In episode six of Star Wars: Maul – Shadow Lord, “Night of the Hunted,” the show’s creators have officially teased one of the battles fans have always wanted to see most, but for years thought impossible. We’re talking about Maul vs. Darth Vader, the battle royale of the apprentice Sith Lords. Well, the battle royal of the current Sith Lord and the former holder of the title “Darth.” And we’ll explain how this is now almost guaranteed to take place on Maul-Shadow Lord, and hopefully, very soon.
In episode six, the Empire has arrived on the planet Janix looking for Maul (Sam Witwer). The former apprentice of Darth Sidious, he’s a loose end the Emperor wants off the map. He’s dispatched one of his Inquisitors along with the Imperial forces on Janix, to find Maul and end him. Although the Inquisitors’ main objective is to kill any remaining Jedi Knights who survived Order 66, Maul also falls under their purview. In episode six, the Inquisitor known as the First Brother/Marrok engages Maul in a deadly lightsaber duel, but Maul gets away. The episode ends with the First Brother speaking to a shadowy hologram he calls “My Lord,” asking how to proceed with the Maul situation.
Some may speculate that the person the First Brother is speaking to is Emperor Palpatine himself. After all, it was Palpatine who issued Order 66 in Revenge of the Sith. But the Sith Lord who Sidious actually tasked with overseeing the Inquisitors is actually Darth Vader. We saw this in both Star Wars Rebels and Obi-Wan Kenobi. We don’t think the First Brother would go over Vader’s head and go straight to the Emperor. Besides, he’s rather busy with despot business. Alternately, the Grand Inquisitor would not likely get referred to as “My lord.” No, we are fairly certain the other caller on the line in this scene is Darth Vader. And while Vader might trust his Inquisitors to take on random Jedi survivors, to take down Maul may require another Sith Lord.
Since The Phantom Menace ended with the apparent death of Maul, for years, fans thought a Maul vs. Vader fight was only possible in the realm of fan fiction. But once The Clone Wars resurrected Maul, it was at least possible. Especially since Maul survived the events of the series’ ending. In Rebels, we very nearly got a fight between Maul and Vader, in the episode “Twilight of the Apprentice.” This occurred when Vader went to the planet Malachor, home of an ancient Sith weapon. Maul was there too, but he scrambled away rather than face Vader. In fact, his obvious fear suggests he had faced the former Anakin Skywalker before. An event he likely barely survived, and didn’t want to repeat.
We know from the aforementioned Rebels (as well as Solo) that if Vader and Maul do indeed have a dark side lightsaber duel, both warriors walk away from it alive. But that doesn’t mean fans aren’t going to get a duel for the ages when it does happen, however. One that might even rival “The Duel of the Fates,” or the legendary battle of Obi-Wan and Anakin. A duel between Darth Vader and (former Darth) Maul has been something Star Wars fans have imagined for years. And we’re pretty sure that Maul-Shadow Lord is about to give it to us.