Ricky Church reviews Star Wars: Maul – Shadow Lord episode 7 ‘Call to Oblivion’ and episode 8 ‘The Creeping Fear’….
This week’s episodes of Maul – Shadow Lord were both exciting and insightful with its focus on the characters among plenty of action-packed sequences. Once again it strengthens the potential of witnessing Maul’s journey during the Empire’s early reign as he navigates the setbacks to his plans and his traumatic past.
The series’ portrayal of Maul has made him a much more interesting character than he already was after The Clone Wars and his distant future in Rebels revealed him to be, but the story’s setting in the Empire’s youth provides a whole lot more nuance as he simply isn’t just fighting Jedi or seeking revenge. While ‘Call to Oblivion’ featured a fantastic fight between Maul and the pair of Inquisitors, ‘The Creeping Fear’ examined him on a more personal level as Maul was tested in his own version of a dark side cave, reliving his most crushing defeats. The brief glimpses of his training with Darth Sidious were welcome given that has never properly been seen in Star Wars media, and though Palpatine’s cruel treatment is unsurprising it was Maul’s reaction that revealed more of his current mindset.
Sam Witwer has always provided terrific performances as Maul, but it is in these moments exploring Maul’s psyche where he really delivered one of his best. He did something with Maul that Star Wars has rarely done: created sympathy for one of the franchise’s most iconic villains. The moment where his trial ended and he found the peace to accept his younger self’s supposed weakness and the abuse that was done to him was very touching due to Witwer’s vocal performance and the beautiful animation on his face. The combination conveyed Maul’s turmoil very well. It is especially interesting that Maul’s vow to put an end to Sidious wasn’t just a desire for vengeance, but of a need to make sure Sidious never puts anyone else through what he’s done to Maul, Dooku, Anakin and countless others through his manipulations and evil glee. It is just another sign of how much Maul has changed since the Clone Wars.
Aside from Maul, many of the other characters received great moments to shine. Starting with the supporting characters, Maul’s two Nightbrothers Scorn and Icarus had memorable parts to play in the action. The beat where Scorn tried to help Maul against the Inquisitors and Icarus expressed much sorrow at his murder put into perspective how loyal the Dathormir Nightbrothers are as even Maul was shaken. Rook Kast even showed sympathy to Icarus as well as how much her devotion to Maul went while respectfully questioning him and the faithful Spybot’s scenes added more to his quirky and loyal personality.
As for the main players, the chemistry between Lawson, Eeko-Dio Daki, Devon and Riley continued to impress, particularly between Lawson and Daki. The two share a tendency for rationale in tense situations and to see the bigger picture which is a nice characteristic for Daki to have. Despite some of his faith in the kindness of people being a little misplaced, he is not completely blind to the reality of a situation or adheres so strongly to the Jedi code or will of the Force that he is unwilling to improvise when called for. Dennis Haysbert and Wagner Moura give great performances while Gideon Adlon continues to give Devon a layered portrayal as she also sees the reality of the Empire’s threat but still recognizes the truth Maul partly tells. The intrigue in their relationship is building nicely in a way that makes the ending unpredictable. Will she turn to Maul’s side? What act will force her to join him? The fact it is still not an easy question to answer this late into the season adds to the excitement.
One of the most impressive aspects to Shadow Lord is the animation which keeps on getting better and better. The battle between Maul and the Inquisitors was well choreographed and detailed with their smooth movements, body language and the facial expressions on Maul and his allies. Marrok and the 11th Brother are quite a fighting duo, using actual teamwork in their attacks against Maul whereas other Inquisitors have often used each other as pawns in fights. It is also hilarious that they benefit from Maul’s treatment where they have become much more interesting after we’ve seen their deaths in other media (not to mention they both eventually meet their end at Ahsoka’s hands). The car chase in ‘The Creeping Fear’ is also incredibly well animated, but the real highlight is Maul’s trippy vision of his past. If nothing else, this series boasts some of the best animation Lucasfilm has produced yet.
The penultimate episodes of Maul – Shadow Lord were exciting, character driven and full of beautiful visuals. Maul’s characterization in this time period has been incredibly interesting with ‘The Creeping Fear’ proof as to why that is. The additional characters all stand out thanks to the writing and performances. With the finale dropping on Star Wars Day, the anticipation for how season one concludes is high with how many possibilities there are for the story and Maul to take.
SEE ALSO: Star Wars: Maul – Shadow Lord sixth scale Maul figure unveiled by Hot Toys
Rating: 9/10
Ricky Church
