I have to clear up the misinformation. u/MitaminMogula was spreading. Maul is no Victim. He assaulted this poor, starving, malnourished, sleep deprived, elderly dino over his religion and did so gleefully!
Typical loser behavior if you ask me 🤔 had to pick on people at their weakest to win for once 🤷♂️ I guess that’s what happens when you haven’t won a fight since 2016. 🧐
It's a simple but very revealing phrase. In a single scene, Daki showed great character and a sense of duty by believing that his powers could only be used for the greater good, while Maul selfishly told him that he should use them to dominate others. What did you think when you saw this scene for the first time?
Let me be clear even though Vader was never in threat of losing (as he himself points out) the narrative still frames Qi’ra as being able to hold her own against Vader and gaining the darklords respect. Palpatine even claims that Qi’ra was one of the few opponents Darth saw as formidable. Vader even says that her abilities speak well for her teacher, so Maul undoubtedly was a great teacher if Qi’ra could duel Vader despite not being force sensitive.
Vader ends up having to resort to massive force blast inorder to end the fight.
Dance dance revolution
Maybe Devon starts to suspect Maul pushed Daki towards Vader, maybe she figures it out through their Force bond over time and maybe... she accepts it and realises that at the end of day, Maul and her have a common goal, to defeat the Empire.
Maybe she acknowledges he is using her to accomplish his goals but she’s also using him and his knowledge of the dark side to get stronger and maybe deep down inside, she realises nothing was going to change with Daki, who was too occupied with staying hidden rather than taking action against the ones who destroyed their order and branded them as traitors.
Maybe Brander does show up to tell Devon of Maul’s betrayal but instead of Devon being furious, distraught and bewildered, she simply responds with ‘’He was weak’’.
Another interesting plot twist, Maul starts to grow attached to Devon, instead of seeing her as the supposed weapon he initially wanted to fashion her to be, he starts to see her as family, wanting to right the mistakes he made with Savage and treat her as an equal rather than just master/apprentice.
I do wonder how many of the new MSL viewers who don't have that prior series knowledge, and somehow either refuse to acknowledge or have no idea that Maul is the Villain (who is destined to fail in his stated revenge quest against Sidious), are actually gonna be shocked when he eventually betrays the main cast again in Season 2...
They are not prepared for how evil, and stupid this man truly is lol. This is even after S1 went out of it's way to warn the audience about this more than once... In a way it does also make me quite excited for how he eventually sabotages himself, or gets defeated again.
Whether it is by Devon's hand, or his own. When Maul eventually fails, he fails spectacularly.
I am a lifetime author one which can very much so eaisily see the threads a skilled author like Filoni leaves for us. I am of the belief a few things will happen in the coming season. A. Devon and Rylee will start showing signs of being more than friends as it was set up they could get together. Devon will probably become extremely protective of him when they go on missions. Rylee already checked her out which is a thing men only do when they like a girl. And Devon went out of her way to ask about him showing she potentially thinks he is handsome. But who knows. That can mean many things in all fairness.
B. If she does find out what Maul did it which is unlikely (later) she almost certainly will stay with him. This does a few things effects Mauls arch of becoming more moralish person in realizing she actully cares about him. Also look at it from Devon’s POV. She had no one left to turn to. Maul is the only man in the galexy who can train her. The Jedi are functionally extinct. Maul is the only one who can give her the power she needs to take revenge on the empire.
Look at it like this, Daki was dead regardless, no way in hell would Vader just allow him to live. Him not force pushing him would likely have not made a difference. So she can rationalize it. “Yes Maul killed my former master however he was already going to die and he only did it to deepen my connection to the dark side. Plus who else in the galaxy can train me at all. He is all I have left.”
Overall I have a writers intuition so to speak she isn’t going to find out next season or possibly the one after that. Such revelations are best saved until the series has a healthy length. Which of course is what the majority of good authors do. It adds weight to the revelation . Filoni knows what he is doing I am extremely confident he will see the path laid out before him. Maul being highly manipulative could say something like “The only reason I did that is because that is how my former master treated me in my youth.” Which would ease tensions
Overall I believe the smoke was a red herring. Firstly he ran into a wall of blaster fire when means ☠️ 99.8 percent of the time. Secondly if you were paying attention he kneeled down in the fog which is what dead men do on the battlefield. And third logistics, it makes no sense at all for him to find them at all given how low profile Maul is. People in the criminal underworld like Maul do not attract attention to themselves. So there is no trail to follow
So overall my gut instincts tell me she is with Maul ride or die no matter what. If she wants revenge she as no ulterior options. Mauls to important a resource to be expended, Devon’s smart enough to figure out Daki was a dead man. Your thoughts? I also believe Two Boots and Rylee will come with them but perhaps play a non combative role with missions.
You know the big thing people kinda gloss over when it comes to Maul's hallucination scene in MSL, is that his "promise" to himself, (that's the key word here**...**), has already been broken. It happened the moment he betrayed Devon's Master in those ruins. (It's a deliberate misdirection, away from his true selfish motivations.), Maul has fooled himself, the audience, and by extension others into believing he's making a semi positive change. But he's not, because he's insane!... By betraying Daki, and causing Devon to descend into absolute despair, and misery. He has already repeated the cycle of abuse, and darkness that shaped him to begin with. Just with a few of those finer details shuffled around a bit to make it seem like less of a terrible thing to himself... We can call this self justification, a self fulfilling prophecy, or even cognitive dissonance.
It's a big flashing red emergency light in the narrative. He's just doing it again! You have all been fooled lol
Bear in mind Maul is by no means the only person in their party. They also have two boots who is a great guy and can eaisily provide a sense of levity while Devon does morally questionable things. And more importantly she has Rylee who she cares about very deeply. She touched his hand and expressed shock/regret when he was kidnapped by the empire. And she singled him out when she saw a photo of him which may mean she has a crush on him, who knows. That could mean a lot of things though.
Assuming they stick around which I firmly believe they will. Their relationship cannot be severed eaisily. Given the trauma they have endured together. Devon will have major objections to leaving him behind if Maul says that needs to happen. He would make sure Devon does not just become a Mini-Maul and will keep a great deal of her humanity and morality. I predict they will be talking a lot and Rylee will be her emotional touchstone that keeps her original personality in tact. Maybe they fall for one another?
Additionally seeing how much Rylee and Devon care for one another and how they are each others strength will make him rethink the age old Sith Mantra he was taught since childhood. Of attachments being a weakness. It’s not impossible though extremely unlikely he could become a pseudo father figure and come to care for either of them in his own warped twisted way. No way to tell but it’s possible. Everything I have said is entirely hypothetical for now. As them getting to know one another will happen regardless. This is a massive opportunity for development for Maul and Devon and if I were Filoni I would be doing major work on this angle.
So there will be a MASSIVE tug of war when it comes to her morality as Rylee does care for her and wants her to stay the same. And Maul seeks to perpetuate the cycle of trauma Sidious gave to him or possibly break it and mold Devon to his liking. Either way this is going to be extremely compelling, could not be more excited. Big changes for her relationship with Maul and her friends in the future fyi. They even said the Maul Devon relationship is one of the most important in the show. Tbf I wouldn’t mind seeing a sorta-Sith in a healthy romantic relationship for once. But what do you think, do you see that happening?
How does Maul not realize who Vader is? Yet in the final season of clone wars he figures out the Emperors plot to turn Anakin. I guess maybe it could be cause of the suit and helmet instead of just looking like Anakin? Wouldn't he still be able to sense that it was him though?
Daki serves a critical role in the narrative of Maul Shadow Lord... That is to warn both returning, and new audience members of who, and what Maul is. What he is capable of, and what he truly desires above all else.
I have seen so many strange takes regarding this character... But people not realising/misunderstanding why he's in the show to begin with, and why he says the things he does, (and to who specifically.) Truly perplexes me the most... He's the Obi Wan/Qui Gon Jin character, the wise mentor figure, and the most knowledgeable character in the story.
He exists to warn you of what Maul is doing to Devon. Maul betraying him at the end of the show is literally him getting the prime witness to his evil schemes, out of the way...
