How Powerful was Maul?

I agree with the posts above that Maul was a superior fighter but he was only muscle, not much brain or spirit.

This makes him the perfect apprentice from Sideous' perspective. There was a high risk of backstabbing from Tyranus and Vader, each of whom would have made a passable Sith Master. However, Maul did not seem to have the ambition to overthrow Sideous (who was obviously aware of the risk) nor the liklihood of developing such ambition.

Therefore Maul was probably Sideous' "Plan A" until he died.

 

Maul was perfect for what Sidious needed at that time: someone who could do his dirty work without asking any questions, someone who was loyal and wouldn't sell him out to the Senate or the Jedi, and someone who was a good fighter who could take out any snoopers, or work as a bodyguard/assassin/bounty hunter for Sidious. Hunting and fighting were his great abilities. When he died, Sidious made the perfect choice by picking Tyrannus, a noble with an impressive history and the ability to persuade others to do the bidding of Sidious.

 

I think Darth Maul had sufficent power and adequate knowledge of the dark side. But I don't think he was nearly as powerful as most Jedi on the Council. In the end he lost to a padawan learner. But Obi-Wan Kenobi was no ordinary padawan learner. He could have easily been a Jedi Knight before Episode I because of his supreme compentence and his skills.

But back to Lord Maul. He wasn't that powerful. Dooku and Anakin could have taken him out easily.

 

I think Maul would have bested most of the Knights and Masters of the Jedi Order. Kenobi and Jinn just happen to be your above average Jedi's. Being trained a Sith from birth and hatred of the Jedi instilled in him since the beginning, Maul used all of his hatred and rage when dueling the Jedi. But I like to think there was a thinker under all of those tatoos. Even though they cut his lines from th e movie. He saw the Jedi's plan when even Sidious could not on Naboo.

 

Weak, Jinn was just careless and Ben was young.

 

You guys are really underestimating Darth Maul here, he killed Qui-Gon Jinn for crying out loud. Qui-Gon was said to be one of the best swordsman in the Order!

He was very strong in the Force, you have to be in order to defeat a Jedi Master such as Qui-Gon.

Wake up people, Maul was an amazing fighter whether u liked him or not.

 

...and then got killed by a padawan.

I like Maul, and think he was poweful, but I'd rank him below most of the major Jedi & Sith characters of the saga.

 

Maul Beat Obi-Wan.

ARROGANCE killed Maul along with countless other Sith in the past millenium.

 

^ along with a slash from Obi-wan and not to mention a 100 foot fall

 

Maul still beat Obi-Wan. Take away the trick he wins.

As I said - say there wasn't Qui-Gon's saber for Obi-Wan to trick Maul with. He would have died.

Maul was an apprentice too at the time by the way.

 

The question is 'How powerful was Maul?' not who won the fight. Therefore contrary to the beliefs of many regarding Maul, I feel that he was not 'just an animal' - he was a very powerful, calculating and lethal dark force user.

This is plain to see throughout the whole fight sequence - if looking with the eyes of a Martial Artist - and particuarly by the way he plays with Qui-Gons fighting style when they near his moment of death. Darth Maul methodically tests every defence the Jedi Master has, then ruthlessly exposes and exploits the flaws in his saber technique with the combo that kills him.

He also remains composed enough to force repel Obi-Wan (a truely great Padawan), despite (or because of?) the fact that the angry young Jedi comes surging at him with an almost Sith-like fury. With such little screen time to go on, its always going to be speculation as to the exact level of power that Maul has at the time of TPM, but he certainly had enough to take on and defeat a Jedi Master with relative ease.

 

I agree with the commander, maul was deffinatelly methodically experianced and advanced. I read this book that was a prequel to the naboo occupation, maul was sent by Sideous on a mission and he ended up chasing a jedi padawan under the streets of coruscant and finding some wierd mythical creature that was unaffected by the force in any way ( meaning lightsabres were unaffective against the giant beast) and still maul got away with his life. So i think he was very powerful indeed. Only Qui-gon was better.

 

That book is "Darth Maul: Shadow Hunter" and it is a very good read. It takes place just prior to episode one.

 

Maul was a sensational duellist and about on par with Kenobi in power I think.

I don't think the force push meant anything. Obi was caught off guard by a dirty trick, that's all.

As for age, I read the illustrated screenplay waaaaaaaaaay back in 99 but I'm pretty sure Maul was 24 and Kenobi was 25.

 

"Maul was an apprentice too at the time by the way."

Darth Maul is an apprentice, true. But he is an apprentice to Sidious, a Sith Lord, and Maul is a Sith Lord as well. I would think a Sith Lord has more experience than a Jedi Padawan.

There is no doubt Darth Maul was one of the best duelists we've seen. But being powerful is not just about your saber wielding abilities, I believe it has a lot to do with your connection to the force.

I believe Obi-Wan did tap into the dark side in his duel with Maul, leaving him vulnerable for Maul's force push. But, afterwards when he is hanging on for dear life, he calls upon the light side of the force and divided Maul by two.

By calling on the light side of the force, Kenobi proved to be more powerful than Maul, IMO.

Also, I know this is not a Maul vs. Kenobi thread, but to measure Maul's power, what else do we have to go on besides his duels with others, right?

 

Maul was lot better swordsman than Obi-Wan.In the begining he underestimated him a bit,he thought that it will be just a piece of cake after Qui-Gon.Obi-Wan then surprised him with his anger that pushed Maul bit off-balance,but he won the sword fight after all.
He died at the end,so he lost,but it was because when he saw Obi-Wan jumping out he thought something like:,,What the hell that freak is trying?".If he knew his enemy is holding a lightsaber in his hands he would easyily kill him,but he didnt...

 

Had Maul survived to Episode 3 and continued training under Sidious, I think only Anakin, Yoda and Sidious would have been more powerful by that time. He was only in his 20s in TPM so its difficult to compare him to the likes of Mace, and Dooku, but the one person we can compare him to is Obi-Wan (considering there ages), and Maul is clearly (IMO) shown to be as powerful, if not more powerful since he pretty much beat him in the duel, than Obi-Wan. So you'd have to assume he'd continue to progress in a similar way to Obi-Wan, and be just as powerful by the time of ROTS. In ROTS Obi-Wan is the superior to Grievous, on the Council, and manages to best Anakin in a duel, so Maul would have been quite the threat.