One of the big surprise announcementsOpens in a new tab coming out of Star Wars Celebration was the news of Maul: Shadow Lord. This new animated series will feature the former Sith Lord, Maul, voiced once again by Sam Witwer. The series will pick up a year after the end of The Clone Wars, but years before Maul’s appearance in Solo and eventually, Rebels. Although they didn’t release the exclusive trailer, we did get a synopsis. Folks at the convention described how in Shadow Lord, Maul takes up a new apprentice, a young Twi’lek girl. This sounds like the Sith Lord Darth Talon who first appeared in Legends material. It seems this premise is at least partially based on George Lucas’ early ideas for the sequel trilogy.
Back in 2020, author Paul Duncan revealed that in Lucas’ original treatmentOpens in a new tab, the main antagonist in a post-Empire galaxy was a criminal syndicate run by Darth Maul and his apprentice, Darth Talon. This lady Sith, originally from the Star Wars Legacy comics, would be the main villain. Obviously, the sequels went in a totally different direction. But Lucasfilm’s Dave Filoni (himself an apprentice to George Lucas), is possibly reviving at least part of that proposed storyline. We know the series focuses on Maul building a criminal syndicate, which eventually becomes Crimson DawnOpens in a new tab, but it seems this will also canonize Talon. She likely won’t be Darth Talon, as “Darth” is a Sith title, and Maul is no longer a Sith. Filoni is always trying to bring Lucas’ concepts back into canon.
Will other elements of Lucas’ sequel treatment make it into Maul: Shadow Lord? Well, there won’t be Luke and Leia, as they are infants during this time. So instead of Crimson Dawn emerging during the era of the Imperial Remnant, it will emerge in the early years of the Empire. This, of course, means fans might get something they’ve been waiting years for, which is Maul vs. Darth Vader. Rebels almost gave us this moment, but backed off from it in the end. Speaking of RebelsOpens in a new tab, that series showed how Maul’s story ends. But it seems Shadow Lord will show Maul’s transition from crime lord to the somewhat pathetic figure we saw in Rebels. We’re excited to see how the first animated Star Wars show focusing on a villain plays out.
