Ever since his introduction in 1999 Darth Maul has been an iconic character in the Star Wars franchise using every bit of his limited screentime in The Phantom Menace to make a lasting impression. Despite apparently dying in that film Maul has returned countless times with his official resurrection in The Clone Wars showing he actually survived his injuries, beginning a nasty habit of returning to cause trouble for both the heroes and villains of the galaxy.
Earlier this year he returned once again as the lead of his own animated series Star Wars: Maul – Shadow Lord. The show takes place one year after Revenge of the Sith when the Empire is in its infancy and Maul is beginning to build his criminal syndicate while taking revenge on former allies, all the while finding a potential apprentice in Order 66 survivor Devon Izara with the Inquisitors on their heels.
At the Fan Expo Canada convention in Toronto, stars Sam Witwer (Maul), Gideon Adlon (Devon) and Vanessa Marshall (Rook Kast) held a panel to discuss the first season and their character’s arcs. Witwer and Marshall already had plenty of experience in the galaxy far, far away with their roles in The Clone Wars and Rebels, but this was Adlon’s first Star Wars project. Much like many children, she grew up on the franchise as her family watched both Star Wars and Lucasfilm’s other iconic adventure series Indiana Jones.
“Star Wars made me feel cozy and Indiana Jones did the same thing,” Adlon said. “I love anything fantastical, but getting older and joining the universe now recognizing how even the way Rebels is written, Clone Wars, Bad Batch and our show, how certain episodes’ storylines mirror what is going on in the world and that really makes me really proud to be part of this universe.”
Marshall is known for playing the optimistic and heroic Hera Syndulla in Rebels, but became Maul’s Mandalorian second-in-command Rook Kast in the finale episodes of The Clone Wars. Kast is completely loyal to Maul after he won the right to lead their Mandalorian clan in a duel to the death, but unlike many of Maul’s previous allies he has a strong affinity for her. “I appreciate I am the only person he will listen to,” Marshall said of their relationship, explaining further how she would challenge him or offer alternative suggestions. “If I have notes, like the line about the men who are getting antsy, that there’s a price to pay of loyalty, no one would ever speak to him like that and survive it. I’m grateful that she’s in that position of trust with him and its borne out of her loyalty. You can read the comic books and see their backstory [in Star Wars: Son of Dathomir], she’s earned that trust.”
As for anything else Star Wars-related after being in Rebels and Kast’s unfortunate fate in Shadow Lord, she did have desire at the ready. “Look, I love Assaj Ventress, I’m not going to hide it. I really wish she had joined the Rebel Alliance and that I [as Hera] had at least 15 minutes with Assaj to convince her to come. I would love to see what Assaj would do if she could see the value of what we could do.”
One of the most compelling aspects of the series – which I mentioned in my reviews of the first season – is the animation and how visually different it is from The Clone Wars, Rebels and Bad Batch. Many of the backgrounds look like oil or watercolour paintings and the character designs feed off that in close-up scenes “I thought it was fascinating because anytime you paused it looked like a painting no matter where you paused,” Witwer said. “How it ended up was even more beautiful. I liked the fact they were going extreme. It made sense to me because Maul does not see the universe the way we all see the universe so now we get to see through his eyes a little bit.”
He gave further insight into Maul’s perspective and how the animation would emphasize his emotional state. “The universe around him is a dangerous place where you can’t pause for more than a few moments because if you stop to reflect, your enemies will catch up to you. The Sith is all about ‘if once you start down the light path, reflection, compassion, forever will that dominate your destiny and your enemy will destroy you.’ That’s Maul’s take on things. Having a world that is a little more frantic, a little bit more dangerous, describes him and why he feels he’s doing the right thing at any given moment.”
The animation also served Devon’s arc as she was pulled between the Jedi path she had grown up with and the new reality of the Empire and Maul’s answer to being hunted. “A lot of young padawans weren’t able to be children and Devon wasn’t really able to have that,” Adlon said. “A lot of our show looks a bit blurred like oil and watercolour and I think that is how Devon feels a lot of the time. Although she’s given respect by the men she’s around, as a young woman she doesn’t let anybody step on her, but she’s blurred because she’s figuring out who she is, figuring out her feelings on Maul, Daki, Riley and Lawson and absolutely reflects how she acts and feels.”
Of course, fans will know Maul’s ultimate fate as seen in Rebels, but Witwer and the production team’s mission was to open Maul up and discover new aspects about his past, character and how he gets to where we eventually see him in both Solo and Rebels by throwing in several curveballs to his story. “I make the argument that television and movies better be surprising and the best way to surprise an audience is to have your characters surprised. I always looked at it as he had hopes, but he didn’t know these things were going to happen. I know the Emperor loves to say things like ‘everything that has transpired has done so according to my design’ but that’s just bluster,” Witwer said.
“They might have their premonitions and their thoughts, but I always played it and pushed the team because they’d say ‘it was his plan to have an apprentice’ but plan shmlan, it doesn’t mean anything, who cares? Everyone has plans. I don’t think that when he has a premonition of an apprentice that he has any idea it will be a Jedi apprentice because that’s a needle in a haystack to find someone suitable to be an apprentice because for that person to already be mostly trained? He’s like ‘Oh my god!’ I tried to give it a sense of discovery throughout it. Even the Emperor can’t see things in total clarity. He’s constantly pivoting as his plans are threatened.”
Maul’s desire to make Devon his apprentice and turn her to the Dark Side proved to be the season’s most pivotal element, building much of the backbone to its central theme as Devon was pulled by the differing philosophies between Maul and her master Eeko-Dio Daki. Maul’s initial fight with the pair of them came to have much more significance in the greater scheme of the season as it laid the foundation for the argument of which side of the Force is actually stronger and more beneficial.
“There’s a really interesting thing that happens in the course of that battle,” Witwer explained. “Daki gets his ribs broken, all these awful things happen, but he gets in one knee kick on Maul’s knee – one knee kick – and by the end of the episode the answer of whose philosophy is more resilient really seems the Dark Side is more resilient. Maul seems to have proven that to Devon. But then as you see where that knee injury goes that’s the domino that starts this death spiral for Maul. Now you’re in episode eight and his legs are shredded, he’s completely psychologically rattled and demoralized all because of this knee kick. And by episode eight, Daki is hanging out with Devon and she asks if he’s okay because his ribs are broken and he says ‘not entirely, but I am not dead yet’ and he soldiers on. Maul is laid low. The Dark Side is quicker, easier, more seductive, you’d say the Dark Side must be stronger, but on a longer timeline the Light Side of the Force is, in fact, more resilient and soldiers on, picks itself up, dusts itself off, doesn’t make it about itself. Makes it about the people. That was the type of thing we were trying to inject in season one to try and bring it in line with George Lucas’ mythology.”
Star Wars: Maul – Shadow Lord has been renewed for a second season which will premiere sometime next year. While none of the cast could reveal or tease any information, Witwer said he has “a lot of love for the Star Wars mythology. As long as we can do something that helps it, something new, something we quite haven’t seen before, I’m interested. I hope that’s what we’re doing.”
Ricky Church
