The Acolyte’s Steamiest Scene Puts the Sequel Trilogy’s Hottest Moment to Shame

The Star Wars television series The Acolyte has certainly gotten people talking, including the Disney+ show’s surprising amount of raw sex appeal. Moreover, The Acolyte offers a far steamier and sexually charged Star Wars viewing experience than the hottest moments in the entire Star Wars sequel trilogy.

The Acolyte’s Steamiest Scene

After Qimir is revealed to be the masked Sith warrior who battled the Jedi Order instead of an unassuming smuggler, he takes The Acolyte protagonist Osha with him to a remote planet. With Qimir’s villainous true nature unveiled, Osha plans to kill her merciless host but is distracted when he takes a bath in the waters around where they are staying, showcasing his perfectly chiseled muscles. The scene disarmed Osha literally and figuratively and set up the bad romance dynamic that the two appear to embark on by the season finale.

However, it wasn’t only Osha who was visibly affected by Manny Jacinto’s smoke show performance as Qimir in the latter half of The Acolyte. Viewers crushing over Jacinto’s appearance, particularly his wet and muscular turn in the season’s sixth episode, quickly posted on a variety of social media platforms worldwide, with even Star Wars’ main social media account getting in on the steamy fun. Jacinto’s muscles inspired a wave of think pieces and features, like this one, about how the scene single-handedly dialed up the sex appeal in Star Wars, something that the sequel trilogy notably lacked.

The Star Wars Sequel Trilogy’s Hottest Moment

The closest the Star Wars sequel trilogy ever got to exuding the same amount of sensuality was in The Last Jedi, with a bare-chested and sweaty Kylo Ren telepathically communicating with Rey from worlds away. The scene exudes more sexual energy than the half-hearted kiss eventually shared by the two characters in The Rise of Skywalker, capturing a rare moment of vulnerability from Kylo Ren as he bares himself before Rey, if only in her mind’s eye as they briefly drop their more pronounced adversarial dynamic.

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The thing about the scene, though, is that it isn’t really all that sexy, and not just because the two characters involved are only connected telepathically rather than being physically together. Whereas Qimir is full of swagger and menace during his sexiest scene in The Acolyte, Kylo Ren comes off as uncomfortable or disaffected during his own shirtless scene in The Last Jedi. And while there are plenty of vocal shippers for Kylo Ren and Rey’s romance, they never had the same level of chemistry as any of the other big Star Wars couples.

The Acolyte Borrows From the Original Trilogy, Not the Sequels

In case more prude fans need the reminder, Star Wars has often had a healthy amount of sex appeal, within the confines of a PG or PG-13 rating, of course. Whether it’s cool and confident Han Solo introduced with an open henley-type shirt and omnipresent swagger or Leia Organa memorably donning a metal bikini in Return of the Jedi, this element dates back to the original trilogy. The prequel trilogy is largely defined by a love story, with the fiery romance between Anakin Skywalker and Padmé Amidala showcasing a more sensual side to the franchise.

The sequel trilogy usually plays it safe with its own sex appeal, the unrequited bromance between Poe Dameron and Finn notwithstanding. The romantic attraction between Rey and Ben Solo almost feels like an afterthought for much of the sequel trilogy, with the final kiss between them handled like an anticlimax that never quite feels earned. By contrast, The Acolyte stands back and lets Manny Jacinto absolutely smolder as Qimir in a way that feels dangerous and sexy all at once, something Adam Driver’s Kylo Ren was never quite able to achieve.