By George & Josh Bate
Eight years ago, Star Wars fans were shocked when Maul when an unexpected cameo appearance in Solo: A Star Wars Story. The first glimpse at Maul in live-action since 1999 revealed that the former Sith Lord was in charge of Crimson Dawn, the criminal syndicate Qi’ra and Dryden Vos worked for, and teased a future for the franchise that explore Maul’s connection to the group. Unfortunately, the poor box office reception to Solo meant that Maul’s ties to Crimson Dawn went unexplored for nearly a decade. However, the new episode of Maul – Shadow Lord suggests that we may finally get some answers.
Episode 8 of Maul – Shadow Lord concludes with Looti Vario informing Maul that Dryden Vos of Crimson Dawn is seeking an audience with him. By concluding the episode on this note and heading into the finale next week, it seems to be a safe bet that the new Disney+ series will soon explore exactly how Maul came to lead Crimson Dawn by the time of Solo: A Star Wars Story.
The trio of Qi’ra-centric crossover comics – War of the Bounty Hunters, Crimson Reign, and Hidden Empire – depict Crimson Dawn in between the events of The Empire Strikes Back and Return of the Jedi. But the comics do not reveal how Maul lost control of Crimson Dawn to Qi’ra. Given the recent announcement that Maul – Shadow Lord has been renewed for a second season, we suspect that the series will eventually get around to answering this question.
With the two-part finale of Season 1 premiering on May the 4th, Maul – Shadow Lord has set the stage for two big showdowns next week. The aforementioned clash with Dryden Vos aside, we’ve previously speculated that the series will pit Maul against Darth Vader, especially after the latter was teased in the finale of episode 6.