WARNING: The Following Post Contains Spoilers for The Acolyte Episode 5, ‘Night’
As divisive asThe Acolytehas become, there’s no denying it has some pretty cool fight scenes. From Mae’s battle with Master Indara, to her clash with Master Sol, there’s beena decent amount of martial artsskills shown off, introducing fans to what has been dubbed ‘Force fu.’ For episode 5, ‘Night,’ however,things were taken to a whole new levelwhen The Strangerfinally revealed himself to be Qimirafter an epic lightsaber battle that sawmore than a few Jedi get slaughtered.
Starring Manny Jacinto as Qimir, the 37-year-old Filipino-Canadian actor went through someintense choreography trainingto get the moves seen inThe Acolytejust right. Wielding stunt sabers, Jacinto is seen powering his way throughan impressive group of skilled martial artistsin a new video that takes fans behind the scenes ofThe Acolyte. Shared by@StarWars0nlyon X (formerly Twitter), the video is set to AC/DC’s classic tune, ‘Back in Black,’ andis sure to get your blood pumping. Check it out below.
The scene in question takes place in episode 5 ofThe Acolyte, ‘Night.’ It sees the mysterious warriormow through several Jedi in a forest battle, which also includes Yord, Jeckie, Mae, Osha, and Sol. When it’s all said and done, Yordand Jecki are among the dead, with the warrior revealed to be Qimir,Mae’s Sith master. He’s quickly trapped by a colony of umbramoths, allowing the remaining survivors to escape. Freeing himself, the scene –and episode – ends with Qimirstanding over the unconscious body of Osha.
How Does Qimir Differ from Previous Star Wars Characters?
“We Wanted Him to Move Like Something We’ve Never Seen Before”
Jacintofirst rose to prominencethanks to his role as Jason Mendoza on the hit comedy,The Good Place, from 2016 to 2020. With a background in hip hop, boxing, and martial arts, the actor looked to bring some of what he already knew to his role of Qimir. However,it wasn’t just fighting that Jacinto had to prepare for, as he also had to find the unique characteristicsthat would separate Quimir from the pack.
to find out who Qimir was, Jacinto revealed in a recent interview withStarWars.comthat he spenta good amount of time in isolationin the town of Windsor, which is roughly 40 miles from London.
“I was able to just really think about the characters 24/7 to the point where I’d have dreams — but also nightmares — about them.”
The actor mentioned that he would even go grocery shopping in character to get Qimir’s mannerisms down to a tee, including his voice, which he used at checkout. When it came time for stunt training, Jacinto says that everyone – including himself – wanted to bring something new to the character that fansof theStar Warsfranchisehadn’t seen before. This included his unique fighting style.
“We wanted the Stranger to move very differently from what you’ve seen in the prequels and in the original trilogy. If you compare them, you’ll notice that it’s very much an upright fencing type of structure to the fighting. Whereas with the Stranger, we really wanted to be very fluid. We wanted him to move like something we’ve never seen before: quick, yet powerful, but also sneaky.”
The Acolyte Introduces Legendary Lightsaber Weapon in Live-Action 39 Years After Its Star Wars Debut
The legendary lightsaber whip has just made its live-action debut, 39 years after it first appeared in Marvel’s Star Wars comics.
His training and hard work certainly paid off, as the battle inThe Acolyteisperhaps one of the best in theStar Warssaga. Now that the Sith is out of the bag, so to speak,and The Stranger has been revealed to be Qimir, Jacinto’s just glad he can freely talk about his experiences,rather than have to lie to everyone about his part in the series.
The Acolyteis available to stream onDisney+.
The Acolyte
Star Wars series that take viewers into a galaxy of shadowy secrets and emerging dark-side powers in the final days of the High Republic era.
