In the midseason trailer for Season 2 of Star Wars Rebels, we saw a mysterious cloaked figure
speaking with Ezra who asked to be called “Old Master.”
Since that time, we’ve had reports of action figures of our favorite red tattooed Zabrak,
known as Maul that have hinted at his return on Star Wars Rebels.
There have even been YouTube videos suggesting that the Old Master is indeed Maul, but up
until now, there had not been an official statement saying that Maul is the one asking
to be called,”Old Master.”
Well now it is official.
Hey YouTube, Urban Acolyte TV and my name is Prince.
If you’ve read Anthony Breznican’s article that posted Thursday morning on Entertainment
Weekly, then you know that Dave Filoni has finally confirmed that the Old Master is Maul.
On this video I’m going to explore several questions based on things I’ve picked up
from the clips from the “Twilight of the Apprentice” episode where we see Ezra with
Maul . I’m also going to ask how these might relate to things I noticed in the most recent
episode of Rebels, “Chopper Base.”
If you’re in a part of the world where Chopper Base has not yet aired, you may want to hold
off on this video if you’re trying hard to avoid spoilers.
Does Kanan trust Ezra?
So before we get into all of the Maul stuff, I wanted to take up this growing tension between
Kanan and Ezra.
In the Shroud of Darkness episode, Yoda is behind the Force visions that Ezra, Kanan,
and Ahsoka experience in the old Jedi Temple on Lothal.
When Kanan confronts the Temple Guard who Yoda later reveals to be a former Jedi who
fell to the dark side, he is told that if he attempts to confront Vader and the other
Inquisitors, he will lose; the Rebel cell making up Phoenix squadron will be crushed;
and Ezra will become a servant of evil.
The Temple guard goes on to tell Kanan that Ezra will eventually be consumed by the darkside.
This implies that Ezra’s fall to the dark side is inevitable.
Kanan is told to stand aside and allow Ezra to be eliminated before he is consumed by
the darkness.
Now recall my video from the Rebels Midseason trailer when I predicted that Kanan would
experience a Force vision, as a trial—very much like Luke Skywalker’s trial in the
cave on Dagobah.
I said that Kanan would have to deal with his own feelings of inadequacy because he
did not feel that he could be a master to Ezra when he was still a Padawan.
The truth is that Kanan became a Jedi Knight by performing numerous good deeds both before
and after meeting Hera, taking Ezra as his apprentice, and by defeating the Grand Inquisitor
above Mustafar.
So this all sets up the “Chopper Base” episode where I noticed this growing tension
between Kanan and Ezra.
Did you notice it?
Pay attention to the two of them during the lightsaber sparring sequence.
Where Ezra is playful and joking, Kanan is very serious.
Now one way of looking at things from Kanan’s perspective is that they are about to face
the Inquisitors and possibly Vader.
The last time Ezra and Kanan faced Vader, things did not turn out well for them as Vader
dismantled both of them with very little effort.
You also have to ask yourself—is Kanan still carrying the message from his vision?
Is he still thinking that Ezra could fall to the darkside which would force him to have
to confront his apprentice?
Is Kanan worried that Ezra’s ability in the Force could eclipse his own?
I’m not going to attempt to answer that question.
I just want you to sit with it as we go into the season finale.
What is Maul?
My next question has to do with Maul.
What is Maul.
Who has Maul become?
What are his affiliations?
In the teaser clip that was posted with Anthony Breznican’s article on the Entertainment
Weekly website, Maul and Ezra are alone.
Now this presents a whole new set of questions about the whereabouts of Kanan and Ahsoka
that would allow for Ezra to be alone with Maul.
Based on the dialogue, I am going to assume that Kanan and Ahsoka are fighting the Inquisitors
and somehow Ezra gets separated from them which creates this situation where he can
meet Maul.
So imagine this scenario— Kanan, Ahsoka, and Ezra are all in the Temple on Malachor.
The Inquisitor’s show up— since this is the finale, I would imagine that the third
Inquisitor will be revealed.
They start to fight, Ezra gets separated, and this how he ends up alone to meet Maul.
So their conversation begins and Maul reveals that the Inquisitors and their Master are
his enemies.
He tells Ezra that he’s not a Jedi, but that he was a Force wielder.
There’s been questions about this remark—can Maul still use the Force?
I really can’t answer that question.
In the Dark Lords of the Sith video game which was the sequel to Knights of the Old Republic,
Meetra Surik lost her connection to the Force for a time as part of the fallout from Revan
using the Shadow Generator on Malachor V to end the Mandalorian War.
If you’ve played the game, then you know that Jedi Master Surik eventually regains
her connection to the Force as her story progresses.
In the official canon, I cannot think of any examples of people losing their connection
to the Force or having it taken away—if you know of any, feel free to leave them down
in the comments.
Okay—but let’s get back to what I was saying about Maul.
So Maul learns that he is Mother Talzin’s son—like her actual biological child right
before she’s killed—and I talk about that in my previous video on Maul that I posted
about 2 weeks ago.
There should be a link in the cards to check that out— anyway, my point is that I’m
not sure how the Force works for the Nightbrothers and the Nightsisters on Dathomir.
What I mean is think about Savage Opress— look at what Mother Talzin did to him.
Was he force sensitive to any degree before she used her magic to change him?
Also, consider what he says when he dies and his body reverts back to its original state—he
says that he was never as strong as Maul.
So I don’t know if Maul’s mention of having been a Force user means he can’t use the
Force any longer.
We’ll have to see the episode next week to learn what he meant.
For now, I’m going to assume that Maul meant that he’s not a Jedi and not a Sith, but
that he still has the Force—and perhaps he’s just lying.
I can easily see Maul creating a ruse to trick Ezra to gain his confidence.
So imagine if Maul appeals to Ezra’s compassion.
He tells him all about how he had power and was destined for greatness—now he’s a
shell of his former self—a broken old man.
Whatever secrets are in the Temple will give him the power to help Ezra and in return he
will share his knowledge to teach Ezra how to also become powerful.
See in the article, Dave Filoni says that the temple on Malachor most likely stores
something of value to the Sith.
Unfortunately, it requires people to work in tandem to retrieve that item or piece of
knowledge.
What Filoni says is that the Temple was likely constructed to keep other Sith out.
If you’ve got this Temple storing some holocron or a dark side secret, that requires teamwork
to retrieve, only the best of the Sith can get to it.
The problem is that we often characterize the Sith as being corrupt, and untrustworthy.
They can’t work together because a master and an apprentice would be too busy backstabbing
each other.
The truth is that to unlock the most powerful secrets of the dark side requires a master
and apprentice to completely trust one another—at least for that moment.
Palpatine’s own words prove this—after he learned the last of the secrets of the
dark side with his master, Darth Plagueis, he says that unlocking the secret required
the work of two Sith—one to serve as bait and the other to be the vessel.
So what does Maul need with Ezra?
Ezra seeking power and knowledge, and even if Ezra does eventually turn to the darkside,
there is still a flicker of light in him.
He’s still young and naive.
Maul can exploit that in order to get what he wants so that he can confront his enemies—the
Sith and the Inquisitors.
Will Ezra turn?
My last question has to do with Ezra turning.
I’ve wrestled with this question the entire season.
If you asked me from the very beginning, I said that Ezra would fall.
As a matter of fact, on one of my very first videos, I said that I believed that Ezra would
find a Sith holocron, fall to the dark side, and play a part in Ben Solo becoming the master
of the Knights of Ren.
Later I took a step back after I saw Ezra’s growing ability to communicate with other
creatures.
After last week’s episode along with the visions from the Shroud of Darkness, I still
see Ezra looking for power to overcome his doubts, his ego, and his desire to defeat
the Empire.
I’m not sure if Ezra will turn to the darkside.
What I can see in Ezra’s future is that he grows disillusioned with both sides.
The Empire and the Sith are responsible for the death of his parents, and the Jedi…well,
the Jedi tell him not to fight.
Look, we all know that Ezra is not the New Hope that Obi Wan mentions in the message
on his holocron and neither are Ahsoka or Kanan.
We know that Luke is the new hope because he is the only one who can face Vader and
the Emperor.
I think we’re going to start to see Ezra venture down a different path.
All along in my videos I’ve been hinting at the different ways of knowing the Force.
In A New Hope, all we hear about is the Jedi.
We’re basically told, by Tarkin, that Vader is the last relic of that religion.
We don’t know anything about the Emperor being Vader’s master or the Sith at this
point.
Later we are eventually introduced to the Sith…and so we have these two different
religions based around the study of the Force.
In the Force Awakens and the new canon material, we learn about other factions— there is
the Church of the Force where people of various religions we previously knew nothing about
gather under the banner of following the Jedi teachings.
What we see in the Force Awakens is a small community of hermits led by Lor San Tekka,
but there are actually other hermit communities scattered around Jakku.
We have no idea how many others could be scattered throughout the galaxy.
There are force sensitive people exploring the Force on their own, like Maz Kanata.
There are the Acolytes of the Beyond who we know very little about—could they be fanatics
of the dark side or some kind of a cult who worships Vader?
Later we have the Knights of Ren—if we can consider them a faction.
My thoughts are that the Knights of Ren seen with Ben Solo are a group Luke’s former
students who follow Ben when he leaves Luke’s new Jedi Order.
So if this is the case, then we have people trained as Jedi who leave the Jedi Order,
but we don’t know if they actually follow the dark side or if they have simply made
the decision to not become Jedi.
So when we talk about Ezra turning—what is he turning to?
He could simply walk away and choose a different path, like Ahsoka did—creating yet another
faction.
A faction of people who leave the Jedi path…and this would not make him a “gray” Jedi
since that term does not exist in canon.
Anyway, I would like to hear your thoughts for Ezra’s outcome and Maul’s intentions
in the Twilight of the Apprentice.
Do you think Maul is looking for something to help him kill Vader and the Emperor?
Do you think Maul faces Vader so that the Rebels can escape Malachor?
What about Ezra?
Does Ezra solidify his path towards embracing the Dark Side?
Let me know your thoughts down in the comment section below.
If this is your first time seeing Urban Acolyte TV, go ahead and subscribe.I normally post
4 times a week.
Right now I can’t commit to a set schedule due to a really hectic schedule over the next
6 weeks, so the best way to know when I post a new video is to subscribe.
If you’re already subscribed, be sure to share this video with your other friends who
like Star Wars.
For more videos on the Rebels season finale, you can check out this video I did in February
when we first learned the name of the finale, Twilight of the Apprentice.
You can also check out this other video I did on Maul possibly becoming Ezra’s new
teacher.
That’s all I’ve got for now, thank you for watching, and I hope that you can have
a life changing experience from following the Star Wars stories the same way I have.
Y’all keep on breathing, and May the Force Be With You.