“He doesn’t follow the rules of combat.“
Yord Fandar
In the latest episode of The Acolyte, we got to see the most brutal lightsaber battle we have seen since the prequels. Throughout this battle, we got to learn more about the mysterious Sith Lord. It was confirmed that he was the potion maker known as Qimir, which I thought was predictable yet genius at the same time. Now that we know Qimir is the mysterious Sith Lord, it gives him the demeanor of a drunken martial arts master you see in action movies. Those kinds of martial arts masters are the ones that are most dangerous to underestimate. The fact that Qimir could easily and convincingly play the fool fits with the mentality and ideology of the Rule of Two Sith at this time. The Rule of Two Sith had to learn how to hide in plain sight even when in the presence of the Jedi, which is something that Palpatine will perfect a century later.
At the end of the last episode, Qimir was revealed to be powerful in the use of telekinesis, which allowed him to levitate himself from the trees to the ground like a phantom and blow away eight Jedi with one Force push. Immediately after, he was proven to be a deadly and competent lightsaber duelist, able to hold his own against multiple Jedi at the same time. Throughout the episode, we saw the Qimir was not only deadly, but he was also a very strategic fighter who seized any and every advantage he could get over the Jedi. First, he maneuvered his way into a cluster of trees, which would hinder the Jedi’s numerical advantage over him. If he fought them in a wide open space, the Jedi would have more room to move and surround Qimir, but he took those luxuries away when he lured the Jedi into the trees.
“Stop using the standard attacks, use the unorthodox!“
Count Dooku
As for the lightsaber techniques Qimir used, his style of fighting looked like a hybridized form of combat with several methods mixed together. He mostly fought one-handed, which implies that he was a practitioner of Form II: Makashi like Count Dooku. This is further proven by how he does not directly block his opponents’ strikes, but subtly redirects them. Also, Qimir utilized elaborate footwork throughout the fight, which is another classic Makashi element. In addition, Qimir’s style was visibly aggressive and Jedi Knight Yord Fandar noted that Qimir’s movements were unpredictable. This hints that Qimir could use Form VII: Juyo, which is the most aggressive form of lightsaber combat and was the style of choice for Darth Maul. In addition to having the precision and finesse of Makashi and the aggression and unpredictability of Juyo, Qimir’s fighting method also had traces of a fighting style that we very rarely see called Trakata. Trakata is an unorthodox technique that takes advantage of a lightsaber’s unique ability to turn its blade on and off. When properly utilized, Trakata enables its wielder to switch their lightsaber on and off in the middle of a fight, which throws their opponent off balance and leaves them wide open to attack. Prominent Trakata practitioners include Dark Lord of the Sith Exar Kun and Darth Caedus’s Sith Apprentice Tahiri Veila. The fact that Qimir uses Trakata further increases his bladework’s lethality and unpredictability.
“I can use my powers to conjure up your worst nightmares and bring them to life before your eyes. I can drive you mad with fear, shred your sanity, and leave you a raving lunatic for the rest of your life.“
Darth Zannah
In addition to being a deadly lightsaber duelist and powerful user of telekinesis, Qimir was able to use the dark side of the Force in other ways. Yord Fandar said that during the fight, Qimir used the Force to burrow into his opponents’ minds. By doing this, Qimir was able to disrupt the Jedi’s concentration and focus, which made them even more vulnerable to his attacks.
“Pure cortosis gauntlet. All my Knights have them. The metal disrupts a lightsaber. Yours will be useless for the next few minutes.“
Roan Fel
Qimir also utilized other tools and tricks to give himself an advantage over his Jedi opponents. His helmet and the bracer on his left forearm are made of a metal called cortosis. Cortosis is a rare metal that shorts out any lightsaber that comes in contact with it. After shorting out from cortosis exposure, a lightsaber will be useless for a few minutes. Qimir took full advantage of his cortosis equipment by repeatedly disarming the Jedi who fought him, leaving them unarmed and vulnerable. Qimir’s usage of cortosis against Jedi further emphasizes his status as a tactical fighter who would whatever dirty tricks he needs to overcome his enemies.
While Qimir’s unorthodox lightsaber style is deadly by itself, his weapon has one more feature. Qimir’s weapon is the type of lightsaber that can split in half to form two separate weapons. In Qimir’s case, his secondary weapon takes the form of a shoto, which is a short-bladed lightsaber like Yoda’s. The fact that Qimir’s lightsaber has this features indicates that he also has some skill in the usage of the dual-wielding Jar’Kai style like Asajj Ventress. From what we have seen so far, Qimir seems to only use his shoto in a tactical sense such as when he used it in a surprise attack to kill Jedi Master Sol’s Padawan with three quick stabs in the chest.
“You were at Galidraan…tell me, how did one mere man kill so many of your kind?“
“With his bare hands.“
Darth Sidious and Count Dooku
While Qimir’s power in the dark side, skill with a lightsaber, and tactical prowess are all very impressive, he has proven to be just as proficient in unarmed combat. He was able to hold his one in a fistfight with Jedi Master Sol and snap Jedi Knight Yord Fandar’s neck with his bare hands. When he was fighting the other Jedi, Qimir also utilized well-placed kicks to further throw his opponents off balance. This demonstrates that Qimir could use his lightsaber and martial arts at the same time like Darth Maul, which would double his lethality.
“Make him doubt himself, his beliefs, or his intentions. Such things disrupt connections to the Force—and death soon follows.“
HK-47
Probably the deadliest weapon in Qimir’s arsenal is his usage of Dun Moch, which is when a dark side practitioner uses taunts and psychological warfare on their opponents. Qimir used Dun Moch to great effect against Jedi Master Sol. Through clever words and striking down Sol’s allies one-by-one, Qimir was able to disrupt Sol’s focus and concentration. By doing this, Qimir was tempting Sol to give in to the dark side in order to beat him. Sol became so flustered that he came close to killing Qimir, but that was exactly what Qimir would have wanted. If Sol struck Qimir in anger like he almost did, he would have won the physical fight, but he would have lost the moral fight. For Jedi, the moral fight is more important than the physical fight. In fact, Qimir’s usage of Dun Moch was so effective that Sol’s focus was compromised to the point in which he could not tell that Mae had switched places with Osha.
“You wear the trappings of the Sith, you fight like the Sith… but this can be imitated, however.“
Count Dooku
Even though Qimir says that he is a Sith, something is not right about him. He says that he has no name, which could mean that he may have been denied the Darth title. If that is the case, he could be a Sith Acolyte himself rather than a true Sith Lord. Whatever he is, it cannot be denied that with his power in the dark side of the Force, his lightsaber skills, his usage of cortosis, mind games, and martial arts have all made Qimir the ideal Jedi killer. Every tool he had at his disposal allowed him to wipe out seven of the Jedi who were present and psychologically compromise the eighth. It highlights how powerful and unpredictable the Rule of Two Sith have become over the past nine hundred years and how unprepared the Jedi are for what is to come.
Grady P Brown - Author 