Son of Dathomir Feels Like a Trial Run for Maul: Shadow Lord (And Inspired Rise of Skywalker?)

Darth Maul: hero? The recent release of Maul: Shadow Lord has ushered in a new kind of Star Wars story onscreen, one where the protagonist isn’t a noble Jedi, moral rebel, or even complicated bounty hunter. Maul is a villain, a former Sith, yet presented as the underdog up against the real bad guys. It’s a cliché to say the villain is the hero of their own story but with Shadow Lord it’s truer than ever. However, it’s not the first time we’ve seen Maul in this position. While in The Clone Wars we only ever saw Maul fight the Jedi, apart from a brief run-in with Sidious, the comic miniseries Son of Dathomir pits Maul against every major villain of the era. It’s Maul vs the evil force he was to be a part of, and therefore feels like a trial run for Shadow Lord.

I do wonder how much Son of Dathomir influenced current Maul storytelling. The comic was supposed to be an arc of the sixth season of The Clone Wars but was unproduced at the time of that show’s cancellation. Therefore, similar to Dark Disciple, the scripts were handed over to the franchise’s publishing arm and became a comic instead, filling in the gap between Maul’s fifth season capture by Sidious and his reappearance in the show’s eventual seventh season. If these episodes were produced as originally intended would Shadow Lord exist? Re-reading the comic today, while the time period is different, it feels like the same conflict as the show, with original ideas for the arc now flourishing as a full series itself. While canon and still working perfectly well, Son of Dathomir is a proto version of the new show.

It’s a comic dealing with Maul’s agency, or rather lack thereof. Maul is left alive by Palpatine to lead him to Mother Talzin, whereas Talzin uses Maul as bait for Palpatine. It’s a story about the control masters have over their apprentices, literalised at the end with Talzin controlling Dooku. Stuck in such a position, caught between two dark side masters he never chose, it’s hard not to empathise with Maul, at least a little. To begin to root for him. His methods might be wrong but he has a point. This is the first time I’ve felt like this regarding Maul, with Shadow Lord now being the second.

If Shadow Lord is Maul facing off against the Empire, then Son of Dathomir is him facing off against the Separatists. He’d been promised by Palpatine he’d rule both, the same evil just in different forms. And while it’s fun seeing Maul face stormtroopers, inquisitors, and come on, Vader has to appear as an adversary soon, it’s just as satisfying seeing him fight battle droids, General Grievous, and particularly Dooku. It’s the original apprentice vs the replacement, and Palpatine purposefully fuels the jealousy between the two. It’s great conflict, something I hope to see repeated with Vader in Shadow Lord. They even join forces briefly but while Dooku might feel superior to Maul, he represents what he will become: cast aside.

The interplay between the villains is so good that it’s a little disappointing when the Jedi appear in issue 3. We get Obi-Wan, obviously, but also Tiplee, and they prove to be a good pairing. They are the two Jedi who have recently lost the person they most care about. But it does feel like Obi-Wan was only included because it’s the thing to do in a Maul story, and reading Son of Dathomir did make me question how Shadow Lord will deal with this. The show is the story of Maul against the Empire, and assembling his own criminal empire to compete and deliver the power he feels he is owed. Wisely and refreshingly, his conflict with Obi-Wan isn’t central. And yet we know in Rebels, Obi-Wan is all he’s interested in, screaming his name, on a revenge quest against Kenobi rather than the Empire. How does the series get Maul to that position again?

It’ll also be fascinating to see if the events of Son of Dathomir are referenced in Shadow Lord. We know Maul is reckoning with the death of his brother and former apprentice Savage in the show but that’s not his only recent loss. The comic reveals that Talzin is not just a clan mother to Maul but also his biological mother, and she’s killed, for good this time, right in front of him. This is a huge moment in his life, sure to further fuel his anger and thirst for vengeance, and so I’ll find it odd if it is never mentioned in the new series. It’s such a big event and yet it is currently known only to comic readers.

Son of Dathomir has its fair share of connections to other Star Wars stories aside from Shadow Lord. Lucasfilm Animation never let good work go to waste so while the episodes of The Clone Wars the comic is adapting were never produced, locations and characters were reused elsewhere. There’s the Stygeon prison and Maul’s asteroid base from Rebels, Ord Mantell’s design from The Bad Batch, and the first appearance of Gar Saxon and Rook Kast. It’s also fun to see Maul jump on a ship’s ramp to avoid a fight, just like Qui-Gon does when faced with Maul in The Phantom Menace. But the biggest connection is also the most shocking: Son of Dathomir inspired The Rise of Skywalker?

Even if the comic wasn’t a direct inspiration on the final film in the Skywalker saga, in retrospect there are clear connections, intentional or not. It’s explained that Palpatine and Talzin worked together in the past and “exchanged secret wisdom”. We then see Talzin cheat death in a very similar manner to how Palpatine does, and it’s not a big stretch to say this “secret wisdom” is how he managed to resurrect himself on Exogol. Talzin can separate her spirit from her body, as Palpatine later does, and possess others. She draws life force from Dooku to revive herself fully as Palpatine later does with Rey and Ben. They even speak similar lines, with Talzin stating “how long I have waited” and Palpatine “long have I waited.”  It was quite the surprise to read Son of Dathomir expecting to see influences on Maul: Shadow Lord and to find direct connections to Rise of Skywalker, too.