Warning! This review contains spoilers for The Acolyte episode 5.

The Acolyte episode 5 builds on last week's brilliant cliffhanger to deliver an action-packed, lore-heavy, explosive installment complete with lightsaber battles, Sith reveals, and plenty of shocking deaths. After the ending of The Acolyte episode 4, I was convinced that episode 5 would focus on a Sith-Jedi battle — I was right, with the episode providing some of Star Wars' best-ever lightsaber duels, huge albeit predictable storytelling reveals, and shockingly brutal (if emotionally flat) character deaths.

The Acolyte Episode 5 Takes Lightsaber Fights To Prequel Trilogy Levels

Slick choreography, long camera takes, and several lightsabers bolster The Acolyte's action sequences

Since the beginning of the series, I have praised the show's dedication to crafting compelling action sequences. While The Acolyte episodes 3 and 4 foregoes action for the former's Force-heavy backstory and the latter's somewhat tedious jungle trek, the hand-to-hand combat scenes in The Acolyte's two-episode premiere are some of the best in recent Star Wars memory. Despite stunt and action coordinator Chris Clark Cowan's evident accomplishments in crafting amazing martial choreography, I was admittedly skeptical of how The Acolyte would handle lightsaber duels. My skepticism was misplaced.

The Acolyte episode 5 undoubtedly delivered the best lightsaber duels since Star Wars: Episode III - Revenge of the Sith...

The Acolyte episode 5's lightsaber duels were everything I wanted. As someone who enjoyed the sequel trilogy's combat sequences but longed for more prequel-era combat styles, The Acolyte episode 5 delivered the latter in spades, truly showcasing the Jedi and Sith at the height of their power. The long camera takes allowed sweeping shots of expert choreography to be conveyed, as The Acolyte massacred several unnamed Jedi with some excellent Sith power moves. One particular standout was the impaling of one Jedi and the use of the Force to pull a second onto the tip of the lightsaber before swift decapitation.

Not only was the Sith vs. unnamed Jedi full of great group choreography, but the one-on-one duels were fantastic too. Sol vs. the Sith — revealed to be Qimir — was equally impressive and charged with emotion. Later, Sol's Padawan Jecki Lon gets time to shine with fantastic dual lightsaber moves. Aside from the motion-capture lightsaber fight between Maul and Ahsoka in Star Wars: The Clone Wars season 7, The Acolyte episode 5 undoubtedly delivered the best lightsaber duels since Star Wars: Episode III - Revenge of the Sith.

The Acolyte Episode 5 Has Surprisingly Brutal, Albeit Emotionally Flat, Character Deaths

The dark, violent nature of The Acolyte's Sith Lord makes up for the lack of emotional investment

With The Acolyte episode 5 essentially serving as a 30-minute-long action sequence, character deaths were to be expected. While the unnamed Jedi on the journey to find Kelnacca were doomed as soon as they were introduced, the deaths of major players from The Acolyte's cast of characters surprised me the most. Charlie Barnett's Yord Fandar and Dafne Keen's Jecki Lon met their demise in shockingly gruesome fashion. Jecki's death thanks to Qimir's slick lightsaber trick was unexpected, with three stab wounds marking the audacious decision to kill off a main character.

I respect The Acolyte episode 5 for not flinching away from darker moments...

Yord's death was even more daring, as Qimir used hand-to-hand combat to maneuver the Jedi into position before snapping his neck with minimal effort. In a franchise filled with lightsaber wounds, dogfights, space station explosions, and blaster fire, this vicious method of intimate murder was beyond shocking, and I respect The Acolyte episode 5 for not flinching away from darker moments. The appalling nature of Jecki and Yord's deaths somewhat makes up for the lack of development the characters have received thus far.

Yord and Jecki have been mainstays of the series since its premiere, and while I've enjoyed their performances and felt their characters had potential, it was never realized before being unceremoniously cut short. Whether this was showrunner Leslye Headland's intention or not remains uncertain, but there is no denying that these gruesome deaths would have been more effective if Jecki and Yord had been written as more sympathetic characters we could invest in. The shorter episodes did not allow for this, meaning only the dedication to the Sith's barbaric ways stopped The Acolyte episode 5's character deaths from falling completely flat.

The Acolyte’s Story Reveals Were Predictable

But they were saved by excellent performances, including Manny Jacinto's work as Qimir

The Acolyte episode 5 finally revealed the Sith Lord is Qimir — a theory I've held since the premiere. The show left several clues that Qimir was the Sith warrior, so many that I began to believe the bumbling former smuggler was a red herring. Much like the shocking brutality of Jedi deaths overcame emotionally cold moments, The Acolyte's predictable Sith reveal was bolstered by Manny Jacinto's excellent performance.

Jacinto rises above predictability to make Qimir a character I hope gets a huge dose of screentime in The Acolyte 's final three episodes...

Qimir was enjoyable in the first few episodes, but episode 5 is where he sinks his teeth into the conniving, evil, manipulative Sith warrior. Jacinto is exceptionally menacing here, imbuing Qimir with a sense of threat, intelligence, and darkness that was missing from his prior appearances. Were it not for Jacinto's fantastic performance, the Sith reveal would have failed spectacularly. That said, Jacinto rises above predictability to make Qimir a character I hope gets a huge dose of screentime in the final three episodes.

The Acolyte’s Lingering Mysteries Remain Compelling

The Acolyte episode 5's reveals do not answer every question

Another strength I've found The Acolyte to have is its central mystery. When answers are provided, more questions are put in place to keep me compelled for future episodes. The Acolyte episode 5 continues this trend, despite giving the show's biggest answer yet. The mystery of Brendok still looms large over characters like Mae, Osha, and Sol, and I cannot wait to see further flashbacks to the fateful night that changed everything. Similarly, Qimir's dialogue hints he may have had something to do with the tragedy on Brendok, raising more questions about how involved he truly is.

Ultimately, the most compelling questions The Acolyte episode 5 raised were centered around Qimir and his Sith nature. Is Qimir the Sith Master or Sith Apprentice based on Star Wars' Sith Rule of Two? Is he a Sith at all, or merely someone who follows the beliefs of the dark-siders? Qimir's insistence that the Jedi would label him a Sith without directly calling himself one caused these questions to run through my head as The Acolyte episode 5 came to a close, meaning the franchise-best lightsaber fights were accompanied by more captivating mysteries about the show's central characters.

The Acolyte episode 5 is now streaming on Disney+.