Star Wars Should Darth Maul Have Stayed Dead

Star Wars: Should Darth Maul Have Stayed Dead?

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Darth Maul died in The Phantom Menace, but the new Star Wars canon revived him in The Clone Wars – should the fan-favorite Sith Lord have stayed dead?

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Star Wars Should Darth Maul Have Stayed Dead

Despite having relatively little screen time in his live-action appearances, Darth Maul is a fan-favorite Star Wars villain, but should he have stayed dead in Star Wars: Episode I – The Phantom Menace? Darth Maul was a visually-striking Sith Lord and the apprentice to the saga’s ultimate villain, Darth Sidious (aka Palpatine). Sidious was, ultimately, the true villain in The Phantom Menace, but Maul was his main enforcer, serving as his assassin and overseeing his Trade Federation lackeys during the Invasion of Naboo. Maul’s epic lightsaber duel with Qui-Gon Jinn and Obi-Wan Kenobi ended with the Sith Lord’s bisection and presumed death, but he returned in later material. A reasonable case could be made for Maul’s survival being unnecessary or beneficial to his character, and the right answer is a matter of personal taste.

In Darth Maul’s 1999 debut, the Expanded Universe, now called Legends, was Star Wars’ official timeline, and given Maul’s popularity, he was the focus of numerous comics and novels, unsurprisingly. Legends lore established that Maul was a Zabrak from Iridonia who was kidnapped as a child by Sidious due to his astounding intrinsic strength in the Force. Maul was raised by Palpatine and put through brutal Sith training, despite breaking the Rule of Two (Sidious was the apprentice of Darth Plagueis at the time), becoming a lethal fighter. Maul didn’t survive his Phantom Menace duel in Legends, however, and died upon being cut in half by Obi-Wan Kenobi.

Star Wars: The Clone Wars debuted before Legends became an alternate timeline and contradicted countless elements of established Legends lore. For this reason, many fans consider it exclusively part of the post-2014 Star Wars canon since it doesn’t fit with the Legends-era Clone Wars multimedia project. 2008’s The Clone Wars retconned Maul’s origin, establishing him as a Dathomirian, a Zabrak-like species from Dathomir. It also retconned his defeat, establishing that Maul survived his gruesome dismemberment through the unnatural power of the dark side. Maul went on to be a reoccurring nemesis to Obi-Wan and a dangerous third party in the galaxy-spanning Clone Wars, making additional appearances in Star Wars Rebels and another live-action appearance in Solo: A Star Wars Story. Maul had even more character development in canon than he did in Legends, but his survival nevertheless might not have been necessary.

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Darth Maul’s Death Served A Purpose In Star Wars Prequels

Star Wars Should Darth Maul Have Stayed Dead

Darth Maul was a drastically different type of Sith in his 1999 debut. Despite being some of the galaxy’s deadliest fighters, Darth Vader and the Emperor were more often than not taking on the roles of political and military leaders, respectively, manipulating the galaxy without having to draw their lightsabers or wield their unfathomable dark side powers. Darth Maul, on the other hand, embodied the martial aspects of Sith Lordship. Maul had few lines of dialogue in The Phantom Menace, expressing himself mostly through his fearsome combat prowess and letting his iconic double-bladed lightsaber do most of the talking.

Maul’s focus on fighting skills over leadership and manipulation was a stark contrast with the original trilogy-era Sith Lords, but they also made his death and replacement a necessity. In addition to his defeat helping Obi-Wan ascend to Jedi Knighthood, Maul’s downfall also allowed him to be succeeded by Count Dooku, a Sith Lord who was defined by his martial prowess and executive meddling in equal measure. Maul was depicted as little more than a powerful and focused assassin in The Phantom Menace, but Dooku worked alongside his master to manipulate the galaxy and subjugate it under Sith rule, though Dooku, like Maul, didn’t live to see this come to pass.

Maul’s Story Was Greatly Improved After His Death

Star Wars Should Darth Maul Have Stayed Dead

Maul was not bereft of character development in Legends by any means. His characterization was expanded on in numerous forms of non-movie material, establishing him as a fleshed-out and, in some ways, a tragic character without contradicting his depiction in The Phantom Menace as a combat specialist. Nevertheless, the ongoing canon continuity added additional facets to his character in The Clone Wars and Rebels. This, notably, included the establishment that Maul took after his master (and adopted father) and was highly skilled in manipulation. Maul took control of the Death Watch terrorist group and several powerful criminal organizations, forming the Shadow Collective. Following the end of the Clone Wars and the rise of the Galactic Empire, Maul led Crimson Dawn, a dreaded and highly-influential crime organization.

Maul’s Clone Wars and Rebels appearances also further developed his rivalry with Obi-Wan Kenobi. Maul was, unsurprisingly, hell-bent on exacting revenge on the Jedi who cost him half his body and thwarted his ambitions of ruling the galaxy alongside his master. Maul emotionally tortured Kenobi throughout the Clone Wars, murdering innocent civilians, Jedi Knights, and the Mandalorian Duchess Satine (the woman who Obi-Wan loved) as payback. Even after the fall of the Republic and the Jedi, Maul kept pursuing Kenobi, eventually finding him on Tatooine and dueling him one last time a mere two years before A New Hope. Kenobi finally killed his nemesis in their duel, but Maul’s single-minded yet ultimately futile quest for revenge only added to the intrinsic tragedy of his characterization. Ironically, Maul’s greatest enemy was one of the few to show him kindness in the end, with Kenobi comforting Maul as he died of his wounds.

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Maul’s Star Wars Impact Is Massive, But Was It Needed?

Star Wars Should Darth Maul Have Stayed Dead

Maul’s actions in The Clone Wars and Rebels had a massive impact on the Star Wars galaxy in canon, and while they established him as something akin to a smaller-scale version of his master, Palpatine, they weren’t necessary. The Clone Wars season 3 introduced a brand-new villain, Savage Oppress, who was Maul’s brother and a visually similar villain, seemingly as a means to give The Clone Wars a Maul-like character without contradicting the Sith Lord’s death on Naboo. Oppress had a markedly different demeanor to his brother, but his Sith training under Dooku could have allowed him to learn his master’s leadership and manipulation skills. Instead, The Clone Wars ended his apprenticeship rather quickly in favor of retconning Maul’s survival.

Should Darth Maul Have Stayed Dead?

Maul’s survival in Star Wars canon led to numerous memorable stories in The Clone Wars and Rebels and additional character development. Granted, its lack of necessity was highlighted in Solo, where Maul’s surprise cameo added little to the plot and likely confused average moviegoers who were unfamiliar with canon non-movie material and likely assumed that Maul died in The Phantom Menace. Legends left Maul dead yet continued to characterize him in stories set before the Invasion of Naboo, keeping the Star Wars timeline clean and consistent with the main saga films. The canon timeline gave an enormous amount of additional depth to Maul and added to the tragic futility of his life. Yet, it was never necessary for the overarching saga and ultimately muddied the waters of the continuity. The question of whether or not Darth Maul should have stayed dead has no objective answer, but the two Star Wars timelines make compelling cases for their respective resolutions.

Link Source : https://screenrant.com/star-wars-darth-maul-death-not-revive-better-worse/

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