The Acolyte star Manny Jacinto reveals that Osha and Qimir holding hands in the finale was a last-minute change – and his idea

The Acolyte star Manny Jacinto has revealed that Osha and Qimir’s big hand-holding moment was his idea. 

At the end of The Acolyte episode 8, Osha – who has decided to be Qimir’s dark side pupil – and Qimir stand watching the sunset. Qimir then reaches to put his hand over Osha’s on her lightsaber (which originally belonged to Sol, but Osha bled the kyber crystal after learning he killed her mother). 

“I remember that specific scene, I was only meant to stand beside her,” Jacinto told Entertainment Weekly. “Amandla [Stenberg] was just standing there looking out into the ocean, and I would just stand beside her. And we were just supposed to look out into this vast ocean together. And I suggested, ‘Hey, would it be cool if I reach my hand over where she’s holding the lightsaber, and I kind of just wrap my hand around her hand?’ And fortunately, Leslye [Headland, showrunner] is very collaborative and she was like, ‘Yeah, let’s try it!’ And then we filmed it a bunch of times and she was like, ‘I really like this!’ And then lo and behold, we kept it for the final cut.”

He added: “I think it alludes to something more romantic, but it also alludes to something I think a lot of Star Wars fans are yearning for. In this IP, you have the ships like Reylo, and you have all those relationships that people just innately want to see – these romantic relationships that people want to see in Star Wars. So Leslye was like, ‘Give the people what they want. Let’s lean into this.’ And hopefully we can explore more of that again in a possible season 2 and in subsequent seasons.”

In fact, Jacinto has also said that he’s seen the Oshamir fan art, and he thinks “people can look forward to more of that, possibly,” in a potential The Acolyte season 2 (which has yet to be confirmed).

The Acolyte is streaming on Disney Plus now. For more on the show, check out our deep dives on: 

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