Star Wars is a coveted classic and fan-favorite franchise that stemmed from the brilliant mind of George Lucas. The series has created beloved shows and movies that explore hundreds of complex worlds and characters. The tattooed face of Darth Maul is one such character that many saw more as a living weapon instead of the complex character he is. This is because of his limited screen time and the impact he failed to make. First appearing in The Phantom Menace, the Sith Lord from Dathomir with his double-bladed lightsaber instantly caught the attention of thousands of viewers. However, it wasn’t until the show The Clone Wars aired that people really understood his complexity.
In The Phantom Menace, Maul was apprenticed to the most powerful Sith Lord in the galaxy and believed he was deemed for greatness. This was until the Padawan of Jedi master Qui-Gon Jinn, Obi-Wan Kenobi, defeated him in a duel after witnessing Maul killing his mentor. Thought to be dead, Kenobi, his new padawan, Anakin Skywalker, and the friends he fought with to protect the planet Naboo, celebrated their victory. But beneath them, a fury was growing in Maul that would keep him living throughout his exile on the junk planet, Lotho Minor. At first glance, Maul is just an evil Dathomirian Sith Lord, fueled by his hunger for revenge and power, and I’m not saying he isn’t. He is, in fact, a terrible person, being the cause of so many unnecessary deaths.
However, he is not a monster, like his master Lord Sidious, or as many know him, Palpatine. He was taken as a child to be mentored by Lord Sidious and grew up on pain, suffering, hatred, and death. At an early age, he started harbouring a hatred for the Jedi, which fueled a bloodthirst that could never be quenched. Initially dominating over all his adversaries, Maul is a huge threat driven by his own quest for power, much like his master. His first meeting with Kenobi on Naboo defined his life for the remainder of the movie and the shows to come. After being defeated by Kenobi, he was left to be forgotten by all—even his mentor.
Anakin Skywalker was in a similar situation, but his story, as we know, was much different. Both Maul and Skywalker were defeated and left to die by Kenobi, and suffered fatal injuries. But unlike Maul, Skywalker was not abandoned by his new master, Palpatine, who saved and rebuilt him into the Darth Vader millions know. Darth Maul was left behind and had to suffer for years in a wasteland where very few life-forms inhabited. Kenobi, he believed, led to his ultimate downfall and the life he had to survive in, and he wasn’t wrong. This blame soon turned into obsession with the fall of Kenobi. This threw him further into madness with no way to express it, but to plan his way back to power and finally kill Kenobi. The appearance of his brother, Savage Opress, not only makes his plan a possibility, but also amplifies the humanity we thought he barely had. Savage became a huge role in the Clone Wars plot, and especially in Maul’s life. He gave Maul someone to rely on, not just as an apprentice and ally, but as his family.
SPOILER ALERT! Sidious has noticed the growing power between the brothers and sets out to stop them while Maul has taken control over Mandalore. In the battle, Savage is killed by Sidious, and with him a part of Maul that still felt allied with the dark side. Going back, with his help, Maul is able to leave his life of exile and be rebuilt. Newly arisen, Maul’s vision is clear, and he and his brother leave to fulfill his goal to give back the pain and suffering Kenobi inflicted on him, and to succeed in his goal for power.
Together, they become an unstoppable duo, wreaking havoc on the galaxy. Their travels take them to Mandalore, a neutral system being terrorized by a group called the Death Watch who oppose the pacifist rule of Duchess Satine. Maul realizes the potential in an alliance with them for his quest of power, and to destroy Kenobi. This is where we see how much his bloodlust has gone to his head and how unstable he is. When Kenobi arrives to save the Duchess after she was imprisoned by Maul and the Death Watch, he faces Maul, who tries to demoralize him and turn him to the dark side by taunting him with the death of Satine (which eventually is fulfilled when Kenobi doesn’t give in). Through this encounter though, Maul is made out to be a fool and someone with no control over their own destiny when Kenobi points out how Maul never chose the dark side, but was forced into it. With the help of Satine’s sister, Bo-katan, Kenobi gets away, and Maul fails to kill him again.
His last encounter with Kenobi is at the end of his life. Angry at his recent failure to gain a new apprentice, he sets out to destroy Kenobi once and for all on Tatooine, where he is hiding Luke Skywalker. Their battle doesn’t last long due to Kenobi’s training and the mental state Maul is in. He is hurt and blinded by his anger and lust for the fall of Kenobi. Although he has done terrible things, it is sad to see his spirit and inability to forget the past go away into death. Maul was never pure evil, but he was starved of the choice to be good as a child. At such a young age, he was ripped from his home and trained in the dark side. He learned to rely on the pain inflicted onto others for his power, so when opportunities presented themselves to be redeemed, he rejected them. He had never known any other way.