Star Wars Needs To Leave Darth Maul Behind

Perhaps the most surprising recent announcement we got from Star Wars Celebration in Japan this weekend was the animated series Darth Maul: Shadow Lord, set during the Imperial era of the galaxy. The fact that this was mostly unnoticed, especially for such a popular character, remains a sobering indictment of how much his story has been exhausted in recent years. Not only is it complete, but there is little left to show that we have not already seen, and the series just feels like an attempt to keep staying in the same time period over and over. This is not a new flaw of the franchise, but it’s one Lucasfilm has yet to learn from or resolve, which is something that should worry all of us.

‘Star Wars’ Has Explored Maul From Every Possible Angle

When he first debuted in Star Wars: Episode I — The Phantom Menace twenty-five years ago, Darth Maul (Ray Park) immediately stood out as the most interesting thing about an otherwise mediocre film. With his new double-bladed lightsaber and demonic appearance, he captured the attention of the audience more than any other prequel-era character, despite having almost no likes and just a few minutes of screen time. However, he was killed off very early and was never a deep or complex character, even in the several novels that followed, and it was thus a great surprise when The Clone Wars brought his character back in its later seasons. Thanks to stellar vocal acting from Sam Witwer and exploration of his ties to the Nightsisters of Dathomir, Maul arguably became the best part of the show during its final years, perhaps most notably with the final Mandalore subplot, and has remained a staple of Star Wars animation ever since.

As time went on, we got to see more of Maul as he evolved, slowly going from an unhinged loner to a schemer and powerful leader, controlling both crime lords and the Mandalorian clans alike. He’s also just as deadly as he ever was before, even with a single blade, while at the same time completely out of his depth when facing his former master. For a series that has often been guilty of undermining other characters, Maul was improved by his arc in Clone Wars, introducing him to a whole new generation. Cut to the later seasons of Rebels years into the dark times, and he becomes a dark mentor to Ezra Bridger (Taylor Gray) before turning rogue once more, resulting in a truly devastating and poetic final end for his character in what remains one of the best and briefest lightsaber duels ever.

‘Darth Maul: Shadow Lord’ Is Not a Story That Needs Telling

Darth Maul choking Bo-Katan in Star Wars: The Clone Wars. — Image via Lucasfilm

One of the most tragic aspects of Darth Maul as a character is that he is always destined to end up back at square one, a modern Sisyphus who never actually succeeds in his goals. This makes any story with him tricky, but it feels extra redundant with this new series. Unlike Ahsoka (Ashley Eckstein) or Ventress (Nika Futterman) in canon, who have had their stories continue in new forms over the years, which remain ongoing, Maul has a firmly definitive endpoint for his own arc.

That doesn’t mean there can’t be a great story, something which Andor proved very well, but it makes the options for Maul extremely limited. We know he has to end up marooned on Malachor by the time of Rebels, and the show does not say just how long he has been there, but having him simply remain stranded for two full decades feels like a more fitting cycle for such a pitiable character. It also does not help that we’ve seen most of this story before, from Maul controlling criminal gangs to taking on an apprentice of his own, and there is not much left to do with him this long after his revival.

While Darth Maul arguably represents the best of Star Wars animation, the manner in which his storyline unfolded also points to a major issue that makes this new series redundant. Due to how Clone Wars was often structured, with storylines divided into arcs rather than gradually developing over the course of each season, it means that events like Maul’s rehabilitation are only briefly addressed with Nightsister magic and never dealt with again. Essentially, the version of Maul that we reunite with in Rebels is the same one from Clone Wars twenty years ago, leaving no room for much evolution or change during the two decades in between. Because of that storytelling style, one which Star Wars has since generally avoided, it means Darth Maul: Shadow Lord has little to work with, remaining suffocated by both its predecessor and its successor.

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‘Star Wars’ Animation Needs to Focus on Original Characters

Darth Maul, voiced by Sam Witwer, in The Clone Wars. — Image via Lucasfilm

It’s no secret that Star Wars has been struggling to remain relevant lately, but in some sense, this struggle with the films is understandable. After all, the sequel trilogy was the core of the new era, while the anthology films basically derailed after Solo: A Star Wars Story underperformed. What feels far more troubling is the trend we’re now seeing within the animated realm. While the live-action television shows are guilty of being formulaic too, they’ve at least attempted to explore new eras once in a while or tackle different genres in a way the animated shows have simply refused to do. Every story now is either an extension of the prequels or set during the Imperial era, and it seems like Dave Filoni is simply trying to cram out as much of it as possible, but at the expense of everything else. The only exception is Star Wars: Visions, which remains non-canonical and is made by an entirely different animation team.

This is not to say there aren’t great characters to explore. Recent shows like The Bad Batch or Tales of the Jedi and Tales of the Empire have proven unique in their stories, but they all feel the same in what should be an extensive universe. Just as nostalgia for the original trilogy has handicapped the sequel trilogy, the genuine love for the prequel era among executives and fans alike has left no room for other types of stories, using the exact same characters and keeping them alive well beyond their natural lifespan. Lucasfilm has already shown its ability to create new things for fans both old and young, and there are still some promising signs of this on occasion, but the studio simply needs to do it more if they want to fully learn from their past mistakes and remain relevant.

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