THE ACOLYTE Showrunner Explains Sith Villain’s Nudity in Episode 6 – “It Had to Happen”

I finally got around to watching episode 6 of Star Wars: The AcolyteAfter watching episode 5 and seeing an awesome lightsaber battle scene, I was really curious to see what would happen next.

Well, with that last episode, I felt like I was watching a Star Wars show produced for The CW in the mid-2000s. It was funny in a way that made me laugh.

One scene in particular that felt very CW to me was when Osha confronts Manny Jacinto’s Sith villain, Qimir aka The Stranger, while relaxing naked in a lake. The moment plays out with a kind of seductive longing.

Showrunner Leslye Headland recently talked about this scene and how the sensuality of featuring the Sith villain naked in it was an important element of the story, and how it “had to happen.”

Headland told Collider: “Lucasfilm really believed in my vision. From a storytelling perspective, it had to happen. It had to happen. He did, like, a Steven Seagal neck snap in the [previous] episode.

“How do you get from that to humanity, anyway? The only way to do that is to show him in such a wildly vulnerable position, and it has to be visual.”

He added: “I can’t think of anything more vulnerable than someone holding a lightsaber on someone who is so exposed. I just can’t.

“I felt like in the previous episode he was so ruthless that he had to stand in front of her and say, like, ‘You can absolutely kill me,’ basically.”

I understand what he was trying to achieve with that scene, but the script and the way it was done disappointed me.

I have friends who like this show, and after talking to them about it, I really try to understand what they’re seeing, but then when an episode like this comes on and I find myself laughing, it feels like I’m watching two completely different shows.

My friends and I are usually on the same page when it comes to Star Warsthis is the first project where we don’t necessarily agree on things. It’s interesting!