For a guy who was seemingly killed off in his debut movie appearance, Darth Maul has enjoyed a surprisingly long and vibrant career as a Star Wars villain. 1999’s Star Wars: Episode I – The Phantom Menace turned out to be just the beginning of Maul’s story, with the character returning to prominence in the animated series Star Wars: The Clone Wars, where his battle cry came to echo across Star Wars fandom.
Suffice it to say, if you only watch the Star Wars movies, you’re missing out on a lot when it comes to Darth Maul. But that’s where we come in. As this iconic ex-Sith Lord prepares to star in his very own animated series, Maul: Shadow Lord, we’re here to break down his story in The Clone Wars and its spinoffs and explain what you need to know to enjoy the new series.
Darth Maul: The Basics
Darth Maul made his debut in Episode I back in 1999, and that movie tells you pretty much everything you need to know about the character. He’s a Sith Lord apprentice to Darth Sidious, part of Sidious’ master plan to transform the Republic into his personal Galactic Empire.
But while Maul is a fearsome fighter and Jedi hunter, he ultimately proves to be just a pawn in Sidious’ much larger game. No sooner does Maul kill Jedi Master Qui-Gon Jinn on Naboo than he’s sliced in half by Jinn’s own apprentice, Obi-Wan Kenobi. Like Boba Fett before him, Darth Maul turned out to be a character with a cool look and a fierce aura, but not one with a lot of staying power. Or so we thought at the time.
Over the years, various Star Wars novels and comics have sought to flesh out Maul’s early years and his life spent training under Sidious. Many of those stories are now relegated to non-canon “Legends” status. But it is worth pointing out the 2012 novel Star Wars: Darth Plagueis. Though it too is now consigned to Legends, Darth Plagueis is the book that provides an actual origin story for Maul designed around new information revealed in the Clone Wars animated series.
Darth Maul Rises From the Grave
Before The Clone Wars came along, the idea that Darth Maul somehow survived his duel with Obi-Wan Kenobi on Naboo was the stuff of imagination. Dark Horse Comics published a short story in the 2005 anthology series Star Wars: Visionaries where Maul returned to seek revenge on Kenobi, but that story was very specifically not set in official Star Wars canon. Still, the concept seemed to resonate enough with George Lucas and other Clone Wars storytellers that they made it official in the animated series.
Maul’s return is first hinted at in The Clone Wars: Season 3, where we meet his estranged brother, Savage Opress. The episode “Monster” establishes the concept of the Nightbrothers, male slaves of the Nightsisters of Dathomir who live in servitude to the powerful witch Mother Talzin. Like Maul, all of the Nightbrothers are marked by those iconic, colorful tattoos.
After he proves his mettle, Savage is dispatched by Talzin to be the new Sith apprentice to Count Dooku. However, Dooku doesn’t realize that Talzin is secretly grooming Savage to assassinate him in revenge for his attempt on the life of his previous apprentice, Asajj Ventress. Savage and Ventress briefly join forces in a failed attempt to kill Dooku.
Afterwards, Talzin gives Savage a new mission. She reveals that he has a brother named Maul, one who was badly injured fighting a Jedi and needs to be brought back into the fold.
That cliffhanger carries over into The Clone Wars Season 4, where Savage successfully tracks down Maul on the junkyard planet of Lotho Minor. Thanks to the power of pure hatred, Maul managed to survive being sliced in half, but he’s gone insane and devolved into a half-man, half-spider-like cyborg. Savage brings his brother back to Dathomir, where Talzin uses her Force witchcraft to heal him. More or less.
Now back in fighting shape, Maul wastes no time in seeking revenge against Obi-Wan Kenobi. He and his brother embark on a Jedi killing spree to lure out Kenobi. But they don’t count on Asajj Ventress herself lending the Jedi Master a helping hand.
Darth Maul’s Shadow Collective
Season 5 of The Clone Wars is where Maul’s story really kicks into gear. That marks the point where Maul starts to dream bigger than just getting revenge on Obi-Wan. He begins laying the foundation for a criminal empire that can rival the actual Empire his former master Sidious is building.
Maul and Savage’s first attempt doesn’t go so well, as they’re again foiled by the intrepid Obi-Wan Kenobi (though not before Obi-Wan’s ally Adi Gallia is killed). But after encountering the radical sect of Mandalorians known as Death Watch, Maul’s plans really start to bear fruit.
Joining forces with Death Watch leader Pre Vizsla, Maul and Savage begin to unite the various intergalactic criminal cartels like Black Sun, the Hutts, and the Pyke Syndicate under one banner. Their new organization is known as the Shadow Collective. The Shadow Collective then orchestrates Vizsla’s rise to power on Mandalore, staging an attack against the planet that Death Watch is able to defeat.
However, this alliance of evil doesn’t last long before Vizsla betrays Maul and his brother. Maul ends up challenging his former partner to a duel on Mandalore, killing Vizsla and claiming the coveted Darksaber for himself. That effectively makes him the new ruler of Mandalore as well as the leader of the Shadow Collective.
Naturally, the first thing Maul does with his newfound power is lay a trap for Obi-Wan. He lures his nemesis to Mandalore using the deposed leader (and Obi-Wan’s former lover) Duchess Satine Kryze as bait. Maul then executes her in front of Obi-Wan, finally paying him back to some degree for the whole being sliced in half thing. However, Obi-Wan himself escapes with a little help from Satine’s sister, Bo-Katan.
Despite his recent victories, Maul is quickly brought back to Earth (so to speak) when his old master pays him a visit. Darth Sidious isn’t pleased that his former minion is still alive, much less has become a legitimate threat. Sidious duels Maul and Savage on Mandalore, killing the latter and capturing the former. And that’s where Maul’s story ends in the original run of The Clone Wars.
Son of Dathomir: The Lost Darth Maul Story
Because Cartoon Network opted to cancel The Clone Wars in 2013, a number of planned storylines suddenly became trapped in limbo. Some of those stories wound up being finished and released as a truncated Season 6, known as The Clone Wars: The Lost Missions. Others were instead adapted as novels or comics. That’s where 2014’s Darth Maul: Son of Dathomir comes in.
Son of Dathomir is a comic book adaptation of four canceled Clone Wars episodes. This series is essential reading for Maul fans, as it fills in some major gaps between the end of Season 5 and Maul’s unexplained return in Season 7.
Son of Dathomir opens following Sidious’ capture of Maul, as Maul is being tortured by Count Dooku for information on the Shadow Collective. He escapes and reunites with his Death Watch commandos. This is also when Maul discovers that Mother Talzin herself is his biological mother.
Talzin attempts to use Dooku and General Grievous as bait to lure out Darth Sidious. Ultimately, though, she sacrifices herself to save her son and is killed by Grievous. Maul escapes with his commandos and makes his way back to Mandalore, where the stage is set for the final Clone Wars storyline.
The Siege of Mandalore
Disney gave The Clone Wars a new lease on life in 2020 when it released a long-delayed seventh and final season to tie up some loose ends. Most importantly, Season 7 ends with a four-part arc called The Siege of Mandalore. It’s basically a full-fledged animated movie that takes place concurrently with Star Wars: Episode III – Revenge of the Sith.
These four episodes focus mainly on Ahsoka Tano and Maul as the two battle it out on Mandalore even as Sidious makes his final moves to transform the Republic into the Empire. Ahsoka is sent with a battalion of Clone Troopers to liberate Mandalore from Death Watch’s control. Maul attempts to recruit Ahsoka to his cause, warning her of his master’s plan to destroy the Jedi and turn Anakin Skywalker to the Dark Side. Ahsoka rejects his overtures and manages to capture her enemy.
Maul is imprisoned and taken to Coruscant to stand trial for his crimes. But he and Ahsoka find themselves temporarily on the same side when Sidious executes Order 66 mid-flight and Ahsoka’s soldiers turn on her. The two manage to evade capture, and Maul steals a shuttle and makes his way back into the lawless fringes of the galaxy.
How Maul: Shadow Lord Fits Into the Star Wars Timeline
That’s essentially where Maul: Shadow Lord picks up. The Clone Wars have ended, and the newly minted Emperor Palpatine is consolidating his grip on power. It’s a dark time for the galaxy, but also one rife with opportunity for anyone with the courage to seize it.
As Shadow Lord opens, Maul is looking to rebuild the Shadow Collective, which has effectively collapsed since his brief capture at Sidious’ hands. Maul has a few loyal soldiers left among his Death Watch commandos, but he has a long way to go before reclaiming the power he briefly held.
In Shadow Lord, Maul’s quest takes him to the planet Janix, a remote world that thus far has managed to mostly escape the Empire’s eye. There, he’ll join forces with Devon Izara, an Order 66 survivor whom Maul sees as a potential apprentice. He’ll also butt heads with Captain Brander Lawson, a police detective desperate to keep Janix out of the Empire’s watchful gaze.
It remains to be seen just how much of the Star Wars timeline Maul: Shadow Lord will cover, but we do know that Maul is eventually successful in building his criminal organization. 2018’s Solo: A Star Wars Story is set 10 years after Revenge of the Sith, and it establishes that Maul has built up a new organization called Crimson Dawn.
Years later, Maul returns in the Season 2 finale of Star Wars Rebels, where he’s revealed to be marooned on the Sith world of Malachor. Maul takes a shine to young Ezra Bridger as a potential new apprentice. And he briefly helps Ezra and the gang before doing his usual thing and betraying the group.
How Maul goes from leading Crimson Dawn to being stranded and alone has never been revealed. Maybe Shadow Lord will eventually get around to settling that mystery. But we do know where Maul’s story ultimately ends. Season 3 of Star Wars Rebels sees Maul track down Obi-Wan Kenobi to his hiding place on Tatooine. After a brief duel, Maul is mortally wounded, and he senses that Obi-Wan is protecting the Chosen One. Maul’s dying hope is that the boy can avenge him and all the people who were wronged by Sidious.
A sad but fitting end to a complex, fascinating Star Wars villain. Then again, if Maul managed to survive his apparent death in The Phantom Menace, can we be absolutely sure he’s really dead this time? Regardless, there’s clearly still more story left to tell with the character, and that process begins when Maul: Shadow Lord premieres on April 6, 2026.
Are you excited to see Darth Maul finally headlining his own Star Wars series? Let us know in the comments below, and make sure you like and subscribe to IGN wherever you watch.
For more on the Star Wars franchise, brush up on every Star Wars movie and series in development and see Hasbro’s line of Maul: Shadow Lord figures.
Jesse is a mild-mannered staff writer for IGN. Allow him to lend a machete to your intellectual thicket by following @jschedeen on BlueSky.
