It began on a backwater planet with twin suns, and it was there that the decades-long duel between Obi-Wan Kenobi and Darth Maul finally ended in Star Wars: Rebels Season 3. (I slapped a spoiler warning on this and I meant it, so don’t come crying to me if you’re not up-to-date.)
Whether you’re a prequel lover or hater, pretty much all Star Wars fans were in agreement that Darth Maul was a fantastic character and that we didn’t get enough of him. Fortunately, Dave Filoni resurrected the character in Star Wars: Clone Wars and Maul had a story arc that stretched out nearly 30 years, fleshing him out and giving us more of what we wished we had seen on the big screen. By the time Rebels Season 3 rolls around, Maul is no longer the viciously ambitious Sith warrior from The Phantom Menace. He’s been reduced to an aging trickster with a singular focus: kill the man who blames for the ruination of his life. Obi-Wan and Maul had several vicious duels to follow-up TPM’s epic encounter, but this final duel was a nod to samurai duels and Kurosawa.
The single stroke that ends Maul’s life (the biggest death of any character allowed in the animated realm) is a conscious choice to return to the characters first encounter. Maul goes for Obi-Wan with the same move that he used to kill his master, Qui-Gon Jinn, and Obi-Wan counters. That’s it. Two opponents who know each other so well at this point that the real fight took place before anyone moved an inch. And, in the end, two men whose lives turned out to be bitter shadows of what they hoped they would be ended their rivalry where they first met: in the shadow of twin suns.
The Last Jedi reviews mostly seem to be positive, though I have not delved in, because I want to be surprised so badly. But will you permit one prediction from this humble reasonable critic? No spoiler here, just a guess. For years I have been talking about Luke turning away from the Jedi Order, and after the Knights of Ren, and Maz, and Snoke, and the blind warrior in R1, it is obvious the Jedi and Sith are getting moved beyond. I think the film is called Last Jedi because Luke is going to actually be the Last Jedi. As in, ever. Rey and Kylo Ren are going to start something new. And from a certain point of view, considering the pride of the Jedi, that makes them keep losing prodigies to the dark side, who go on to join fascist movements that cause untold death and destruction… you could make a good case. I have another prediction. The fans will be really divided by this movie, because I do not think it was made for diehard fans. I think it was made to reposition SW for the masses. A lot of fans are going to hate the events that are about to go down.
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We’ll see. It’s at 94% right now on RT; most of the headlines I’ve seen range from very positive to raving. I agree I think they’re moving away from Jedi/Sith (something they can always still revisit in anthologies). I’m staying dark and largely off the net when I can help it. All I know, is that like Luke said, “This is not going to go the way you think.”
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I’m staying in the dark too. I haven’t really read any reviews, I just scanned some non-spoiler ones to get a sense of the critical response. I think the film will be something special, and I get the feeling that Johnson and Company were not lying when they said the film would changed everything, but I also think the most radical aspects will not be big ESB style twists. I think there is going to be a sea change in the way we look at the Force. I think the series is about to pivot philosophically.
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I’m going to shut up now and start watching some Rebels, because it’s about time I did. Just a few more days to go.
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Excellent choice. 😀
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Thank you, Widders. 236 My Favorite Scene columns, so many more to do!
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Am I alone in liking the way that Maul was handled in TPM? Sure he was underused, but SW has a history of underusing memorable characters. Boba Fett, for example. It’s a shame we had to see him at the moment of his death. Lucas showed us too much.
Maul was a harbinger, an omen of the rising Sith. That was his function. If he had opened his mouth any more, it would have only taken away from his charisma and mystique. Also I’m pretty sure there was a reason the prequels seemed to have no central villain other than Palps, and even in his case his Sith identity was kept under wraps until the end. Most of the characters in the prequels could be seen as villains. Dooku and Grievous could have been less forgettable. Mothers who were not concussed when they named their sons would have helped as well. But the Jedi could be seen as villains too, because their pride and complacency made them ineffectual (and led them down a dark path when they tried to depose Palpatine and take over the government). And Anakin, while the hero, was fated to become the greatest villain in the history of film. Even Jar Jar turned out to be bad for the galaxy’s health, because he handed emergency powers to THE most evil guy, like, ever.
The prequels are kinda disturbing that way.
My point is, the prequels were designed to keep the audience on shifting sands, unsure of the allegiances between the characters. The prequels did not quite do what they were designed to do, but I completely understand why Lucas wanted a different villain filling the Vader spot in each of those movies. If his SW films are one big 12 hour movie, it takes about six hours to get to the big villain, the crux of the story, which is fine, because delaying the entrance of the villain is a technique a lot of films use. It happened a lot in those pulpy serials and films that Lucas used to watch. Anyway Maul was just a dynamic visual character and I did not mind seeing him go, because SOMEONE evil had to die. Palps was still alive, and if Obi-Wan had bothered to kill Nute Gunray he never would have lived it down.
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I hated Maul being underused and loved how they handled him in the animated series up to this epic scene that is so powerful and adds even more to Kenobis character.
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I remember after TPM I read an interview where Lucas said that he made two misjudgments: the pod race (because it was irresponsible to show a child driving) and Maul (because he glorified the devil). God, I love Lucas, because THOSE WERE THE TWO BEST PARTS, the only parts that everyone, everywhere agreed were awesome, as far as I could tell at the time.
I really did think that Maul’s limited screen time made him more fascinating. Vader is only in ANH for 10 minutes. It’s a bit different, because it’s spread throughout the entire movie, but still. But obviously Maul as a central villain would have been superior to the versions of Dooku and Grievous we got. Now that I’m thinking about it, Maul’s devil-like appearance would have lent itself to a silver-tounged figure who could have filled the role that Dooku did in AOTC, a charismatic leader leading the galaxy astray. Maul’s softer voice would have been quite the contrast to Vader’s. Plus that double-bladed lightsaber would have been incredible, wielded against dozens of Jedi in the Geonosis arena. Yeah, now that I am typing this, it would have worked, dammit. Would have totally worked. BTW, Durge from Clone Wars should have filled the Jango Fett role in AOTC. The clones should have all worn shiny Boba Fett armor, every last one of them, complete with jetpacks. I wish I had been allowed to add my two cents to the script. Says every Star Wars fan, everywhere.
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If you see Mauls journey in the animated series, you really see how botched an opportunity it was to limit him onscreen. I think the duality of Anakin and Mauls taining and evolution should have been a thread through the trilogy that lead to the destruction of both.
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Actually I think we should have seen way more of Anakin being mentored by Palps, that Palps needed to be a twisted version of Yoda. Instead thier bond was just talked about, and suddenly Palps was turning him. Seeeing Anakin actually getting trained in the dark side would have been incredible. Maul needed to remain a quisling, a demon familiar to Palpatine’s Satan, but he could have been an amazing Randall Flagg-like figure as well.
The prequels should have felt mystical, mysterious, and BLACK. Lucas dreamt up quite an outline, but tried to sell too many toys on the back of a child murderer and spousal abuser. He tried to force the prequels into the mold of the originals, and the prequels suffered so much.
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Dave, have you SEEN this fan trailer that adheres to Ralph McQuarrie’s concept art?
The actual trailer starts at 1:09.
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