Maul: Shadow Lord chapter 8 hits like a brick to the chest by the time it’s all over. The former Sith Lord reels from his desperate escape from two Inquisitors, Marrok and the Eleventh Brother. As his criminal empire is on the back foot, Maul struggles to reunite with his team. On the road back to his team is a sequence that endeavors to change the way audiences view Maul’s struggle. Chapter 8 adds a new wrinkle in the titular character’s place in the Star Wars galaxy.
As his mechanical legs continue to bother him as he drags himself through Janix, Maul remembers the painful memories of his early life. The ever-present memories of Palpatine’s mental and physical abuse dominate Maul’s scenes. As always, Maul’s voice actor Sam Witwer does an excellent job. The guttural, almost painful screams and cries provide an even more personal look into the broken heart and mind of a man who’s entire life was forged in the fires of The Dark Side. And yet, despite his scary design and ferocity, there exists within Maul, a vulnerable child, damaged by the pain Palpatine causes.
“Shadow Lord” Chapter 8 highlights Maul’s tragic upbringing, and his determined drive to break the cycle in his own way.
The most profound moment comes toward the end of the episode, after the memories start to fade away. Maul looks at his reflection and sees the innocent and frightened manifestation of his younger self. With tears in his eyes, Maul resolves to never let Palpatine do what he did to him to anyone else. The moment changes the entire perception of Maul and why he is the way he is at this point.
Despite being a dark side-wielding crime lord, there is depth to who he is. At the head of his ambition isn’t a desire to gain power for power’s sake. Maul’s goals and plans revolve around building up a legacy. In his quest to have an unstoppable criminal empire and his quest to train Devon, lies his defiance of Palpatine. Maul is trying to show Palpatine that he was wrong to hurt him and then cast him aside. He is trying to prove to Palpatine that he can train a force wielder to be powerful and respected, but without doing to Devon what Palpatine did to Maul.
This new contextualization of Maul’s character uses already-existing aspects of his character, and provides a perspective that actually manages to make Maul even more sympathetic. The episode’s strength lies in Maul’s. journey, and finally turns full attention toward the other main reason people are excited to tune in: Maul’s internal struggle.
The final two episodes of Maul: Shadow Lord air May 4th, Star Wars Day, on Disney+.
