Maul: Shadow Lord is Coming to Disney+

RJ Writing Ink Looks at New Trailer for Maul: Shadow Lord

Question: are you old enough to remember seeing Star Wars: Episode I in theaters? Or in my case, on VHS tape. Well, besides the epic pod racing, the thing that stood out the most to a 7-year-old was Darth Maul. He barely spoke a word, but everything from his appearance to the way he moved terrified me! He’s gotten a lot more love since Filoni brought him back in The Clone Wars, but there’s always the fact that he never got to reach the heights that George had in mind if Disney followed his draft for the Sequels. But there’s one thing that I’m hoping his upcoming show, Maul: Shadow Lord will do, and that’s remind us of why he’s scary.

And the new trailer seems to have gone a long way to making that happen.

A Genuine Horror Trailer

The trailer opens up with a group of bounty hunters going over their latest target: a crime lord associated with multiple criminal organizations, and skilled with…a laser sword. And then we get several seconds of a darkened hallway before it’s lit up by crimson light as Maul lays waste to everyone. After the logo is dropped, we hear the former Sith Lord monologue about how the Empire tried to kill him. So he’s going to make them pay.

Like I said, absolutely terrifying. The majority of this trailer seems to make us think of horror. The low lighting, the jump scares, and the extensive use of red, all remind us of how dark things will be in this series. And for good reason. The Galaxy is now ruled by the Sith, cloaked in a darkness that won’t truly fade away until the end of The Rise of Skywalker. And while there are people already laying the groundwork for the rebellion that will bring the Empire down, that’s still decades away. This is a time when darkness thrives, and so can Maul.

The trailer doesn’t give us any hints about how long it’s been since the end of the Clone Wars, but we can assume it’s been a few years. Canonically, the last we saw Maul, he brought down a Star Destroyer to escape execution. He knew that Order 66 was about to happen, and his only priority was to hide and wait for the storm to pass. Now that it has, he’s coming out of hiding to continue what he started: building a criminal empire and destroying the one that his former master created. And he will not be doing it alone.

Yet Another Jedi Survivor

I know that there are some fans that roll their eyes when Star Wars reveals yet another Jedi escaped the initial purge. However, given how they all either die of natural causes, are killed in battle, or leave the Jedi behind before the Skywalker Saga ends, I don’t see any reason to complain. If anything, the introduction of Devon Izara should be something the fans should be happy about. In Lucas’ original draft, Maul would have had his own apprentice in the form of the Twi’Lek Darth Talon. Izara is meant to carry on what could have been! She is someone who has to adapt to the changing times, and that means accepting that she can’t be a Jedi in the way she was taught to be. And if she wants to keep surviving, she has to adapt. Which seems to lead to her working together with Maul.

I’m just going to come out and say it: I don’t think this partnership is going to last. Izara knows that Maul can’t be trusted and that he’s got ulterior motives. There’s also the fact that she is never mentioned in Rebels or any other appearances, so that means she either abandons Maul…or something bad happens to her. Still, I think that this is as close as we’re going to get to Darth Maul and Darth Talon, and I’ll take what I can get.

The best part of the trailer, though? It was the ending. It takes a few seconds for it to click, but once you’ve listened to John Williams’ Duel of the Fates, you’ll know it anywhere. The fact that the trailer decided to remix it just for this, for the man that the song was written to help hype up? Peak fanservice!

As is the case with almost everything Star Wars, I’m looking forward to seeing Maul: Shadow Lord in a few days. Just because we know the ending to Maul’s story doesn’t mean we can’t still enjoy the ride!