Star Wars: Maul – Shadow Lord Episodes 1-2 Recap & Ending Explained: Will Devon Join The Dark Side?

The legendary fan favorite Sith Lord, Darth Maul, makes a return to the screen with Disney+’s brand new animated series, “Star Wars: Maul – Shadow Lord.” Set right after the Clone Wars and the execution of the notorious Order 66, which crippled the Jedi Order to its core, the series portrays Maul as an outcast who is trying to regain his lost glory after being betrayed by his former master and the order he served, losing everything he held dear, including the only family he had. With a brilliant animation style backing a compelling narrative and voice performance, the first two episodes set the stakes with swift pacing and mark a befitting return of the iconic Zabrak warrior.

Spoilers Ahead

Maul – Shadow Lord Timeline Explained

Fans who are acquainted with established lore surely remember how, after surviving his duel with Obi-Wan Kenobi on Naboo, as shown in “The Phantom Menace,” Maul was rescued by his brother, Savage Opress. He eventually built a criminal empire known as the Shadow Collective by joining hands with the galaxy’s notorious criminal organizations, collaborating with Death Watch—a renegade group of Mandalorians—and ruling over Mandalore for a short span of time, before Darth Sidious turned on his former apprentice and killed Savage Opress. Escaping from Sidius and Count Dooku’s clutches with the help of Death Watch, Maul engaged Obi Wan’s apprentice, Ahsoka Tano, in battle, during the Siege of Mandalore. Despite getting beaten by Ahsoka, Maul escaped capture yet again, as the execution of Order 66 caught Ahsoka off guard. With the Shadow Collective dismantled and his former allies turning their backs on him, “Shadow Lord” follows Maul, who has to work his way up from square one to regain his influence. At the same time, he looks to settle scores with two of his mortal enemies, Darth Sidious and Obi-Wan Kenobi, while remaining in the shadows to evade the newly formed Galactic Empire’s attention. 

How Did Devon Cross Paths With Maul?

The first episode begins with a cold open, as on Janix, an outlier planet outside of the Empire’s purview, Maul, accompanied by his allies, Rook Kast, Scorn, and a mischievous spybot, loots fugitive Nico Deemis’ riches from a bank vault. The fury with which Maul dispatches pursuing police officers reflects his pent-up rage against those who betrayed him, as Nico Deemis was one of the members of his Shadow Collective. Detective Brander Lawson is assigned to oversee the investigation, and upon learning the details of the robbery, he asks his assistant droid, Two-Boots, not to relay any intel to the Empire just yet, even though Lawson is pitifully ignorant about the ongoing political situation with Force users, calling lightsabers “laser swords” on repeated occasions. Deemis’ bank supervisor droid has been abducted as well, and the immediate suspicion of the abduction and robbery falls on a rival syndicate chief, Looti Vario, who is another former member of the Shadow Collective. Maul is meticulously orchestrating a clash between the two leaders to have them kill each other off so he can take over their syndicate. At the same time, Maul has another, more personal objective in his mind, as he can sense the presence of a powerful Force user whom he wishes to turn into his new apprentice, as is revealed during his conversation with Rook. 

The narrative focus shifts to Twi’lek Jedi Padawan, Devon Izara, and her mentor, Jedi Master Eeko-Dio-Daki, both of whom have survived Order 66 and are in hiding at present. Devon witnesses the hot pursuit between Maul’s crew and Janix police, and her master wisely advises her to stay out of the ongoing situation to avoid drawing unnecessary attention. Seeing her mentor starving, Devon shares her wish to steal food to provide for him. However, being a Jedi worth his mettle, Master Eeko would rather starve to death by depending on strangers’ kindness instead of swiping a couple of fruits. Devon’s heart is conflicted, and she ends up stealing, which prompts security droids to arrest her for such a ‘serious offense.’ Master Eeko requests Devon not to escalate the situation, and to keep their identity as Jedi hidden. As Devon is brought in front of Lawson, she refuses to share her identity with the authorities. Later that night, during a meeting between Deemis and Vario’s crew, a fight ensues after Maul frames Vario for killing the supervisor droid. Vario kills Deemis and is chased by Maul’s crew, but Lawson manages to arrest him. Vario is held captive and thrown into the cell opposite Devon’s. Maul infiltrates the prison with his crew and takes Vario captive when he senses Devon’s presence in the opposite cell. He takes Devon captive, hoping to mold the young Force user into his apprentice. 

Will Devon Join the Dark Side?

It should be mentioned that Master Eeko has sensed Maul’s presence through his strong connection with the Force as well. Lawson and his captor cops are ill equipped to deal with a threat of such a level, and they miserably fail to capture Maul, who is fleeing with his captives. Master Eeko intercepts Maul’s ship and faces off against the Sith while trying to save his Padawan, but Maul manages to distract him by collapsing a bridge using the Force, prompting Eeko to save the civilians while he escapes. Lawson takes notice of Eeko’s actions, and it goes beyond saying that his secret identity will not remain hidden for long. Lawson gets chastised by his superiors for his headstrong attitude regarding not letting the Empire interfere. A glimpse into Lawson’s personal life is given, remaining busy in his work he can hardly manage time for his family—as a conversation between him and his son, Rylee, indicates. Lawson had heard about the mysterious Shadow Collective from Vario, and he visits one of his associates, Sul, to get intel about the coalition. As she reveals, different factions like the Pykes, Crimson Dawn, and Black Sun were associated with the Shadow Collective, and she warns Lawson about Maul. 

Maul plans to shape Devon into a weapon by bringing her to the dark side to unleash her on his enemies, especially Darth Sidius, and being honest, the plan sounds way too far-fetched unless Devon is as gifted a Force user as Luke or Anakin. For now, Maul coerces Vario to cough up intel about the Pykes’ spice shipment, which he wants to disrupt to draw their leader, Marg Krim’s, attention and kill him. Maul and his crew take over one of the Pyke trade ships, and the Sith Lord dispatches all the Pyke operatives in another clinical, brutal display of lightsaber action.

To earn Devon’s trust, Maul has been trying to appeal to her senses, presenting his perspective as to how foolish it is to try to uphold peace and justice at a time where Jedi are being hunted like animals. However, Devon is not easily swayed, as she shares she believes in those values Jedi stand for. As a show of trust, Maul asks Devon to leave if she feels like it, and later, leaves her cell unattended. In the final moments of the second episode, Devon tries to open the latches of her cell by using the Force but fails, and eventually uses greater Force might to break her cell open. Devon reaches outside, and even though Maul has not been able to lure her to the dark side just yet, she seems to be at the crossroads—and has a vital decision to make about her journey ahead. 

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