Warning! This post contains SPOILERS for The Acolyte episode 4

Summary

• The Acolyte episode 4 features what appears a young Ki-Adi-Mundi, a Jedi Master from the prequel trilogy and The Clone Wars.
• The show is set 100 years before The Phantom Menace during the High Republic Era.
• Ki-Adi-Mundi's belief in the Sith's extinction in Episode I raises questions about the plot and future of The Acolyte.

I was very surprised by The Acolyte episode 4 which features a prequel trilogy cameo from the last Jedi Master I expected to see. Beyond Jedi Master Yoda, there are other alien Jedi Masters with long life spans, who were both Jedi during the High Republic Era and the Skywalker saga. That said, I certainly didn't think we'd be seeing Jedi Master Ki-Adi-Mundi in The Acolyte.

The Acolyte is set 100 years before the events of The Phantom Menace. This means that it's taking place in the final days of the High Republic Era, an age of great peace and prosperity for the galaxy. As such, The Acolyte setting up the reemergence of Sith Lords predating Palpatine is quite notable, a core reason why I was so surprised to see Jedi Master Ki-Adi-Mundi in The Acolyte episode 4.

The Acolyte Appears To Feature A Young Ki-Adi-Mundi

Meeting With Vernestra And Other Jedi Masters

In The Acolyte episode 4, Vernestra Rwoh (Rebecca Henderson) and other Masters at the Jedi Temple on Coruscant, confirming Mae's escape as seen at the end of The Acolyte episode 2. He also voices his suspicions that she was likely trained by a rogue Jedi or splinter order, something which draws justified concern from the gathered Jedi. During this scene, one of the assembled Jedi Masters is none other than a younger Ki-Adi-Mundi, a future member of the Jedi Council as seen in the prequel trilogy and The Clone Wars animated series.

While cameos are nothing new to Star Wars projects, Ki-Adi-Mundi was certainly the last Jedi I expected to see in The Acolyte. The character's identity is confirmed in the credits, and the Cerean is pretty hard to miss. This cameo is, however, pretty confusing.

Will The Acolyte Explain Why He Believed The Sith Extinct?

Why Does He Think The Sith Were No More In The Phantom Menace?

There's a good reason why I didn't expect to see Ki-Adi-Mundi in The Acolyte; one of his most well-known lines in The Phantom Menace. During Qui-Gon's report about facing Darth Maul on Tatooine, Mundi claims the Sith have been extinct for over a millennium. This line, in particular, was cited by many Star Wars fans following The Acolyte's first trailers, questioning how Ki-Adi-Mundi could believe the Sith were no more when so many Jedi are featured facing what looks to be a Sith Lord only 100 years prior.

As such, an appearance from Ki-Adi-Mundi himself expressing concern over splinter orders in The Acolyte episode 4 was not something I would have guessed. This hopefully means that The Acolyte will be addressing this confusing plot hole rather than avoiding it altogether. However, it potentially suggests dark fates ahead for all the Jedi featured facing this new Sith at the end of this new episode, in order to maintain the dark side 's anonymity.

Does Ki-Adi-Mundi's Cameo Completely Break Star Wars Canon?

How Does His Cameo Fit With The Star Wars Timeline?

Ki-Adi-Mundi was a prominent member of the Jedi Council in the prequel era, and it's a real surprise to see him appear in The Acolyte. Looking at the online reaction, I'm not surprised to see many others are confused as well. Some are particularly shocked because they believe Ki-Adi-Mundi's age has been changed. This, of course, is based on a cursory check to Wookipedia, which reveals Ki-Adi-Mundi shouldn't have been born at this point in time - let alone be a high-ranking, adult Jedi.

The problem, though, is that this information is taken from Star Wars Legends. Back in 2014, Disney wiped the old Expanded Universe from canon, meaning it's no longer binding. There's no canon information about how long Cereans like Ki-Adi-Mundi live, so that date of birth isn't really all that relevant. Clearly Cereans are a longer-lived race in the Disney era than in Legends. This would be the smallest imaginable change to lore, given the age of a background member of the Jedi Council isn't really a big alteration.

Still, this does make the decision to include Ki-Adi-Mundi pretty eyebrow-raising. That's particularly the case given Leslye Headland insisted there wouldn't be any real cameos in The Acolyte, largely because she wanted to tell a story where the stakes were high and anyone could die. My guess is that the change to Ki-Adi-Mundi's age was made deliberately, and that The Acolyte is intending to tell the story behind his (in)famous line of dialogue in The Phantom Menace. If so, it'll be amusing to see how the fandom react to that.

The Acolyte episode 4 is now streaming. New episodes release Tuesdays on Disney+.