And then… it was cut in half, its two pieces falling into a very long hole. The idea of him coming back was promoted in some comics and referenced in the video games, but otherwise? Just a blip on the radar when it came to the big prequel narrative setting up Anakin Skywalker’s descent into Darth Vader. We probably won’t talk about that today, but then Star Wars: The Clone Wars Went and brought him back. In a few months, he will present his first solo television project Maul-Shadow Lord, Set between their last (plural) appearance in clone wars and finally his resurrection star wars rebels.
Like the Big Two comics, death has always been a strange thing star wars, With many characters coming back, it felt as if we had seen the last of them. When it comes to the current era of the franchise, which itself technically began in the episode clone wars, Darth Maul is at or near ground zero. Midway through the show’s third season in 2011, viewers were introduced to Savage Opress, Maul’s brother and effectively a reskin with a lighter skin tone. What initially seemed like a more fleshed-out version of the dead Darth and a fascinating opponent in his own right turned out to be a covert operation to bring back the real Maul in the next season.
above the rest clone wars’ and later rebelsMaul surprisingly becomes involved in the state of the galaxy and characters like Obi-Wan and Palpatine arrive revenge of the Sith And the original trilogy. In many ways, this feels like a flex on the part of Dave Filoni and George Lucas: not only does Maul get a chance to come back, but it allows him to have multiple rematches with the man who ruined his life, teaming up with the Mandalorian and becoming a crime lord alongside his brother, And Anakin is aware of his importance. That’s the latest on Maul’s lore star wars And all this happening to him would be blindingly stupid (and in some cases it is) if it weren’t for one small, but key constant of his characterization: star wars never forgets to remind you that from his first appearance to his last, he is one defeated.
One problem with characters who have died multiple times, like Boba Fett and Ahsoka, have now returned, is that the forces involved know they have to look cool in order to justify bringing them back. They’re naturally booked to be amazing and come out on top at the end of the day, and whenever they’re not posing for an action shot it’s just dead air with a flicker of possibility. Luckily, Darth Maul doesn’t have this problem as everything around him has a degree of self-awareness. He looks great in fights and has fans, but he is far from a load bearing pillar, even if he is being deployed that way. In terms of screentime, he’s in only three of the many arcs. clone wars and in five rebels’ 75 episodes.
If anything, Maul’s presence in both shows underlines how his continued existence only comes about because he keeps entering the orbit of other characters: every time he has an encounter with Obi-Wan he results in a defeat, and the only person he can fully relate to is a 16-year-old kid whom he’s twice tried to manipulate. He gets his brother killed because they were both talking too loudly for Palpatine to ignore him, and he himself dies in the arms of the man he spent years obsessing over, whose name he screamed across the endless desert like a scorned lover after a Shakespearean monologue. Maul is not so much the hero of his own story as he is someone who wants to get back into others’ stories so he can ensure his mention in the wiki. The tragedy and hilarity of his character is how much he struggles for significance and does not see how he will get better. No Matters in the grand scheme of things.
That is to say, Filoni and company have spent years knowing that Maul sucks, striking a fine balance between making him worthy of a return, while still punching him every now and then to humble him. (He is thrown off the ledge by a man whom he had blinded two minutes earlier for crying out loud.) But therein lies the question. Shadow Lord: On a “new to the franchise” planet filled with criminals, cops, and potential apprentices, could the Maul we see there match up with the Maul we’ve seen beaten in the two 2010s shows? Will he retain some of his lost energy or regain some kind of cosmic shine as he tries to become a crime lord?
when will we find out Maul-Shadow Lord Hits Disney+ on April 6.
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