Darth Maul, voiced by Sam Witwer, returned in his new show “Star Wars: Maul – Shadow Lord,” which aired its two part finale on Disney+ May 4. After the execution of Order 66, Maul is down but not out on the seedy sublevels of Janix, scheming to regain control of the criminal underworld and eventually take down the evil Galactic Empire. Maul’s attempt to acquire a padawan of his own, by turning the young Jedi, Devon Izara, voiced by Gideon Adlon, grew complicated as Imperial forces hunted him down. Just like the Phantom Menace’s iconic weapon, Shadow Lord is a double-edged laser sword that, while dripping with style, extends both ways to shine a light on the substance issues of modern “Star Wars.”
“Shadow Lord” is the latest installment in a series of spin-offs derived from the CG animated “Star Wars: The Clone Wars,” which debuted on Cartoon Network in 2008. It also comes from the same creative team, notably Dave Filoni and Matt Michnovetz. This means that viewers, like myself, who grew up watching this on cable television, are now in our 20s. I mention this because it is the root of all of “Shadow Lord’s” strengths and weaknesses.
A massive kudos to this show is how well it aged with its audience. “Shadow Lord” isn’t the Saturday morning cartoon with cheeky, marketable side characters meant to sell new fans on the franchise – looking at you BB-8 and Grogu – it is dark, gritty and mature, expanding on plot lines fans have been following since 2012. Maul is on a revenge path and the show hides none of it. He is allowed to be evil, to slice people in half, take prisoners, abduct a literal child and endanger innocent civilians if it aligns with his motives. We also get an intriguing peek into his twisted worldview that, while never justifying his actions, lets us empathize with them as we come to understand his desperate circumstances in the pursuit of toppling a corrupt system.
However, as I mentioned, these are all plot lines we’ve been following for the past 14 years. While this is the first “Star Wars” show explicitly about Maul, his television arcs have been stealing the spotlight in both “Clone Wars” and “Star Wars Rebels,” giving fans some of the best episodes in those respective shows. It’s not like we haven’t seen Maul in a protagonist role as he tries to gain control of the criminal underworld and get revenge on his old master, which happened in “Clone Wars.” And this isn’t the first time he has taken on a padawan either, his brother Savage Opress being the first and even Ezra Bridger from “Rebels” taking a stab at it too. Maul, being his conniving self, will always be interesting and absolutely on par, if not better than his prior appearances, since he doesn’t have to share the spotlight this time around. But no Jedi mind trick can make you forget you’ve seen these same stories before.
While the major beats feel familiar, the show is filled with standout moments unique to this series, adding nuanced complexity and making for fun interactions. It is interesting to see Maul and Izara on a level playing field. Like Maul after “Phantom Menace,” the once protectors of peace are also relegated to the shadows and painted as villains at the hands of Emperor Palpatine. Even though Maul was infamous amongst the Jedi, watching Izara’s perspective of him change as she comes to realize they share the same enemy is genuinely compelling. It also shifts how Jedi-Sith relationships play out across these shows, brilliantly transforming the black-and-white into the morally gray.
One of my personal favorite moments from the entire season comes from episode six when Maul crosses sabers with an inquisitor. To get some room, the inquisitor ignites his dual blade at Maul’s head. Maul seems genuinely angry that someone stole his trick, standing there fuming, only to unleash his own double-sided saber as if to say, “Yeah, I got one too.” Despite the overwhelming familiarity, little moments like these are what make “Shadow Lord” a joy to watch.
Another standout from “Shadow Lord” is the liberties taken with the animation. The establishing shots of Janix, reminiscent of a K-Mart Coruscant, aren’t the loud CG slop fests of the prequels. Instead, they evoke a similar, quite whimsical quality in the Original Trilogy as they are beautifully detailed, hand-painted backgrounds. Audiences also get a lot of great close-up shots of characters’ faces, which carry the rugged aesthetics of these hand-painted cells. Small details, yes, but they bring the familiar world to life in a new and vibrant way. Even the lightsabers are animated differently, with their trails being three times longer than usual, giving them a fiery appearance, similar to Kylo Ren’s, making the elegant weapon for a more civilized age ignite with a visual sense of bloodlust. These additions do a lot to breathe new life into such an established animation style.
That said, in watching “Shadow Lord,” it’s evident the animators wanted to go further with their creative vision to make a style unique to their show, like what “Rebels” and “Star Wars Visions” have done. However, because this series is a continuation of “Clone Wars,” it is pigeon-holed to the blocky renderings of 2008 computer graphics.
As someone who has been watching “Clone Wars” for 18 years, I thoroughly enjoyed “Shadow Lord” because it is more of what I love, told in a mature tone I can appreciate as a grown adult who still watches cartoons. I do admit, however, the familiarity of repeated plotlines and the same limiting animation style only showcases the creative rut of this previously innovative series.
While the Disney-Star-Wars empire hasn’t quite struck back, nor is this series a triumphant return to the world of the Jedi, “Maul – Shadow Lord” is more of a phantom menace; despite sometimes feeling like an attack of the cloned plot lines, it is an absolutely entertaining revenge following one of our favorite Sith.
4.5/5