Star Wars abhors a vacuum. If there’s a gap in the canon, some missing years in the timeline, sooner or later it’s going to get filled. Maul: Shadow Lord is the next such story, snuggly filling in the gaps of Maul’s life after The Clone Wars but before Rebels. The legacy of The Clone Wars continues, with the once dead series continuing its storytelling of a once dead character. I was desperately hoping for a new time period and new characters for the next animated show. The Bad Batch was a great epilogue to the series that started it all but Dave Filoni and co just can’t seem to move on. The creatives who once introduced so much new storytelling to the franchise now languish in the same old era with the same old characters.
But enough cynicism. I’m actually looking forward to Maul: Shadow Lord. It’s not what I was hoping for but it did surprise me. It’s not the expected Asajj Ventress show or a series focused on ‘The Path,’ with that seemingly being covered in Tales of the Underworld. Despite being another continuation show, Shadow Lord is something new for the franchise: the first series to focus on a villain.
I hope the show treats Maul as such. A villain. Sure, it can make us root for him in a very 21st century TV complex protagonist kind of a way but I don’t want him to be a hero. That means the way the writers make us relate to the character and his struggle is going to have to be different from past Star Wars shows. I imagine it’ll be a dark series but this is still Star Wars so I want some light somewhere, even if just as a way to further explore Maul by contrast. He’s a damaged broken man, lonely and cast aside, but while he can be pitiable I don’t want to make him particularly sympathetic.
Perhaps some new side characters can represent hope and the light side, maybe ‘The Path’ does play a part. The trailer shown at Star Wars Celebration, which you can find a leaked version online (not that I would ever recommend seeking out such a thing) gives us a look at Maul training a young Twi’lek woman. Perhaps she could be the heart of the show, developing in ways we know Maul can’t, or maybe it’s the complete opposite and she’ll be the new canon version of Darth Talon. Either way, Shadow Lord (I keep wanting to call it Shadow Warrior) will have to rely on its supporting cast for fresh character development because we already know where Maul is heading, his path relatively clear with the destination being a final confrontation with Kenobi.
I do expect this to be a darker, more adult series than the previous animated shows. The Clone Wars started out aimed at younger kids and aged up with its audience over the years. Rebels did so too, beginning very kid-friendly and building up to darker and more emotional moments in later seasons. Even Resistance seemed to plan on doing this but got cancelled too soon. Now the mindset behind these shows seems to be different. No more shows for new younger fans, instead Maul: Shadow Lord is for that initial Clone Wars audience, long since grown up.
We know the series is set after The Clone Wars but not how long after. I’m expecting the show to run for three seasons (that seems to be the norm now, and any more leads to contract negotiations, which Lucasfilm avoid more than Neimoidians) and I would love for a time jump between each season. The show could chart the entirely of Maul’s journey between his appearances in other stories. I would love for the first season to be set shortly after The Clone Wars, with Maul having to rebuild his criminal empire.
We’ve seen Maul as a brute, an assassin, now let’s truly explore him as a politician, a crime boss. Dryden Vos seems guaranteed to appear, and I would love to see negotiations with Black Sun, perhaps led by a certain Prince Xizor. I’ve always felt original Maul voice actor Peter Serafinowicz has been hard done by. He was brought in to record the lines for Maul’s cameo in Solo: A Star Wars Story and then didn’t realise he’d been replaced by Sam Witwer until he sat down to watch the movie. I’d love to see him given a role in this show, perhaps as Xizor. And bring back Ray Park for some mo-cap. Bring the Maul family together.
The show could then time jump ten years or so in a second season, with Crimson Dawn now a powerful and feared organisation. I would love to get more of Kira’s story, to pick up where Solo left off and see her arrive on Dathomir, now a leader of the organisation. She could plot against Maul from the inside. We know she eventually runs Crimson Dawn herself by the time of the galactic civil war, with Maul long gone. I would love for Kira to play a role in his downfall, alongside another character….
Vader. Come on, it’s time. Maul vs Vader. That has to be the endgame of this show. We know Maul will end up stranded on Malachor, a broken and bitter old man when we find him in Rebels, and how better to get him to that point than a duel with Darth Vader. It’d be a hell of a fight, and make perfect sense for all involved. Palpatine wouldn’t like Maul becoming powerful and so would sic his new apprentice on his old. Or perhaps he’d manipulate them both into fighting for a place at his side: the winner being his apprentice. I wrote an article years ago about how this is a battle that needs to happen.
So there you have it. It’s been a few days and I’ve already mapped out a three season arc for Maul: Shadow Lord: the rise, height, and fall of Maul’s Crimson Dawn. Hell, throw in some flashbacks to his early life, training with Palpatine, his first secret missions, and that’s quite the series. Now I sit, wait for the show to debut next year, and discover I’m wrong about pretty much everything. That’s the joy of this stuff. Remember, always speculate responsibly.
