PT Why Didn't They Just Shoot Darth Maul?

His lightsaber was behind his back so they had very small window of opportunity to attack. It probably wouldn't have worked though.

 

The Jedi needed to engage Maul to see what he was about. If he was killed outright, then it would have been harder for the Jedi to ascertain if he was a Sith or not. The Jedi needed to fight Maul to judge his skill, power etc. It would tell them if he was a well trained well taught Sith, or some back woods self trained wanna-be Dark Warrior.

Once Maul revealed himself and made it clear he stood in the way of the Queen's attempt to take her planet back, then the Jedi's part in the liberation of Naboo had to turn to Maul. While the Queen's destiny was on a different path. It mirrored ANH when Obi Wan left Luke to go face Vader (the Sith), while Luke had to go do his own thing.

 

I think the music made them realize he wasn't someone to mess around with.

 

Because Maul would've killed them in retaliation, that's why. Qui-Gon knew they were no match for this Sith, so he told them that he and Obi-Wan would handle it. Padme wisely listened and took her crew on a detour.

 

lol can you imagine the buildup of that movie and then he just gets shot and they move on to fighting droids.

that's what Indy would do

 

Why didn't Han just shoot Vader?

Oh wait...

 

In Star Wars background grunts are contractually obligated to have poor aim, so they probably thought it wasn't even worth the effort of going through the motions.

 

Because Lucas would've been very very angry.

 

If Padme, Panaka, and the others had fired, he would have ignited his lightsaber reflected their shots back at them. Possibly killing them if Qui-Gon and Obi-Wan didn't ignite their lightsabers in time or Qui-Gon and Obi-Wan would have been killed themselves.

 

They should've just shot Maul, not that it would do any good whatsoever, but it would've given Ray Park another chance to show off his great stunt work. He could've been twirling that double saber like a serious BA, and maybe even throw some flips in there for good measure. They could've easily cut out a Jar Jar scene to accomodate for it.