Star Wars: Maul Shadow Lord – Episodes 1 & 2

Maul is back! And it’s as violent and beautiful as I had hoped.

Visuals

I’ve heard some comparisons to Christopher Nolan’s Dark Knight, which I get. However, the opening sequence of the show really felt like Blade Runner in the look and feel of Janix.

The visual and musical theme throughout is ominous. Grainy imagery, imperfections in lines, it all makes the show look and feel a lot different from the Clone Wars. And I make the comparison to the Clone Wars because this is right after that has happened.

The Plot

There is a ton going on in this show, but also not a lot at the same time. Maul’s crew which consists of Mandalorians led by Rook Kast, two Zabraks (Icarus & Scorn) and Spybot who has the chance to be the evil or I guess more evil Chopper. They’re out there trying to regain control of the Shadow Collective one piece at a time. If you’re not familiar, the Shadow Collective was a syndicate run by Maul toward the end of the Clone Wars consisting of Black Sun, the Pykes, the Hutts, Death Watch, the Nightbrothers, and in season 7 we saw Dryden Vos in there.

Reclaiming control will give them access to tons of credits, which seems to be the motivation of the crew. Maul, not so much.

There are also a pair of on the run Jedi that I mentioned in my previous blog. The big piece here is that Maul is seemingly really on Janix to find Devon. And this is where I think a lot of folks are looking at this as Maul trying to train a new apprentice, but Maul is a simple man as I’ll get to later.

On the opposite side, we have Brander Lawson and Two-Boots trying to catch Maul and crew before they destroy the city and more importantly, before the Empire needs to be called in. Brander is smart enough to know that the Empire is fucked up and will take over Janix. Brander is the exact kind of cop you’d expect in a series like this: not a big rule follower, messed up personal life, seedy contacts, doesn’t like authority. I like the character, but don’t seem like he’s gonna win.

Maul

I sat with these episodes for a few days, because a lot of things are happening, a lot of people (and droids) are in play, but what is this really?

Maul’s simplicity is maybe my favorite thing about him. He is solely focused on revenge. He has not forgotten that ass kicking on Mandalore.

He wants revenge and everyone and everything he takes in this show will be a tool for that purpose. Does he actually care about Devon as an apprentice? No. She’s a tool that he needs to help him take on the strongest Sith in the Galaxy. Does he care about money or running a syndicate? No. He’s causing chaos in the Empire as part of his revenge plot.

But nobody else in the show is going to realize that for a while.

Predictions

Just a few things that popped into my brain after the first two episodes:

1. Master Eeko-Dio Daki is prolly gonna die trying to save Devon. Not really sure there is any other possible arc.
2. The Empire shows up at some point. I have a feeling it’ll be Brander’s kid that somehow calls them in and not Two-Boots.
3. We get Dryden Vos in this show

-Chorizy-E