Given what we know of the future, his presence also likely spells doom for Osha and the Stranger. “Even though [Osha and The Stranger] are standing there, sort of looking out at the sunset, ready to conquer the world, the tragedy is we know they don’t,” Headland explained. “We know there can only be two. We know Plagueis is there. We know that these two are doomed in some way. So to me it’s a bittersweet tragedy, this foreboding ending. But that’s because I know about the Sith lineage and all these other things, whereas I think a different subset of the audience can be like, ‘They’re married!’“

Despite a rather divided reaction, The Acolyte has proven to be a success for Disney+ as it was the streaming service’s biggest series premiere of the year. You can check out a review from our own Alex Maidy right here.