One of the deadliest and formidable Sith Lords in the history of the galaxy, Darth Maul is widely considered to be one of the bright spots in George Lucas' enormously polarizing Star Wars: Episode I - The Phantom Menace. Trained by Darth Sidious, Darth Maul was driven by hatred towards the Jedi. however, after mortally wounding Qui-Gon Jinn in a climactic duel on Naboo, Darth Maul was seemingly killed when he was cut in half by Obi-Wan Kenobi. With the return of Star Wars: The Clone Wars this Friday, let's take a look back at how Maul survived the major wounds that Obi-Wan inflicted upon him and went on to become a force within the galaxy.
Despite being cut in half, Maul was able to survive his wounds by focusing on his hatred of Obi-Wan and his intense desire for revenge. Darth Maul's body was dumped into the junk planet Lotho Minor, where he stayed alive by eating vermin. Maul was eventually discovered by his brother, the intimidating Savage Opress, but Maul had fallen into a state of madness and had no memory of who he was. With the help of Mother Talzin on his home planet of Dathomir, Maul was able to restore his own mind and body.
Maul took Opress as his apprentice and became obsessed with hunting down Obi-Wan. Maul and his brother aligned with different groups to form the Shadow Collective, and took over the planet of Mandalore. Maul took entire control of the planet by violently dispatching Pre Vizsla in a duel. Darth Maul and Obi-Wan Kenobi dueled on multiple occasions throughout Star Wars: The Clone Wars and even killed Kenobi's former love, Duchess Satine Kryze. Savage Opress was then killed by Darth Sidious, who also captured and tortured Maul.
The resilient Maul survived the Clone Wars and became the leader of crime syndicate Crimson Dawn. Maul commanded the crime syndicate on his home-world of Dathomir and used Dryden Vos as his enforcer. After the death of Vos, Dryden’s first lieutenant Qi’ra took over Vos' position. Maul is later stranded for years on the planet of Malachor, which is home to an ancient Sith Temple. Maul meets Star Wars: Rebels hero Ezra Bridger, who was looking to destroy the power of the Sith once and for all. While Maul assists Bridger and his friends, Ahsoka Tano and Kanan Jarrus, he reveals that he was using the Sith Temple as a battle station that he can use to get revenge on all of his enemies.
While Kanan was able to fight Maul off, the former Sith Lord was not done yet with Bridger and his friends. Maul tracked the padawan and his friends to their ship, the Ghost. After taking the crew hostage, Maul forced Bridger to combine his Jedi Holocron with the Sith artifact found on the planet of Malachor. Maul and Ezra became connected through the force as a result of the ritual. Through a second ritual on the planet of Dathomir, Maul discovered that Obi-Wan Kenobi was alive and was hiding on the planet of Tatooine.
Maul nearly had his revenge when he came to Tatooine in search of Kenobi. Through manipulating Bridger, Maul was able to draw Kenobi out for one final duel. After fatally wounding his long-time foe, Obi-Wan Kenobi cradled Darth Maul as he finally died. Maul's story is ultimately one of resilience, and how hate can be an extremely powerful motivator. The final season of Star Wars: The Clone Wars has excited fans by teasing an epic duel between Ahsoka Tano and Maul, and there's still a lot of gaps that need to filled regarding Maul's backstory.
Premiering Friday, Feb. 21, on Disney+, the final season of Star Wars: The Clone Wars stars Matt Lanter as Anakin Skywalker, Ashley Eckstein as Ahsoka Tano, Dee Bradley Baker as Captain Rex and the clone troopers, James Arnold Taylor as Obi-Wan Kenobi, Katee Sackhoff as Bo-Katan and Sam Witwer as Maul.