00:00Maul's Shadow Lord is the latest animated Star Wars show, this time obviously focusing on the Sith Lord Darth Maul.
00:05Set during the early days of the Empire, this show sees Maul trying to rebuild his criminal empire after the
00:10Clone Wars.
00:11But matters get complicated when a combination of the authorities, two surviving Jedi and the Empire get involved.
00:16Now Maul has to navigate this perilous situation and tries to survive to fight another day.
00:20Darth Maul's character was kind of a blank state in his debut in The Phantom Menace in 1999,
00:23but since his resurrection in The Clone Wars in 2012, Maul has become one of the more interesting characters in
00:28the Star Wars saga.
00:29Having a major role in Star Wars and an appearance in Solo.
00:31This first season fills in his story, showing how he ended up in that position after the Clone Wars.
00:36The show looks at Maul at a low point, and shows why he keeps going after being kicked down so
00:40many times.
00:41This idea is explored very well in my favourite episode of the season, The Creephing Fear,
00:45which goes into Maul's backstory, showing his hellish training under Palpatine,
00:48the separation from his family, losing his legs, and then his brother, to Palpatine and the Clone Wars.
00:53The show is at its best when it delves into Maul's motivations.
00:55Sam Witwer, as good as always as Darth Maul,
00:58manages to strike a fine balance between sympathetic and sinister.
01:00But this isn't a one-man show, we also get a new cast of interesting characters.
01:04Wagner Mora plays Brandon Lawson, a police officer who comes into conflict with Maul,
01:08and lates the Empire.
01:09The show deals with the criminal underworld of the galaxy,
01:12and he's basically the normal detective you see in other TV shows or films,
01:15complete with a son who doesn't get to interact with due to his work,
01:18clucked into the middle of a Star Wars story, and he surprisingly fits.
01:21Mora also gives a good performance here as well.
01:23We also have two Jedi Order 66 survivors,
01:26Devon and her master, Iko Dio Daki,
01:28respectively voiced by Gideon Adlon and Dennis Hainsborough.
01:32They serve as good Palpatine, as they are both Force users forced to go on the run.
01:36Devon and Maul's relationship is also interesting,
01:37their master and apprentice relationship feels like a dark mirror to Anakin and Ahsoka's from the Clone Wars.
01:42Devon is a young Padawan, like Ahsoka, with a bit of a rebellious streak,
01:45but unlike Ahsoka, she doesn't have temperament to control them,
01:48thus susceptible to the dark side and Maul.
01:50You can also see parallels between other mental and men's sea relationships,
01:53like Hunter and Omega and the Bad Batch, or even the Mandalorian and Grogu.
01:57I'm interested to see how that relationship develops in Season 2.
02:00The animation of the show is probably a highlight for me.
02:02Managing to evolve the style originated from the Clone Wars,
02:05the show has a paintedly look.
02:06Now I do have a complaint, I do feel like we don't get to fully explore the setting,
02:10that would be the planet Kjanex enough.
02:12While there have been other scum and villainy hives in Star Wars,
02:14I do wish we saw more from this one.
02:16Maul's Shadow Lord is a good character study on how someone like Maul could survive for this long,
02:20with a great support, cast, and animation to boot.
02:23Maul as a character doesn't lose his edge and is given moments to still be a little bit villainous.
02:27There's also a great supporting cast that flesh out the story,
02:29and the animation is probably one of the best things I've seen on TV this year.
02:32The show is available to watch on Disney+.
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