The Screen Scribe

“At last we will reveal ourselves to the Jedi. At last we will have revenge.”

Given that he had literally only this line and maybe one other in The Phantom Menace, I don’t think even George Lucas was prepared for the level of cult following Darth Maul would garner in the years after his demise in Episode 1. He became such a favourite that Lucas even resurrected Maul in the animated series Star Wars: Clone Wars, to immense fanfare, as the former Sith Lord reignited his hatred of Obi Wan Kenobi and set about on a crusade of revenge. After his initial comeback, however, Maul went on to receive some of the most compelling development of any character in the Star Wars canon and cemented his status as one of the most iconic and beloved character in the mythos. The stellar voice work by Sam Witwer imbued Maul with a pathos, a depth, and a layered melancholy that belied his heinous actions and spoke to a character with hidden depths yet unexplored. He is also one of the few characters with a completely developed life arc. We know his beginnings in The Phantom Menace, his resurrection in Clone Wars, and his death in Star Wars: Rebels. But there was this little period of obscurity, 19 BBY to 5 BBY, roughly 15 years of his life unaccounted for. Until 2018’s Star Wars: Solo, and that little cameo at the end as the shadowy leader behind Crimson Dawn. And so, the audience were hungry for him once more, and eight years later, he has returned in Maul: Shadow Lord.

“I master the Force and the Force serves me.”

Maul: Shadow Lord picks up in the galaxy far far away one year after Order 66 and the establishment of the Galactic Empire. Maul has been in hiding, recovering, scheming, and gathering allies in the wake of his escape, navigating the new status quo in the early Imperial era in the outer, more lawless fringes of the galaxy. His goal is simple: claim revenge on those that have betrayed him and re-establish his power base by rebuilding his criminal empire. But while his goal may seem straight forward on the surface, Maul must deal with the Empire, his own disillusionment with his history, and his obsession with payback against his former master.

“Chains are meant to be broken.”

My gripes with Shadow Lord are few, but important. In a show that is explicitly titled Maul, many of the early episodes dedicate more time to establishing a new cast of characters instead of focusing on Maul himself. And while I am fully aware that a new show like this, set on a new planet, requires a cast of characters outside of Maul himself, it affects the pacing. This is my second issue, because of the aforementioned issue, the early pacing can feel a bit slow burn. Usually not a major issue in itself, but when you’ve come to see Maul, and you’re getting new characters being established and slowing everything down, it can irritate slightly.

“I can tell that you are settled on who you believe I am. Would you like me to be that person? I am capable.”

But everything that’s good about Maul, is all absolutely fucking epic. Lucasfilm have always pushed the boundaries of their animation quality and here they truly scale new heights by combining their inhouse style with a more painterly pallete lifted straight out of Arcane. It delivers an immersive and expressive animation style that I often thought early Clone Wars lacked, but something they had begun to remedy during the Siege of Mandalore arc. Maul himself is rightly the highlight of the show, with Sam Witwer chewing up every scene with wonderfully crafted dialogue, elevating this from a simple fallen Sith Lord show into the gritty noir inspired revenge series it was designed to be. But where the show truly shines is in its small details; micro facial expression and eye movement betraying a feeling, sparking dialogue revealing character organically, incorporating Sam’s scream into the sound of Maul’s lightsaber, and that lightsaber training scene? Wow. A big shoutout also has to go to Filoni for making the decision to bring back Inquisitors Marrok and the Crow, who, despite brilliant visual designs, felt shortchanged in their previous appearances. And boy did Filoni make true on his promise to make the Inquisitors more menacing, competent, and utterly frightening, and that two episode finale? Probably the best Star Wars I have seen since the Siege of Mandalore / Order 66 arcs in Clone Wars. Sorry Mandalorian, but its simply the truth.

“Always remember I am fear, always remember I am hunter…”

It was honestly the show I was most looking forward to this year and it was worth the wait. Maul: Shadow Lord hits every beat a fan would want from a Maul show and more. I could make an argument that its writing and dialogue are on a par with Andor, and most definitely The Bad Batch. I could be wrong, but I think this is the first project greenlit and helmed by Dave Filoni since officially taking over as Co-President of Lucasfilm and if this quality can be translated into the live action side, then it is a distinct possibility that the future of Star Wars may be in good hands, and I for one am here for that.

5 / 5 ✨ from the Screen Scribe.

(All images and videos are owned by and courtesy of Youtube and Lucasfilm)