TV Discussion Filoni gave us a tragic Darth Maul

Now, in terms of scope, I do comprehend the critiques that Maul's story was sometimes not given enough focus. Additionally, they did speed through some of his arcs. Even so, I believe Filoni gave us a tragic Darth Maul. That doesn't mean we ought to feel sorry for him. But if you think about it, wouldn't he have been happier as a Force-wielder who could have done what he desired instead of being traumatized by Darth Sidious?

Anyhow, James Luceno presented Darth Maul as worrying what would have happened if his master was killed. Maul knew that he couldn't be a politician. Well, obviously. Heh. But what happened to Maul is not unlike what happened to Zannah: child abuse. And it wasn't his fault. But what he chose to do as an adult was his fault. Plain and simple.



Anyhow, transitioning away from the EU and back into the TV-verse, this dude summarizes how Maul is portrayed in the shows and Disney canon. He's now not that different than Anakin/Vader. His trying to heal himself in the wrong way, and he doesn't know how to do so. And unlike Vader, he never finds a Luke who will help him to redeem himself. So, yeah, we obviously can't feel sorry for the guy. He killed Satine and many other innocent beings, including kids. But if you look at his intelligence and skill set, if he had been a good person, he would've used these talents for something positive instead of all this chaos. I imagine you'll dig what I mean.

 

As Freddie Prinze said, Maul is Sisyphus. Sometimes he'll get the boulder farther and farther up the mountain, but it will keep rolling back down at him. Maul did have some success as a Sith Lord and later former Sith/Crime Lord. But his life is full of failure and loss.
Maul getting revived has made him way more interesting. To be fair, I didn't read Maul-focused Legends material before he gets cut in half.

 

I watched the Maul mandalore arc yesterday. And Obi-Wan says to Maul "I know where you're from. I've been to you're village. I know the decision to join the dark side wasn't your's." Maul snaps and gets into a rage as usual, but to me it seems like he truly knew this but just couldn't accept it.

 

I think he was made a more tragic character which is a little different from all the other Darths, except Vader of course.

In a way I guess he is a bit like the manifestation of the "internal" pain and anger of the Sith, but still follows the Sith path even after being excluded/shunned by those he aligned with.

So he does not seek redemption or forgiveness for any harm he has caused - partly because he's never been shown it and partly because he doesn't want it.

 

Maul in the Clone Wars has done so mutch for his character then anything before. Fans in the past depated wether he was a true sith lord or just an assassin. Clone Wars awnsered that, he was a true sith lord as Palpatine trained him in all things. He was like a mini Palpatine, in the clone wars when he later his plans to take over Mandalore and the criminal syndicates. Darth plagueis was likley killed before TPM in canon. We get his backstory later on and learned he was kidnapped by Palpatine from his mother at young age from Dathomir. He was abused and tortured to become the perfect weapon and sith. He was then forgotten and disgarded by Palpatine.

He lost his brothers and mother to the sith, his family of nightsisters. No longer any connections. He becomes islolated in Mandalore and becomes a more crime lord then a sith lord. He loses Mandalore and its warriors, he builds his criminal empire in rise of the empire. He plans to take fight to the empire again with but fails and flees to Malachor, he finds new strenght and gets new connection with Ezra. He finds out Kenobi lives and has his last fight, dying hoping the sith will end in Kenobi’s arms. He is a very tragic character who never gets his redemption, but is as yo close to it in death with Kenobi.

 

Lucas chose to bring Maul back and give him bigger story , not Filoni who was against bringing him back and even on the record of wanting to kill him off again in Season V but Lucas said no. Lucas' had plans for Maul beyond The Clone Wars . Maul was was to be the Darth Krayt of the saga. And in actuality he even kills Krayt and supplanted him in the video game set to some out before the ST. Filoni's version in Rebels was just a then closing of a TCW chapter. Lucasfilm had no plans for Maul since Lucasfilm didnt know what they were doing in the Disney ST with the making it up as they go along to eventually choosing to pastiche Dark Empire for their end. Lucas was completely discarded and out by then, so his ST did not matter by 2014 or beyond. Maul's story got reopened by the Kasdans for Solo movie, which would also effect retroactively the Ahsoka novel and Rebels.


Maul has very acute mental and telepathic Force powers and able to predict the future and sense shatterpoints. He also displays a form of Mind Walking and travel beyond the shadows abilities seen in Legends/EU. He's a master of Force deflection which is rare ability, with very few outside of the Palpatine or Skywalker bloodline are able to do this. Maul was able to consume essence off of Kenobi on Naboo and even on Mandalore, where he fed off the anger and pain. His survival from using Sith techniques taught to him by Darth Sidious already places Dark transfer within his ability, especially even considering such power was known to the Nightsisters of Maul background.

Maul's character is way more complex. They even made it a point, everytime you see the character hes different. Maul is ever the showman. On Rebels was aloof, mysterious and deliberately playing with the audience, right up until the very end when Kenobi embraces Maul and they patch things up for a Light Side-like goodbye ending. Even during that stare down Maul already said he was not interested in killing Kenobi. He does goad Kenobi into getting angry and a duel. First by using Ezra as bait earlier to lore out Kenobi, and then Maul would get Kenobi to act by mentioning Luke. Whom Maul realized to be the Chosen One, like Kenobi has. Maul preferred to have been killed by Kenobi than the Sith or die of old age and dark side madness and go into oblivion. There was no reason for Kenobi to embrace Maul like that, unless Kenobi realized what Maul did. Kenobi would also go onto give Maul a Jedi honorable funeral pyre which would not be something a Jedi would give a villain like Maul unless Kenobi respected Maul as a brother in the Force.

Maul also controlled the situation on Malachor and he manipulated the Jedi into doing what he wanted. He was initially gonna set off the device to wipe everyone out in the galaxy in his end game. But he changes gears and tactics when he befriends Ezra, where its more about the boy whom he saved a few times. Maul would also later choose to merge the holocron to gain a clarity of vision and gain the powers by doing something like this. His purpose in the Rebels storyline changes from an apparently suicidal maniac to someone now embracing a larger picture. He realizes that neither he nor Ezra or anyone can destroy the Sith, its been elusive. But the cosmic will of the Force now centers on The Chosen One.




Its important to note that the Ahsoka novel was changed. Maul's story was altered by Filoni to more match the mastermind reborn Sith Lord we see in SOLO, not the desperate and lonely Maul the outcast of Rebels and which follows only the Maul of the Ahsoka novel, which was Filoni's original irritation of his TCW end arc . Its not until well after Maul returned in SOLO and TCW got the previously unthinkable renewal for proper closure and potential future of new storylines . Maul in Season 7 of TCW is once again back to being extremely powerful and playing the game against his former master, he's just one step behind him. Unlike Rebels, they acknowledge the events of the comic bookized TCW storyline of Son of Dathomir which contains some of the best of Maul(and Talzin).

Maul in Son of Dathomir is revealed that he and Mother Talzin were in a much tighter alliance and always planned on Maul being bait to lore out Sidious. It was always the intention that Talzin would destroy Sidious with her power. She was set back after the Windu and Jar Jar interfered on Bardotta. She also initially used up much of her power restoring Maul back to health earlier on, which was why she needed the sphere of lifeforce . Maul could also channel Mother Talzin at will. So he was never alone. Talzin also refused Maul's request to drain his lifeforce so she could destroy Sidious. She chose her son over their shared hatred and revenge for Sidious. Maul would on plotting and building his empire, which is essentially a darker version of the Rebel Alliance.

Maul had dreams and visions of the future. He saw what would pass. He orchestrated the events of Mandalore in an attempt to destroy Sidious would be apprentice and disrupt the grand plan. He set Death Watch free from his command. He also compared his release of them to them releasing him from Stygion prison under Sidious back in Son of Dathomir. Maul was in control the entire time. He had a plan to survive the chaos, which did not include him running Mandalore anymore. He also told Death Watch if they die they shall die as warriors and those that survive they must now seize their own destiny and whatever power they can in the future.

Maul changed his plans when Ahsoka showed up on Mandalore instead of Anakin & Kenobi. He's highly cunning and adaptable and able to create new plans on the spot and have contingency plans within plans, which is part of his training as a Sith Lord and his intellect. He preferred her joining him rather than him killing her. He came close in making her an apprentice, but she was too shifted and tainted by Anakin,where she fought for him and the Jedi/Republic thus choosing in disbelieving Maul's prophetic vision where she'd end up ultimately in the wrong. Ahsoka also had an attachment to Rex, she goes off to save him from his programming, while she does free Maul, she does so only under some level of guilt but also chooses self survival and she again she makes the wrong choice as picks to still cling to her attachments, to Rex and the Clones and to Anakin . She would choose to leave Maul to die at the ends of the Clones unarmed, but she underestimated his true power and abilities.

Maul was holding back in killing Ahsoka right up to the end, while she made one final effort in stopping him again after he wiped out the clones and the ship, by trying to cut off his head. Ahsoka was indecisive on what she wanted, she wanted to play in the middle. It was not until Rebels did she realize and accept that Anakin had turned and where she'd fight to avenge her former master. she also would then proclaim she was no Jedi after Vader scolding her for it not being the Jedi way.


We also learn that Maul saw through Sidious and sought to protect his mother from Sidious at an early age, but his mother was manipulated by her evil ally Sidious - whom she was promised to co-rule the galaxy with. She made some very bad choices, because she had her own ambitions and she misunderstood or underestimated her own son's power. And she failed to see what Maul could, that Sidious was truly evil and using her. Sidious did not fail to see Maul's raw natural power, he saw what she could not . Maul awareness about Sidious and his revenge against him goes back to the very beginning of his life. Sidious picks Maul precisely because Maul is a powerhouse in the Force. His story is similar to Anakin's, but he's more self-aware. Maul's anger and revenge on the Jedi is also is not entirely Sidious' doing under the Sith, rather Maul came to despise the Jedi because they never came to Dathomir for him for reasons unknown. On Dathomir Maul's natural ability & power was already feared by the Nightsisters. Maul like Anakin, wanted to be Jedi at a very early age. Shmi and Talzin despite opposites in class and life, but were equally naive and failed in protecting their children, but Maul and Anakin would end up used by the Dark Lord and discarded.

Maul's Crimson Dawn, is also esoteric in nature and structure. Maul combines Dark and Light Side of the Force beliefs, which is carried over into his Crimson Dawn. He's also a master of Nightsister magic, something Taron Malicos wanted but failed in achieving on Dathomir. Maul also idolizes Exar Kun, who in Legends was able to preserve his Spirit and return from beyond.