Leslye Headland warns The Acolyte's final episodes will take a dark turn

If you thought The Acolyte episode 5, "Night," was full of shocking twists, consider yourself warned, as the remaining episodes are likely to get darker.

Leslye Headland advised fans to fasten their seatbelts and be ready to let go of their favorite characters in the show so far, as any one of them can be the next in line to get killed off brutally by "Darth Biceps," Manny Jacinto.

Regarding the reveal of Jacinto's tormented and sexy Sith, Qimir, in episode 5, Headland told Inverse that she knows all about the reactions to his performance and wasn't too surprised. Headland was determined to have him on board for the show, and a lot went into creating his unique appearance. The showrunner adds that Jacinto is usually very collaborative but was adamant about showing off his arms for the big reveal:

"I remember we were showing him a Qimir costume sketch, and it just showed his arms a little bit, and he was like, “No.” He’s not a guy that says no very often. He’s very collaborative. He’ll do anything for you. I was surprised. But then I saw his first screen test with the whole outfit, and I was like, “Ha, ha, ha!”"

- Leslye Headland

Moreover, Headland also admits that Qimir's role wasn't as important in Season 1 as it became once she saw Jacinto as the character. She confesses that she became a fan of Jacinto, and it convinced her to increase his presence in the series:

"Originally, even up until shooting, The Stranger was not in a lot of the rest of the season. He was much more of a tee-up for a second season arc. But I saw Manny’s screen test early on in pre-production, and I just thought, 'There will be riots in the streets if I don’t [go further]. Here we go. I guess I’m rewriting an episode.'"

- Leslye Headland.

It had to have taken a lot of effort to create a character as compelling as The Stranger, and Jacinto's performance has been so widely praised that most fans have forgiven Headland for killing off Yord and Jecki so brutally. However, Headland's interview should be a warning for anyone who thinks the remaining Jedi, including Master Sol, will survive the season finale.

In response to a question about Qimir's aspirations for freedom, Headland noted that Qimir has come to terms with his dark nature, but Master Sol, contrary to his calm demeanor, harbors a more complex and potentially unbalanced inner state:

"Sol is just in full-on repression mode at this point. He’s deluded himself into thinking that he has achieved balance. As Qimir says in Episode 2, 'The Jedi only think they’ve found peace.'"

- Leslye Hdadland.

How Sol's repression will play into the rest of the season should be intriguing. However, Headland believes everything will make sense by the end, but the journey will be darker and more emotional:

"I would say all the dots start connecting. The synapses start firing, especially after the switch between mentors for Episode 6 and going into Episodes 7 and 8. There’s more action; there’s more lightsabers. It’s got a lot of the stuff that we’ve already had, but if there’s anything different about the second half of the season, it’s darker. It gets increasingly more emotional."

- Leslye Headland.

You can read the rest of Headland's in-depth interview, including her opinion on Star Wars Twitter's newest ship, Osha and Qimir, on Inverse.

The Acolyte is streaming on Disney+.