Rumors are doing the rounds about an animated Darth Maul show currently in development at Lucasfilm. There are some questions regarding the previous Sith Lord and the overall Star Wars timeline that such a show could help answer. Maul began as the very first apprentice of Darth Sidious in the Skywalker saga. But he soon evolved after getting rejected by his master during the tumultuous time of The Clone Wars.

More than that, even though Maul would go on to create one of the most significant criminal syndicates of the galaxy, but there’s still a large chunk of his history that we don’t know about by the time he dies in Rebels.

Darth Maul’s Story In Star Wars

Darth Maul first appeared in Star Wars: The Phantom Menace. There he served as Darth Sidious’ apprentice. But after murdering Jedi Master Qui-Gon Jinn during the Naboo battle, Maul was defeated by Obi-Wan Kenobi.

Kenobi was Qui-Gon’s apprentice, and he cut Maul into two pieces. Ten years later, Maul was found by Savage Oppress, his long-lost brother. In those years, Maul had gone insane and was angry. But his connection to the dark side had ensured the survival of what remained of his body. However, his mind was broken. So after getting healed by the Nightsisters of Dathomir and Savage, Maul began a quest against Kenobi.

He wanted revenge on the Jedi Master. After that, Maul went on to develop a Shadow Collective of the criminal organizations. It would eventually become the Crimson Dawn after the Clone Wars ended. What’s more is that the rise of the Empire saw Maul’s last duel be with Kenobi on Tattoine, the desert world. There he met his actual end. However, there are considerable gaps in the Star Wars timeline related to Maul’s history.

So if an animated show focused on the ex-Sith Lord turned crime lord does happen, it would help give fans an in-depth look at Maul. After all, he is an immensely beloved character who has only become better over time. And fans can know more about the dark chapters of his life if a show focused on him gets made.

What Happened After Revenge Of The Sith? 

It’s possible that the animated series could be set after the events of Revenge of the Sith. As per what we have seen down the line, for example, in his short cameo in Solo: A Star Wars Story and in Rebels, Maul’s crime era began with the Empire’s rise and the fall of the Order.

However, we don’t know about the details of how Maul began leading the Crimson Dawn. Other than this, it’s possible that the potential series could adapt the comic book miniseries that were inspired by the unaired eps of the sixth season of The Clone Wars.

It was titled Son of Dathomir, and it saw Maul escape after getting defeated and imprisoned by his previous master Darth Sidious. In the short series, Maul also captured General Grievous and Count Dooku for a little while.

It was just before he and his Shadow Collective laid siege to Mandalore, as seen in the final season of Clones Wars. Maybe this gap in Darth Maul’s Clone Wars history could get explained using flashbacks.

And the present could focus on the timeline where Darth Maul navigates through the galaxy leading Crimson Dawn before the animated Rebels series.

Where Did Darth Maul Head To After Order 66?

One of the biggest questions that a Maul series will have to answer is- where did he go after the fall of the Republic and the Jedi Order? He was captured after his fight with Ahsoka during Mandalore’s siege. Maul was then freed during the ensuing chaos surrounding Order 66. He went to the hanger and then got a ship.

After that, he left for a yet unknown destination. Seeing as he had told his Shadow Collective to disband in response to the fall of the Republic, it’s possible that Maul was looking to reform his criminal Empire. Maybe he went back to Dathomir, his homeworld so that he could consult the spirits of the Nightsisters and also regroup.

How Did Maul Create Crimson Dawn? 

Solo: A Star War Story tells viewers that Maul was the actual leader of Crimson Dawn and Paul Bettany’s Dryden Vos was just a figurehead. So how did Maul make Crimson Dawn a major criminal enterprise after the events of Revenge of the Sith?

Now, it’s clear that Maul would choose to lead from the dark so that he could stay off Darth Sidious’ radar. After all, Sidious or Palpatine was the new Emperor. However, we don’t know the actual reasons and timing behind leading Crimson Dawn in the first place.

We know that in The Clone Wars series, the Shadow Collective was formed to ensure that he could get his revenge on Kenobi by taking over Mandalore. But the reasoning behind leading Crimson Dawn remains vague. At most, we can conclude that he desired power. This is because Crimson Dawn doesn’t play any role in Maul’s final battle with Kenobi.

What About Maul & Qi’ra After Solo? 

We don’t know what happened to Emilia Clarke’s Qi’ra and Maul after she murdered Vos and hijacked his place as the leader of Crimson Dawn. Maul told her to visit him in Dathomir and said that the two of them would be working closely together. However, the end scene of the Solo movie is pretty much the only time they were seen together in the Star Wars timeline till now. So how much did Maul teach Qi’ra? And what was their relationship like?

Currently, Marvel comics are revealing the new purpose of a new Crimson Dawn with Lady Qi’ra at its head years after the Empire Strikes Back. There’s no Darth Maul since he is already dead by this point in the throne. Now, Qi’ra seems to be using the training and secrets she received from Darth Maul to run the organization. She is knowledgeable about the Emperor as well as Darth Vader’s actual roles as Sith Lords.

So this Darth Maul series needs to take a trip back into memory lane and look back at the formation of the Rebellion to reveal what happened to Maul and Qi’ra during the time the Empire was at the height of its power.

How Did Maul Lose Crimson Dawn Before Showing Up In Rebels?

Another huge question that the series needs to answer is how did Maul lose control over Crimson Dawn? Or maybe he gave up his power to Qi’ra? This is because, by the time he shows up in Rebels, Maul is entirely alone in the Sith world of Malachor, looking for a powerful Holocron that contains all the possible knowledge he seeks.

He wanted to use it to find his arch-nemesis Kenobi’s hidden location. After all, he wanted to gain revenge on Kenobi. And as such, in Rebels, we see Maul going solo before coming face to face with Obi-Wan on Tattoine. This resulted in the last fight and his actual death. But before the war, Maul didn’t act as though he still had the resources of a vast criminal empire before finding Kenobi.

So we have to ask- what did happen to Crimson Dawn between Solo and the animated Rebels show? So considering it all, there are quite a few gaps in Maul’s story. As such, the new animated show with Darth Maul could help fill them up.

As a result, fans will get to know the whole story of one of the most beloved characters in the franchise. George Lucas always wanted Maul to be “the godfather of the Star Wars crime universe” in his Star Wars Sequel Trilogy version. So even though he did end up becoming a crime lord. But we don’t know why he left it. So it’s time his entire history gets explored in detail in the upcoming animated series.

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