Force Matters: More ‘All Maul’ as ‘Shadow Lord’ Hums Along

Star Wars comics continue to come out in a trickle, so it’s another “All Maul” Force Matters installment featuring the third and fourth episodes of Maul: Shadow Lord!

Star Wars: Maul — Shadow Lord “Whispers in the Unknown”

Written by Julia Cooperman. Directed by Steward Lee.

Lawson draws closer to Maul, as Maul tempts Devon with pathways to power.

• In a great little detail, when shown up close, Rook Kast’s helmet is incredibly dinged and dented.  
• Cassius tea is a Mandalorian beverage; it was favored by Pre Vizsla, one-time ally of Maul and former leader of the Death Watch.
• The blond TDF officer working with Two-Boots at the shootout is named Reb; he is not the same character as Hendrix from the Shadow of Maul comic.
• The Pyke homeworld where Marg Krim is located is Oba Diah; it was previously seen in The Clone Wars. 
• When Devon and Maul have their last duel, “Battle of the Heroes,” from Star Wars: Episode III — Revenge of the Sith gets briefly interwoven into the score.
• Devon spending the episode climbing out of Maul’s headquarters and running into the light is a bit on the nose, but Star Wars is hardly subtle.

This is more or less a showcase episode for Sam Witwer, who manages to make Maul sinister, sympathetic and seductive all at the same time as he essentially taunts Devon all throughout the episode. The episode is never better than in their interactions with each other.

Star Wars: Maul — Shadow Lord “Whispers in the Unknown”

Written by Amanda Rose Muñoz. Directed by Nathaniel Villanueva.

Maul’s plot against the Pyke’s comes to fruition as the Empire draws ever nearer.

• The series continues to echo the movies in ways both subtle and obvious, with there being big “Snoke’s death in Star Wars: The Last Jedi” energy in Maul pulling his lightsaber from Marg Krim and killing him in the process.
• Similarly, the new structure Maul establishes with the Pykes here — putting one of their own in charge but answerable to him — is more or less his deal with Crimson Dawn in Solo. 
• And when the Spybot droid detects the arrival of the Empire, it does so thanks to the sound emitted by the probe droid in The Empire Strikes Back (presumably it’s meant to indicate Imperial radio chatter in this instance).
• In a longer, more languid show, we would have spent more time on Devon convincing Daki they need to help Lawson capture Maul; I appreciate the brevity with which its resolved here.
• Daki is wearing some kind of flight suit (white vest, dangling straps around his thighs) under his cloak. 
• Vario can be seen briefly fleeing through the tunnels with Maul’s gang at the end of the episode, so he’s apparently still with them. 

We’re a little shy of the halfway point with this episode, but it feels very much like a mid-season finale, in terms of bringing the immediate plot threads — Maul’s scheme against the Pykes, Lawson’s attempts to capture Maul — to a head, and using them to escalate the situation and create a new set of problems via the arrival of the Empire. That sense of culmination gives it an entertaining energy.