What was the purpose of Darth Maul?

He was introduced because he should track down
Queen Amidala. Why should he find her?
It didn't matter if she would sign the treaty
or not. Palpatine already established
mistrust into the political structure of the
republic (incapable senate).

Then Maul was sent to Naboo. Why? The Queen
already presented the motion of no confidence .
Palpatine already reached his goal.


-> Maul's actions were useless.
And Palpatine/Sidious looks somehow dumb
because he instructed Maul to do so.

 

i think GL just wanted a cool looking bad guy so we could have some nice saber action. nothing more nothing less.

 

to quote a great article on the criticism of AOTC by David Begor....Maul is an "allegorical figure meant to represent emotional and psychological aspects of other characters". Don't be so quick to dismiss Maul as a character with no purpose, you must look a little deeper to see the mythical aspects to the Star Wars Saga.

 

Ah yes, mystical...

Those mystical moneybags...


-GAT

 

What was the purpose of Darth Maul?

[image=http://s1-images.amazon.com/images/A/Y03Y5268332Y7235550.0001.04.LZZZZZZZ.jpg]

 

Why did they need Maul?

1. They needed two sith to help explain how Ani balances the Force in RotJ. It would have been too early to have Dooku, they would have been getting ahead of themselves if they did throw him in there.

2. Someone had to kill Qui Gon, so Obi could train Ani and so they could help build Obi's character. Qui Gon had to be killed by a sith. It would have been a lot less effective if Qui Gon died in an accident or in a space fight. There had to be a dramatic heroic death for him. Something to make him more of a hero to Obi. You get what I mean?

3. They also needed a really cool bad guy to make action figures for and to show off an awesome lightsaber battle.

Just my two cents...

EDIT: Speeling

 

Darth bozo was there as a token badguy. Amidala had NOT presented the no-confidence vote--that didn't happen until after they left tatooine.

He was, largely, unnecessary, just as (I can see the hatemail coming for this) QuiGon was.
Imagine this rewrite:

OB1, having just passed the trials, is sent on a diplomatic mission. He's a young knight, but this is a simple enough matter, and should be a good trip for him to cut his teeth on while they ready an apprentice for him to train.
Trade Federation tries to kill him. He escapes and smuggles himself down to the planet, makes his way on his own to the palace, rescues the queen, they escape to tatooine, and find a young teenager (about 12-14) who is willing to help them. Podrace, freeing slaves, blah blah blah, all the rest of the stuff leading up to the big fight. OB1 gets to do all the things that QGJ did. Anakin is a kick-ass pilot who deliberately blows up the TF ship from the inside. The Queen hunts down the Viceroy. THe VR has kick-ass bodyguards who make it a really tough fight, even for the young Jedi. The main droid army is up against a rag-tag group of mercenaries hired by the queen, and the soldiers and citizen militia that formed a resistance while the queen was gone.
Impressed by Anakin's abilities, OB1 goes against the council's wishes, and begins training Anakin. Roll Credits.

See? Both the black clown and the sr jedi are superfluous.

This is not to say that Liam Neeson did a bad job, just that the character wasn't necessary.

 

Of course, everyone is going to tell you he's necessary only because he and Qui-gon are in the movie, as though it couldn't progress in any other way. There really won't be any other logic than "it had to happen" this way, even though it really didn't. "He had to die for Anakin to be taken by Obi-wan." No, you provided another feasible way that would have not resulted in the problems we have today.

 

Maybe Sidious has to be consistent in front of the guys of the Trade Federation.

So that Sidious didn't arouse suspicion that he only plays with them.

He had to do something.

 

You may as well say "What was the point of Chewbacca?"

You can't just have a cast of about 3 people per film, just because the main stuff happens to them. Maul's a supporting character. He's an example of the more animalistic element of the Dark Side, a worthy opponent to kill a Jedi Master like Jinn, and a way for Kenobi to get instant Jedi street-cred.

 

TPM isn't that great of a movie. That's why we needed something to look forward to at the end(and not a 10 year old accidentally defeating a battleship).

 

You may as well say "What was the point of Chewbacca?"

You can't just have a cast of about 3 people per film, just because the main stuff happens to them. Maul's a supporting character. He's an example of the more animalistic element of the Dark Side, a worthy opponent to kill a Jedi Master like Jinn, and a way for Kenobi to get instant Jedi street-cred.

Chewbacca wasn't a throw-away character like Maul, Jinn, and eventually Dooku. His role stayed small while Maul was the visible villain of the film doing the bidding of the hidden villain.

 

You're surely not gonna try to argue that Maul had a load of screen time? I think even Boba had more in ESB.

Supporting character, minor screen time. Great extended scene at the end, but then that was his reason for existance in this film.

 

Yes, he had a pathetic amount of screen time, and as the visible villain it simply isn't enough. That's why he's a throw-away.

 

the hidden purpose of darth maul was to introduce the offical lucas perspectve of the sith order. IMHO

chewie was used to show that han was more than just a self-centered sumggler even before he met luke and ben.

 

His purpose was to kill jedi. If Obi Wan hadn't killed him, he'd have killed Obi Wan.
Nothing in the film was a threat to the Jedi but Maul, and he killed Obi Wan's master, showing Obi Wan Experiencing loss and giving Obi a reason to lose his temper and give in to hate, but Obi Wan controlled himself and overcame his emotions and defeated the threat.

You have to look at characters in relation tho other characters and what they mean to the big scheme of things.

 

Well Darth Maul in Episode 1 was to kill Qui-Gon to have the story going on, and so Obi-Wan would become a Jedi Knight. He was to track down Queen Amidala too so the plans would work.

 

Imagine this rewrite:

OB1, having just passed the trials, is sent on a diplomatic mission. He's a young knight, but this is a simple enough matter, and should be a good trip for him to cut his teeth on while they ready an apprentice for him to train.
Trade Federation tries to kill him. He escapes and smuggles himself down to the planet, makes his way on his own to the palace, rescues the queen, they escape to tatooine, and find a young teenager (about 12-14) who is willing to help them. Podrace, freeing slaves, blah blah blah, all the rest of the stuff leading up to the big fight. OB1 gets to do all the things that QGJ did. Anakin is a kick-ass pilot who deliberately blows up the TF ship from the inside. The Queen hunts down the Viceroy. THe VR has kick-ass bodyguards who make it a really tough fight, even for the young Jedi. The main droid army is up against a rag-tag group of mercenaries hired by the queen, and the soldiers and citizen militia that formed a resistance while the queen was gone.
Impressed by Anakin's abilities, OB1 goes against the council's wishes, and begins training Anakin. Roll Credits.

See? Both the black clown and the sr jedi are superfluous

ah, no
1)There is no Jar Jar, an annoying yet pivotal character it ATOC.
2)A 12-14 ace fighter pilot whoe's never been in a ship before, that's the same lameness that was originally wriiten.
3) No central Antagonist or real threat to the main characters
4)No background into Obi-wans training or why he sees things the way he does.
5) It makes the confrontation with Dooku in ATOC less meaningful
6)The Jedi council already thought Anakin was to old to train at age 10. No way would they allow Obiwan to train him at 14.
7) your climatic final battle is between a Jedi and some hired thugs.
8)untrained people and some mercenaries who will break and run at the first sign the battles not going their way. Would get crushed by the droid army. Just Like the Jedi did in ATOC.


Darth Maul was the central bad guy for the first movie. YEs Sidious was pulling the strings but with out Maul there was no real threat to the hero's

Maul was sent back to Naboo not only to take care of Padme. Palpatine would use her death to gain even more power from the senate through sympathy. But he was also sent back to tie up the loose ends. Those being Qui gonn and Obiwan. He releveled himself to those two Jedi so he really did need to kill them.

Darth MAul was the essence of evil that Vader couldn't be in Return of the Jedi.
He was in the movie to establish the mood and mindset of the sith. Remember the last movie to come out before TPM portrayed Vader as actually having a soft spot for his son. MAul was the opposite of that he was there to show you what evil really is.
So see the "Black clown" was not superflous. He could have been made to look different if he was to scary for you but that role had to be filled by some one.

 

I've said it once, and I'll say it again...

MONEY BAGS!


Interview from Lucas:

Me: What was the purpose of Darth Maul?

Lucas: Well, he was the main, central figure of opposition to the Jedi. Say, do you like my bag? It's made of MONEY!

Me: Er that's nice, but what about--

Lucas: Did I mention my hat? Look at my hat, it's made of MONEY! So are my clothes! Do you like MONEY?

Me: Uh, getting back to the-

Lucas: Oh! Did I show you my wallet? It's full of MONEY!

-GAT

 

" Then Maul was sent to Naboo. Why?" Well...the Jedi returns to Naboo. Then Sidious sends his apprentice to kill them.

 

well...just another useless thread... in fact i'm going to start a thread on 'what was the purpose of the what was the purpose of darth maul'.

see? now doesnt that sound exciting... it'll at least make sense. as this ******* thread doesnt!!!!!!!

 

Someone doesn't like having Episode I questioned.

 

Purpose of Darth Maul?

Three words: Eye candy and merchandising

That pretty much sums up Lucas's style of directing and writing the Prequels.
®?

 

Wow money and eye candy. How very original.
Did you people think these up all by yourselves.
I doubt it.

No matter how much you dislike the character or the movie for the plot to work there had to be a central driving force to direct the actions of the Protagonists.

 

Every bit as original as "The Dark Side Clouds All"