“Maul: Shadow Lord,” begins a new hidden story of Darth Maul, or now known as just Maul. On the Industrial planet of Janix, Maul is rebuilding his criminal empire after the events of order 66, when most of the Jedi were wiped out.
Throughout the show, there are two other story lines that eventually intertwine with Maul’s. One follows two mysterious characters in hiding, an old and patient mentor, and a young and fiery apprentice.
The other story line is about a local detective trying to solve disputes between different crime organizations while resisting a potential empire takeover.
While these two storylines are quite intriguing, they take away quite a bit of time from what I believe most of the fans want to see, Maul himself. However, I do understand that for a story to not be too boring, there must be a variety of plot points and characters.
When watching the show, the first thing I noticed was the animation style. It is done in a remarkably similar style to the animated show “Star Wars: The Clone Wars.” The style makes the 3-D models look almost painted, like the style in “Arcane: League of Legends.” The only thing that was different is how much more detail was put into the models and backgrounds in “Maul: Shadow Lord,” it was very artistic and satisfying to watch. When looking at the first episodes of “Star Wars: The Clone Wars,” there is an incredibly stark difference in quality.
Another detail that I heavily enjoyed wasn’t visual, but auditory. They recorded screams and yells from the voice actor of Maul, Sam Witwer. They then took these recordings and put them in the sound that Maul’s lightsaber makes when it is swung. To me it shows how connected Maul is to his weapon, and his means to bring destruction.
I also noticed how much the character of maul has evolved since his first appearance. He started as a pawn with no clear motives of his own, to know a crime boss with his own power and influence. I also think he has moved away from being characterized as pure evil, he is now closer to being a chaotic neutral character.
Sam Witwer had said that “This version of Maul is the most psychologically satisfying version of the character that we’ve ever done,” proving that Maul’s character only gets better as time goes on.
The first two episodes of “Maul: Shadow Lord” released exclusively on Disney+ on April 6, with two more episodes every Monday until the finale on May 4, coincidentally Star Wars Day. I cannot wait to see what they do with one of the most iconic characters in the Star Wars franchise and how he evolves further throughout the show.
