Sam Witwer, the voice actor behind Darth Maul in various Star Wars shows and the upcoming Star Wars: Maul — Shadow Lord, has spoken: you don’t need to watch anything to understand what’s happening in the new show. To that, I agree. That being said, you do need to read something to understand why Maul is so interested in rebuilding his criminal empire in the first place.
However, because there’s a lot of Maul content to get through, we understand not everyone has the time. So to save new or returning fans the hassle, we’ve narrowed it down to one essential story from Dark Horse Comics: Star Wars: Darth Maul — Son of Dathomir.
A 2014 comic miniseries from Dark Horse, Son of Dathomir, follows Maul after the events of the Clone Wars episode “The Lawless,” in which Sheev Palpatine (aka Darth Sidious) confronts his former apprentice and defeats him in a lightsaber duel. In the comic, Palpatine transports Maul to a Separatist prison on Stygeon Prime. There, Sidious taunts him, saying that while he has a new apprentice in Count Dooku, he still has use for Maul after all — as bait to lure in the leader of the Nightsisters, Mother Talzin.
Despite the four-part miniseries being released before Star Wars creator George Lucas sold the franchise to Disney, Son of Dathomir is still considered part of canon. This is, presumably, because the comic was originally conceived as a four-episode arc for The Clone Wars that was worked on, but wasn’t completed. Matt Michnovetz, head writer for the upcoming Maul: Shadow Lord, co-wrote said arc alongside Aïda Mashaka Croal. So it’s safe to say that both Maul: Shadow Lord and Son of Dathomir will remain cohesive with one another.
The first issue delves briefly into Maul’s childhood on Dathomir, with Sidious explaining to Dooku how he chose Maul to be his apprentice and the relationship between himself, Maul, and Mother Talzin. Despite the brevity, it captures how Palpatine groomed and manipulated Maul from a young age, while also highlighting the character’s loyalties and allies beyond the Sith lord.
Eventually, one of those allies shows up to free Maul: a team of Death Watch Mandalorians led by Rook Kast and Gar Saxon. Kast has already appeared in teaser trailers promoting Maul: Shadow Lord, and looks as though she’ll be serving as Maul’s right hand. Although she shows up in several Clone Wars episodes, Son of Dathomir provides much deeper insight into why Kast remains loyal to Maul despite him not being a Mandalorian.
However, the biggest reason why Son of Dathomir needs to be your one-stop before heading into Maul: Shadow Lord is that it expands on Maul’s leadership of the Shadow Collective (a criminal alliance made up of several syndicates like Crimson Dawn, Pykes, and Black Sun) and the internal strife that resides within the organization.
Throughout the rest of the four issues, Son of Dathomir establishes that the Shadow Collective is seen as a direct threat to Sidious and his goal for galactic domination. There are several battles between the Separatists — including fan-favorite General Grievous — against several of the crime syndicates in the Shadow Collective. Throughout, more and more of Maul’s allies within the Collective become concerned that the fight against the Sith and Separatists is more hassle than it’s worth, as it is costing them time, lives, and credits.
We won’t spoil what happens next in Son of Dathomir. But considering that by the time The Siege of Mandalore unfolds and leaves several of the crime syndicates scrambling to appeal to Sidious as a new Galactic Empire rises, you can safely assume that Mau’s plans don’t work out quite as he hoped.
Fast-forward to shortly after Revenge of the Sith, and Maul: Shadow Lord sees the fallen crime boss trying to rebuild his empire on the seedy city-planet, Janix. We’ve already seen in the trailers that he’ll be going up against some very recognizable organizations, including the Pykes, which suggests he has some very personal scores to settle. If you read Son of Dathomir, you’ll get to see just how personal they are by the time the first two episodes debut on Apr. 6 on Disney Plus.