One Star Wars: Maul – Shadow Lord Death Is Right Out Of The Last Jedi

Spoilers for "Star Wars: Maul — Shadow Lord" episodes 3-4 to follow. 

Maul (Sam Witwer) is famous for his double-bladed red lightsaber, a weapon that comes from the time when he was Darth Maul, heir to the Sith. Maul's lightsaber was all over the marketing campaign for "The Phantom Menace." Before Maul's resurrection in the cartoon series "Star Wars: The Clone Wars," his weapon was one of the few unique character traits he had!

When we last saw Maul (chronologically) in the last arc of "The Clone Wars," he used a double-bladed saber in a duel with Ahsoka Tano (Ashley Eckstein). But that arc also showed Maul does not need his sword to cause damage. With only the Force by his side, he slaughtered a squad of clone troopers and wrecked a Star Destroyer's engine room.

In the latest episode of "Star Wars: Maul – Shadow Lord," Maul makes a kill using a lightsaber and the Force in tandem. Set-up: the underbosses in Maul's Shadow Collective apparently rose up against him after the end of the Clone Wars, so now he's out for revenge. One of his targets is Marg Krim (Stephen Stanton), leader of the drug-running Pyke Syndicate. 

Maul sends in his minion Looti Vario (Chris Diamantopoulos, who might sound familiar) with peace offerings for the Pykes, including a seemingly defeated Maul and his lightsaber. (In fact, this "Maul" is another disguised minion.) When Krim, holding the lightsaber, discovers the deception, the real Maul bursts in. Using the Force, he switches on the lightsaber and makes Krim slash himself across the chest.

As Krim falls to the floor almost bisected, this writer couldn't help but think of Supreme Leader Snoke's (Andy Serkis) death by Force-activated lightsaber in "Star Wars: The Last Jedi."

In "The Last Jedi," Snoke's apprentice Kylo Ren (Adam Driver) has brought Jedi fledgling Rey (Daisy Ridley) before him. Snoke takes her lightsaber, places it on his throne's arm rest and, after a brief struggle, orders Ren to kill Rey. But Kylo Ren has his own plans, masking his intent by moving to execute Rey. Using the Force, he turns the lightsaber 90 degrees and ignites it, the blade piercing Snoke. Kylo calls the blade towards him, cutting Snoke in half, and Rey catches the sword.

Like "The Last Jedi" as a whole, Snoke's death has proven to be extremely divisive. Writer-director Rian Johnson killed Snoke to push Kylo Ren forward as the central villain, but some "Star Wars" fans would've preferred more insight into who Snoke was before that axe fell. Regardless, the death itself is a beautifully constructed sequence of suspense — something the makers of "Star Wars: Maul – Shadow Lord" have apparently recognized.

While Maul mimics Kylo Ren's move, really he's more like Snoke, and cursed to never succeed. "Star Wars: Rebels" actor Freddie Prinze Jr. has claimed that George Lucas envisioned Maul's journey like the Greek myth of Sisyphus, eternally doomed to push a boulder up a hill every day, only for it to then roll back down to the bottom. We already know how Maul's story ends: He dies without ever getting revenge on his old master, Darth Sidious, or on the Jedi who first defeated him, Obi-Wan Kenobi. 

This show will plug a few remaining holes in Darth Maul's history, but no matter how high he gets, the boulder is destined to come rushing back down the hill again.

"Star Wars: Maul – Shadow Lord" is streaming on Disney+.