If the explosive, bloody finale of Star Wars Maul — Shadow Lord season 1 left you gobsmacked, you’re not alone. In episode 1, Darth Maul first arrives on the criminal-infested planet of Janix to rebuild his criminal empire from scratch. By the time episode 10, “The Dark Lord,” comes around, Maul, his allies, and his enemies, are all in grim places, and most of them are dead.
Below, Polygon breaks down all the most important details from Maul — Shadow Lord’s epic finale and speculates what season 2, following Maul and his adventures, might look like, given what we know about Maul’s future, as seen in other Star Wars media, like Solo: A Star Wars Story and Star Wars: Rebels.
[Ed. note: Spoilers below for Maul — Shadow Lord episodes 9 and 10.]
Sith vs Sith: Darth Maul clashes with Star Wars’ most formidable bad guy
There have been plenty of epic duels throughout Star Wars history, and many of them have involved Darth Maul. Most notably, he clashed with Qui‑Gon Jinn and Obi‑Wan Kenobi in the 1999 film The Phantom Menace. However, a new contender for Maul’s most epic battle has arrived: the confrontation between Darth Maul and Darth Vader in episode 10 of Shadow Lord.
Maul plagued the prequel-era Jedi for years, but the ex-Sith never actively fought Anakin Skywalker — only Skywalker’s Jedi master, Maul’s most hated adversary, Obi-Wan Kenobi. But, after escaping the city of Janix and heading out into the jungle, Maul gets his first taste of action against Anakin, now the monstrous Darth Vader.
It’s been established that going up against Vader doesn’t end well, even for powerful Force users. Maul is no exception. Even with the help of Jedi Eeko-Dio Daki and Devon Izara, Maul is unable to succeed against Vader, and he and his surviving allies are forced to flee Janix completely.
Daki’s death and Maul’s manipulation and corruption of Devon
While Vader kills the Mosyk Jedi Master Daki in the crumbling ruins of Janix’s jungle, Maul literally pushes Daki to his death. During their fight with Vader, Daki and Maul become separated from Devon, who is left to tackle the Inquisitors, Eighth Brother, and Marrok. Maul has been trying to win Devon over to his side all season, so it’s no surprise that, wounded as he is and still as manipulative as ever, Maul sees how an opportunity could rise from Daki’s death. Maul uses the Force to push Daki toward Vader, and promptly leaves the Jedi to face the Dark Lord alone.
Devon sees Daki perish, and in a fit of rage, manages to harm Eighth Brother enough that the Inquisitor is forced to run. Devon only agrees to flee herself when Maul promises to teach Devon everything he knows and ensure her vengeance on Vader.
Daki’s death is a truly tragic moment in Shadow Lord. Not only does this mean another Jedi death at the hands of the oppressive Empire, Daki was the only thing connecting Devon to the Jedi of the Republic and their teachings. With him gone, Devon is left vulnerable to Maul’s manipulations in a way she wasn’t before.
Is Captain Brander Lawson dead?
We weren’t kidding when we said Maul — Shadow Lord has one of the bloodiest finales in Star Wars animation history. Not only does Daki bite the dust, we see Captain Brander Lawson make a heroic sacrifice to ensure his son Rylee, Two-Boots, and Vario are able to make it up onto Dryden Vos’s ship, awaiting them in the Janix jungle.
Or at least, we assume that’s what happened. While Lawson picks up some heavy artillery (I’m sure Star Wars fans will correct me on the correct name for that gun) and moves to give covering fire so everyone can escape, we don’t actually see his death. He does get shot in the shoulder, and as he moves further into the fog, we see him grow weaker and look as though he’s about to fall, but we don’t actually see his body.
If there’s one thing we’ve learned with Star Wars, it’s this: Unless you see the corpse (or sometimes, even if you do see it), assume that character might live to fight another day. Dry your tears, Rylee. Maybe season 2 will introduce a clone of your dad called Laawson.
The Shadow Collective and Crimson Dawn
If you thought Maul’s organization was looking pretty measly at the start of Shadow Lord, by the end of the ninth episode, “Strange Allies,” you’ll be gaping in horror. Not only do the rest of Maul’s Mandalorian and Zabrak allies perish, so does his beloved pet Spybot, as well as his second-in-command, Rook Kast.
With his Shadow Collective in tatters, the only way for Maul to move forward is to work with his rescuer and new ally, Dryden Vos of Crimson Dawn. The catch is that Maul will have to deal with Rintero, Vos’ superior, and the current leader of Crimson Dawn. We know from Solo that Maul will succeed in installing himself as leader, with Vos as the public figurehead of the crime syndicate, but we still don’t know the specifics of how that happened — nor whether Vader and the Empire will have any involvement in trying to prevent it from happening.
What will happen next in Maul — Shadow Lord season 2?
With Devon eager to avenge her master against Vader and the Empire, and Maul wanting to teach her all he knows, season 2 likely shows Devon embracing the Dark Side of the Force. Even before Shadow Lord aired, fans speculated whether Devon would replace Maul’s former Twi’lek apprentice, Darth Talon, who was introduced in the Expanded Universe. This does seem like Disney’s attempt to do just that.
However, even if Maul succeeds in turning Devon to the Dark Side, the key question is what happens to her afterward, since she isn’t present when we see Maul again in Rebels. During that time period, Maul is much weaker than in Shadow Lord, and more importantly, he’s utterly alone. Does this absence mean Devon eventually breaks away from Maul, or do Maul’s teachings lead her to become yet another victim of the Empire?
There’s also the fact that the story of Maul putting Dryden Vos in charge of the criminal syndicate Crimson Dawn has yet to be told. If Lucasfilm wants to fill that gap in Star Wars history, it’s likely that Shadow Lord season 2 will pick up immediately after season 1. However, given the emotional and physical beating both Maul and Devon received, it also wouldn’t surprise us if season 2 includes a time-skip that thrusts audiences straight back into the action, with Maul teaching Devon the ways of the Dark Side while filling in the blanks of Crimson Dawn’s history that Solo set up.
And there’s always the question of Vader’s role. It’s rare that Vader will leave a quarry unpursued, and by the time Rebels comes around, Maul is suitably terrified at the idea of Vader appearing anywhere near him. It could be due to that fateful day on Janix, but in typical Star Wars fashion, it could also be that far more tragedy is coming Maul’s way in season 2 of Shadow Lord.
All episodes of Star Wars: Maul — Shadow Lord are available now on Disney Plus.
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