Star Wars: Maul – Shadow Lord season 1 is here, giving the franchise’s best villain his own story that works more than it doesn’t. The first reactions to Maul – Shadow Lord have praised the show for a lot of aspects, many of which I echo. I have been excited for a Maul-centric show since it was announced, partly because I think he is the best Star Wars villain.
Although the likes of Palpatine and Vader are more iconic than Maul, there is simply something about the latter that just draws me in. Not only was he part of some of the best episodes of Star Wars‘ animated shows, but his design is excellent, his performers are consistently great, and he is something that most villains in the franchise aren’t: a wildcard.
As such, I couldn’t wait to see how this played out in his own show, given that Maul has only ever been part of Star Wars as a supporting character. While I am somewhat disappointed by the treatment of the character himself here, the show overall worked for me, if not quite on the level I wanted it to.
In several ways, Star Wars: Maul – Shadow Lord really shines, but in a few smaller ways, I found it lacking. Admittedly, I was only given screeners for the first eight episodes of the 10-episode season, meaning I did not get to see how it concluded. This could fix the few issues I have with the show, but, of course, I cannot factor any of that into this review. On the whole, though, Star Wars: Maul – Shadow Lord was a good time, with plenty of standout aspects and only a few frustrations.
Star Wars: Maul – Shadow Lord Beautifully Blends The Franchise’s Animation Techniques
Without a doubt, the standout aspect of Maul – Shadow Lord is immediately presented from the very first frame: its animation. Maul – Shadow Lord‘s upgrades to Star Wars animation were hyped up pre-release, and it’s easy to see why. Since The Clone Wars season 1, every time this 3D animated style has been used again, it has only gotten better.
I thought recent entries like Star Wars: The Bad Batch or Tales of the Underworld were as good as it was going to get, but I was wrong. The animation here is strikingly beautiful, primarily by how it seems multiple styles have been adhered to. The 3D animation of the main characters, weapons, ships, and big elements is all there, with better fluidity and weight to them than in the likes of The Clone Wars.
However, it is how this has been blended with 2D animation reminiscent of Star Wars: Visions or even Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse that makes Maul – Shadow Lord the most visually stunning animation in the franchise yet. Backdrops are seemingly hand-painted, enhancing the bleak tone of the show and emulating the likes of Blade Runner,
The somewhat blurry backdrops and background details could be a strange choice, but they offset the 3D animation perfectly. Some shots of exterior locations or vehicles look like they genuinely could be live-action, such is the quality on display. Star Wars‘ animation, since 2008, has been revolutionary. Maul – Shadow Lord only continues that trend, creating the most striking animation the franchise has had thus far.
Maul – Shadow Lord’s Format Has A Few Drawbacks
One of my smaller criticisms of the show comes in the form of its format. At 10 episodes, Maul – Shadow Lord is the shortest season of any mainline Star Wars animated show, and I only got to see eight of them. One would think this would allow for longer episodes, but they still clock in at around 22 minutes, with only the premiere being longer at around 28 minutes.
For some episodes, this makes the story feel a little anticlimactic. Several scenes, be it those involving the law enforcement’s pursuit of Maul or the latter’s interactions with a new character named Devon, can feel repetitive, almost as if the story is trying to fill time before reaching the next big turning point in the story.
When these turning points happen, they are great, but Maul – Shadow Lord occupies that strange middle ground of TV that has been prevalent in many Disney+ shows. Marvel’s six-episode series and even shows like Obi-Wan Kenobi and The Acolyte felt half-baked, in the sense that they could have been shorter and focused only on the big moments for a tighter story or longer so that the in-between can be better fleshed out.
Star Wars: Maul – Shadow Lord feels like this though not as egregiously as some of the aforementioned examples. With these eight episodes also being released in four batches of two, it becomes less of an issue than if we had to wait weeks between individual episodes.
Maul – Shadow Lord Ironically Needs More Maul, Despite Its Solid New Characters
As alluded to in the introduction, Maul – Shadow Lord did not give me enough, well, Maul. Despite being the titular lead character, Maul – Shadow Lord introduces several other new players to the Star Wars universe and places a big focus on them. Maul probably does get the most screentime here but I was not expecting elongated scenes without him to be so frequent.
When he is there he is great. Maul’s typical aura-farming goodness is present from the outset as is his excellent dialogue compelling ideology interesting gray-area place in the galaxy and formidable fighting prowess. As a lead character for the first time though I wanted Maul – Shadow Lord to lean a little more into the depths of the former Sith .
Some brief vision-like flashbacks of new character elements in episode 8 provide that giving me hope that this will continue into the final two episodes. However concerning the first eight I wanted Maul to be granted depth that his own show should allow for. Several of the earlier pieces of development he receives are rehashed from other Star Wars animated shows which I hope isn’t the case going forward.
This issue would only have been detrimental to the entire show if the rest of the new characters were poorly written. Thankfully this is not the case…
That being said this issue would only have been detrimental to the entire show if the rest of the new characters were poorly written. Thankfully this is not the case. Devon and her Jedi master Daki are a compelling new duo with an interesting twist on post-Order 66 Jedi mandate of just trying to survive. What Maul – Shadow Lord questions via these two is whether surviving is enough or whether they should be doing more despite dangers.
Then there is Captain Lawson a cop on Janix trying to keep Mauls war from boiling over. How this pits Lawson against those he thought were allies is good stuff as is his connection to Empire. These characters were more than compelling enough so that when Ma ul – Shadow Lord was not focusing on its titular crime lord it remained interesting.
I still want more Ma ul going forward and more from him that we have not seen before. Regardless when he is there he is typically great with an equally great set supporting characters behind him to back him up when he isn’t present.
Ma ul – Shadow Lord’s Tone & Atmosphere Work Perfectly
The final aspect of Star Wars : Ma ul – Shadow Lord that I feel is worth mentioning is its tone. Undoubtedly this is most mature that Star Wars animation has ever been. The likes of The Clone Wars season7 and even parts ofThe Bad Batch have leaned into darker elements but this show truly feels like first that caters to older viewers.
This does not mean thatMa ul – Shadow Lord doesn’t work for children but it is clear thatStar Wars is going for more mature outing for its first villain-led property from blaster holes and bisections exploring criminal underworld and lightsaber woundsMa ul – Shadow Lord forgoesRebels tendency show its Jedi only cutting stormtrooper weaponry.
This worked perfectly as an older viewer myself gritty grounded tone felt refreshing almost likeAndor meetsThe Clone Wars wrapped a crime-thriller bow.I hopeStar Wars : Ma ul – Shadow Lord continues this into its final two episodes and future seasons combined with stunning animation exciting new characters and bit more depth its titular crime lord.
- Ma ul – Shadow Lord is most beautiful Star Wars animation ever created.
- The action sequences and more mature tone work perfectly in Ma ul – Shadow Lord.
- Shadow Lords new characters are compelling additions to Star Wars franchise.
- Ma ul – Shadow Lords’ ten episode format has some drawbacks.
- Mauls character arc feels like retread past stories with little focus on new elements.
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