REVIEW: Star Wars: Maul – Shadow Lord
Since being announced at Celebration Japan, Star Wars: Maul – Shadow Lord has been highly anticipated by fans. After previewing eight of the ten episodes of the first season, I promise the show lives up to the hype. If you were blown away by the Ahsoka Tano versus Maul duel in The Clone Wars or in love with the surprising interpersonal relationships in The Bad Batch, Maul – Shadow Lord delivers similarly. The Lucasfilm Animation team has honed their craft over the past twenty years, lending this show brilliant lightsaber duels and stunning worldbuilding wrapped in compelling story for our time.
Lucasfilm makes the radical choice to center a Star Wars story on an iconic villain. Chopped short sooner than fans might have liked in Episode I: The Phantom Menace, Maul’s story found new life when he was resurrected by George Lucas in The Clone Wars. While fans were skeptical, the decision proved so popular that the character subsequently appeared in Solo: A Star Wars Story and Star Wars Rebels. The first season of Shadow Lord takes place closer to the Siege of Mandalore, the concluding episodes of The Clone Wars, than to Solo or Star Wars Rebels, where Maul ultimately meets his fate once again at the hands of Obi-Wan Kenobi, who is by then guarding young Luke Skywalker on Tatooine.
Is there more to tell of the Zabrak’s supervillain story? That’s the question show creator Dave Filoni gives to the animated show’s creative team, including long-time animation writer Matt Michnovetz (The Clone Wars, Star Wars Rebels, The Bad Batch), who serves as Executive Producer, and Supervising Director Brad Rau (The Bad Batch). The former Sith Lord loses his grip as the leader of Mandalore after Darth Sidious slaughters Maul’s brother Savage Oppress in battle and then is captured by Ahsoka Tano during the Siege of Mandalore, set during the events of Revenge of the Sith, when Vader ascends to his position as Sidious’s apprentice. The Maul of Star Wars Rebels is still bent on vengeance, perhaps on the Jedi or his former Sith mentor, but he’s not quite the raw, confident warrior who fought Jedi superstars Qui-Gon Jinn and Obi-Wan Kenobi. Something significant must have happened to him in between, more than passing the years amid the kind of criminal syndicate rivalries in the galaxy’s underworld previously glimpsed in The Clone Wars and Solo.
As with any time a popular character is taken out for a spin, fans should be concerned the storytellers might wear the character out like tires that have been driven a few thousand miles too long. But to Filoni’s credit, characters like Obi-Wan Kenobi, Ahsoka Tano, Anakin Skywalker, and Emperor Palpatine have been used wisely in their numerous appearances across the Star Wars timeline. While the series starts out a little slow, that hasn’t always hurt Star Wars storytelling. The pace of Shadow Lord is similar to A New Hope, as a lot of different characters and settings are introduced to the audience. By the time the fifth and sixth episode hit, the show reveals that it was all worth the wait. (Don’t worry, you won’t have to wait too long, with two episodes releasing every Monday.)
While Maul’s arc puts him central to this story, all of the other characters within the serialized police drama remind the audience that this is Star Wars and its expected elevated stakes: good/evil, selfishness/selflessness, Jedi/Sith. It’s all in there. Devon Izara (Gideon Adlon) is a Jedi Padawan scrapping for survival on the planet Janix. The Jedi Order no longer exists under the Empire. Yet her Master, Eeko-Dio Daki (Dennis Haysbert), insists on keeping a low profile, eking out an existence by begging on the streets. Their current choice of Janix has no Imperial presence, and most residents have no idea about the evil of the current galactic regime. Although Devon strives to be a good and mindful Padawan, she yearns to do more, to use her training for good. Maul spends much of the season trying to pry master and apprentice apart over her desire to make a difference
Although Maul is motivated to hang around Janix because he is intrigued by Devon Izara, we see the planet’s broader story within the Empire through the lens of Detective Brander Lawson, voiced by award-winning actor Wagner Moura. The detective doesn’t seem overly cowed by Maul, whose machinations within the planetary crime syndicate are an attempt by the former Darth to rebuild his power and ultimately destabilize the Sidious’ regime. Single father Lawson has lost his wife to a career in the Empire. Enough subtext suggests Lawson knows just how bad Imperial rule is for the galaxy and he works actively to avoid having his homeworld in its sights.
As with any Star Wars show, there has to be a pair of droids to keep things exciting. Spybot is a hyperintelligent ex-Sith’s best friend. He is voiced by long-time Skywalker Sound maestro David Collins, who often ends up in the booth recording extra dialogue for Star Wars movies with Sam Witwer. Spybot is the projection of Chopper from Star Wars Rebels if he hadn’t been partners with a good person. Although some of his dialogue is Chopper-esque, at times he speaks Basic to help add information for the audience. Other times he speaks crazy made up words like “Booshkeedo” that made me laugh. I predict Spybot will be a fan-favorite.
Two Boots gives off Threepio vibes, always with a cup of caf in hand for his partner Detective Lawson and offering a recap of law and procedures to be followed. It’s through Two Boots’s stickler-for-details approach to deferring to the Empire when Maul reveals himself that the entire planet is put on a collision course with the fascist government. Although droids don’t generally have arcs, Two Boots does in a most satisfying of ways.
So much smart storytelling can be found in this show, as I noted in my Fangirls Going Rogue Maul – Shadow Lord Interviews and Review episode. As more of the season unfolds and spoilers can be widely discussed, I look forward to breaking down the specifics, particularly some impactful writing by Jennifer Corbett (The Bad Batch) and Christopher Yost (The Clone Wars, Thor: Ragnorak). Star Wars: Maul – Shadow Lord Episodes 1 and 2 are available now on Disney+.
Check out interviews with Sam Witer (Maul) and Gideon Adlon (Devon) plus creatives Athena Yvette Portillo (EP), Matt Michnovetz (EP), and Brad Rau (Supervising Director) over at Fangirls Going Rogue.
Tricia Barr's novel, Wynde, won the 2014 Independent Publisher Book Award Gold Medal for Best Science Fiction/Fantasy/Horror Ebook. She was also part of Silence in the Library's successful all-female creator science fiction and fantasy anthology Athena's Daughters, which is available now. For excerpts and tales of her adventures in creating a fictional universe, hop over to TriciaBarr.com.
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