Comics A/V Darth Maul: Son of Dathomir #1-4

Very action-y episode / issue. Nice to see Dooku and Grevious working together for what felt like the first time in ages. The immediate out of hyperspace to bombard the planet was very cool. Also cool? One of the lazer sounds was just "DOW DOW DOW"! I dunno, I found that amusing.

 

I would like to see Maul/Ahsoka wrapped around each other one, two, maybe more times, while he was the ruler of Mandalore and she arrives there clandestinly to free some arrested friends she knows already from her teaching in Mandalore-Academy some time before. That would be a nice side-story to write or to draw.

Please, may somebody please tell me something about the arranging of events in a reasonable timeline?

I'm just not aware of the correct timeline of the events in Mandalore. In the seasons 4 and 5 I found no clue how long did it take for Maul and Savage from Talzin's healing and being picked up by the Death Watch-Warriors. Then I would like to know how long his stay at Concordia really was till he took Mandalore. And I have no idea how long he ruled over the planet actually. In the episodes this is all so fast and short. But I can't imagine it is. And finally I like to know where in this timeline is the killing of Turmond Letta and the explosions in the Jedi-Temple and Ahsokas getting out of the Jedi-Order afterwards. Was that before Sidious killed Opress taking Maul with him or even before Maul became ruler of Mandalore or during his time being the Lord of Mandalore?

BTW: Is here really nobody out there besides me and Marco1907 who wants Maul to stay alive. Or do you just don't dare to stand up and confess after all these postings wanting him to be killed?

 

I want Maul to live.


Sent from my R2 unit

 

He's all but guaranteed to.

 

I don't. He better be dead by the end of this.

 

At this rate, yeah. I mean, his resurrection was a bad idea that was against all odds well executed, but that doesn't mean he should still be alive after pretty much all of the Jedi are dead. Unless it means canonizing Old Wounds somehow, in which case, sure, go for it. I liked the ambiguous ending The Lawless gave him, and this series better have a heck of a payoff at the end to justify itself stretching the story out. Let the bodies hit the floor.

 

I'm fairly certain if they were writing into S7-S8 on TCW scripts they wouldn't bump off Maul in his second full-fledged big return arc. Talzin, on the other hand, probably would be a goner. (Which is kinda odd considering in the TCW S6 episode she disappeared rather suddenly like she had died but I guess that didn't work out)

 

Not dice, just slice.

Like here:

 

There's been some inconsistencies regarding whether this is a s6 or s7 arc, not to mention based on where the story's going... death flags are everywhere for Maul, especially based on the summaries seen for issue 4. They've been cleaning some serious house, dismantling his entire powerbase bit by bit. Even if the original ending was different, they could change it due to the show's cancellation. It depends on if the staff 'wants' a living Maul anymore without any other way to resolve his story outside of something like Rebels.

I've come to accept his resurrection because it has frankly given Maul some much needed onscreen development (not to mention that no matter how much we in Lit complain the EU did it first), and love him or hate him, Witner has done well with the character... but even so, I want it to end. The idea of him living beyond Dooku and Grievous doesn't make me happy unless it ends Old Wounds style.

 

I've learned that when the summaries start talking up someone's imminent demise... then often (surprise!) they don't die!

So I'm hesitant about expecting much to come of his talked up "death" until I see it.

I'm also battling with the twofold problems of (1) they know most people won't read this, and that telling TV audiences to learn to read never goes down well, and (2) they clearly regard Maul as a marketable commodity, and big Sith on Sith brawls as popular given the number of episodes they've now done with that, making me debate if they'll be able to resist the lure of a Vader on Maul duel in the future.

As farcical as such a concept sounds now... so would Spider Maul have sounded had someone told me about it ten years ago.

 

Well, none of the summaries have explicitly talked of his demise. I'm looking at death flags in the story itself... namely the subtle dismantling of his powerbase and influence, i.e. his effect on the galaxy.

It really could go either way. I suppose my other serious fear is that if he does survive, I'm not sure if they WILL deal with it properly later on.

Then again, having a demise that's comic only 'also' bothers me, even as an EU lover... so it's a tough situation.

 

I know the novel 'Darth Plagueis' is Legends now, but for those of us still trying to salvage the old EU and fit what we can together mentally, is there any way the novel's take on Maul's Sith recruitment can fit at all with the story presented in Son of Dathomir #3? Because after reading the comic,

Spoiler: spoiler

Mother Talzin goes into a rant on how Sidious promised to make her his right hand, and stole Maul, Talzin's son, to take as his apprentice instead. There is no mention of Kycina as Maul's mother and Talzin said Palpatine stole Maul as soon as he realized Maul's potential. In 'Darth Plagueis', Palpatine basically just went along with Kycina begging him to take Maul, and it didn't seem as if he was specifically going out of his way to recruit Maul at all.

Regardless of whether or not Maul survives the final upcoming issue, the Jedi strike force need to believe Maul is killed or otherwise eliminated as a threat to tie in with ROTS. If Maul is still at large after the comic, it would seem strange that the Jedi would act like Grievous is the only remaining threat after Dooku in the movie when Maul is still out there.

Another item that struck me as odd (aside from the ongoing fact that none of Sidious' enemies in this comic even suggest exposing his public persona) is that:

Spoiler: spoiler

Darth Sidious tells Maul to kill Dooku in full earshot of the Count. And then Talzin outright tells Dooku that Sidious is already plotting to replace him. Even if Dooku doesn't believe her, Dooku really should not be acting so surprised in ROTS when Palpatine orders Anakin to finish him off.

 

I think Maul going "off the grid" and/or being stripped of his authority is much more likely, thereby making him a non-entity by the time ROTS happens, than him dying.

 

What, if they just released this comic-arc as a trial-balloon, sensing if there are enough people who would be interested in an animated screen-adventure in the future? Thus they may sell firstly the comic pretending that there will be no more films around anymore and then the film/episodes are coming some time later when they either have collected enough money again or when they are sure, after all the discussions here in the web and the selling-numbers of the comic, that people will buy the DVDs too?

 

Another good issue. So far I think the trend has been that each issue is better than the previous one, so hopefully the next one will be even better. The most significant spoilers have been posted above, so I won't go into them.

- I liked that we finally get to see appropriate reactions from Maul towards Sidious. There is no longer any reverence or fear there. Maul is completely contemptuous of him. He finally shows the rage, pain and bitterness at having been abandoned. He even taunts Sidious about his plans unravelling.

- Grievous is back to his fearsome self. He threatens Dooku with death, and it seems he holds him in low regard. And he cuts through Maul's Mandalorians like a hot knife through butter.

- the "fights" are still only a couple of panels. Dooku fights Obi-Wan and (kills)Tiplee. Maul fights Mace and Aalya Secura. He remarks that it's "finally a fair fight". One of Maul's Mandalorians fires a rocket at the group and shouts a warning. Maul manages to dodge, Mace and Aalya don't, and are knocked out. Interesting.

- Dooku reminds me of Dark Rendezvous Dooku(and Vader), in the sense that you get the feeling that the power dynamic between him and Sidious is not to his liking and that he made a mistake, but he knows that there's absolutely nothing he can do about it. He is terrified of Sidious, and is in awe of his power.

- Maul and Talzin propose an alliance to Dooku. Dooku is reluctant(because of his fear of Sidious), but before he can give his response they are interrupted by the Jedi. So they momentarily ally to deal with them, and then escape on the same ship. Interested to see how this will play out in the final issue.

- Sidious seems genuinely threatened(and livid as a result). We all know how this will play out. When Sidious is backed against the wall, he lashes out, viciously. Still, it's nice to see him sweat.

- Sidious : "Thread lightly, Maul. Revenge is a dangerous game... once you never seem to win."
- Maul: " I only lost when I followed you, old man."
Beautiful.

- Dooku to Maul: "Let us go kill some Jedi together".
Interesting that he doesn't try and backstab Maul the first chance he gets...

Edit:
I'm just going to throw this in: Maul fights the stronger duo of Jedi. Granted, Dooku actually scores a kill whereas Maul only kicks Aalya, but given their respective histories, you would expect Maul to fight Obi-Wan and Dooku to fight Mace.
Also, when the Jedi board Maul's ship Obi-Wan mentions he can sense Maul's presence. But not Dooku's.

Is Maul stronger than Dooku?

 

If he is, I wouldn't take the bit of dialog you mentioned as an indication of it. Obi Wan and Maul are connected, they've fought against each other a lot, Maul hates Obi Wan for his defeat on Naboo, and I doubt that Obi Wan has forgotten what Maul did to Satine and Mandalore.

 

i really hope Maul's response to that was: "I will start with you then."

 

Was it just me, or was that particular Providence ship the Invisible hand, as opposed to the myriad of other ones we saw though out the series. It has a very similar paint job!

 

He already backstabbed Maul by opening Grievous' cell.

 

Before it even raises its ugly head, I will kill it with the only sensible answer possible. It depends on the circumstances.

 

Actually...
Tiplee was a Jedi Master (http://www.starwars.com/tv-shows/clone-wars/the-unknown-episode-gallery).
Aayla is a Jedi Knight.

Dooku easily had the more challenging pairing.

 

Spoiler

Man, Tiplee is such a redshirt face

 

"Come here, little Jedi...I have something to show you."

That...doesn't sound right, out of context. Even considering it's his lightsaber Dooku is referring to.

 

Especially since Dooku's lightsaber is extremely curved

 

Before when the EU was not Legends, I couldn't tell who was stronger. Now, well things change and told in the spirit of TCW anybody can be strong on any given day. Even Cad Bane can take Dooku out. I hope that Maul does die. If he doesn't this series is pointless. On the other end, this arc is just as important as the Order 66 and Yoda arc. A lot of canon changing events. The hardest part is that this changes the way you think Maul was and Dooku and what not. Now they are all panzies or cheap lackey's. Oh well can't wait for the finale. Want to see Talzoin do some super stuff