Sfdebris.net

And here we go...

I'll admit, I liked Darth Maul's look and design in Phantom Menace as much as anyone, so I get the appeal of wanting to do more with him, even though it was pretty clear that he was as dead as the Ewoks cartoon. But even hand-waving that away--Maul in the Clone Wars series was just not that interesting a character. There was little subtlety or guile with him, just an over-reliance on brute force and mostly direct methods. While that worked fine with him as the enforcer to Darth Sidious' brains in Episode I, that's not making for a threatening menace when now Maul is the one calling the shots. And redundant since Maul has his own dumb(er) muscle, Savage Oppress. I won't go to much into that now since I'm sure SF will eventually review the episodes involving Maul's later plots but, yeah, was not impressed with them.

And the less said about Savage the better. Remember, it's pronounced "Sah-vah-jeh Oh-press." Is anyone familiar with the British comedy series "Keeping Up Appearances"? The lead character is a snobby woman named Hyacinth Bucket, but she insists people pronounce it "Bouquet." And it is still less silly than Savage Oppress' name.

http://sfdebris.com/videos/animation/clonewars4e21.php

Fun Fact: The frying pan was originally a blaster, but they changed it to add some brief humor to an otherwise dark episode.

I remember watching this particular episode when it premiered, and felt frustrated by how short it felt, as I really wanted to watch Revenge, and they didn't air the two episodes back-to-back for some reason. Don't get me wrong, I do think this is a pretty good episode, it's just the weaker of the two 'Return of Maul' episodes.

I have grown on this one as time passes. I mean, I was part of the crowd "You're bringing WHO back?!", and still...kind of am. It felt, and still feels, like they were just doing something fanwanky for the sake of it. In some circumstances it would make sense, you're forced to work with the Rule of 2 and there's no extra Sith to drag in. But Clone Wars has proven they don't give too big a shit about the fact there are outside Dark Side users (the lore in general tended to bend it as well, but CW itself was pretty flippant). So, the real question is why Maul? What kind of compelling story NEEDS his presence? And honestly I don't think they really delivered on anything that was necessary, apart that ONE fight he had with Tim Curry.

But Maul in Rebels? Is pure gold. And I am far more charitable towards this early arc BECAUSE we have that later arc.

Chuck's Clone Wars review really remind of how uneven the whole series was. It was very hit or miss. Like, it could be amazing at times, like during the Umbara arc, but then you have stuff that makes you tilt your head, like here with the pointless diner scene with Anakin and Ahsoka or Savage running away from the fry cook.

I'm actually very fond of this episode. Sure, the diner scene is pointless, but it's second half is very dark and atmospheric. It pretty much tells you that Maul has survived as a mentally shattered, animalistic cannibal. His insane ramblings and recitations of the sith code were quite dark almost made you feel for him, and his instinctive use of the force to make a lower body for himself shows how deep his will to survive must have been.

Maul in Rebels was... okay-ish. I wasn't fond of how Ezra kept following him just for the sake of the plot, especially after he blinded Kanan and repeatedly betrayed him. It just felt way too half assed and stupid. I personally feel he should have died in the season 2 finale, or had an episode dedicated solely to him hunting Kenobi.

I feel like Savage Oppress was more interesting than Maul.

One thing I found neat about crazy Maul's spider body is if one pays attention, it is evidenced that spider lower half is held together and animated using the force. Like how it has bits of unattached junk just hovering around it. Neat indicator of the power he still holds even in his decayed state.

And yeah I certainly acknowledge the asspull Maul's return out of the unlikelyhood of surviving being freaking cut in half is, I believe it was conceptualized at a much earlier comic book. Though to be fair, lightsabers and lasers in this setting to instantly cauterize wounds. And what is left of Grievous under all those droid parts is some inner organs and part of his face.

Chaos Sepher wrote: ↑Tue Aug 21, 2018 2:55 pm And yeah I certainly acknowledge the asspull Maul's return out of the unlikelyhood of surviving being freaking cut in half is, I believe it was conceptualized at a much earlier comic book. Though to be fair, lightsabers and lasers in this setting to instantly cauterize wounds. And what is left of Grievous under all those droid parts is some inner organs and part of his face.

It is worth noting, of course, that the comic in question was non-canon even in the EU, as far as I know. And Grievous, regardless of what his canon backstory actually is these days, had a medical team and decent equipment to aid in his transformation. Maul had nothing below the waist and was lying at the bottom of a giant pit with no allies to speak of. Apparently all credit goes to the Force for this one.

I for one don't want to know if Maul was even eating for the last decade or so, because I don't want to know how he dealt with the later requirements!

Seaward wrote: ↑Tue Aug 21, 2018 5:57 pm It is worth noting, of course, that the comic in question was non-canon even in the EU, as far as I know. And Grievous, regardless of what his canon backstory actually is these days, had a medical team and decent equipment to aid in his transformation. Maul had nothing below the waist and was lying at the bottom of a giant pit with no allies to speak of. Apparently all credit goes to the Force for this one.

I for one don't want to know if Maul was even eating for the last decade or so, because I don't want to know how he dealt with the later requirements!

Indeed certainly especially non canon, but do felt they based certainly elements from it.

[spoiler]Namely the design of his mechanical legs that Mother Talsen gives him in the next part[/spoiler]

The eating thing was addressed this ep with the snake guy leading edible things and guys to him.

I'm a little sad that we didn't get to hear any of Sam Witwer's performance as Darth Maul, especially in his insane ramblings, it really is great.