Maul — Shadow Lord Finally Makes Good On An 8-Year-Old Star Wars Promise

When audiences reached the end of "Solo: A Star Wars Story" in theaters back in 2018, they were greeted by one of the most baffling reveals in the history of the franchise. The holographic appearance of Darth Maul (Sam Witwer), unveiled as the true leader of the Crimson Dawn crime syndicate, was clearly meant to set up future films, but when "Solo" failed to perform to Disney's expectations, those plans were cut short, leaving the former Sith Lord's brief cameo little more than a bizarre surprise.

For many in the theaters, the shock was twofold. If you weren't one of the dedicated fans who watched both "Star Wars: The Clone Wars" and "Rebels," your reaction was probably something along the lines of: "Didn't that guy get cut in half in 'The Phantom Menace?'" And you'd be right. But then, you would have missed the whole animated storyline where he comes back with robotic spider legs, the entire Mandalore arc, and so on.

Maul has become one of the most popular characters in "Star Wars", but to this point, that "Solo" tease has remained an untethered one-off with no follow-up — until now. In his new animated series, "Star Wars: Maul — Shadow Lord," we see him rebuilding a power base in the galactic underworld. StarWars.com describes the series as taking place "a few short years after Order 66." The primary action of "Solo" takes place about nine years after "Revenge of the Sith," meaning that there's probably about five years between the two stories.

In other words, we're finally seeing the build-up to Maul's dominance of the underworld through Crimson Dawn. After nearly a decade, Star Wars has a chance to make good on its most baffling scene.

There's a case to be made that there is entirely too much Maul in "Star Wars." He becomes the primary antagonist of "The Clone Wars" by the end of it, and he's a mainstay in "Rebels." Now he has his own show to aura farm in, and it's been renewed for a second season. But at the same time, this story that we're finally getting — the one about him coming to power in the shadow of Darth Sidious' Empire — is the one fans have been hoping for ever since that "Solo" scene eight years ago.

We got a glimpse in "The Clone Wars." After being saved from a grim fate by his brother Savage Opress (Clancy Brown), Maul embarked on a brutal campaign to dominate the galactic crime syndicates. In short order, he managed to bring the Pykes, Black Sun, the Mandalorian Death Watch, and even segments of the Hutt Cartel under a single banner, dubbed the Shadow Collective. But he attracted the attention of his old master, who shattered the tenuous criminal empire Maul had built.

In the first two episodes of "Maul — Shadow Lord," he seems to be on a revenge tour, targeting the various other criminal kingpins who abandoned him in his hour of need and split up the riches of the coalition he constructed. Because of "Solo," we know that this campaign eventually lands him in command of the Crimson Dawn syndicate. That established endpoint gives a level of dramatic irony to the whole thing, but knowing Maul, he'll also find a way to mess it all up a time or two first. By the time we see him in "Rebels," several years after "Solo," he is once again completely alone.

Given the single-season anthology structure that Dave Filoni and Lucasfilm Animation have practiced with the "Tales" series, it would have made sense for "Maul — Shadow Lord" to also be a single-season one-off. But even before the first two episodes dropped, Lucasfilm made it clear that was not the case. Season 2 is officially in the works, which means that we'll be building ever-closer to that "Solo" scene.

Of course, that peak of power and influence may itself turn out to be fleeting. Maul's story is one of repeated failure — the insatiable pursuit of power and importance, met every time by a total collapse. He's a character who was told he'd be one of the most important people in galactic history, only to be sliced in two and replaced in Palpatine's grand plan. His journey in the animated shows is one of desperately clawing to that significance he believed himself destined for, only to get knocked back down the ladder time and time again.

If Palatine's dark side indulgence is avarice, and Vader's is rage, then Maul's is pride. He believes himself to be the main character of a story where he will only ever be a supporting villain, but that's what makes him so compelling. Well, that and all the swag. Even 27 years later, that double-bladed lightsaber is still incredibly cool.