With the release of Maul – Shadow Lord, Lucasfilm have chosen a two-episode drop per week release schedule until May 4th when the finale comes out, just a couple weeks away from The Mandalorian and Grogu’s release. In most cases, when a studio decides to drop more than one episode a week, it’s because they know a singular episode is not strong enough to hold its viewers until the following week. In Maul – Shadow Lord’s case it becomes clear with this second episode that it’s not because they weren’t confident enough in their own material; it’s, in fact, the opposite.
Maul – Shadow Lord Episode 2, “Sinister Schemes”, highlights that this show is going the slow route to build up its story, world and characters, and it’s working excellently in its favor. This is a show that’s very much unlike Star Wars: The Clone Wars and Star Wars: Rebels when it comes down to its tone and its structure. Dave Filoni has come to realize that his audience has grown up, and he’s ensured that Maul – Shadow Lord replicates that as they take a more serialized approach and so far focus only on the story that’s being told.
It’s early on, so that can easily change, but it’s clear that Filoni has taken what’s worked so well with Star Wars: The Clone Wars and Star Wars: Rebels and just elevated it for an older audience. It has its end goal in sight, and it’s not rushing to get there by any means; every moment with every character adds context to the overall story.
This episode may also be slow, but it still very much progresses the storyline. We continue straight from where the last episode ends as the Shadow Collective make their escape from the law enforcement station with Devon (Gideon Adlon) alongside them. She tries to escape but fails and gets stunned. They exit the station, destroying the door controls and trapping the officers inside while they escape in their vehicles, so by the time they finally get out, it’s too late.
Not for Two-Boot (Richard Ayoade), who commandeers a vehicle for Lawson (Wagner Moura), and the other officers who give chase to the Shadow Collective. Maul – Shadow Lord has already had its fair share of car chase scenes, all involving the Shadow Collective, and this sequence here really made it feel like I was watching a crime thriller instead of Star Wars. It feels surreal to see Dave Filoni develop a show and for it to feel refreshing and new for the franchise. This is what we need to see more of from the franchise, and it feels like Maul – Shadow Lord may be part of that process.
Master Eeko-Dio Daki (Dennis Haysbert) senses Devon and uses the force to flip a car in probably one of the coolest moments I’ve seen in recent years, causing the rest of the Shadow Collective’s vehicles to crash. He comes face to face with Maul (Sam Witwer), but unfortunately for him, Maul uses his good nature against him, destroying the walkway, knowing that Eeko-Dio Daki would choose saving the lives of innocent people over trying to stop him and save Devon. Lawson comes to assist, but Eeko-Dio Daki has already vanished in good ol’ Jedi fashion.
Lawson is seemingly not familiar with the world of Jedis and Sith or users of the Force, with how little he knows about Maul and his reactions to seeing “laser swords” and people disappearing into thin air. Back at the station, Lawson has a chat with Chief Klyce (Keiko Agena) regarding the chaos that has just taken place. He learns that the governor will get the Empire involved if they’re not able to keep it in control, and this is where we discover the reasoning behind why Lawson doesn’t want them involved, and that’s because they’ll lock the planet down, making things worse than they already are.
We return to the Shadow Collective’s hidden base where Vario (Chris Diamantopoulos) is locked up. They heal Devon of her wounds, and while she’s being healed, we learn from a conversation between Maul and Rook Kast (Vanessa Marshall) that she’s indeed a Jedi as speculated and that Maul plans to “fashion her into a weapon” which will help him in his plans to destroy everyone who betrayed him, including Darth Sidious. Devon also gets locked up in their makeshift cell, believing that she’s a prisoner, but Maul throughout the episode lets her know that she’s free to leave whenever she wants. As Maul said, she was indoctrinated as a child, but now she must adapt to her surroundings.
It’s always a joke amongst Star Wars fans how Order 66 feels like an ineffective part of the lore as we continuously keep finding new Jedis that have survived and been in hiding, but Devon is an interesting character, and her master’s involvement with trying to save her and her small stare-down with Maul is likely to make for some interesting storytelling further down the line.
Last episode, we saw a picture of Lawson, his wife and his son that Devon pointed out, but he never responded when she asked if that was his son, which hinted that maybe things were great at home. In this episode, we get that confirmation as he returns home after a long night but isn’t able to stay around for 10 minutes. His son, Rylee (Charlie Bushnell), wants to go visit his mother at her request, but Lawson denies the action, saying he has to wait until he can go with, apologizing and making the false promise that he’ll be taking some time off.
From everything we’ve seen so far about the type of person Lawson is, we know that he’s lying; all he knows is work, and he’ll always prioritise that before his own family, and this is only going to continue tearing the family apart and tarnish his relationship with his son. How this storyline continues later on in the show without it being made to seem like filler will be interesting to see.
Back at work again, Lawson continues to investigate what’s been going on with Vario and the Shadow Collective. Two-Boot has been talking to known members of Vario’s syndicate, and none of them have proved useful in discussing the Shadow Collective, leading him to believe that Vario was lying, but once again Lawson comes in using his brain and noting Vario’s fear as a reason for why he wouldn’t lie. With everything he’s just witnessed, he at least believes there’s some truth to this Shadow Collective.
Vario, still fearing for his life, agrees to Maul’s terms of helping him get closer to Krim by using his knowledge of the time and location of the spice shipments so that he can disrupt their network, leading Krim to only suspect Vario, as his syndicate is the only one with this knowledge, and setting up a meeting with him which will get Krim exactly where Maul wants him.
Maul uses the Force to put fear into Vario, but with or without this power play, Vario would’ve accepted his terms. It’s unlikely that he’ll be freed once Krim is dead, as Maul currently has two targets for the price of one, and I doubt he’ll let that go unless he continues using him to get to his other targets.
To ensure Lawson’s hunch is right, Lawson goes to meet a woman called Rheena Sul (Pamela Adlon) at what appears to be a nightclub. The first thing to notice is that the animation for Maul – Shadow Lord is really a step above everything that they’ve done before. The backgrounds look like beautiful hand-drawn oil paintings; combined with the neon colors that can be found in the city or with their weapons, it makes everything pop and stand out.
In this meeting with Sul, he learns that the Shadow Collective are real and learns everything he needs to know: they were based on Mandalore, led by Maul, and merged the Pykes, Crimson Dawn and Black Sun; with Maul vanishing after the war, the syndicates disbanded. Lawson now knows what he’s up against and the threat that Maul imposes.
We get a conversation between Maul and Devon that seems like it’s going to be the crux of their relationship in this show. Devon has heard of stories about Maul, instantly having her own opinion on the guy. Maul’s words have a lot of meaning, and how Sam Witwer carries his dialogue with such nuance allows them to carry weight. In a world where time has changed, he asks Devon what it means for her to be a Jedi guardian of peace and justice in a time of lawlessness.
Despite there being some truth to his words, she still believes in those principles or at least believes that she still believes in those principles. Maul notices that she’s perceiving him as the villain and notes to her that it’s not as simple as good and evil. If we’re having these conversations early on, I can’t imagine how they’ll evolve as the season will go along.
Maul gets word that the Pyke shipment is on schedule, and without wasting any time, the Shadow Collective start their mission. The Spybot (David W. Collins) hacks into the Pyke’s ship, redirecting it and jamming their comms. With the Pykes now stranded away from their course, the Shadow Collective arrive, and we get another badass entry from Maul, who enters their ship, slaughtering everyone. He uses the Force to hold the Pyke Captain (Andrew Kishino) up to the ceiling, dropping him onto his lightsaber, slicing him in half.
Once back at their base, Maul tells Vario that once Krim is dead, he’ll free him, but how true are his words? Everything Maul has done in these two episodes so far has shown how calculated every move he makes is and these empty words that he tells Vario are a clear part of his plans.
While Devon is in her cell, she hears, “It is time… for you to view the galaxy for what it truly is,” but when she takes a look, Maul is no longer there. She finally uses the Force but gives up when she fails to open the door, but at the far back of the room, she sees a gap and uses the Force once more to push against the wall, freeing her.
Maul has wanted her to free herself the entire episode and likely gave her a way to be able to do so. The question that needs to be asked is will Devon try to escape straight away, or will she hang around to listen to the wise words of Maul?
Maul – Shadow Lord Episode 2, “Sinister Schemes”, highlights that Filioni thrives with animation as a form for his storytelling and while this episode continues to move at a slow pace, it doesn’t at all hurt the show and instead excels it. Imagine the slow storytelling approach of Pluribus and that’s exactly what you’ve got with this show.
Maul’s plan is moving along swiftly, Devon’s past and morals are still hidden but are slowly being revealed and Lawson has problems at home but is solely focused on bringing a stop to Maul, finally discovering the truth about him and the Shadow Collective. It’s safe to say, this is what I’ve wanted from Star Wars for a long time and it’s finally here.
