Maul: Shadow Lord | Wait, a Good Star Wars Show?
Beautifully animated show focuses on the legendary (former) Sith Lord
Dave Filoni is a creatively mad genius.
Anyone who grew up watching The Clone Wars knows that he just GETS the Star Wars universe and how everything fits together. This is especially apparent in his recent treatment of the character Darth Maul (Sam Witwer) in his brand new solo series, Maul: Shadow Lord. The show sees Maul attempting to move on from the end of the Clone Wars and make a comeback with his criminal enterprise, only to be sidetracked when he finds a potential apprentice named Devon Izara (Gideon Adlon). Devon is a former Jedi padawan on the run with her Master, Daki (Dennis Haybert), both of whom are caught up in Maul’s antics, when the Empire and its Inquisitors arrive. This adventure provides the audience with closure for a handful of characters, adds depth to the story of Darth Maul and the early Empire, and most importantly, explores Maul’s psyche post Order 66. The story, combined with the stunning animation and visual choices by Filoni and his production team, makes for what is easily one of the best seasons of a Star Wars show ever released.
After the events of The Phantom Menace, Darth Maul was lost and eventually found by his brother, Savage Opress (Clancy Brown), and together the two plot their revenge against the Jedi and Darth Sidious. They start a massive criminal empire, with the help of Deathwatch, and eventually come to rule Mandalore, before Sidious steps in, killing Savage but keeping Maul alive and letting him stay in power. This results in the eventual Siege of Mandalore, after it’s realized that the only way to dislodge Maul and the Deathwatch is with a Republic invasion, led by Captain Rex and Ahsoka Tano. Maul is eventually beaten and captured, but in the pure chaos of Order 66, he manages to escape and flees back to the remnants of his once proud crime syndicate. Maul: Shadow Lord picks up just a year after the conclusion of Star Wars: The Clone Wars, and there isn’t a single beat wasted in this show. Each layer of the plot is clear, concise, compelling, and involves high stakes. Maul and his crew are the clear-cut A plot of the show, while the story of Devon and Daki is the B plot, both of which merge seamlessly by the conclusion of this season.
When The Phantom Menace first came out, Maul appeared to be merely written as a cool villain for Obi-Wan to kill during the movie’s climax. However, he wound up being the most memorable part of it, despite it never being explained where he came from, what he had been through, what made him so powerful, and so on. That’s what made bringing him back such a HUGE risk for Dave Filoni to take with Clone Wars, but it paid off immensely. This was due in part to the incredible talents of voice actor Sam Witwer, who manages to capture the perfect amount of terror, charisma, and sheer emotion in his performance. Giving Witwer, who is now synonymous with Maul, his own show was also a major step for the franchise because Witwer was already so intertwined with the fandom, and it provided Dave Filoni the perfect opportunity to do a project that was entirely their own. This is, of course, due in large part to Filoni’s new role as both President and Chief Creative Officer at Lucasfilm. Each plot point and character choice has meaning and a sense of purpose; there are no cheesy sidequests or random throwaway call-backs, every beat of the show has something at stake or is used to further develop the characters onscreen.
One of the best points in the series follows Maul from the end of episode seven through episode eight. Filoni and Witwer present a side of Maul that we as viewers have never seen before. After being all but beaten in a duel with the First and Eleventh brothers, Maul spends most of episode eight working his way back to Rook and his team to regroup. Along the way, he encounters various environmental obstacles, but most curiously, we see him talking with his reflection, once before he begins his trek, and once towards the end of it.
The first time, Maul is looking down at a puddle as a drop of water falls and changes his reflection to resemble his younger self. He begins to break down and swats it away, exclaiming, “I hate you!” causing it to change back. He then encounters a series of Force-induced flashbacks while buffering a sandstorm, causing him to basically relive his past. And then we see his reflection a second time. Maul is tired, broken, and realizes what he’s become, how his life has been wasted, and how he has always lived as a failure. His reflection once again resembles his younger self, and it says to him, “I’m sorry,” as both begin to cry. Maul responds by calming himself and assuring him, “I won’t let him do this to anyone else”. This use of Maul’s reflection to help signify his guilt and regret is exceptionally clever and grounding, helping to display characteristics that have never been explored before.
The overall style of Maul’s journey and character development in episode eight, The Creeping Fear, and the significance of his reflection gave me pause during my first viewing; it felt incredibly familiar. My suspicions were proven correct when a very close friend pointed out that the writers of Maul were heavily influenced by progressive rock and heavy metal music, specifically Iron Maiden, Tool, and Queensrÿche. As a fan of these genres, it became very apparent that events of Maul’s perspective and just the overall aspects of his character have remarkable similarities to Queensrÿche’s Operation Mindcrime, widely considered to be one of the greatest rock operas of all time. The fictional story is based around a man named Nikki, a drug addict who’s become disillusioned with society and has been brainwashed by a man named Dr. X, who intends to use and manipulate him to assassinate key political figures. More to the point, the final song, “Eyes of a Stranger”, primarily focuses on a defeated Nikki staring into the mirror, having an epiphany, as he begins to realize that he is nothing more than a broken man who has wasted his life. Having been arrested and placed in a psychiatric ward, he has a series of flashbacks and longs to go back to a normal life, regretting ever giving his life to Dr. X’s cause.
The similarities between Maul’s and Nikki’s epiphanies are quite remarkable, and the emphasis on physical reflections as a means of conveying the ideas of self-reflection and self-awareness is an extremely humanizing tactic by the writers and production team. One of the repeating lyrics in “Eyes of a Stranger” is “I’ve always known that the mirror never lies”, and that concept is on full display in this show. Like Nikki, Maul has fallen into a place where he’s questioning both the life he once led and the life he’s heading towards. It shows that the writers, in particular, were determined to find a way to make Maul a more relatable character without diluting his core nature and personality. This musical influence is prevalent throughout the show, from the visuals to the overall mood of the scenes; you can feel the high octane and angst from the very first frame to the very last.
There is a great sense of uncertainty throughout the last two to three episodes concerning who may survive and where Maul’s and Devon’s stories will lead. This is especially the case after the reintroduction of Dryden Vos, an intergalactic crime lord and the main antagonist of Solo. It leaves the door open for Maul’s future in an exciting way, without diving headfirst into more prequel content too fast. With more to be explored in terms of Maul’s character and story progression, it’s no wonder fans are currently left waiting, all too eager for season two.
Stream Season 1 now on Disney+
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