Why Maul: Shadow Lord Was So Amazing - Season One FULL Review

Added: 2026-05-12

[00:00:00]Now that the first season of Maul Shadow Lord is out, I wanted to look back at all 10 episodes, talk about what made them so great, and look into the future a bit to speculate on what we might see in season 2. I was pumped for this series the second they announced it over a year ago at Star Wars Celebration. I always kept that hype, but the more we learned about it, there were some things I wasn't thrilled about just because they seemed to go against what I typically like about television shows. I love the Clone Wars, Rebels, and the Bad Batch because they jump around to different planets, and each season feels like it covers a decent amount of time.

[00:00:34]I like having Adventure of the Week style episodes over the course of a lengthy season where we get to know our characters in different situations. So, when we heard that Shadow Lord would be only 10 episodes, would take place almost entirely on Janex, and would be highly serialized, I was a little disappointed. It just wasn't what I was initially expecting. But who cares what I was expecting because this was the correct format for this show. The story was so well written and flowed together incredibly well. I had a couple nitpicks about how two of the episodes ended, but I do mean nitpicks. The pacing and growing scale of the danger and action was fantastic. And most importantly, Devon's fall to the dark side was so much slower and more believable than I ever would have guessed. I was thinking Docky would die early on, making Devon quickly side with Maul, and we would see this fast corruption. But instead, her fall was centered around all these little moments of Maul saying things that were kind of hard to argue against.

[00:01:32]I think you can argue against his points, but when you're a teenager struggling to survive after the future you were promised was snatched away, you might not want to argue against him. Her anger was understandable and relatable, and Maul just gave her these little nudges all season until Daky finally did die, and her anger won out. And even that wasn't so severe as Anakin quickly deciding to murder every Jedi and young ling in the temple. I keep talking about Devon's fall, but I don't even think she's all the way there. I certainly don't think she's evil at the end of season 1. She's just incredibly and justifiably angry. It's a nuanced character arc that feels big because of how well written this show was and how well it fits into the larger mythos and lessons of Star Wars. And on top of that, the whole season looks and sounds incredible. Every single person working on Shadow Lord crushed their department.

[00:02:25]The animation and art style was beautiful. The choreography and the lightsaber fights were insane. The sound design and music felt like classic Star Wars, even when we were hearing brand new motifs and sounds. All the actors were great, which made me attached to all of the characters, which then made me nervous for all of them, especially in those final two episodes. I cared about all of them, even the villains.

[00:02:47]And I cared about Janx. I loved the escalation of the Empire coming to the planet. It reminded me a bit of Far and Andor's first season. We follow this new world and new culture, and then because of the actions of just a few people, the Empire kicks the door in and ruins everything. I've talked a lot about how relatable Devon's situation was, and I think Janx was created in part to be a generally relatable planet. It's so rare to see any form of leisure in Star Wars, but we got to see what I think amounts to high school sports on screen.

[00:03:17]Although, I admit Riley's team plays Bodakin in a massive stadium for a group of high schoolers. Maybe he's a very young professional. But my point is, he seems like a normal kid. Brander seems like a normal, relatable guy, overwhelmed at work and struggling to be a good father. The police station had droids walking around and their evidence boards were holographic, but otherwise it seemed very grounded. Janx didn't seem too far off from our own reality, which makes the Empire's arrival feel even worse. They show up in the name of law and order. That's always their big supposed selling point. But they instantly cause so much chaos. They're shutting down public transportation, hassling citizens in the streets, shooting blaster cannons in the middle of the city, and crashing countless transports into buildings. Their version of peace is complete BS. This includes the Inquisitors, who are literally terrorizing the general public. Man oh man, was I not ready for how awesome Marok and the Crow were going to be. We met both of them in other series where they did very little and then died. So, I guess my expectations for them were low, but they were absolutely terrifying. I loved that we got to see them actually hunting and investigating.

[00:04:30]We usually just see Inquisitors from the perspective of the people being hunted.

[00:04:34]So, the inquisitors would just appear out of nowhere. Getting to watch them both follow Maul and Devon's trail was thrilling. And then in episode 9, when they just come tearing through that tunnel, ready to fight, incredible. That fight was sick. But truly, all the fights were sick. I said over and over in my reviews that the action in this series was incredibly well done. Not just the choreography, but the camera moves and the shot composition and the creative uses of the force. I especially want to highlight Night of the Hunted, where the Empire was unrelenting in their pursuit of our heroes. Every time I thought there would be a lull to slow down and talk, some new danger would appear. I loved it. Of course, I've got to talk about Vader if I'm talking about unrelenting villains. I am not someone who wants him to appear in every single Star Wars story. Like, I remember people thinking he might appear at the end of The Bad Batch, and I just didn't think that made sense. But the entire time we were watching Shadow Lord, I felt Vader showing up would be a natural conclusion. Having Palpatines's old apprentice face his latest one just seemed right. I wouldn't have minded a line or two because I think a conversation between him and Maul would be very interesting, but I also really enjoyed the horror inspirations the entire series had. Maro felt like a slasher villain stalking Devon and Riley, and then Vader felt like Jason or Michael Myers, just silently attacking, an unstoppable force you can only run from. And even though he's walking, he will catch up. I also thought it was great that Maul didn't know who or what Vader was. I think he might be able to piece some things together since he was on the right track in the final season of the Clone Wars. Maybe he'll figure that out in season 2. So, now let's look ahead at what we might see in the future of the series. First, I'm currently trying to decide if there will be a time jump or not. We could continue to pick episodes up right where the last one left off. We might see Maul take out this Renter character and install Dryen Voss as the head of Crimson Dawn. or we might jump some unknown amount of time to see that Maul has already resolidified his hold over the criminal underworld. On one hand, I wouldn't mind seeing him methodically taking control of all the syndicates again, but on the other, I don't think we need to see it.

[00:06:46]I think I'm leaning towards wanting a bit of a time jump because there is a ton of time between season 1 and solo.

[00:06:53]In theory, we could cover it all. The structure could be similar to what Andor was initially going to do. Each season could be about the craziest set of days during one year of Maul's life, but I'm not really expecting the series to do that. The story seems rightfully more focused on Devon and her journey. Maul is a character that can only change so much because the whole point of his final confrontation with Obi-Wan is that he never grew beyond his anger, hatred, and need for revenge. That's why having Devon is so great. We don't know where she winds up, so her character arc can be much more dramatic. I certainly think Maul consolidating power in the underworld will be a backdrop for what happens, but I don't think the series will necessarily be about all those little details. I'm mostly excited to see Devon's continued journey learning under Maul. With how things have gone so far, I'd love to see her still pushing back against him, still holding on to Daky's teachings. Like I said, I don't think she's evil or completely fallen to the dark side or beyond redemption. I don't even think she needs redemption right now. So, how far will she go? How much will she buy into Maul's teachings?

[00:07:59]Is it possible to defeat the dark side with more of the dark side? Or does it just make things worse for everyone?

[00:08:05]That's what I'm excited to dig into. I also think it's great Riley will still be around. Devon lost her father figure and he lost his father. They might be going on this journey together. Maybe Riley will also want some revenge and will fill in Maul's ranks. Maybe the Shadow Lord needs a star Bodakin player on the team. I don't know. But speaking of his supposedly lost father, I do not think Brander Lawson is dead. He is the only person who saw Maul push Docky towards Vader and abandon him. That could be important information for Devon's future. Sure, he got shot a couple times, but wandering off into the mist without any other hint that he died. Yeah, he's still around and he'll come back for his son. Actually, as I'm talking through this, I think I'm making an argument for no or very little time jump between seasons because two boots promised to get Riley to his mom. So, that could be a point of conflict for Maul and Dryden, who wouldn't want to do that. Anyway, back to Brander. I think he'll seek out Riley with the help of Reena. I also don't think she died in that hanger explosion because you can see someone rolling behind crates.

[00:09:08]That's got to be her. I want her to come back because I thought she was a fantastic and badass character. she can reunite with Brander and they could search for Riley together. Maybe that'll lead them to contact Brander's ex-wife, which would almost definitely cause some drama. But those are my main lingering thoughts I have about the second season.

[00:09:26]I don't want to get too deep into speculation and expectations because my initial expectations for season 1 were almost all wrong. I don't need any of what I'm guessing to happen. As long as the show continues to operate even close to the level of season 1, I will be happy. I think my only disappointment for Shadow Lord is that we didn't get to enjoy it for longer. Maybe we could do just an episode at a time in season two and really savor it, but that's just my personal preference. I said the same thing about Andor season 2, but now that we're a year out from that, I'm not whining about the release schedule. It's available to watch however I want it.

[00:10:01]Which reminds me, they need to do a 4K release of that. And please do one for Shadow Lord 2. I miss physical media.

[00:10:07]But now I'm getting way off track. Those are my thoughts on Maul Shadow Lord season 1 and some for season 2. Let me know your thoughts and speculation in the comments. If you haven't already, please like this video, subscribe to the channel, follow us on our socials, and consider checking out our Patreon page.

[00:10:23]As always, thanks for watching, and may the force be with you.