In 1999, Lucasfilm Star Wars: The Phantom Menace introduced Darth Maul to the public. Played by the then-unknown Ray Park, the red and black Sith was defined more by his aura than anything else: he had very little dialogue, but he looked cool as hell and looked great in his fight scene. That you just entered Star Wars or excited about the franchise’s first film in decades, it seemed poised to become a scene-stealer.
And then… he was cut in half, his severed halves falling into a very long hole. Some comics toyed with the idea of his return, and he was referenced in video games, but what else? Just a blip on the radar when it comes to the larger Prequel narrative establishing Anakin Skywalker’s descent into Darth Vader. We probably wouldn’t talk about him today, but then Star Wars: The Clone Wars went to bring him back. In a few months, he will present his first solo television project in Maul – Shadow Lord, located between its last appearance (in the plural) in Clone Wars and its possible resurgence in Star Wars Rebels.
Like in the Big Two comics, death has always been a somewhat funny thing in Star Wars, with many characters returning after seemingly seeing the last of them. As for the current era of the franchise, which itself technically began in episodes of Clone Wars, Darth Maul is at or near zero. Midway through the series’ third season in 2011, audiences were introduced to Savage Oppress, Maul’s brother and effectively a reskin with a lighter complexion. What initially seemed like a more fleshed-out version of Dark dead and a fascinating antagonist in his own right turned out to be a stealth operation to bring back the real Maul the following season.
On the rest of The Clone Wars and later RebelsMaul finishes surprisingly involved in the state of the galaxy and characters like Obi-Wan and Palpatine come 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 can Maul return, but he’s allowed multiple rematches with the man who ruined his life, joined the Mandalorians, and became a crime lord with his brother, And is aware of Anakin’s importance. This Maul is aware of the history of Star Wars and all of this happening to him would be incredibly stupid (and in some cases it is) if it weren’t for one small but key constant to his characterization: Star Wars never forget to remind yourself that from its first appearance until its last, it is a losing.
An issue with several characters who were once dead, but have now returned as Boba Fett and Ahsoka is that the forces involved are aware that they need to look cool to justify their return. They’re inherently booked to be awesome and come out on top at the end of the day, and every time they’re not posing for an action photo, it’s just dead air with flickers of potential. Fortunately, Darth Maul does not have this problem because there is a certain degree of self-awareness in everything around him. He it looks great in fights and he has fans, but he is far from being a carrying pillar, even when positioned as one. In terms of screen time, he is only present in three of the many arcs that comprise it. Clone Wars and in five of The rebels 75 episodes.
If anything, Maul’s appearances in both series emphasize how his continued survival only comes from continuing to enter the orbit of other characters: every time he confronts Obi-Wan ends in defeat, and the only person he can completely identify with is a 16-year-old he tried to manipulate twice. He had his brother killed because they were both too loud for Palpatine to ignore, and himself dies in the arms of the man he spent years obsessing over, whose name he screamed into the endless desert like a scorned lover after making a Shakespearean monologue to himself. Maul is not so much the hero of his own story as someone who seeks to return to that of others so that he can justify his own mention in the wiki. The tragedy and hilarity of his character is how much he fights to matter and can’t see how he would be any better. not important in the grand scheme of things.
All of which is to say that Filoni and company spent years knowing that Maul sucked, striking a fine balance between making him worth the comeback while still punching him every once in a while to humiliate him. (He is thrown off the ledge by a man he blinded two minutes earlier, for shouting out loud.) But therein lies the question with Lord of Shadows: on a “new to the franchise” planet full of criminals, cops, and a potential apprentice for hire, can the Maul we’ll see there stack up with the Maul we saw get beaten up in two shows in the 2010s? Will he retain his underdog energy or gain some sort of proverbial shine as he attempts to become a crime lord?
We will know when Maul – Shadow Lord arrives on Disney+ on April 6.
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