Cartoon Review: Maul's Return in "Star Wars:The Clone Wars," Season Seven, Episode Ten, "The Phantom Apprentice" (Spoiler Warning!)
Darth Maul serves as a prime illustration of one of George Lucas' most egregious sins, the under-utilization of a compelling villain. Reaching back to the time just before "The Phantom Menace" was released, the hype leading up to the film, which was the first Star Wars film in the sixteen years since the end of the original trilogy, included the release of multiple toy lines. Star Wars fans greatly anticipated the development of the story of how Anakin Skywalker became Darth Vader. Lucas whet their appetite by strategically released merchandise which included a mysterious villain, who was beautifully designed to be terrifying. The character design featured a frightening black and red color scheme, with intimidating horns, and a never before seen double-bladed lightsaber. He looked spectacular.
But once the film was released, Darth Maul the graced screen with his presence for a whopping six minutes. Maul's screen time included the most exciting lightsaber duel thus far in the saga. But that ended with Obi-Wan Kenobi cutting Maul in half, seemingly the end of the character. Writing a return for Maul would prove difficult, knowing that he had lost not only his legs, but also portions of his intestines and likely his bladder.
(Yes, "The Clone Wars" later clarified that Maul was not human, but rather Dathomirian. Dathomirian anatomy could be greatly different from that of humans. But considering his humanoid appearance, it is entirely reasonable for the audience to assume that the placement of his internal organs would be similar to that of humans. Moreover, this is Star Wars, not Star Trek. Such minutiae is never explained in Star Wars. Indeed, it only highlights the problem with the prequels. Namely, that they needed some other media to explain the films' multiple plot holes.)
Maul had since made his reappearance in "The Clone Wars," donning a robotic bottom half, and then rising to become key player in the criminal underworld of the galaxy. But to movie-goers who had not taken the time to review the Lucasfilm cartoon before going to the theater to see "Solo," Maul's appearance at the end of that film stood out as unnecessary and perplexing. Perhaps Director Ron Howard intended the ending to be a cliffhanger to entice audiences to flock to a sequel to "Solo." The film's disappointing box office returns, however, guaranteed that "Solo" was the end of Lucasfilm's attempt to create a side story outlining the adventures of Han Solo as he survived in the gallactic underworld of Palpatine's empire until we encountered him again in "Star Wars," which has since been re-titled "A New Hope."
**Deep breathe** See just how ambitious season seven is?
For those who devour Star Wars in all of its forms, and who demand consistency among its various iterations, the appearance of Darth Maul provides promise. Maul presents the storyteller with an opportunity to answer all of those questions raised by witnessing what the Mandalorian culture had become when featured in the Disney+ presentation of the adventures of Din Djarin and the Child. How did this once proud people, who possessed a sophisticated society on a planet of their own, with a heritage of being fierce warriors, become reduced to pockets of secretive clans scattered throughout the galaxy struggling for survival? Maul, once again seemingly in control of the puppet strings on Mandalore may be able to tell us.
We last saw Maul relishing in his accomplishment of having organized the criminal underworld, and manipulated a violent sect of Mandalorians opposed to the peaceful rule of Duchess Satine. He had become the true power behind the scenes on Mandalore, controlling his puppet of a prime minister. Yet as he grew powerful, he drew the attention of his former master, Darth Sidious, the Sith mastermind of the plot to destroy the Jedi and seize power through the destruction of the Republic from within. Sidious reminded Maul, who had taken the moniker of Sith in his rise to power, of the inflexibility of the Rule of Two, in the process robbing Maul of his apprentice and brother Savage Opress. Sidious left Maul alive, leaving the audience to wonder what had become of his criminal empire.
And now, here Maul was, serving as the bridge between "The Clone Wars," where Anakin was the hero of the Republic, to "A New Hope," where Skywalker served as the fearsome villain of the Gallactic Empire, Darth Vader. Maul foreshadows this fall. However, it is a concept Ahsoka, Anakin's former Padawan, finds difficult to accept.
Yet Maul sees the link he has to Ahsoka, both pawns in a much grander design, both betrayed by people they trusted the most, and discarded with little thought. He sees in Ahsoka a chance to assuage his jealousy of Sidious, to resolve his grudge. He reveals the cynicism initially shown to the audience in the cartoon series "Rebels," when he made his last appearance, dying in the arms of his nemesis, Obi-Wan Kenobi. Although mortally wounded by Kenobi, Maul empathizes with his former enemy, sharing his hope that the son of Skywalker could avenge both of their fates.
Maul attempts to recruit Ahsoka to join his plot, revealing that the two share a common enemy, namely Darth Sidious, who has already put into place the plot which will spell the end of democracy. Maul wants to rob Sidious of his desired apprentice, Anakin Skywalker, widely believed among force-users to be the "Chosen One," prophesied to bring balance to the Force. (Although, Maul hints in his final "Rebels" appearance that Luke, not Anakin, may be the actual "Chosen One.") Thus Maul tempts Ahsoka to join him in destroying Sidious, just as Vader later tempted Luke inn "Return of the Jedi" to join him in overthrowing this same Sith Lord after Sidious' plan had come to fruition.
But like Luke, Ahsoka reaffirms her commitment to all that it good, refusing to be seduced by the dark side. Ahsoka's benevolence even extends to rescuing Maul from almost certain death as he plummets from a high structure following one of the most compelling lightsaber duels to be depicted in the Star Wars universe's cartoons so far.
And then? The audience is left hanging, just as Maul is literally hanging in mid-air due to Ahsoka's use of the Force to prevent him from falling to his death. The ending draws us to want to see the next chapter, the penultimate installment of "The Clone Wars'" finale.
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Special thanks to @JakobL_18 of Twitter, whose conversation with us helped inspire the thought process behind this blog entry.
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