⚠️ Spoiler Alert: This article contains spoilers for the season 1 finale of Star Wars: Maul – Shadow Lord. Reader discretion is advised.
Throughout Star Wars: Maul – Shadow Lord, it is easy to watch Maul and assume you are watching a chess master at work. Someone who has mapped out every move, every betrayal long before it happens. But that gives him too much credit in one area and not enough in another.
When Maul succeeds at something, it’s because he reads the room better than everyone around him. When the galaxy opens a door, he walks through it without hesitation. That instinct has come in handy as he works to rebuild his criminal empire.
Devon Izara never stood a chance because Maul made himself indispensable to her, one small moment at a time.
Maul Manipulates The Chaos Surrounding Him
Maul knows he does not need to create chaos. The galaxy during the early days of the Empire is doing all the work for him. Stormtroopers patrol the streets of Janix. Inquisitors are out hunting surviving Jedi. Crime syndicates are going to war over territory. Devon and her Master, Eeko-Dio Daki, are forced into hiding after surviving Order 66, with limited options before Maul enters the picture.
All Maul needs to do is to find someone who is broken or too trusting, then position himself as someone who knows the galaxy like the back of his hand. He demonstrates, again and again, that the Jedi’s inability to adapt is causing her more harm than good. He promises to help Devon reach her full potential in ways Master Daki can’t. Devon is smart enough to know Maul can’t be trusted. But even she can’t but admit to herself that he has a point.
Respect as a Weapon
What’s clever about Maul’s approach to Devon is that he shows her respect. He doesn’t treat Devon like a child that needs to be protected. He acknowledges she is capable of making her own choices,even when he’s made it for her. For a young Jedi Padawan who has been told to stay hidden, to beg for her survival, that kind of attention feels like a breath of air. The show walks a difficult line between never letting Maul be a hero, while making it understandable why Devon sees him as one if she squints hard enough.
In an interview with Movieweb, Devon’s voice actress Gideon Adlon explains that the bond Devon forms with Maul is a reflection of her inner darkness coming to the surface:
“She understands the history of Maul. She’s heard about Maul, and when she feels him, and they come in contact, she relates to him on a level that maybe she couldn’t ever really even relate with, like with Maul. Daki, it’s just a different understanding that she doesn’t understand.”
“And I think that’s why she also has so much anger. She’s so annoyed because she doesn’t see Maul as the person that she is, or maybe she doesn’t want to admit it. But as the story goes along, she recognizes that she is more similar to him than she could ever imagine, and there’s a comfort in that.”
Keep in mind this isn’t the start of some fuzzy friendship, even if it feels like it at times. Every moment where it seems like Devon is starting to bond with Maul is calculated on his end. By the time the season finale drops, Devon has already convinced herself that Maul is someone worth following. Though she isn’t in the right state of mind when she makes that decision.
Getting Daki Out of the Picture
The season 1 finale, “The Dark Lord,” is where Maul’s manipulations pays off. After agreeing to let Dryden Vos escort him off Janix to escape the Empire, he contacts Devon through the Force.
Daki is disturbed by this since it implies a connection has been established between his Padawan and Maul. Devon downplays Daki’s concerns and points out that Maul saved her and Captain Lawson’s son Rylee in a previous episode. Daki responds by questioning if Maul did it for Devon’s sake or his own.
The two never get a chance to revisit the subject because Darth Vader has arrived on Janix to kill them and Maul. The three Force users are at a loss on how to defeat Vader, who’s more powerful than all three of them combined.
There are two key moments in this episode involving Daki that mirror and contradict each other. First, Maul helps Daki in their duel with Vader. Later in the chaos of battle, when he realizes they don’t stand a chance, Maul Force pushes Daki into Vader’s path. The moment framed to look like a spur of the moment decision and something that was preplanned.
He also makes sure that Daki is in Devon’s line of sight (she’s busy defending herself against the Eleventh Brother). When Devon sees Daki die after Vader stabbed him with his lightsaber, she loses it. Maul actually has to hold her back as she vows to kill Vader and his Inquisitors. But he got what he wanted, which is for Devon to fall to the dark side of the Force.
Can Maul Keep Devon as His Apprentice?
The episode ends with Devon, Maul, Rylee, Vario and Two-Boots on Dryden Vos’ ship, leaving Janix behind. As she tightens her grip on one of Maul’s lightsabers, Devon tells Maul she’s ready to be his apprentice. But Maul can keep Devon by his side for long?
Currently, she is in a state of grieving over losing Daki, the closest thing she had to a parental figure. It’s hard to tell if she’s just using Maul to get stronger so she can avenge her master or if she’s really fallen off the deep end.
Plus, by the time we see Maul in Star Wars Rebels (which is set approximately 13 years after Maul: Shadow Lord), he’s alone and stranded on Malachor. So something went down between Maul: Shadow Lord and Rebels that caused Devon to split from Maul. How and why that happened remains to be seen.
For now, Maul has won because he got exactly what he wanted, which is to corrupt Devon. And he did it by making sure he was the last one standing.
Season 1 of Star Wars: Maul – Shadow Lord is available to stream in its entirety on Disney+.
