With the third and fourth episodes of Maul - Shadow Lord, “Whispers in the Unknown” and “Pride and Vengeance,” the series cements itself as a concentrated, potent work within the larger Star Wars galaxy. As a result, what could have easily felt like filler content, yet another Clone Wars-adjacent spinoff set within the years between Revenge of the Sith and A New Hope, instead feels like a vital bit of creative exploration. The series is digging deep to deliver thoughtful, contemplative, and altogether compelling stuff that adds color and dimensionality to these characters and settings.
After a really solid two-episode debut, the series further levels things up in these subsequent two episodes, building upon the already strong foundations in ways that are as surprising as they are intriguing. To be completely honest, one of the most surprising strengths of Maul thus far is the momentum and purpose with which the narrative is moving. Whereas other Dave Filoni-brewed Star Wars animated series’ have all largely taken the episodic approach television storytelling, where the majority of episodes serve as their own little self-contained story, Maul is taking a distinctly more serialized approach, with one larger overarching story tying it all together.
Make no mistake; this is not an inherently superior approach by any means. In fact, to see just how wrong this can go, check out other Star Wars series’ such as The Book of Boba Fett; a serialized show that winds up having to literally outsource episodes to other characters in order to pad its full runtime. Rather, what makes Maul unique is the fact that it is taking this serialized approach and yet moving with such intensity and intention. More big plot beats happen in a single episode of Maul than happened in an entire half of a season of The Mandalorian a few years ago, making it feel full of momentum and imbuing every character choice with high stakes. Better still, Maul has proven capable of doing all of this without feeling rushed. It moves at a clip, but the audience is still given room to feel the impact and resonance of the actions playing out. Never once has it felt like we’re being told something; always like we’re being shown it. And this is a pretty remarkable accomplishment for the series thus far.
Elsewhere, the visual language of the series continues to impress. The animation style has evolved in organic and fascinating ways, with the team that brought such technical precision and creative ingenuity to the final few seasons of The Bad Batch has continued to up their game here. The use of matte paintings for wide shots and deep-focus backgrounds is routinely jaw-dropping, not only allowing for remarkable artistic works in their own right, but also blending obscenely well with the digitally animated characters. In this way, Maul feels less like a wholly digitally animated series and more like a cohesive blend between various elements; live-action, traditional animation, and digital effects. The resulting product preserves a remarkable amount of personality and artistic flair, feeling more akin to a Ralph Bakshi-esque canvas of different styles and mediums, rather than a bland mass-produced, by-the-numbers animated work.
On top of this, Joel Aron’s cinematography continues to be genuinely breathtaking, making the most out of inspired lighting and gorgeous compositions. Nowhere do all of these individual visual strengths coalesce quite as potently as they do in the action setpieces, specifically when it comes to the lightsaber duels, of which there are multiple across these two episodes.
Cards on the table: I could never quite get behind the lightsaber duels in the first several seasons of Filoni’s Clone Wars. They were plentiful, to be sure, but there was a weightlessness to the action that left me feeling kind of cold on them, as if they were limp pre-viz sequences waiting to be adapted to live-action, where they would gain the kind of weight, impact, and inertia necessary to really sell them. Of course, this never happened, until it kind of did, with the final season. After having been unceremoniously canceled years earlier, Disney opted to bring back The Clone Wars for a true final season, which concluded with a Mandalore-set arc that saw Ahsoka Tano coming face-to-face with Maul. For these sequences, Filoni and co. used motion-capture technology to bring an unprecedented sense of weight and presence to the action, and it made a world of difference. Those sequences are easily the most impactful action setpieces of the entire series, and now, Maul is carrying that over with aplomb.
Greater still, not only are the Maul lightsaber duels preserving the kind of innate weightiness of that final season of Clone Wars’ duels, but it is also bringing a much more vivid sense of stylization to the mix. The resulting sequences feel vivid, incredibly well-staged, and highly impactful. I’ve seen comparisons drawn to the Spider-Verse films, in terms of how Maul's animation can feel exceedingly kinetic and rough-around-the-edges, but I have found it to be far more reminiscent of something like Puss in Boots: The Last Wish. That film (also featuring a standout vocal performance from Wagner Moura!) features some of the most affecting and cohesive action setpieces of the past decade (yes, really!) and the sheer fact that Maul is worthy of mentioning in the same breath as it is a compliment of the highest regard.
Speaking of vocal performances, they continue to be a highlight here as well. As mentioned, Wagner Moura is incredible as Lawson, Gideon Adlon is great as Devon, Richard Ayoade is a scene-stealer as Two-Boots, and of course, Sam Witwer continues to be a revalation as the titular Maul. In tandem with all of this, the Kiners’ score continues to be insightful and inspired in equal measure. For the scenes focusing on Lawson and his squad attempting to crack the case of Maul and the shadow syndicate, there’s a reserved Andor-meets-Blade Runner quality to their contemplative synths. For the scenes focusing more on Maul and his dark side antics, they lean all the way into the most tribal qualities of John Williams’ work, utilizing key motifs from “Duel of the Fates” and even “Battle of the Heroes.” It rules.
Altogether, these two episodes of Maul are fantastic, moving at a clip, driven by stellar writing that is rooted in character and theme, featuring great performances, and frequently awe-inspiring craft and animation. In short, thus far, a series that could have so easily amounted to little more than the most obtuse of filler episodes has instead seized every opportunity presented to it and demonstrated a kind of ruthless ambition that is very much in keeping with its titular character.
Episode Grade: A-
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