So, Are You Two Volunteering To Be My Pilots Or What?

The one thing I want from the Maul show

The trailer for the new Maul show looks fantastic with beautiful animation and some great voice acting. And of course, there's our usual Maul-isms such as he need for revenge and his never ending quest for an apprentice. I do love that Rook points out that he had another vision, which I think is pretty cool for Maul. I love the small details such as the sound of his legs against the metal ramp to the ship. I also love that we're getting an encounter with an inquisitor since in Rebels, his lightsaber is made out of a broken inquisitor blade.

With that said, the one thing I truly hope for are quiet moments where we really get a chance to delve into his inner thoughts. Underneath his quest for vengeance, who is he truly?

Maul is a complex person; while there is no doubt that he's not very moral, he is still very vulnerable, lonely, angry, and has a longing for a companion. The unfortunate reality is that Maul's upbringing has essentially tarnished his interpersonal skills and mind to a point where he struggles to have even the most basic meaningful connection. Savage sure tried the brotherly route and was met with an apprentice-master dynamic. Maul, of course, did care in his own way but has zero concept of healthy relationships other than what was taught to him.

Ezra was a similar situation where there was an offering for companionship (naïveté aside), but Maul still had to go down that master-apprentice route (and try and take out the real master for good measure). When Maul is at his most desperate to hold on to his connection with Ezra, he pleads that they could be like friends, even brothers. Of course, he's still not above using Ezra to get to Obi-Wan.

The point is, Maul continues to be one of Star Wars' most tragic figures: a lonely man who will never find peace with himself or anything in his life even when others try and offer it to him. It's his internal battle that makes him so compelling to me. Maul has to continue a quest that will never satisfy him. He's been offered chances for a better life, but never takes it. And with this new series, I truly hope they will give us more insight into his inner world. Does he still think about Savage? Has he ever considered the self-destructive nature of his quest (tbf, in Rebels he definitely knows imo).

We know that he will be getting a new apprentice, which could be a great opportunity to explore Maul's more tragic and sympathetic side.

It's pretty well known that Maul tends to seek companionship in people he not only sees potential in, but also sees a part of himself. Savage being his brother aside, with Ahsoka, Maul saw someone who had been cast aside, and with Ezra, Maul saw someone who shared his desire to defeat the Sith and avenge those he lost. Maul yearns for that connection and I'm curious so see if this relationship will be different from Ezra or Savage. It will still be master-apprentice, but will the girl be more hesitant to learn like Ezra, open like Savage, or eventually embrace the teachings and kick Maul to the curb? Maybe, just maybe, Maul will have a somewhat positive relationship that isn't just him dominating someone else the whole time. I'm getting off track here, but I really would be curious as to how another apprentice route is going to impact Maul (especially considering how every storyline he's in always includes some sort of master-apprentice dynamic).

Based on the trailer, it appears that Maul has a vision about the Twi'lek girl and offers to train her. It appears that his line about an unfilled destiny is directed at her and he can help her reach that potential. I'd love to see what this vision entails since it has to be pretty significant for Maul to go out of his way to seek her. Perhaps, Maul seeks to help the girl fulfill her "destiny" as a way to soothe his own aching soul considering he feels robbed of destiny.

Thinking back to Clone Wars, I wouldn't be surprised if Maul was haunted by what happened on Mandalore and with Order 66. In Rebels, he does have a portrait of Satine that he destroyed. We know Sidious is the man he fears more than anything. I can imagine he is plagued by nightmares and anger. He lost everything and getting a chance to "restart" with a new apprentice might just be the opportunity he jumps at to find some sense of purpose.

Purpose is another core Maul-ism. This guy literally tunnel visions on like one or two things (destroy Obi-Wan and Sidious) and then makes it everyone else's problem. In fact, part of Maul's tragedy is that he can't see another path for himself other than revenge. It is a result of his upbringing, but what's tragic is that he can't let it go, ever. So much of his pain comes from the fact that he will never be satisfied in life; everything around him fails and he can't even beat one specific Jedi. And for all the pain it's caused him, Maul can't. let. go. Enter a potential apprentice with an "unfulfilled destiny." No doubt Maul will use this to channel his own sense of purpose. I am really interested to see how this theme plays out with the Twi'lek girl and I wonder how much of this "unfulfilled destiny" is coming from her or from Maul.

Remember Ezra? He wanted to defeat the Sith, but it wasn't his number one priority. Maul was the one who influenced that side of him because that's what Maul wanted. He took advantage of a young, naive boy and it led to disaster. I'm curious of the Twi'lek girl's motivation and why she is in Maul's visions. Maybe this girl will give us more insight into Maul's inner world. Will she be someone he truly bonds with (to the extent that he can)? Or is it going to be more closed off as it has always been with Maul? Maul does open up, but the narrative usually is either very skewed or he's just venting.

All and all, I'm just excited to see Maul again. I realize this whole post just went into a ramble about Maul's character but he truly is such a fascinating person. His story is defined by the anger and pain he experiences, he is merciless on his quest for revenge, and yet, we the audience are still asked to feel sympathy for him. We see his vulnerabilities, his pain, his grief, his longing for connection, and over and over again, we see his failure. Maul is a cautionary tale of what happens when you allow revenge and anger to rule your life; it leads to nothingness, something that Obi-Wan echoes to him in Rebels.

It is heartbreaking that Maul only found peace when he died and while he finally realized that Obi-Wan was never his true enemy, that drive for vengeance never left him. Even writing this just makes me want to bundle him up in a blanket and hold him tight. Maul carries so much pain, both with what he has caused and what he has endured.

I hope this new show doesn't disappoint and gives us a new perspective on our favorite Zabrak. If you made it this far, thank you for sticking with this long-winded rant. I was just literally pouring all my Maul feels into this unintentionally. I love Maul so, so much; his story pulls at my heartstrings and his relationship with Obi-Wan is genuinely one of my favorite Star Wars dynamics of all time. I can't wait to see this new, unexplored chapter of Maul's life! (Until then I'm in my Andor brainrot, specifically over the pathetic cereal man).

A new clone? In this economy?

as a Sentinels Jedi, Maul was trained to fought with a variety of weapons in addition to his lightsaber and unarmed martial art, such as blasters, rocket launchers, mines, and grenades…so uncivilized.

sorry i missed ib's anniversary </3

jedi master tano and grand master kenobi

Darkside lineage

(Mace Windu’s lineage) ( Yoda’s Jedi lineage )

The Force is what gives a Jedi his power. It's an energy field created by all living things. It surrounds us and penetrates us. It binds the galaxy together.

A piece of Barriss I did awhile back for the @forgottenchapterszine based off of the Legends MedStar duology!

this is the vibe he gives

i thinnk bro might like clones

The reason The Lawless arc of The Clone Wars is so incredible is because narratively-speaking it forms a perfect self-contained tragedy no matter which character's perspective it's from:

For Satine, it's a political tragedy in the style of Richard II, focusing on a conflict between vying factions and the fall of a well-intentioned ruler, but also with echoes of Dido, Queen of Carthage in the sense that it's ultimately not the politics that screws her over as much as it is the doomed love story.

For Maul, it's a revenge tragedy like Hamlet, in which his desire for revenge on Obi-Wan ends up not only doing harm to innocents (like Satine) but also to himself and his own family (as with Savage's death).

For Obi-Wan, he's the object of the revenge tragedy while also being trapped in his own Orpheus-and-Eurydice "you can't save her no matter how hard you try" narrative.

For Bo-Katan, it's about how her pride and ambition prevents her from seeing right from wrong and from noticing the writing on the wall until it's too late to stop the events which have been set in motion and too late to save her sister. It's the idea of a royal house torn apart by betrayal, remorse, and the dashed hopes of reconciliation.

For Pre Vizsla, it's similar to Macbeth in that his desire for power and his designs on the throne end up being his downfall.

In these episodes, every character is the tragic hero of their own little disaster, and I think that is just so cool.