The Acolyte reveals a powerful weapon that has been troubling Jedi in the old canon for 24 years

The Jedi had little to counter the Sith Lord's attack in episode 5 of The Acolyte. But he also uses dirty tricks and uses Cortosis, for example. Image source: Disney/Lucasfilm

In episode 5, the duel with the mysterious masterwho reveals himself to be a Sith Lord, draws the Jedi's lightsabers. But what is behind it? In fact, the idea behind it is already 24 years old and has its roots in the old Star Wars canon.

Cortosis: The Kryptonite for Lightsabers

Anyone who has diligently read novels and/or comics about Star Wars before Disney took it over may have already guessed: The so-called Stranger (Manny Jacinto) uses his powers in a duel with the Jedi Knights led by Master Sol (Lee Jung-jae) Cortosis.

This is a rare and particularly powerful metal that can be considered as Kryptonite for lightsabers Cortosis can not only block the Jedi's blades, but in its particularly pure form it can even temporarily deactivate them.

Small spoiler: Even a Cortosis blade isn't much help against Darth Vader. Image source: Dark Horse Comics.

The Acolyte shows for the first time in a live-action Star Wars film what devastating effects the metal can have. Mae's master uses Cortosis in the fight against several Jedi to disable their lightsabers and use the tactics to his personal advantage.

Would you like a concrete example? The following clip shows that Qimir (if that is even his real name) has a bracer and helmet made of cortosis:

Cortosis is already part of the new Star Wars canon

But cortosis is not completely overpowering: The metal is very rare and difficult to find and work with. In addition, Cortosis is very heavy and fragile, which means it has limited uses. A few hits from a lightsaber can be enough to cause Cortosis armor to crumble.

In fact, Cortosis is already with the novel Star Wars: Thrawn – Alliances Part of the new canon. Here it is revealed that the Separatists are experimenting with the metal to even build battle droids from it. This would have definitely caused the Jedi headaches during the Clone Wars, but Thrawn and Anakin Skywalker were able to prevent it.

In addition, Cortosis has already been mentioned in the newer Star Wars comics – for example in those about the spaceArchaeologist Dr. Aphra.

In the old canon, of course, Cortosis had a much larger presence. The metal was featured in numerous books and comics so that the enemies of the Jedi could have something to counter them. And Cortosis also plays a role in the role-playing game Knights of the Old Republic, albeit in a slightly weaker form.

By the way, if you want to know more about the identity of the mysterious master and how fans react to the massacre in episode 5, you will find out more under the links above. Three episodes of the Star Wars series await us in the coming weeks and it will soon be clear whether it will be renewed for a second season.