Star Wars Is Totally Lying About Darth Maul’s New TV Show (& the Truth Is Even Better)

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When Star Wars first introduced Darth Maul 27 years ago, he quickly became a fan favorite. Lucasfilm heavily featured him in promoting The Phantom Menace as part of the new prequel trilogy. So, audiences were shocked when Maul was defeated and killed off relatively early in the film, during his fight with Qui-Gon Jinn and Obi-Wan Kenobi. Even George Lucas himself recognized this was a mistake and started brainstorming ways to bring the character back.

Darth Maul returned in Star Wars: The Clone Wars and has been a significant character in the franchise ever since. However, 2026 will be a landmark year for him, as he’ll lead his own series, Maul – Shadow Lord. This show is unique because it focuses on a villain, and the title intentionally highlights that Maul has abandoned the title of “Darth.” Having been betrayed by Palpatine, he’s trying to survive during the difficult era of the Empire, and the title initially suggests he’s becoming a powerful force independent of both the Jedi and the Sith. But that impression is misleading.

Darth Maul Is Still Living According To The Sith Rules

The single official trailer for Maul – Shadow Lord effectively sets the scene: Maul has disappeared into the galactic underworld, trying to create a new criminal organization. What’s even more interesting is that he’s discovered a survivor of Order 66, a red-skinned Twi’lek named Devon Izara who bears a strong resemblance to a Sith character from older Star Wars stories, Darth Talon. This feels like a natural progression for Maul’s story, as George Lucas himself once considered using a character similar to Darth Talon as his apprentice. Even though Lucas sold Star Wars to Disney in 2012, his ideas continue to shape the narrative.

As a huge Star Wars fan, I’ve been dissecting the Maul – Shadow Lord trailer, and I’ve noticed something really interesting. Maul isn’t just training his apprentice in combat; he’s actively instilling the core principles of the Sith. It’s like he’s giving a masterclass in the Sith Code itself!

Peace is an illusion. All that truly exists is intense feeling. From those feelings, I find my strength. With strength, I gain power, and with power, I achieve victory. Victory will break my bonds, and through the Force, I will be liberated.

While the show doesn’t explicitly call him “Darth,” Maul’s teachings are clearly based on the Sith. This makes Maul – Shadow Lord the kind of story fans have wanted for years—something The Acolyte hinted at but didn’t fully explore. This series is a Star Wars show that puts the dark side and the history of the Sith front and center. And if this red-skinned Twi’lek is truly Maul’s student, it suggests he’s trying to create his own line of Sith followers. The Clone Wars showed us Maul’s ambition to challenge Darth Sidious, and now he’s actively working towards that goal.

Palpatine Is No Longer Truly a Sith

This plot point also needs to be understood within a larger story arc. Lately, Star Wars has hinted that Palpatine wasn’t a true Sith Lord, but instead someone who twisted the Sith’s teachings to gain power, ignoring them whenever it suited him. The evidence supporting this idea is quite strong.

  • Darth Sidious cared little for the Sith Rule of Two, the most important doctrine of the Sith; he trained Dooku and Maul at the same time, proving his contempt for Darth Bane’s rules.
  • In fact, Palpatine killed his master in a way that broke the Rule of Two; a Sith Apprentice is supposed to prove they are more powerful than their master by killing them in battle, but Palpatine killed Darth Plagueis in his sleep.
  • Palpatine bent the Rule of Two throughout Vader’s life, dissatisfied with his new apprentice’s weakness.
  • As Emperor, Palpatine never intended to plan his Empire on to Darth Vader; he sought resurrection instead, and even orchestrated a contingency where the Empire would self-destruct under Vader’s leadership if his apprentice ever turned on him.
  • After his resurrection, Palpatine never showed any interest in training another apprentice – yet another breach of the Rule of Two.
  • Palpatine feared Sith more than he did Jedi, as revealed when he briefly believed an ancient Sith was being resurrected in the Hidden Empire comic book event.
  • Darth Sidious was willing to learn from Sith heretics such as Darth Momin, and he blended technology and the Force in what Sith doctrines called heresy.

Interestingly, Palpatine seems to have moved away from the traditional practices of the Sith, while Maul fully embraces them. This makes a strong case that Maul is the true Sith during the Empire’s rule. It’s understandable, then, why Maul is so focused on establishing his own legacy as a Sith Lord.

Is This A New Beginning For The Sith?

The Sith lineage seemed to end with Palpatine’s death on Exegol in Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker. However, could the story of Maul, as told in Maul – Shadow Lord, hold the secret to a Sith resurgence? While Maul ultimately dies during the Dark Times in Star Wars Rebels during a final duel with Obi-Wan Kenobi, he believed the Chosen One (whom Obi-Wan thought was Luke Skywalker) would bring balance by avenging both the Jedi and the Sith, orders ruined by Palpatine.

Even if Maul faces defeat, his Sith legacy might not end there. We don’t know what became of his apprentice – whether she ultimately becomes known as Darth Talon – and this opens up an interesting possibility. The comic series Maul – Shadow Lord could be secretly about rebuilding the Sith, creating a separate lineage from Palpatine’s that operated in secret and could reappear during the time of the sequel trilogy. This is just speculation, but the idea is really exciting! Maul – Shadow Lord is surprisingly complex and engaging, and the fact that it avoids using the ‘Darth’ title is a clever way to mislead readers.

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2026-02-26 19:42