The Clone Wars - Revenge

[Trinary]

So he has to be dumb because he is not big on talking?
Not accusatory tone

It's not about how much he speaks, but his actions throughout "Clone Wars." When I think of the Sith--striking from the shadows, subtly manipulating events, plotting schemes that last entire lifetimes, even a millennium--I can never see Maul pulling that off. He's impetuous, hot-headed and doesn't look before he leaps. Even getting cut in half did little to temper him.

I could never picture him ever defeating Sidious and becoming the Master Sith himself. To me, Palpatine/Sidious always intended for him to be a place-holder until something else came along; his strong-right arm and enforcer, but not a true successor.

Don't misunderstand. Maul is a pretty impressive character, a juggernaught of strength, speed and skill, a (near) peerless warrior. There's a lot of potential for a character like that. But when they tried to play up him as a Sith menace when he returned, it felt like they were taking him out of his wheelhouse. Being a warrior is just one side of being Sith. Hell, even Darth Malak could do that stuff. But as for the rest ... Maul never seemed to live up to the full potential of the Sith.

His plans in "Clone Wars" are pretty basic and obvious. Want to draw Obi-Wan out? Just kidnap some random people, make a big open demand threatening them so the ENTIRE Jedi Order knows he's around--and then kill the hostages. His plan for taking over the criminal underworld? Eh, just kill all the head guys and say he's in charge now. The stuff with the Death Watch wasn't much better. Every problem starts and ends with the point of his lightsaber.

That makes for an impressive warrior, but for a Sith? His attempts at forming a new Sith order with him as the Master and Savage as the Apprentice came off like a little kid imitating what his parents do without really understanding it.
[/quote]

[CharlesPhipps]

There's a few things which I think THE CLONE WARS and REBELS did with Maul I think a lot of people have difficulty with.

1. Maul has an arc. We're used to classic portrayals of characters. In the case of Maul, they decided to give him an "Old Obi Wan" storyline in the story. Which is that he's a pathetic, paranoid deranged old man to contrast to his old self.

2. There's an assumption that Darth Sidious' apprentice has more going on under the hood than just being a martial arts master. Sidious, after all, is the most cunning and dangerously intelligent Sith who ever lived.

3. Maul has to rely on his brain far more than his physical body because he's lost his bottom half and had a severe blow to his psychology done by his loss. He's also no longer possessed of Sidious' resources but has to make his own.

4. Maul ISN'T very good at this as we see him fail miserably as the head of Black Sun, the Pykes, and the Mandalorians.

[Karha of Honor]

So he has to be dumb because he is not big on talking?
Not accusatory tone

It's not about how much he speaks, but his actions throughout "Clone Wars." When I think of the Sith--striking from the shadows, subtly manipulating events, plotting schemes that last entire lifetimes, even a millennium--I can never see Maul pulling that off. He's impetuous, hot-headed and doesn't look before he leaps. Even getting cut in half did little to temper him.

I could never picture him ever defeating Sidious and becoming the Master Sith himself. To me, Palpatine/Sidious always intended for him to be a place-holder until something else came along; his strong-right arm and enforcer, but not a true successor.

Don't misunderstand. Maul is a pretty impressive character, a juggernaught of strength, speed and skill, a (near) peerless warrior. There's a lot of potential for a character like that. But when they tried to play up him as a Sith menace when he returned, it felt like they were taking him out of his wheelhouse. Being a warrior is just one side of being Sith. Hell, even Darth Malak could do that stuff. But as for the rest ... Maul never seemed to live up to the full potential of the Sith.

His plans in "Clone Wars" are pretty basic and obvious. Want to draw Obi-Wan out? Just kidnap some random people, make a big open demand threatening them so the ENTIRE Jedi Order knows he's around--and then kill the hostages. His plan for taking over the criminal underworld? Eh, just kill all the head guys and say he's in charge now. The stuff with the Death Watch wasn't much better. Every problem starts and ends with the point of his lightsaber.

That makes for an impressive warrior, but for a Sith? His attempts at forming a new Sith order with him as the Master and Savage as the Apprentice came off like a little kid imitating what his parents do without really understanding it.

[/quote]

That is like saying Kyrie Irving or Tony Parker could never be a CEO.