Max Nocerino 
I really can’t find much to criticize about the finale of Star Wars: Maul – Shadow Lord. It’s almost perfect. I appreciate the pure Star Wars this series really embodies.
All good things must come to an end, surely. But hopefully we won’t have to wait too long for Season 2. Originally, I was very pessimistic about Star Wars: Maul – Shadow Lord, but as the episodes went on, many of my reservations faded, and I appreciate the pure Star Wars this series really embodies. And that is not shown more than in the season finale.
First off, I love this ragtag group of fugitives that have coalesced for the final episodes. We have an overly pedantic police droid turned “criminal”, a good cop and his son declared a traitors by the Emperor, a diminutive and comical smuggling kingpin alien, some loyal Mandalorian warriors, a Jedi sage and his young, but talented apprentice, a killer droid of a unique design (with an animalistic sense of self), and finally a former Sith Lord turned crime lord turned Imperial fugitive-Maul (formerly Darth). I have never seen such an eclectic group in all of Star Wars fiction, and I really marvel at how, as a fan, I even conceptualized that.
HEROES AND VILLAINS
This group of heroes and anti-heroes needs to get out of the city of Janix to rendezvous with a ship that will only be able to pick them up within a certain time window. The owner of this ship is none other than Dryden Vos, the villain of Solo: A Star Wars Story. Vos is a sinister, brutal, and creepy criminal gangster, but he makes a deal with Maul: He will help him flee the Empire in exchange for Maul killing all potential rivals so that he can become head of Crimson Dawn.
As we see in Solo, this wish was granted. But for those of you who never saw the 2018 movie, things do not unfold as we are made to believe. Do with that what you will. Seeing Vos in animation after jumping from live action is pretty cool, yet I found it disappointing that the character wasn’t voiced by Paul Bettany again.
Maul uses the Force to contact Devon in a dream telepathically. He really still wants to get his hooks in her as an apprentice, as he feels certain they can defeat his former Master if they become master and student. Devon is initially torn, but for senior Star Wars fans, we know light and dark side alliances can change very easily under certain circumstances.
LAWSON’S ESCAPE ROUTE
The only way out of the city is a route that Captain Lawson knows, as he once tracked a fugitive that way, as a police officer. Both the audience and Lawson himself note the irony. They go underground and end up having to get across a lake of highly corrosive acid that looks like a strong reference to the River Styx from the Underworld. The lake is too wide for the Jedi and Maul to Force jump across, but they find a strange metal hover trolley that can fit two people at once and begin using it to cross.
This trolley is a very convenient plot device – an obstruction, I would call it, as is the lake. But I do not have a major problem with this. It’s obviously a set-up to separate the team, as the Inquisitors are hot on their trail. But I can buy that they really can’t jump across. The underground ceiling is too low, and Jedi cannot fly or hover (usually).
ENTER THE INQUISITORS
The group ends up confronting the Inquisitors but narrowly escapes, as the rule that prevents clearing the lake with a jump applies to everyone. As a veteran of Star Wars stories and fiction in general, I was well prepared for the whittling down of characters. But I was a bit surprised and sad to see who died at the acid lake. I also was a little chilled by the death of the Zabrak Scorn, as he literally committed suicide by jumping into the lake, but not before taking 3 Stormtroopers with him. Anything to do with getting burned or killed in lava and acid really triggers my body horror phobia!
THE DARK LORD OF THE SITH
As our unlikely crew loses more and more members, it’s just the Lawsons, the Jedi, and Maul. And out of the mist emerges the terrifying specter of Darth Vader, the Inquisitors’ boss and the often last and least wanted person, whom fleeing Jedi want to face! Vader has always been portrayed as unstoppable (in both Legends and especially canon), and fans who love this will not be disappointed. Also, I think the greatest fan service in all of Star Wars history occurred just now, as we get to finally see a REAL duel between Darth Maul and Darth Vader.
Maul puts up a decent fight against Vader but is overpowered by the cyborg’s incredible strength and the added handicap of a still-damaged prosthetic leg (which Vader takes advantage of). It’s super cool to see that Maul has some respect for the seasoned Jedi Master Daki, as they put their Force allegiances aside to try and kill Vader. “We can do this,” Daki says confidentially. Can they? Well….yes. This team does an incredible job of countering 3 powerful darksiders at once and gives us some of the most amazing and suspense-building lightsaber dueling I’ve ever seen in animation. Only Palpatine vs Maul and Savage impressed me more. I also like how Filoni stayed true to Vader’s “handicapped” fighting style.
VINTAGE VADER
You see, due to the suit, Vader is not super agile and able to do acrobatic flips in the air. But his height and strength give him incredible reach, and coupled with his second-to-none dueling skills and indomitable will, this group can only give him a moderate challenge. This weakness was first brought to our attention back in 2005, with the exquisite Dark Lord: The Rise of Darth Vader novel (written by the incredibly talented James Luceno). In that book, we see Vader post-suit, struggling to adjust his lightsaber style to his new encumbering armor and cybernetics. Once again, Filoni shows he is a true fan by mirroring Vader’s bladework, which is a bit choppy.
VERDICT
There was so much explosive action and fun to unpack in this episode, and I am so in love with the devil and angel whispering in Devon’s ear during a lull in the fighting. “Stay calm and be patient,” advises Daki. “Release your rage and find your full potential,” says Maul. It’s a tug-of-war between light and dark shown to us physically, in real time, and I think that really captures the essence of Star Wars more than anything.
I really can’t find much to criticize about this finale. It’s almost perfect. One of the last characters who died-I 99% knew was going to happen, but the other one… well, less than 50%. I was truly caught off guard. Bravo.
Star Wars: Maul – Shadow Lord Season One is now streaming in its entirety on Disney+.
Addendum: SPOILER ALERT
Since this is the season finale, I am going to float two of my own theories for the next season.
1.) A lot of fans didn’t understand why Vader didn’t say a single word throughout the whole duel, and even half-joked that it was because they hadn’t cast a new voice actor for Vader yet. Silliness aside, I really think the in-universe reason was to kind of parallel Maul’s first entrance in Episode I, where he was also completely silent and dominated the battlefield. Now he’s on the receiving end in a kind of cruel twist of the tables. But my reasoning for why Vader was silent goes a bit deeper.
Maul doesn’t really know (as far as I’m aware) that Vader was once Anakin. Yet it is a 100% certainty that Vader knows this is Darth Maul. Vader knows that Maul killed Qui-Gon many years ago, and perhaps, in his sick and tormented psyche, believes that it was Maul who took everything away from him. Qui-Gon was originally meant to be Anakin’s master, and Maul took that opportunity away from him, leaving Vader to be stuck with Obi-Wan, whom he hates almost as much as himself. He is silent because there is nothing to say to Maul. He made him into a monster, and he will now kill him at any cost. Deep down, Vader may even think that if Qui-Gon lived to train him, he would still be with the Jedi, his children, and his wife.
2.) Marrok seemingly died, as Daki pushed him off the balcony of an ancient jungle structure with the Force, but we know his story is not over, as he will appear decades later in the Ahsoka series, out of seemingly thin air. When we saw Ahsoka, many fans were perplexed because all the Inquisitors were implied to be dead by the events of A New Hope, but here he is, Marrok. My theory is that Marrok survived his fall, barely. His body was then put in carbon freeze (or some equivalent), and the Nightsisters resurrected him with their magic ichor to serve as one of their minions. That is why green smoke appeared when Ahsoka killed him.
Food for thought. Agree or disagree? Let me know.Â
Star Wars: Maul – Shadow Lord Season One is now streaming in its entirety on Disney+.
Max Nocerino is a regular Staff Writer for The Future of the Force. He is a passionate Star Wars fan and loves the literature of the galaxy far, far away. Follow him on Twitter where he shares his love of the Force frequently!
