With the last appearance of Darth Maul in the Clone Wars series, seeing him captured
and then imprisoned by Darth Sidious, Some of you may be wondering, how can Darth Maul
be back if he was captured by Sidious?
So I’m going to break down the FULL STORY of Darth Maul’s escape from the clutches
of the Dark Lord, Darth Sidious and the events that lead into the Siege of Mandalore in the
upcoming Clone Wars Season 7 Episode 9.
Before we get into it, remember to smash the subscribe button to be notified as soon as
I release my Clone Wars Season 7 Episode 9 Recap + explainer video!
So I’m going to dive deep into how Maul escaped from one of the Galaxy’s most impenetrable
prisons called “the Spire” and the events following.
As Maul hangs silently from the energy beams inside of his prison cell, Sidious and Count
Dooku enter Maul’s cell to ensure that everything is going according to their plan.
Sidious intends to use Maul to locate Mother Talzin and attempt to kill her once and for
all.
The two had previously worked together, with Sidious attempting to learn the mystical powers
of the force witches of Dathomir.
Sidious then leaves Maul and Count Dooku alone in the cell.
Dooku attempts to force Maul to expose the names and locations of his new Shadow Collective
bases and connections, but to no avail.
Maul of course refuses to give up the information, prompting Dooku to repeatdly torture him with
Force Lightning.
“NEVER”
Only moments after Count Dooku leaves the prison cell, Maul’s loyalist mandalorians
burst through the walls of the prison in a daring escape.
They free Maul from his restraints and carry him to his rescue.
“Lord Maul - We’re Going to Get you out of Here”.
The group fly away from the mountain-high prison, with Maul using a zipline to aid in
his escape.
As the Mandalorians are leading Maul to their escape ships, more Mandalorian fighters fill
the air and shoot down the Separatist droids that are guarding the facility.
They eventually board the ship, and make their escape to the Deathwatch Hideout on Zanbar,
which we’ve seen multiple times throughout the Clone Wars.
Unfortunately for them, General Grievous and his fleet managed to place a tracker on their
ship, before they departed.
Grievous is then ordered by Dooku to pursue the Mandalorians to Zanbar, but to ensure
that Maul survives, because of Sidious’ plan for Mother Talzin.
Upon Maul’s return to Zanbar, he is greeted by his loyal Mandalorian followers and handed
back the Darksaber, which was left behind after his capture on Mandalore.
Maul then rallies his troops and prepares them for the incoming attack by General Grievous'
droid fleet.
Hordes of droids swarm the base on Zanbar, but they are no match for Maul and his incredible
ability with the Darksaber.
For those of you who don’t know, the Darksaber actually becomes lighter as it’s user gains
more experience with it.
That combined with Maul’s strong connection to the force and previous lightsaber combat
training make him an almost undefeatable foe.
Maul then rips through Grievous’ Magna Guards, while his Mandalorian troops decimate the
other incoming droid forces.
At this point, Maul becomes enraged with Grievous and challenges him to a face to face fight.
Grievous obliges and charges through the Mandalorian troops, shredding them to pieces as he moves
towards Maul.
Maul then attempts to ambush Grievous from behind, but his Dark black blade is quickly
blocked by Grievous’ mechanical arms.
“Grievous!”
Despite the Mandalorian troopers being significantly more skillful than the mindless droid army,
they only have a very small number of men available to fight.
The droid army on the other hand is unending.
This leads to the droids overwhelming Maul’s forces and gunning a large amount of them
down.
Following that, Maul calls in Mandalorian reinforcement gunners.
They rapidly arrive at his location, carpet bombing the whole area.
Maul is then quickly evacuated to another ship, leaving Grievous alone on Zanbar.
As Maul is escaping the scene of the battle, Grievous admits that his forces were just
about depleted, and on the verge of being defeated had Maul not chosen to retreat.
This is now the point where Maul returns to Mandalore, and is able to make the Transmission
that we saw in Clone Wars Season 7 Episode 8.
Moving onto issue #2 of Son of Dathomir, we begin in hyperspace, on route to the planet
Ord Mantell, where a base of operations for the Black Sun Crime syndicate is located.
Maul begins to meditate, communicating with Mother Talzin through the ancient mystical
force magicks of the Nightsisters.
He seeks the guidance of mother Talzin and what he should do next in his fight against
Sidious and Dooku.
Mother Talzin informs Maul that “with Sidious, nothing is ever as it seems”.
“What is your guidance?”.
“. Talzin knows that Sidious will expect Maul’s Mandalorian forces to retreat back
to Dathomir under her protection, so she advises him to lead his fleet to Ord Mantell.
She informs Maul that although she cannot physically be present on Ord Mantell, she
will soon send help from Dathomir.
Following that, Maul rallies his troops once more and warns the leaders of the other Crime
Syndicates in the Shadow Collective to prepare for invasion.
An interesting note here is that Fife is now leading the Pyke syndicate, instead of Marg
Krim.
This is likely because he is killed in between Son of Dathomir issue #1 and issue #2, with
Fife taking over the syndicate.
This also means that Maul’s transmission from Clone Wars Season 7 Episode 8 takes place
between his prison break in Issue #1, and the events that are happening right now in
issue #2.
The criminal leaders are initially sceptical about their odds of victory against Grievous’
droid army, but Maul quickly convinces them that it will only be necessary to defeat their
leadership, as the mindless Droid will fall down without their leaders.
Meanwhile, General Grievous along with Count Dooku receive intelligence from their spies
that Maul’s Mandalorian fleet has amassed on Ord Mantell.
This confirms Dooku’s suspicion that Maul is partnering with the Black Sun as part of
his shadow Collective.
Dooku will not authorize the strike on Ord Mantell unless they are granted confirmation
that mother Talzin is there with Maul.
Grievous questions why Mother Talzin is such an important target for Sidious, but he is
left out of the loop on the matter and will be informed only when absolutely necessary.
As they are awaiting confirmation on Talzin’s location, their reconnaissance droids detect
a single transport shuttle leaving the planet Dathomir, but they are unable to scan the
capsule for life forms.
Dooku believes that this may be Talzin attempting to aid Maul’s forces on Ord Mantell, forcing
him to begin his journey to the planet.
He grants full military control to Grievous, with the one condition being that his forces
do not go anywhere near the mystical witch, Talzin. “...and you will leave Talzin to
me.”
Soon after on the surface of Ord Mantell, Maul rallies his troops and details his plan
to defeat the incoming sepratist invasion forces.
His planning is interrupted, however, when reports reach Maul that the transport from
Dathomir has arrived.
Instead of Mother Talzin being on board as expected by Dooku, the transport was filled
with a battalion of Nightbrothers from the same village that Savage Opress was taken
from earlier in the Clone Wars.
The Nightbrothers were, led by Brother Viscus, being sent by Mother Talzin to aid in the
defence of Ord Mantell.
As soon as Grievous' ships exits hyperspace at Ord Mantell, they begin a swift and shocking
orbital bombardment of the planet.
Their laser cannons bombard the surface with heavy and unavoidable fire.
Maul then hastily commands his troops to begin their defence of the planet, sending the underworld
mercenaries, the Mandalorian fighters and the Nightbrothers into side by side combat.
His troops chant the phrase “Victory or Death”, as a battle cry before entering
battle.
This phrase will likely be very important as we move into the Siege of Mandalore, with
the title of the final episode of Clone Wars Season 7 being “Victory and Death”.
As Grievous’ droid forces land on the surface of the planet, Maul’s combined army stands
strong in the face of their incoming attack.
At that same moment, Count Dooku disembarks from his ship, in hopes of directly hunting
down and capturing both Maul and Mother Talzin.
Grievous also realizes that something isn’t right.
“Something isn’t right”.
He knows that Maul has several Mandalorian warships at his disposal, but they are nowhere
to be seen.
These missing Mandalorian warships then appear in front of Grievous’ fleet, bombarding
their ships with torpedoes and laser cannons, as Maul prepares to capture Grievous.
As Dooku moves closer towards the Mandalorian forward command centre, he is ambushed by
the battalion of Nightbrothers from Dathomir.
“We’ve come to deal with you”
The crime bosses begin to lose faith in Maul’s leadership, quickly realising that their forces
are being slaughtered.
Maul’s forces in orbit are experiencing great success however, gaining access to Grievous’
ship, slicing through inner walls with his crimson bladed lightsaber.
Cutting back to Dooku’s duel with the Nightbrothers, we see him unleash a powerful burst of force
lightning, temporarily debilitating the resilient Nightbrother warriors.
One of the Nightbrothers who is too far away to be affected by the lightning charges Dooku.
Meanwhile, Maul breaks into the bridge of Grievous’ command ship, decimating all of
his droid security and tackling him to the ground.
Maul places his luminescent dark blade at Grievous’ neck, demanding his surrender.
Back on the surface, Maul’s Mandalorian troops and the criminal mercenaries are on
the verge of defeat, standing hands behind their heads, waiting to be executed.
As the droids are about to fire on the prisoners, they are suddenly deactivated by Maul on the
command ship above.
He has saved his loyal Mandalorian fighters and his alliance with the criminal underworld.
Dooku and Brother Viscus continue their vicious duel, before Viscus is slammed into the floor,
once again on the verge of death.
Dooku’s luminous red blade lies at the neck of brother Viscus, but before he is able to
strike, the Mandalorians and the mercenaries show up, saving his life.
Finally, Maul contacts Mother Talzin to inform her that he has now captured both Grievous
and Dooku.
Moving onto issue #3 of the Son of Dathomir, we begin in the office of Chancellor Palpatine,
who is being informed about the situation on Ord Mantell by Mace Windu.
“Could this be the rogue sith you’ve been searching for?”.
Palpatine of course already knows about the situation because he is orchestrating it,
but this allows him to deceive the Jedi even further, by making them believe that Darth
Maul is the Sith Lord that they were looking for, and that Dooku was the apprentice.
Jedi Masters Obi Wan Kenobi, Tiplee and Mace Windu then travel to Ord Mantell to hunt down
who they now believe are the two Sith that Master Yoda had warned about.
They are puzzled about the true identity of the army that fought on Ord Mantell, as all
evidence of their existence was wiped from the battlefield.
All except for a red and yellow, horned Mandalorian helmet, as worn by the Mandalorians loyal
to Maul as their leader.
After finding this helmet, they conclude that corrupt Prime Minister Almec is working with
the Mandalorians and that Maul is still lurking in the shadows.
Tiplee and Kenobi then set off to a Mandalorian outpost in an asteroid belt, where they believe
Deathwatch’s operations have shifted too after the loss of the base on Zanbar.
Maul then begins a hologram call to his former master, Sidious, showing that he has captured
both General Grievous and Count Dooku, warning him that his plans are unravelling.
Seeing Dooku and Grievous in this vulnerable state is such an awesome thing and honestly
one of my favourite parts of the comic, despite them not really being in any true danger,
with Sidious pulling the strings.
“Lord Tyranus, you disappoint me.”
Sidious suggests that Maul kill Dooku, as he no longer has a use for him, knowing Maul
will not be able to carry it out.
Maul then separates the two Sepratist leaders, sending Grievous to the brig, leaving himself
alone with Count Dooku.
We then get a hilarious line from Grievous where he says “it would be unfortunate if
next time we met, Count, I had to add your lightsaber to my collection.”
Back on Obi-Wan’s cruiser, he thinks back to his last encounter with Maul, where he
lost the love of his life, Duchess Satine.
Despite this, he remembers his training, and does not allow his emotions to cloud his judgement
on the mission.
Interrupting their conversation, Commander Cody notifies the two Jedi that their probes
and ships are ready to deploy.
Following this, Maul offers to form an alliance with Dooku to defend against the impending
Jedi attack.
He initially offers to make Dooku his new apprentice, but Dooku’s loyalty to Sidious
would never allow him to do that.
Mother Talzin then appears as an apparition to Dooku, telling him of the history between
her and Sidious, even informing him about the story of how Maul became his apprentice.
While Maul is distracted, Dooku uses the force to Free Grievous from his cell, allowing him
to rampage through Maul’s Mandalorians, tearing them to shreds.
At this point, Dooku has no choice but to team up with Maul to ensure his own survival.
Maul uses his lightsaber to cut Dooku free, before rushing out to confront Kenobi and
Tiplar.
Maul slices through many clones before reaching Kenobi.
Kenobi now believes he has confirmation that the two Sith that they are looking for are
in fact Maul and Dooku.
He’s obviously wrong about this, but for now, he continues to hold that belief.
Maul’s weightless Darksaber comes up against Kenobi, while the Crimson hue of Dooku’s
curved blade faces Tiplar.
The pairs are moments away from locking blades, before Mace Windu and Aayla Secura arrive
to settle the matter once and for all.
Secura and Windu begin to Duel Maul, while Kenobi and Tiplar switch their focus to Dooku.
Dooku uses force lightning on the two Jedi, but they are quick to block it.
As the two are focusing all of their energy on blocking the lightning, Dooku force pulls
Tiplar towards him, brutally piercing her with his blade.
Kenobi lets out a cry, but must continue with the mission, or face the same fate as her.
Both duels are hastily ended by Maul’s troops firing a rocket into the main bay of the outposot,
knocking everyone to the floor.
This allows Dooku and Maul to escape the reach of the Jedi, fleeing to their ship while deflecting
incoming blaster fire.
Maul, Dooku and Grievous escape, the asteroid outpost, but Maul’s leadership again begins
to come under fire after many of his men are rounded up and captured by the Republic.
To end this issue of the comic, we then get a great scene with Palpatine where Mace Windu
informs the Chancellor that they have now solved the mystery behind the true identity
of the Sith.
Palpatine listens to Windu’s “discovery” with a menacing grin on his face, as the man
pulling all of the strings.
Beginning the final issue of Son of Dathomir, Maul is speaking to the leaders of the criminal
syndicates that make up his shadow collective.
They are unhappy with the losses incurred at the battle of Ord mantell and the Asteroid
outpost.
Maul keeps the criminal organizations on board, but only by a very thin string.
Dooku remarks to Maul that “seizing control is much easier than maintaining it”, before
being escorted out by the Mandalorian troopers.
At this point, we return to Dathomir, where the nightbrothers welcome Maul back to his
home planet.
They escort Dooku into an ancient mystic chamber, where they begin to use the force magic of
the night sisters to allow Mother Talzin’s spirit to possess him.
Meanwhile, Sidious and Grievous cloak their ship as they make their descent into the atmosphere
of Dathomir.
Dooku is in immense pain as Mother Talzin takes controls of his limbs, and his mind.
In Dooku’s weakened state, Maul tells him that the reason he hasn’t been able to detect
her is because she sacrificed much of her own form to resurrect him.
A loud bang rings through the spacious room, as Grievous bursts through the rocky wall.
“Blood is about to spill all right.
YOURS.”
Maul retorts, telling Grievous that he is too late, and that his plans are already in
motion.
This is quickly put to rest by Sidious’ arrival.
As this is happening, the bases of the Black Sun Clan and the Pyke Syndicate are swarmed
by separatist fleets, prompting the leaders of these groups to become extremely angry
with Maul and pull their support for his leadership.
Maul and the Nightbrothers continue the spell on Dooku, placing him further under the control
of Talzin, to the point where he no longer has any consciousness of his own.
A massive lightsaber battle breaks out, with Grievous confronting Maul and Sidious fighting
Talzin through the possessed body of Dooku.
Sidious and Talzin exchange blows of the lightsaber, but the Dark Lord is much too powerful for
her, knocking the lightsaber out of Dooku’s hands.
He then uses a strong jolt of force lighting on Dooku, attempting to remove Talzin from
his body.
The pain is so intense that Maul and Grievous briefly pause their own fight to observe Dooku’s
pain.
Eventually, the power of Sidious is overwhelming enough to force Talzin out of Dooku’s body,
forcing her to stand to face the Sith Lord.
“I am whole!
I am returned”
As Grievous is pushed aside, Talzin and Sidious face off, with Mother Talzin using her mystic
powers to reflect Sidious’ incredibly powerful force lightning.
Maul imparts his strength upon his mother, but Dooku does the same for his own master,
creating a complete stalemate between the force users.
“Fight mother, fight” As this is going on, Maul’s Mandalorian troopers urge him
to leave as Dathomir is now lost, but he refuses to leave his mother to die.
Talzin then pulls a move of great sacrifice, weakening herself to save her son, by pushing
him back to his ship.
This lowers Talzin’s defences and allows Grievous to approach her stabbing her through
the chest with his green and blue blades, finally ending the life of Mother Talzin.
Her spirit rapidly leaves her body, as Maul is dragged away from the scene in tears.
And that’s where the comic ends, Dooku apologises for his failure to capture Maul, but Sidious
says that everything has proceeded as planned.
That’s everything you need to know about Darth Maul’s story before the Siege of Mandalore.
So remember to subscribe to the channel to be notified as soon as I release my Clone
Wars Season 7 Episode 9 recap + explainer.
Thanks so much for watching, cheers guys!