Disney’s Star Wars sequels proved disappointing for many fans and are considered a very inconsistent trilogy. The Force Awakens was a huge commercial success, but it felt too similar to the original A New Hope. The Last Jedi took the series in a completely unexpected direction, which divided audiences. To address the negative reaction, J.J. Abrams returned with The Rise of Skywalker hoping to provide a satisfying conclusion, but the film ultimately felt forgettable and failed to deliver a strong ending to the trilogy.
The initial plan was for a carefully developed trilogy with ambitious ideas. Now, with the upcoming release of Star Wars: Maul – Shadow Lord, fans are getting a glimpse of what George Lucas had envisioned for the sequels – a sort of preview of his original concept.
How Does Shadow Lord Skew Towards Lucas’ Plan?
Lucas envisioned a Star Wars sequel trilogy that would have shifted the focus from Luke Skywalker to Princess Leia. His idea would have cleverly revealed that the entire nine-film story was ultimately about Leia’s family and her journey, rather than Luke’s. It felt like a strong direction, especially considering that Leia is the first of the main characters we truly meet in A New Hope.
The story might have spent less time on large-scale battles and lightsaber fights, and instead followed Leia’s efforts to rebuild the galaxy after the Empire’s collapse. We’d have also seen her as a mother—something touched on in the Disney sequels, though she and her son, Ben Solo, didn’t share much screen time together. However, the trilogy wouldn’t be complete without some conflict, so there would still be remaining threats from the time of Sidious’s reign.
Lucas envisioned Darth Maul as the main villain of the sequel trilogy, leading a group of criminals he referred to as “gangsters.” Maul would have been assisted by his apprentice, Darth Talon, a red-skinned Twi’lek—a species also including characters like Aayla Secura and Bib Fortuna.
Darth Talon first appeared in the 2006 Dark Horse comic series Star Wars: Legacy #0, but she’s been part of the non-official Star Wars Legends collection ever since. The upcoming show Shadow Lord will officially introduce her into the main Star Wars storyline (canon). Because Shadow Lord is set between The Clone Wars and Solo: A Star Wars Story, it’s considered official canon. This suggests that George Lucas originally intended for Talon to be part of the official story, and Shadow Lord is now making that happen. While the show doesn’t fully follow Lucas’s plans for the sequel trilogy, it does bring a piece of his vision to life in the current Disney era.
Interestingly, Shadow Lord is basing his plans more on Lucas’ original idea than on his own backstory as seen in the Legends continuity. While his Legends counterpart was initially trained by Darth Ruyn, she ultimately killed Ruyn on Darth Krayt’s orders and then became Krayt’s apprentice.
Gideon Adlon plays a new character named Devon Izara in Shadow Lords. Though she has pink skin, she’s a Force-sensitive Twi’lek and a student of Darth Maul. This character strongly resembles Darth Talon, and Shadow Lords seems just as focused on revealing Talon’s backstory as it is on showing what Maul did between The Clone Wars and his encounter with Qi’ra in Solo.
This raises an interesting possibility: if the new 10-episode series is popular, could a second season continue the story of Qi’ra? Considering Solo is set around eight years before Maul’s death in Star Wars Rebels, there’s potential for further development. We’ll find out more about what Shadow Lord offers when the first two episodes premiere on Disney+ on April 6th.
Excited to see Darth Talon officially recognized in a Star Wars project? Share your thoughts in the comments and discuss it with other fans on the ComicBook Forum!
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2026-03-13 19:11