Full Series Darth Maul: Son of Dathomir

Do you recall The Gathering, which had those 2 (or 3?) shots of young Ahsoka, during the opening narration? What a surprise it would be, if young Maul was portrayed during one of the SOD episodes (if they ever aired, I mean).

 

Luceno was able to add little bits of his Darth Plagueuis novel in the new canon with his "Tarkin", but now both Sidious and Maul have no backstory aside from what was presented on TCW

 

That's legends stuff- you're point sir is invalid!

 

And Darth Maul: Son of Dathomir. Maul looks pretty young in the flashback scene.

 

Forgive the lateness of my reply (I've only just now seen your post).

But you're absolutely right: In looking at this picture now, Maul almost can be seen as a dark side Sage. One who appears calm and collected; almost dispassionate.


Which is of course diametrically opposed to the usual Way of the Sith (both canon: "The Sith rely on their passion for their strength." and Legend: "...There is only passion. Through passion I gain strength.")


If we are reading the drawing correctly (and it is a very astute observation you folks have made), then this apparent evolution for Maul makes him a far more interesting character to me. And I use the term "evolution" purposefully, as we've yet to really see a Sith/former Sith who has developed beyond the need to passionately fuel their powers with base emotions such as fear, anger, hatred and lust. Though the Sith often appear entirely composed and refined on the outside, we find that, at their foundation, there is always that core emotion. For Sidious in ROTS, it was a lust for "unlimited power." Dooku in TCW betrays a strong sadistic streak. We know all about Vader's anger and his unrelenting campaign for order.

For Maul to have (potentially) found an altogether new way of tapping into the dark side is very intriguing prospect.

Or (and here's a real curve ball) perhaps Maul has abandoned his faith in the dark side and embraced a philosophy centered wholly upon the Magicks? Not saying I believe this, but after the events of SOD, you never know...

Thoughts? And remind me, other than this photo, what else do we know about this arc?

 

So when is this going to be reprinted? SoD is impossible to find in stores or online nowadays.

 

Yes, but as SOD and DD are part of the TCW yet.

I've mentioned similar stuff on Maul about the piece of art. He looks more like himself from TPM minus a hood.

 

It would be fitting for Maul to abandon the Sith and their use of the darkside and focus on the traditions of his culture on Dathomir. With the death of Ventress and the reenergizing of the Water of Life, there is potential for a post-DD rebuilding of the planet / culture. I'd like to see Maul explore Dathomir for other clans and unite a different kind of "army" for the next phase of his story. Perhaps with the journey Ventress took - his doesn't have to focus on revenge...

 

Interestingly, Maul's development seems to be paralleling that of Ventress. Both spent a long time under a Sith Lord's tutelage and were betrayed by their masters, both reconnected with their heritage and set out for revenge only to have it backfire and lead to the deaths of people they care about. Slowly but surely we saw Maul's fiery obsession with Kenobi disappear, during their meeting in SoD #3 he barely seems to care about him at all. He's also discarded the Sith virtue of selfishness; while he tried to depersonalize his connection with his brother he ultimately failed to do it, and went on to embrace his love for Talzin, his sole remaining relative, instead of spurning it like he attempted to do with Savage. He was even willing to give his own life for Talzin when she was struggling under Sidious and Dooku's onslaught which certainly speaks volumes, and he seems to show awareness that the Sith way is the wrong one for him when he tells Sidious "I only lost when I followed you, old man."

Having been through so much loss, perhaps like Ventress his lust for power and vengeance will follow, and he'll lose Mandalore not because he falls in battle but because he's already given up the fight in his mind. As Talzin's chosen

Spoiler: MAJOR Dark Disciple spoiler

and the sole surviving being from Dathomir,

Maul is the only chance the culture has to survive, and if he's able to commune with her spirit then perhaps he abandons the Clone Wars in favor of restarting their culture, maybe even following in her footsteps and becoming a Shaman. Or...maybe I'm thinking too far here. In any case, I don't think they chose the title "Son of Dathomir" without reason.

Also, regarding the Dark Side and magicks,

Spoiler: minor Dark Disciple spoiler

It's laid out pretty explicitly in Dark Disciple that the Nightsisters do in fact use the Dark Side, with most Dathomirians at least having some connection to the Force, but the difference between their philosophy and that of the Sith is that the Nightsisters use the Dark Side as a tool rather than letting it consume them. That seems to be what they were going for with Ventress, and I wouldn't be at all surprised if Maul followed.

EDIT: Wow, ninja'd by Mother_Talzin herself, haha.

 

Destroying the Sith and abandoning it and/or reforming it are however not the same thing . We have The Son, that acts as a proto-Maul and in the same fashion. He's out to destroy the Sith and Jedi but he is Sith despite that he claimed to be both yes and now - in the storyline he was being groomed by two of the most powerful Dark Lords that ever existed, Darth Revan and Darth Bane and despite being cut out/non-canon that fact exists none the less. Maul would not abandon the Sith , because he a Sith as much as Sidious is. Talzin fondly described Maul to Dooku as a "Sith warrior" as if he was some great legend, and Dooku described Maul in a similar manner to Opress later on " the great sith Lord Darth Maul". If Maul developed new powers and abilities by way of Talzin somehow, then he'd use those powers to destroy Sidious and the any Jedi that get in his way to create his own Sith order. Its not like he's gonna recreate Nightsisters and all the Nightbrothers were wiped out And he's always described as a Sith throughout the SOD comic. What is apparent is he's out now to create a order to do that he'd need to destroy Sidious. Before that, Maul seems to have wanted to regain Sidious' favor, he was still in the mindset of the apprentice. By SOD there is no longer any delusions or chains binding him. Maul is Darth, and the last true lineal Sith, a fact which I don't think would be lost upon him as he does not recognize Sith pretenders, Dooku or any corrupted Jedi traitor turned Sith).




Problem was Talzin never involved Ventress with Maul. The Nightsisters without Talzin or perhaps Old Daka, were not really Force wielders, they needed Talzin and the water of life(who in some manner is lifeforce connected to it), we saw that in the toon. Ventress is different as she was a wielder of the Force and looked to be the only female that could be like Talzin potential wise and ability wise. Ventress would've been a more ideal ally than even Savage who needed to be built and trained and by his own admission was not a worthy apprentice as he was not born like Maul. Ventress also almost got herself killed going up again both him and Savage , I don't think Talzin would've been angry had either Maul or Savage killed her for getting in their way. Talzin while motherly to Ventress, would not hesitate to throw her under the bus as the actress that voiced Talzin stated in an interview once. We figure Talzin knew Maul was alive for years, monitored him with her crystal ball, yet had to wait around for Ventress to come drop out've the sky after decades to go choose Opress just so she could bring him before her as if it all the stars and moons were aligned - there is no satisfactory explanation over why she waited or why Talzin herself could not locate Maul or Savage even. Surely she could've walked into the Nightbrother camp and found a living male son in either Feral or Savage, was not like they kept hidden. In SOD its revealed in fact the male vs female clan stuff was a sham and probably rumor deception created by Talzin herself to keep hidden her secrets. Talzin controlled the Nightbrothers but she never used them during the 1st battle of Dathomir. Brother Viscus and the Nightbrothers guarded her true source of power, and its alluded by Brother Viscus had served Talzin before as knew that the process of reforming herself would put her in a weakened state.


Talzin didnt bother to hang around when Maul awoke after she exorcised his mind , which implies simply he had his own course to follow and Talzin is acting in a more astral manner, on different plane than mere mortals and not confined to constraints of mortals completely as she's basically immortal. There was no grand plan with her. Just bring Maul back would accomplish two things, one was to kill Dooku and two, Maul her son would reclaim his Sith Apprentice status . If there was a third option, perhaps she would've returned to Maul in a manner similar to Ventress using Savage to kill Dooku, to kill Sidious and they'd rule the galaxy together or she would present herself to Sidious and attempt a co-rule of the Galaxy which is really typical Sith stuff either way. In the EU book, Talzin went to rescue Maul fearing Sidious betrayed their pact, when it turned out Sidious had not betrayed their pact, Talzin and Sidious parted applicably. Maul would also not betray Sidious out've fear and loyalty but he did save Talzin and aided her when she wa wounded. But that book is now, non-canon. But some of it makes some more sense in the fill the gaps left by the series/SOD.

We do know Maul wanted to create a new order out've the roots of Dathomir in SOD . The Nightbrothers appear to have factored into his scheme and Talzin too, apparently she also harbored galactic conquest herself or to simply aid her son in his agenda for Sith dominance - she was essentially occupying position of Sith Master to Maul being second but the relationship was that of a master and servant but of a mother and son, she more resembles a more proactive Old Ben/Ghost Obi Wan with Maul basically being a darkside equivalent of Starkiller/Luke manifestation at this point in the storyline.





We do not know the relationship between the Nightsisters and the Sith, from the few details in TCW, the Sith and Nighsisters were allies at one point, "the old alliance" that Dooku spoke of. Talzin herself was allied with Sidious, the details of that relationship are unknown . Ventress failed in trying to teach the darkside to Vos because Vos like Maul and even Ventress were not Nightsisters. Ventress was taken onto coven very late and for a very brief time, she lived far away served as a Jedi, then a fallen Jedi to Sith Disciple/Apprentice. Maybe females have a greater immunity to the darkside's adverse effects or simply the religions and practices are different. Talzin is clearly malevolent, but not to the extreme as Sidious, there was some human emotions of compassion and love which is shared with Maul and Anakin and Ventress. Dooku is more like Sidious, does not love nor has any compassion and out entirely for himself. So we do not really know if its a Sith vs Nightsister thing, but more grounded in the individual.

Maul would focus loss of loved ones into a weapon and direct it at his enemies like true Sith of old, he's not one one who is gonna go mope in exile out've choice - we already seen an exiled and isolation induced madness Maul back on Lotho Minor. If they're truly maturing and evolving the character then he should be back to his TPM/Dark Horse Star Wars: Darth Maul style self by the later season and far away from the "mad" Maul of Lotho.



Problem with Maul going back to Mandalore to regroup is bit hard to believe, as Sidious already walked in there by himself during the civil war, which is still in effect apparently, and made short work of Death Watch soldiers plus the Jedi are aware that Maul is controlling Death Watch and Mandalore. While so far the Republic has not diverted their resources into invading Mandalore prior to SOD which took place some time after Lawless. In DD we witness another catastrophe debacle with Vos and the failed capture or assassination of Dooku or Sidious even. The Jedi task force also failed in capturing or denting Maul and SOD and DD take place within the same timeframe. Windu and Kenobi didnt come out looking too good and they lost yet another Jedi in the process. The Jedi would be well aware now that there is atleast 3 Sith Lords roaming around after the events of DD - unless the Jedi's intel was that Maul died on Dathomir but there is no mention of Maul or the SOD events in DD to get an idea of the aftermath of SOD which the way it ended in the comic implies ROTS and the Sidious' Empire . While I could see Palpatine creating a "volunteer" Clone force to go "liberate" Mandalore from a Separatist invasion its unclear how that would work being that Tano is no longer a Jedi Knight and she herself had suspicions about the Republic unless she's still fooled by Palpatine who kept in contact with her and the Clone troops turn on her after the planet falls. It is possible Almec and some of Death Watch mutinied and turned on Maul/Death Watch after the events of SOD as its unknown how many Death Watch soldiers there was on Mandalore and if those soldiers were actually Death Watch or Almec paid goons . Maul and his most loyal were away fighting a crusade . I don't really see Maul digging in on Mandalore even if he has amassed a large army despite the absence of Black Sun, Hutts or Pyke reserves and manpower that is tactically dangerous and would be amateurish.. He would be a sitting duck there from either Separatists or Republic invasion. I'd wager he had something planned.

But unlear how that arc tied into ROTS or post ROTS to set him Lucas's new animated series that had preliminary designs on.

 

This is awesome. I know some would hate it, but I would love it if it turned out that way. Personally, I favor Asajj over Maul as a character and think she's more likely to have redeeming qualities. But who knows? Maul was abused as a kid and there are many times abuse victims bounce back and become a force for good against what hurt them instead of becoming the thing that they feared. I can see all you said being the end result of the story of Darth Maul: Shadow Hunter in a way. Personally, I think the most logical thing would be if Maul sacrificed himself for...Asajj. Like he can't save what's left of Dathomir himself but he can at least give his life to protect Asajj from being killed by Sidious. After all, Asajj in TCW is, while still dark, an antihero who is softened by hardships. That makes her stronger, and deep down, perhaps old Maul could recognize that. Thanks for sharing!

 

Talzin could've transformed Ventress into that " Darth Vindicaa" of infinities:

Spoiler

https://31.media.tumblr.com/1a7d66b...tumblr_inline_n3qvbecahr1r6cutm.jpg[/spoiler]

But instead she chose Savage whom she pumped in nearly half her power into and the rest in defending the coven and healing Maul. So it seems more wanted Maul to have his brother, and not that interested in Ventress' personal revenge, if it succeeded fine if not whatever there is always this major plan in effect deal.



Talzin's failing to obtain the great power on Zardossa Stix made it impossible for her to defeat Sidious, who had unlimited inner power. That seemed to be the big difference between them, and the one that cost Talzin in the end she was drained. She did not completely absorb Dooku either. Maul has unlimited natural power, as did Ventress as they're more conventional. Talzin's Force powers are different, they're limited. Maul would not be interested in the culture of Dathomir, as he was not brought up in it, he was raised as a Sith nor is it likely he'd make males slaves to females . What was simply more likely was that Talzin had she consumed Dooku completely , she would've have enough power to create an army of Savage Opress-like Force powered warriors for Maul to lead alongside Mandalorians and the rest of the Shadow Collective and/or she could've used her powers to enhance Maul. Nightsisters are indeed wiped out since Grievous's invasion and they did not factor into Talzin's scheme at this point nor is there any mention of them.

Any knowledge Maul may of obtained from Talzin would be like what Sidious obtained. Sidious's magic was blue like his lightning, its theoretically possible that Talzin taught Sidious how to use and manipulate his Force powers, but Sidious's powers are very similar but somewhat different than Talzin's, including different color. The Nightsisters powers flow from Dathomir through apparently Talzin who is basically some sorta primitive earth chthonic goddess . The Son had red lightning, different from both Sidious and Talzin. Its possible Dooku's lightning comes from Sidious, something he gave him, perhaps he made Dooku drink his blood or something, to placate him into joining him, and why his lightning is blue as well or all Sith use blue lightning. Canon today us very limited, but that could explain why Maul had no knowledge of lightening while Dooku did. But its unlikely Talzin passed on anything, otherwise Maul would've unleashed his own Force storm against Sidious and Dooku(and Grievous even).

There is no reason for Maul to sacrifice himself for anybody, save for Opress or Talzin, both are dead or himself . In SOD Maul was willing to sacrifice his life for Talzin, but that also mainly just so she'd be destroy Sidious his arch enemy. He just wanted him dead no matter the cost, he was ready to go charging back in there to save or die along Talzin.

Ventress was out trying to kill Savage, and in Maul by default. If they were gonna ally Maul with Ventress it should've happened much earlier on or if he saved Ventress from Dooku i t woud've been a more interesting pairing than Vos or Kenobi. However Ventress stopped being the victim when he turned Savage into a slave and murderous monster forcing him to commit heinous crimes for her petty desire for revenge. And instead of kindness and forgiveness she again sought to kill.

Maul has been shown naturally growing in power(and he appear to have throughout the series and in SOD) but he's really an underdog as he massive enemies and he's a player in the galactic game. Seems he's more a wild card. I could see him going Moraband and finishes his Sith training through the hidden books, hieroglyphs , scrolls and such. Not sure they'd use Sith Spirits of some kind - unless storygroup and Lucas had intended to reserve such things for the future, seems pretty flimsy not to have Sith Spirits but yet have all powerful shrine. But its possible he can commune with Talzin now that the water of life is restored through Ventress's body and blood -whether this means Talzin in return is restored or Ventress replaced her or just that water of life is green instead of black like oil remains to be seen.

 

Just basically almost finished collecting the variant covers of issue 1. I have all cept the #1 Las Vegas Retailer Summit version, one with full body pose . Fun series, but too damn short, the covers were really cool.

 

Okay, I don't know why I haven't mentioned this before but rereading issue 4 I noticed something really odd.



Here Viscus talks about how Dooku is going to pay for Sidious's crimes. Maul then prays to Talzin and her first words are "My son is right, Count--it is time to eliminate everything that gives Sidious power."

Which "son" is Talzin referring to, again? Maul didn't say anything about Dooku or Sidious in this scene. The only person who did was...Brother Viscus.

Is Viscus also one of Talzin's children? Could explain why he's the leader of the Nightbrothers--he isn't in any danger of being slaughtered during the Selection. And as Talzin's son he would know about her crypt or "heart" here and be the one responsible for maintaining her power through sacrificing living beings. But it seems weird to just throw that revelation out like that with no prior buildup.

Y'know I really miss the TCW episode guides on Starwars.com. They would often provide clarification on stuff like this but for the Legacy material we're stuck theorizing in circles on stories that we know have content left out of them giving us an incomplete picture of what was originally intended.

 

I noticed it, too, but the cheese stood alone. :/ Until now! Here's the thing: is Talzin a literal mother to Maul? As in, she gave birth to him?

Since she has a title, Mother Talzin, I wondered if she was the birth mother of all the Nightsisters and -brothers. That's probably not the case. (I happen to think Talzin died long ago, she's just a zombie.) So does everyone refer to her as Mother as a sign of respect? Probably.

There's also the possibility that she is an ancestor to them all. Have you read Anne Rice's Vampire Chronicles? Akasha was the mother of all vampires, and I see a similarity with Talzin. Maybe, through various degrees, they all could be Talzin's children.

A confusing detail is what Talzin said about Daka, "oldest and wisest." Was she, Daka, the oldest living Nightsister?

 

Maybe they mixed up the dialogue, between characters from transition from script to comic?! Well they're all inbred on Dathomir and calling eachother brother, sister and all referring to Talzin as Mother and Talzin could be referring to Viscus in the same way, but again they're inbred.

Nightsisters didnt interest Maul, and its doubtful Viscus was kept abreast of things pertaining to Maul and Savage, he knew of only the Nighsister masscare and maybe Sidious's betrayal of Talzin decades in the past. Maul and Death Watch had plans to conquer the galaxy after they eliminated Sidious. So seems more to do with what Maul said, "Diviner of truth and deliver of justice, as its basically a continuation of the conversation back in issue #3, when Maul was talking about destroying Sidious and that he was weaker and Talzin awoke and enlightened him to the truth. Remember when Maul came back he stll kinda worshiped Sidious and admired him and wanted to return to being the Apprentice he once was. Sidious needs an apprentice to give him strength, its that same symbiotic bond Jedi share between master and padawan, but with someone like Sidious its more vampiric as he needs to be feared and revered as a God-like being and he feeds off it.

 

Both the nightsisters and nightbrothers are all her "children". Not in the literal sense, but in a respectful/hierarchical way.

By the way, has anyone been checking the prices for this comic? They are asking fortunes. Is it out of print already?

 

I don't think Marvel has printed them yet.

 

This was the last SW work published by Dark Horse.

 

I though Marvel was starting to reprint dark horse stuff.

 

Marvel has reprinted some stuff. Beginning Dark Times era stuff, KOTOR comics, Post ROTJ stuff, Pre TPM stuff or will with this one.

 

I wonder how they'll adapt whatever was planned for Maul after the episodes that were adapted into SOD. We saw concept art of Maul in his Sith robes.

 

I tend to believe that Maul is the only literal son of Talzin, and while he and Savage were brothers, they likely didn't share the same mother, or that would have been made evident when Talzin "inspected" Savage for the first time. While she is indeed Mother to all the Nightbrothers and Nightsisters, its a title - as we've seen in the Dune novels, and even in some actual religious orders on Earth. Considering Talzin is ancient, I don't feel Daka was even necessary in the series - they likely just didn't want Talzin to be capable of everything, because it would make her look more powerful than Sidious - though they already made them equals in many ways.

 

We have our first piece of evidence regarding Savage's parentage.

Spoiler

A factoid from Star Wars: Absolutely Everything You Need to Know! states that "Opress and Maul's mother gave them their first tattoos before their first birthday!"

 

I'm inclined to believe this, as well.

I'm glad I don't have as many tats as Maul or Savage.