Maul

The boy who would come to be known as Darth Maul was born in 54 BBY on Dathomir, the son of Mother Talzin, under mysterious circumstances. As a male Zabrak from Dathomir, he was a Nightbrother with two blood brothers, Feral and Savage Opress. Later in life, Maul said that he had once had a real name, but he had forgotten it long ago. Before his first birthday, Talzin gave the Zabrak infants their first tattoos. Maul struggled with a deep inner anger from his early days living in deep caves.

Legend says that Maul and one of his brothers grew up in a house in the Nightbrother Village, where he often had to care for his younger, weaker brother because Talzin was always away with the Nightsisters. Growing up, he always felt connected to nature and the forest outside their house because he was Force-sensitive. When he was still a child, Mother Talzin became an ally of Darth Sidious, the Dark Lord of the Sith, and they shared knowledge of Dark Side mysteries and Nightsister magicks. According to legend, when Sidious visited Talzin, Maul always hid in his room, afraid of the man and worried about Talzin's growing connection with him.

Sidious noticed Maul's struggle with anger. Around 40 BBY, Sidious took Maul from Dathomir to become his Sith apprentice. Talzin claimed that Sidious betrayed her and stole Maul. A more detailed legend says that Sidious ordered Talzin to give Maul to a keeper, threatening to break his promise to make her his apprentice if she didn't. She reluctantly agreed, and Maul ran angrily into the forest, overhearing the conversation from behind his door. When he returned the next morning, a Nightbrother took him and threw him in a pit, not letting him say goodbye to his mother.

For months, Sidious orchestrated relentless domestic abuse as a test for Maul. He lived with his Nightbrother keeper's two sons, who beat him so badly that he couldn't stand up every few days and starved him by only giving him the scraps that his "brothers" didn't eat. This warped Maul's perceptions, and his love for his mother turned into resentment and hatred for abandoning him. As Sidious wanted, his hatred began to manifest through the Dark Side, and he practiced using it whenever he could. Eventually, the two brothers stopped beating him after seeing that their provocations no longer affected him. Rumors then began to circulate about a man who would soon arrive for the Selection to acquire a warrior apprentice, and all the Nightbrother boys prepared for it.

When the day came, Maul's keeper wouldn't let him participate, but he used the Dark Side to break down his locked door and follow anyway. At the Selection Arena, Maul discovered that the visitor was Sidious. In a sudden burst of anger, he used the Dark Side of the Force to Force-choke the two brothers, and then the keeper, all in front of Sidious and Talzin. Sidious, pleased with Maul's progress and potential, declared Maul the winner and his new apprentice, much to Talzin's dismay. Sidious took Maul and left Dathomir, and Talzin vowed to get her stolen son back and take revenge on Sidious.

Under Sidious's guidance, Maul trained as a Sith apprentice, Sith warrior, and Sith assassin, eventually receiving the title "Darth Maul." For years, Darth Maul trained to become a Sith weapon. He became an acrobatic warrior, trained to be relentless against his enemies, and learned to use a dual-bladed lightsaber. He eventually crafted his own using plans given to him by his master. Sidious had hidden the plans in a forgotten entrance in the ancient Sith archives. Maul used pieces that he had stolen or otherwise acquired for his lightsaber. As he thought to himself while sitting in darkness before the Chommell sector summit, a great deal of pain and blood went into making his weapon. However, most of the blood spilled in the weapon's creation was not his. During lightsaber training, Maul practiced with Marksman-H training remotes. He also learned martial arts through droid training.

During his training, Sidious took Maul to Malachor to witness a great battle between the Jedi and the Sith. Maul mastered his anger, letting it burn inside him, and under his master's guidance, he turned his anger into hate. Sidious forced Maul to breathe in the ashes of Sith warriors who had been killed when an ancient weapon was activated in the Sith temple on the planet. While breathing in this ash, Maul had visions of Sith members being struck down by the Jedi. He felt the slash of saber after saber as he felt the death of his Sith brethren. His Sith training made Maul long for revenge against the Jedi Order, which had defeated the Sith a millennium earlier. With his master, Darth Maul hoped to destroy the Jedi and restore the Sith to galactic power.

However, Maul's hatred of the Jedi was more personal. He was filled with anger when he realized that the Jedi had not come for him when he was a child. Maul didn't know if they found him unworthy or simply ignored him, and their neglect fueled his rage, counting the days until he could get his revenge. He was impatient with his master's planning, resenting the pain and suffering he felt as he waited for his time to unleash himself on the galaxy that had hurt him so much. At some point during his apprenticeship, Maul traveled to Umbara under Sidious's orders and kidnapped the world's senator, Sly Moore, although she was eventually freed.

After several years of training as Sidious's apprentice, Darth Maul became impatient. He longed to confront the Jedi. Maul enjoyed hunting wild game and stalking the Jedi Khaat Qiyn and her Padawan, Bairdon Jace, in the shadows on Coruscant. During one trip, Maul traveled to the swamp planet Twon Ketee to hunt rathtars as he waited for orders from Darth Sidious. Beforehand, he hired a group of big game hunters to scare the rathtars out of hiding as he watched from behind a tree. He quieted his mind and used the Force to sense the beasts nearby. A rathtar attacked the hunters, and Maul leaped onto the beast and killed it with a spear. However, Maul sensed another rathtar attacking him from behind and realized that they hunted in packs. Maul cut off the creature's limbs one by one and eventually used a branch to kill the second rathtar. Having finished his training, he returned to Coruscant. While hunting rathtars, Maul reflected on their viciousness, ruthlessness, and freedom. Unlike him, the rathtars he hunted had no master. Sidious warned Maul to avoid the Jedi until his plans were ready. While he praised Maul's thirst for vengeance, Sidious didn't want Maul to reveal himself until the time was right. Sidious threatened Maul with death if he continued to risk being detected.

To satisfy Maul's bloodlust, Sidious sent him to the Kellux system to eliminate pirates who were interfering with the Trade Federation. Maul traveled to Kellux and eliminated the pirates who had kidnapped members of the Trade Federation. A pirate, mistaking Maul for a Jedi, begged for his life in exchange for information. The pirate told Maul that Xev Xrexus of the Xrexus Cartel had captured a Jedi Padawan who was going to be auctioned off to the highest bidder. Maul eliminated the remaining pirates and the kidnapped members of the Trade Federation and began searching for the Padawan.

Maul hired a group of bounty hunters (Cad Bane, Aurra Sing, Vorhdeilo, and Troo-tril-tek) and traveled to Nar Shaddaa to find out where Xrexus's auction was. Maul got into a bar brawl after being accused of being a Jedi. During the fight, the Quarren gangster Dirty Calgriz blinded him—whom Maul quickly killed afterward—and he was almost surrounded when Bane, Sing, and Vorhdeilo intervened. Bane told Maul that the bounty hunters had obtained an invitation to Xrexus's auction. The bounty hunters had killed the Haddrex Gang and stolen their ship and protocol droid, FE-B3. Troo-Tril-Tek and Maul tortured FE-B3 until they learned the location of the auction.

Maul and the bounty hunters then traveled in the Haddrex Gang's ship to a space station in the Drazkel system to attend the auction. Xrexus told the attendees that the Padawan, a Twi'lek named Eldra Kaitis, had been found on a crashed Republic transport vessel that had been attacked by pirates. While Xrexus greeted her guests, Maul searched the space station and found Kaitis in a holding cell. While searching for Kaitis, Xrexus caught Maul sneaking around the station, and Maul gave a fake name, Seris Madreth of the Haddrex Consortium, to trick Xrexus. Maul then spoke with Bane and the other bounty hunters to come up with a clean way out and a backup plan.

Maul returned to the auction, where he allowed the Moogan Jee Kra to take Kaitis. Maul and his bounty hunters then confronted Jee Kra and his crew at their ship. There, Maul and his bounty hunters killed Kra and his crew. Maul told Bane to get the ship into space and confirmed to Kaitis that he was a Sith. However, Xrexus had planted an explosive on the shuttle, and it was forced to crash-land on Drazkel's moon.

On the moon's surface, Maul, Kaitis, and his bounty hunters survived the crash. Maul and his bounty hunters saw that Xrexus was sending ships after them and split up; Maul and Kaitis would lead the hunters away while Bane, Sing, and Vorhdeilo would take a ship from them. When they were surrounded by the hunters, Maul gave Kaitis her lightsaber, and the two of them fought the hunters together. After defeating the hunters, Maul and Kaitis prepared to fight each other.

Both proved to be evenly matched. At first, Kaitis used her lightsaber to cause a landslide that buried Maul. As she was going in for the kill, Maul rose and stabbed her through the chest. He then destroyed FE-B3, after which Bane and the other bounty hunters picked him up using a stolen Flarestar-class shuttle. Maul paid them, and they dropped him off at Xev's hideout. There, Maul killed Xrexus to ensure the Sith's secrecy. He then returned to Lord Sidious on Coruscant. His master knew he had killed the young Padawan, but he pleased his master by telling him that his lust for Jedi was not satisfied.

Maul, in disguise, created a fake cartel under Kaitis's name and later worked with the Force-sensitive Zek Peiro to intercept shipments of scarn, a compound used to make spice. Maul and Peiro fought several of their buyers and found the scarn. He killed Peiro with a piece of metal and left him. Maul returned to Sidious, who expressed his concern about Maul's antics and said that he was as foolish as Peiro.

After killing Peiro, Maul and Sidious returned to Malachor to continue his Sith training. While on Malachor, Maul breathed the ashes of the long-dead Sith and had a Force vision. In his vision, Maul was a Jedi and saved a fellow Zabrak from a creature. Maul was invited to dinner with other Zabraks to thank him. Disgusted by the Zabraks' idolization of the Jedi, Maul became a Sith and beheaded the entire group. After his vision ended, Maul was praised by his master, and Maul realized that it would take more than his rage and emotions to destroy the Jedi.

In 33 BBY, when the pirate leader Zilastra planned a large-scale operation against members of the Jedi Council, Maul traveled to the planet Kwenn because his master admired Zilastra's ruthlessness and thought her contempt for the Jedi was interesting. When Sidious, disguised as Senator Palpatine, contacted Voh, the Seneschal of the Kwenn Jedi outpost, Maul quietly entered the florist shop where Voh was communicating holographically. When Palpatine finished talking to Voh, he began to speak to Maul, which confused Voh until the seneschal was lifted with the Force and spun around to see the Zabrak.

After years of seeking revenge against the Jedi, Maul became part of his master's plan to take over the Galactic Republic and destroy the Jedi. Sidious, secretly Senator Palpatine of Naboo, conspired with the Trade Federation to invade his planet as retaliation for the taxation of trade routes in outlying Republic star systems. The Federation launched their vessels, blockaded Naboo, and prepared their battle droid army. Supreme Chancellor Finis Valorum, whom Palpatine wanted to replace through the invasion, sent Jedi Knights Qui-Gon Jinn and Obi-Wan Kenobi to resolve the situation, but the Federation tried to kill the two Jedi, forcing Jinn and Kenobi to the surface. Once there, as the invasion began, they rescued Queen Padmé Amidala and escaped from Naboo.

Because Amidala was necessary for their plans—the queen needed to sign a treaty that would legitimize the illegal occupation of Naboo—Sidious sent Maul to find the queen and the Jedi. Maul traced a distress call from Sio Bibble, the governor of Naboo, which Queen Amidala received on Tatooine. With his master's permission, Maul traveled to Tatooine to find the queen. He landed in the desert with his personal starship, making it a mobile base for his operation. From his starship, he launched three Sith probe droids to find the queen and her Jedi protectors. Thanks to one of them, he discovered her ship just as it was getting ready to leave. Maul rode across the Tatooine sand dunes on his Bloodfin, his personal vehicle, toward the queen's ship. However, he encountered Qui-Gon Jinn, one of the Jedi Knights who was trying to protect the queen, and a young boy named Anakin Skywalker.

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Nevertheless, the Sith Lord initiated an assault upon Qui-Gon Jinn, leading to a lightsaber duel between them. The Jedi Master instructed Anakin to board the vessel and command the pilot to depart. The confrontation was brief but intense, with Maul employing his formidable agility and ruthlessness to exhaust Jinn using his aggressive lightsaber skills. Just as Jinn was giving way to Maul's strength and fury, and Maul was preparing to deliver the final blow to the Jedi, the queen's starship intervened, allowing Jinn to board, leaving the Sith Lord seething with anger on the sandy surface.

Even though Jinn and the queen managed to flee, the Sith's presence had been revealed to the Jedi for the first time in a thousand years, prompting the Jedi Order to question how the Sith could have resurfaced after so many centuries. Despite his targets' successful escape, Maul reveled in his accomplishments and allowed himself to be further consumed by darkness and animosity. Unbeknownst to Maul, Skywalker, the young boy destined to be the Chosen One, would eventually contribute significantly to the Jedi's downfall and become a Sith Lord himself.

Following their escape, the Jedi and the queen journeyed to Coruscant, where Sidious, under the guise of Palpatine, manipulated Amidala into calling for a Vote of No Confidence against Chancellor Valorum. This action triggered a new election, in which Palpatine was heavily favored to win and assume control of the Republic. Meanwhile, Maul, acting on his master's orders, returned to Naboo, where Amidala and the Jedi also reappeared to combat the Federation's occupying forces. Eagerly anticipating his confrontation with the Jedi, Maul resolved to carefully select the location for their inevitable duel. The Naboo people, together with the Gungans residing in Naboo's oceans, strategically led the Federation army into battle away from the capital. Utilizing the battle as a distraction, the queen and the Jedi fought to regain control of the city.

Upon his arrival on Naboo, Maul was greeted by the Neimoidians. However, he disregarded their attempts to console him, choosing instead to promptly fulfill his mission of choosing the battlefield. His plan was to entice the Jedi into the network of corridors and catwalks leading to and within the power generation facilities, situated near the hangar. He practiced his lightsaber maneuvers and movements to familiarize himself with the environment. He leaped over the chasm in the center of the final chamber, intending to eliminate the Jedi there. He dismissed the significance of the hole before receiving a communication from Gunray. Upon learning of the Queen's starship landing, Maul suppressed his desire to immediately engage and advised that they allow the Naboo and Jedi to come to them.

The conflict for the capital extended to the royal palace, where Maul awaited Jinn and Kenobi. The Sith Lord engaged the Jedi in combat within the palace hangar before moving into a generator complex. The duel continued fiercely throughout the generator rooms, with Maul maintaining dominance. Nevertheless, he strategically conceded ground to guide the Jedi through the complex. Maul separated the Jedi by knocking Kenobi down to lower levels, and Kenobi was unable to rejoin Maul and Jinn due to the presence of laser barriers. Capitalizing on their separation, Maul battled Jinn alone and ultimately impaled the Jedi Master through the torso, inflicting a mortal wound.

When Kenobi finally arrived, a fierce battle ensued, fueled by Kenobi's anger and grief over the loss of his master and friend. Despite Kenobi severing Maul's double-bladed lightsaber in half, leaving the Sith Lord with only one blade, Maul disarmed Kenobi and used the Force to hurl him over the edge of a massive reactor shaft. Caught off guard, Kenobi dropped his lightsaber and found himself precariously hanging over the abyss from a small input nozzle. Maul kicked Kenobi's lightsaber into the shaft below. As Maul mocked the young Jedi, attempting to dislodge him from the wall, Kenobi regained his composure and used the Force to leap back up and summon Jinn's lightsaber into his hand. In a swift motion, Kenobi sliced through Maul's waist, bisecting him and sending him plummeting down the shaft.

On that very day, Sheev Palpatine ascended to the position of Supreme Chancellor of the Galactic Republic. Although Darth Maul's body could not be recovered from the depths of the power station, both he and the Jedi believed that Maul had died on Naboo. Consequently, Sidious appointed Count Dooku, a former Jedi Master whom he had already converted to the dark side, as his new apprentice, while the Council shifted its focus to other matters, preferring to allow the Force to guide solutions as it deemed appropriate.

However, driven by his intense hatred and rage, Maul miraculously survived being cut in half, with his upper torso falling down the reactor shaft and landing in a trash container. A combination of Nightsister magic, Dathomirian physiology, and Sith determination allowed him to cling to life, even as his sanity began to erode. Maul's mangled body was discarded on the junkyard world of Lotho Minor, where he resided in the planet's depths. There, he used discarded metal to construct a six-limbed apparatus that enabled him to walk once more.

During Maul's exile, the droid Captain Spikewheel coerced several individuals, including Gritz, Riki, Brennar, and Seles, to spend a night on Lotho Minor as a requirement for joining her crew. Upon their arrival on the planet, a dispute arose between Gritz and Brennar, causing the ground to collapse into a labyrinth.

While exploring, Seles became separated from the group, prompting Brennar to search for him. Brennar then discovered that Maul had captured Seles. Maul, while muttering incoherently, hurled Seles at Brennar and proceeded to pursue them through the labyrinth. They eventually reached a dead end. Maul was about to kill them when Gritz ensnared Maul with an electronet.

They then returned to the surface, with Maul in tow, to find Spikewheel waiting for them. Gritz and Spikewheel then revealed that they had been hired to locate and capture Maul, and that it was merely a test for Gritz to become first mate. While listening to the message from their employer, Gritz and Spikewheel realized that the message originated from Maul himself. Maul then broke free from the electronet and confirmed that he had sent the message because he needed a ship to escape. Spikewheel attempted to shoot Maul, but the fallen Sith destroyed her. Seles panicked and attempted to seize control of the ship, causing it to launch directly into the sky. Riki opened the ship's door, and Maul and Gritz fell back to the surface of Lotho Minor. They departed from the planet, and Maul killed Gritz.

During his exile, he struck a deal with a sentient and cunning Anacondan named Morley, who agreed to provide Maul with food in exchange for his leftovers. Over the years, Maul was consumed by madness, rage, and despair, but he remained fixated on seeking revenge against Kenobi.

During those years, Anakin Skywalker, while training in lightsaber combat at the Jedi Temple, modified a training droid to resemble Darth Maul.

Mother Talzin was aware of Maul's survival. During the Clone Wars, she informed his brother, Savage Opress, that the former Sith Lord could be found in the Outer Rim. Talzin provided Opress with a talisman to aid him in locating Maul, and Opress embarked on a journey to find his brother. Opress located Lotho Minor and discovered his deranged brother living there. However, Maul did not recognize Opress and barely retained a grasp on his own identity, frequently erupting into fits of laughter and sobbing. All that remained of the former Sith Lord was his burning desire for revenge against the Jedi. Believing that Morley had harmed his brother and driven him insane, Opress killed the Anacondan and, to restore Maul's memories, transported him to Dathomir, where Mother Talzin repaired Maul's mind and provided him with a pair of cybernetic legs through an incantation, using components from the Separatist droids destroyed during the Battle of Dathomir.

With his mind restored, Maul sought revenge against Kenobi for his defeat on Naboo, luring the now-Jedi High Council member to Raydonia by slaughtering civilians to provoke Kenobi's intervention. Maul and Opress captured Kenobi, but the Jedi was rescued by Asajj Ventress, a former acolyte of Darth Tyranus and the Dathomir Witch who had once commanded Opress. Kenobi and Maul engaged in a lightsaber duel for the first time in over a decade, and Maul provoked Kenobi's anger by recounting how he had killed Qui-Gon Jinn. Kenobi was overwhelmed and decided that it was best for him and Ventress to escape the ship. Although Kenobi had escaped, Maul knew that the Jedi would begin pursuing him, which would play into Maul's plans for revenge.

Following these events, Maul encountered a child and spoke about his return to galactic affairs, promising the child that he would soon have his revenge and expose the Jedi as a false order. The brothers embarked on a rampage across the galaxy, which led them to the Cybloc Transfer Station in the Cybloc system. After defeating the station's guards, the brothers discovered a credit coffer filled to the brim. Maul demonstrated his martial superiority to his brother by disarming him, earning the latter's respect. From that point forward, Maul referred to himself as Opress's Master, mirroring the traditional Sith Rule of Two dynamic.

After stealing the valuables on the space station, the brothers traveled to Florrum, where they bribed a squad of pirates into joining them. While some joined, others questioned Maul and Opress's motives and were killed as a result, as Hondo Ohnaka, the pirate leader, was forced to watch. Eventually, the brothers faced off against Kenobi and Adi Gallia, a fellow member of the Jedi High Council, who tracked them there. After a duel that resulted in Gallia's death, Kenobi lured the brothers into the pirate base, where they continued their duel in an isolated passage. When Opress had his arm cut off, Maul used the Force to push Kenobi down the tunnel, causing a cave-in before ordering a retreat. He also discovered that Ohnaka's forces reconciled with the renegade pirates, and likewise, Maul's hired group had turned on him. The brothers promptly escaped, although the effort cost Maul one of his artificial legs. They later barely escaped the doomed ship after one of Ohnaka's pirates shot out its engines with a rocket launcher. Because of this, Hondo believed that Maul and Opress were incinerated in the crash, though Kenobi suspected otherwise.

Maul and Opress managed to escape Florrum, although they eventually passed out from lack of oxygen in their escape pod. As they floated aimlessly in deep space, they were discovered unconscious and half-alive by Death Watch, a Mandalorian splinter group led by former Governor Pre Vizsla. Discovering Maul's lightsaber, Vizsla decided not to kill them as his lieutenant, Bo-Katan Kryze, wished to do; Vizsla believed that if they were enemies of the Jedi, then they were his friends. Vizsla and his men returned to their base on Zanbar, with Maul and Opress in tow.

On Zanbar, medical droids healed Maul from his wounds and replaced the legs he had received from Mother Talzin for a pair of new mechanical legs that returned him to his previous height. Waking after the surgery was completed, Maul was groggy and only tried to react when he saw the still-unconscious Opress next to him, as the droids fitted the wounded brother with a mechanical arm. Vizsla and Bo-Katan entered and began to interrogate Maul, threatening to kill Opress if Maul refused to answer. Maul revealed that they were Sith Lords, which immediately led Vizsla to question him as to his links to Count Dooku. Maul angrily stated that he and Opress served no one and that they were brothers, the true Lords of the Sith. Satisfied, Vizsla asked him his intentions, and Maul revealed his plans to seek power and influence to gain his revenge over the Jedi. He also informed the Mandalorians that the Jedi responsible for their troubles was Obi-Wan Kenobi. Having faced Kenobi before, and knowing that the Jedi Master was a close friend of Vizsla's enemy, the Mandalorian Duchess Satine Kryze, Vizsla ordered the droids to complete the repairs to the brothers.

Maul was later taken to Vizsla's shelter and revealed himself as a member of Death Watch, who purported to be the descendants of Mandalore's true warrior faith which had been rejected by the pacifists who ruled Mandalore. Vizsla also informed Maul of his and his warriors' exile from Mandalore after failing to overthrow the Mandalorian government and mused against the one responsible for their exile: Kenobi. Realizing that they possessed a common goal and a common enemy, Maul proposed an alliance between the brothers and Death Watch, claiming that it was the will of the Force. Bo-Katan rebuffed him, stating that the last time they had allied with a Sith, they had been betrayed. She also denigrated the Sith as being no better than the Jedi. Maul used the Force to choke her, and as the Mandalorians aimed their weapons at him, he claimed that thanks to their alliance, Mandalore would be theirs and they would dispose of all their enemies, as well as gaining their revenge against Kenobi and Dooku. He then released Bo-Katan, and Vizsla sent him to see to Opress while they put the alliance to a vote among the Mandalorians.

Opress emerged from his coma and proceeded to destroy the medical droids with his new mechanical arm while Maul watched. As Opress grew agitated, Maul appeared to calm him and informed him of who they had fallen upon. He insisted that the Mandalorians would be more useful to their plans than the pirates ever would have been because the Mandalorians had honor. While Opress rejected this as a weakness, Maul stated that his plans would be better served by them and, once they had reclaimed Mandalore, they would use its resources to further their own plans, with the Death Watch under their command. Vizsla then arrived and announced that the alliance had been accepted by the Death Watch.

Maul convinced Pre Vizsla they needed to recruit Black Sun so they could build an army, and with that, the alliance proceeded to go to Mustafar to recruit the Black Sun into their army. They were met by Ziton Moj, who brought the group to their council. Maul asked the council to join them, but they refused despite Maul giving them a second chance, and on Maul's orders, Savage activated his lightsaber and threw it across the table, decapitating the council and prompting Moj to form an alliance with Maul's forces. Upon returning to their camp on Zanbar, the Pykes also declared their allegiance to the Sith brothers.

Next, the alliance traveled to Nal Hutta to convince the Grand Hutt Council to join their group. The Hutts refused to join as they had no credits to buy their allegiance, so Maul and his forces battled the Hutts' enforcers and hired bounty hunters. After defeating the bounty hunters and the guards, they met Oruba the Hutt, who was captured by Bo-Katan and her forces. The Hutt pleaded for help, but Maul callously ordered his brother to kill him. Before he could, Maul interrogated Oruba on the location of the other Hutts. Fearing for his life, Oruba responded with Tatooine, to which Vizsla identified as the location of Jabba's Palace. Dissatisfied that the only thing Oruba could tell them was information so blatantly obvious, he gestured Opress to execute the frightened Hutt, and they headed to Jabba's Palace and besieged it. Overwhelmed by the Death Watch, Jabba agreed to join the Shadow Collective.

While searching to create his crime family, Maul and Opress sat in a cantina, planning to gain the favor of the leader of the Morubas crime family, Jjan. However, a patron at the bar overheard them and snitched on Maul to Jjan, who planned to poison Maul during his arrival. When arriving at the base, Savage led forces in an attempt to capture the Stronghold of the Morubas crime family. Maul entered Jjan's throne room, allowing himself to get captured in order to allow his forces to seige the stronghold, taking the crime family's power.

Now with an army under his command, Maul and the Shadow Collective planned to overthrow the government of Duchess Satine on Mandalore. Their goal was to make the Duchess look weak by sending the Collective's criminal elements to attack the capital city, Sundari, at which time Death Watch would arrive and drive them off. Maul also anticipated and counted on Pre Vizsla and Bo-Katan betraying him, an act that he counted on as part of his own plans.

After Death Watch drove the criminals away, Maul's suspicions were confirmed when he and Opress were arrested. With Maul imprisoned, Death Watch declared themselves the leaders of Mandalore. Maul suspected that there would be other political prisoners nearby, other than the deposed and imprisoned Satine, who Maul could use for his own ends. The two Sith brothers broke out of their cells and sought to find a new ally, choosing former Prime Minister Almec as a puppet; Almec had been imprisoned by the Duchess on corruption charges.

Having fought his way out of prison, Maul stormed into the Mandalorian throne room, the Grand Salon, and challenged Pre Vizsla to an honorable death match, knowing that the winner would gain the allegiance of Death Watch and become their new leader. After a long and spectacular duel, Maul overpowered Pre Vizsla and beheaded him with his own weapon, the Darksaber that ancient Mandalorians had stolen from the Jedi, which Maul then claimed as his own. However, Maul's victory split the Death Watch in two, with Bo-Katan and her forces refusing to pledge loyalty to Maul. The other half submitted to Maul's rule, while Almec was reinstated as Prime Minister—albeit with Maul as the true power on Mandalore.

Shortly after the coup, Maul learned that the Duchess had tried to escape from prison and transmitted a distress call to the Jedi. Having learned of Kenobi's old friendship and relationship with Kryze, Maul realized she could serve as bait for his archenemy and the perfect tool for his revenge against the Jedi Master. As Mandalore was technically neutral in the Clone Wars, Maul knew that Kenobi could not receive an official sanction from the Jedi Council for a rescue mission. As such, he predicted that Kenobi would mount his rescue alone.

After Kenobi infiltrated the palace and liberated his friend, Maul and the Mandalorian forces chased the two of them all the way to Kenobi's ship, Twilight. The Mandalorians fired missiles at the ship and crippled it, forcing Kenobi and Kryze to abandon ship before it was destroyed. Although dazed from the crash, Kenobi recognized Maul and Opress and attacked them, but Maul disarmed him and ordered his forces to bring Kenobi and the Duchess to the palace.

In the throne room, Maul taunted Kenobi to give in to the dark side, all the while holding Kryze in a Force grip. Kenobi angrily refused, and told Maul he had been to the Sith Lord's village on Dathomir; Kenobi further brought up Maul's horrific past by saying that it had not been Maul's decision to join the dark side, but rather the Nightsisters forced it upon him. The comments struck a nerve, angering Maul and causing him to lash out. He reminded Kenobi that it was the Jedi Master who truly made Maul suffer for over ten years, and that it was time for Kenobi to share in his agony. At that moment, Maul activated the Darksaber and stabbed it through the Duchess's chest. Kryze died in Kenobi's arms, before Maul ordered that Kenobi be taken to the prison to contemplate his loss. Kenobi later escaped with the help of Bo-Katan, who revealed herself to be the Duchess's sister.

Bo-Katan and her Nite Owls fought Maul's Mandalorian super commandos, bringing a civil war to Mandalore. As their forces collided, Darth Sidious arrived at the royal palace, having sensed that Maul was growing stronger and had become a rival after learning of Maul's activities from Masters Kenobi and Skywalker. When Sidious arrived, Maul sensed his old master's presence and prepared to face him. Maul claimed that he had taken Mandalore and built an army in the hopes of becoming Sidious's apprentice once more, but the Dark Lord saw through Maul's deception and attacked the brothers, demonstrating his superior power through Force attacks.

After Sidious released the two from his telekinetic hold, the trio ignited their respective weapons, commencing a lightsaber battle. Sidious, demonstrating superior abilities, overwhelmed them, incapacitating Maul by propelling him against a wall using the Force, before focusing on Opress. As Maul regained consciousness, he witnessed Sidious fatally pierce Opress with his lightsaber blades. Maul rushed to his brother's side, where Opress, in his last breaths, lamented his failure as Maul's apprentice. Maul observed the Nightsister magic that had altered his brother dissipate, leaving Opress's original form to expire beside him. Sidious, amused by Maul's despair, reminded him of the Sith's Rule of Two and his replacement.

Consumed by rage, Maul ignited both his personal lightsaber and the Darksaber, launching an attack on his former master. Maul fared better than Opress, yet he was ultimately surpassed by the Dark Lord of the Sith's greater experience and skill, resulting in his disarming. Sidious relentlessly assaulted Maul with telekinetic attacks, slamming him against walls and crushing him onto the floor, severely weakening him. Maul begged for mercy, but Sidious retorted that the Sith offered no such thing, and began to inflict sadistic torture upon him with bolts of Force Lightning. The Sith Lord disclosed that he had no intention of killing his former apprentice, as he still had plans for Maul: he intended to use Maul as bait to lure Mother Talzin into the open for her defeat, a plan he kept secret from Maul.

Following the duel on Mandalore, Sidious imprisoned Maul on the isolated planet of Stygeon Prime. There, the Confederacy of Independent Systems operated the Spire, a prison fortress nestled in the mountains. Upon Almec's instructions, Maul's Death Watch forces pursued Sidious's ship, aiming to rescue their captured leader. Once imprisoned, Maul endured torture inflicted by the Sith, as Sidious reiterated his plans for his former apprentice. Count Dooku interrupted their encounter, a development that angered Maul.

After consulting with Sidious, Dooku returned to Maul with orders from the Dark Lord to gather information about the Shadow Collective and the identities of Maul's associates. Dooku interrogated his predecessor, using electric shocks to extract the desired information. Maul resisted the torture, refusing to divulge any details. After Dooku's departure, Rook Kast and Gar Saxon of Death Watch launched an assault on the prison, successfully rescuing their captive leader. The Mandalorians breached Maul's cell walls, and together they descended the mountain using ropes and escaped aboard a Death Watch vessel. Unbeknownst to Maul and Death Watch, the Sith orchestrated Maul's escape to lead them to Mother Talzin.

Maul and Death Watch reunited with additional forces on Zanbar. Upon arrival, Maul communicated with Prime Minister Almec via hologram, who revealed that the prison break was a repayment for Maul's earlier release of Almec from imprisonment. Once again in command, Maul reclaimed his Darksaber and assured the Mandalorians that the war they desired was imminent. Soon after, Separatist forces under the command of General Grievous arrived on Zanbar. Grievous launched a full-scale assault against Death Watch, resulting in significant casualties on both sides. During the battle, Maul destroyed four of Grievous's MagnaGuard droids and engaged Grievous himself. Despite Maul's evident power, Grievous repelled him with a kick during their lightsaber lock. With the majority of his forces decimated, Maul ordered a retreat. Grievous, following Dooku's directives, allowed Maul to escape, anticipating that he would seek assistance from Mother Talzin.

As Dooku had foreseen, Maul reached out to Mother Talzin after his departure from Zanbar, seeking her guidance through the Force. She materialized before him from a distance in a cloud of smoke, and he informed her of his prison escape and defeat on Zanbar. Talzin, anticipating Sidious's intention to lure her into a trap, instructed Maul to proceed to Ord Mantell, where the Black Sun maintained a base of operations. There, Talzin desired him to assemble his forces for another confrontation with the Separatists, this time to bait Dooku and Grievous into a trap and capture them—an action Talzin believed Sidious would not anticipate. Talzin herself would abstain from traveling to Ord Mantell, aware of her status as a target for the Sith Lords.

Upon arriving on Ord Mantell, Maul conferred with his Shadow Collective allies, including Ziton Moj of Black Sun and Fife of the Pyke Syndicate. He disclosed that a battle against the Separatists was imminent, as they were being lured to Ord Mantell under the false pretense of capturing Maul. Despite some reservations from his allies, Maul expressed confidence in the success of his plan to ensnare the two Separatist leaders. Maul and his allies swiftly devised their strategy against the Separatists, which involved directing the droid army to a specific location within Black Sun territory, enabling the Shadow Collective forces to launch an attack.

As the Collective prepared for battle, a contingent of Nightbrother warriors, led by Brother Viscus, arrived, dispatched from Dathomir by Mother Talzin to reinforce Maul's army. While Maul welcomed his fellow Nightbrothers, the Separatists arrived in orbit and initiated an assault, employing their fleet to bombard the surface of Ord Mantell. Maul promptly commanded his forces to execute their attack, while instructing the Nightbrothers to remain in the command center awaiting further instructions. Meanwhile, Maul proceeded to Mandalorian warships, which he and Death Watch forces would utilize to assault the Separatist fleet in orbit.

Maul reached orbit as the Separatists began deploying their troops—along with Count Dooku—onto the planet, swiftly overwhelming the Shadow Collective army. Maul's ships attacked General Grievous's command vessel, before attaching to the Separatist ship's hull, allowing Maul and his forces to board and advance to the bridge. Once there, Maul and Death Watch eliminated the battle droids guarding the cyborg general, and Maul subdued Grievous, presenting him with a choice: disable the signal powering the droids on the surface, or face death. Grievous reluctantly complied and was taken into custody. Dooku, who engaged and killed the Nightbrothers in battle, was captured by Shadow Collective forces on the surface, while the disabled battle droids were eliminated.

Following the battle, Maul contacted Mother Talzin again to update her on the events of Ord Mantell. Talzin assured Maul that with Dooku and Grievous in captivity, they would also capture Sidious—and exact their revenge upon him. Maul and his forces departed from Ord Mantell, leaving minimal traces of their presence, and proceeded to Vizsla Keep 09, a Mandalorian supply outpost.

From the outpost, Maul contacted Darth Sidious, informing him of the capture of Dooku and Grievous. Sidious, claiming they were no longer of use, instructed Maul to execute them, but the former Sith Lord harbored different intentions. Grievous was confined to the brig, while Maul attempted to persuade Dooku to join him. Both had been betrayed by Sidious, prompting Maul to suggest that he and Dooku could be natural allies. Dooku dismissed the notion of challenging Sidious, asserting that he should not ally with Maul and Mother Talzin, the latter of whom had previously attempted to assassinate Dooku. Talzin herself materialized using Nightsister magic, recounting her past alliance with Sidious, her subsequent betrayal when Sidious abducted Maul from her, and Sidious's ongoing search for Dooku's replacement. Neither Talzin nor Maul believed in Dooku's sincerity, and they only wanted to ensure his transport to Dathomir.

As they conversed, a Jedi-led Republic assault team attacked the supply outpost. The Jedi, including Kenobi, Aayla Secura, Mace Windu, and Tiplee, had tracked the Shadow Collective from Ord Mantell. With their lives at stake, Dooku feigned an alliance with Maul, while Grievous escaped amidst the chaos using an escape pod. Maul and Dooku engaged the Jedi in a lightsaber duel, which persisted until Kast detonated a small explosive near the Jedi, incapacitating them and allowing Maul and Dooku to escape.

Having abandoned the outpost, Maul and his followers journeyed towards Dathomir. En route, Maul received communication from Moj and the Pykes, who voiced concerns that Maul's vendetta was jeopardizing the Shadow Collective's plans. Maul assured them of their payment and Sidious's impending demise, paving the way for the Shadow Collective to control the galaxy. To ensure loyalty, Maul instructed Saxon to maintain control over the Pykes and Black Sun. He also revealed to Dooku his awareness of the Sith Lord's insincerity, acknowledging that Sidious had ordered his apprentice to feign allegiance with Maul.

Upon arriving on Dathomir, Maul was greeted by Brother Viscus, who had survived his encounter with Dooku on Ord Mantell. The Nightbrother informed Maul that they were prepared for the next phase of their plan, leading to Dooku's presentation before Mother Talzin, who materialized before them in a cloud of smoke. She unleashed her magic upon the Sith Lord, siphoning Dooku's life force to facilitate her physical reemergence; Talzin's physical return necessitated a sacrifice, and Dooku had been selected for this purpose. An explosion disrupted their efforts, signaling the arrival of Grievous and Sidious. Sidious reminded his former apprentice that only one plan mattered: Sidious's.

The arrival of the Dark Lord and Grievous precipitated a lightsaber duel, with Talzin joining the fray after assuming control of Count Dooku's body. Talzin confronted Sidious while Maul battled the cyborg general, and Sidious quickly gained the upper hand over the Dathomir witch. Sidious bombarded Talzin with Force lightning, causing the witch to release Dooku and manifest in physical form once more. Meanwhile, Maul used the Force to push Grievous out of the opening created by the explosion. As Sidious unleashed a barrage of lightning attacks upon her, Maul pleaded with his mother to harness his own life force to augment her power, but Talzin insisted that he retreat as she withstood the Dark Lord's attacks. The witch employed her powers to propel Maul away from the conflict, and he was subsequently dragged away by Kast and another Death Watch warrior. As they fled, Maul witnessed Grievous fatally stab Talzin with his lightsabers.

Maul fled Dathomir, which was under attack by the Separatists. Simultaneously, the Shadow Collective had also been defeated by Separatist forces. In Sidious's eyes, despite Maul's escape, the former Sith Lord had been neutralized as a threat to the future Sith dominion over the galaxy.

Maul and segments of his loyal forces eventually returned to Mandalore, where they remained concealed for a period. The Pyke Syndicate and Black Sun also rejoined the Shadow Collective. At some juncture, Maul also established connections with the criminal syndicate Crimson Dawn, led by Dryden Vos. He maintained control over his operations, which included the transportation of a substantial shipment of spice by the Pykes.

The Pykes contracted Rafa Martez to transport the spice, but following an intense ethical debate between Martez and the former Jedi Padawan Ahsoka Tano, Martez's sister, Trace, jettisoned the spice into hyperspace. Lacking the shipment for delivery, the three were apprehended by the Pykes on Oba Diah. Shortly thereafter, Maul contacted the new leader of the Pykes, Marg Krim, via hologram, regarding the missing spice shipment. Krim attempted to reassure Maul that the delay would not jeopardize his plans. Maul cautioned Krim against further delays, emphasizing the importance of each component of his plan and the potential for its collapse if any element faltered. Krim attempted to defend himself by citing the increasing interference of the Republic in his shipments: one shipment that had arrived on Coruscant had been raided by the Republic the previous week.

Maul inquired about the involvement of any Jedi, but Krim lacked information due to the demise of all his men, leading Maul to deduce their presence. Just then, Maul detected movement within the pipework surrounding the meeting location and turned to investigate. After a brief search, he found nothing and, unaware of Tano's presence, turned back to Krim, informing him of his other commitments. Maul warned him that any further delays would result in Crimson Dawn taking over the spice operation. With that warning, Maul terminated the transmission.

In a vision, Maul foresaw Anakin Skywalker as the key to Sidious's triumph as his future Sith apprentice, prompting him to attempt to lure Skywalker and Kenobi to Mandalore: Maul sought to deprive Sidious of his prized disciple and finally exact his revenge upon Kenobi. During the waning days of the Clone Wars, and two days after his return to Mandalore, Maul and his forces found themselves under siege by Bo-Katan Kryze's legion of Mandalorians and a division of clone troopers led by the recently promoted Commander Rex and former Jedi Padawan Ahsoka Tano, instead of Skywalker and Kenobi. Maul received information from Almec and his Mandalorian forces regarding the presence of a Jedi on Mandalore. Assuming the Jedi to be Kenobi, Maul instructed the Shadow Collective to prepare a trap for "Kenobi." The Shadow Collective led Ahsoka Tano and the clones through the undercity, where they eliminated all of the clones, including Captain Vaughn. Upon realizing that Tano was his opponent, Maul expressed his expectation of Kenobi's arrival and inquired about her presence on Mandalore.

Maul continued, stating that he had anticipated Kenobi's presence alongside his "loyal foal," Anakin Skywalker, to which Tano revealed Kenobi's more pressing engagement. When Tano demanded Maul's surrender, he asserted its futility, predicting the imminent downfall of the Jedi Order and the Republic, and the rise of Darth Sidious's control over the galaxy. At that moment, clone forces led by Rex arrived and opened fire, compelling Maul and his Mandalorian forces to retreat.

During the ensuing battle, Maul captured and interrogated ARC trooper Jesse about Ahsoka's history, but Jesse refused to divulge any information. Maul ordered Gar Saxon to assassinate the captured Almec before he could disclose any critical information to the enemy. Subsequently, he refocused on Jesse and eventually extracted the desired information using a mind probe.

Later, Maul convened with Shadow Collective leaders Marg Krim of the Pyke Syndicate, Ziton Moj of the Black Sun, and Dryden Vos of the Crimson Dawn, instructing them to go into hiding. Saxon returned to report the success of his mission. Maul took the opportunity to express his gratitude to him, Rook Kast, and the other Mandalorians for their rescue weeks earlier, and explained that the galaxy would soon be reshaped and that they needed to seize as much power as possible. He assured them that if they were to perish, it would be on the battlefield, as warriors, once again rallying the Mandalorians to his cause.

Sometime later, Maul returned to the throne room as Ahsoka Tano, Bo-Katan, and Rex entered. Bo-Katan attempted to attack him, but Maul effortlessly deflected her blaster bolts and subdued her before handing Jesse back to them as a gesture of "good faith." After Tano instructed Bo-Katan and Rex to leave, Maul was left alone with her. As the battle raged outside, Maul calmly addressed Ahsoka, reminding her of the hypocrisy of the Jedi Order, which led to her departure, and that they were both tools wielded by a greater power.

Maul reiterated that what she called justice would soon be transformed along with the entire galaxy, revealing that he was referring to Sidious. Ahsoka proposed that Maul assist the Jedi in stopping Sidious before this occurred, but Maul insisted that it was too late, as the Republic was too corrupt to be salvaged and the Jedi were incapable of stopping Sidious. Maul then requested Ahsoka to join him, suggesting that together they could defeat Sidious. After a moment of contemplation, Ahsoka agreed on the condition that Maul answer one question: what did he intend to do with Skywalker. He asserted that Skywalker was the key to everything, to destruction, and that he had a vision revealing Sidious's intention to make Skywalker his new apprentice.

When Ahsoka accused him of lying, Maul explained that he had orchestrated the conflict on Mandalore to lure out Kenobi and Skywalker, with the intention of killing the latter before his fall to the Dark Side. Upon hearing this, Ahsoka changed her mind and ignited her lightsabers, declaring her belief in Skywalker's unwavering goodness. Enraged by her rejection, Maul declared that Ahsoka required one more lesson and activated his own lightsaber. The two Force-Sensitive Outcasts then engaged in a fierce duel, during which Ahsoka proved to be a formidable opponent for Maul, despite his greater strength and experience. Maul managed to disarm Ahsoka of her main lightsaber, though she quickly retrieved it with the Force. Ahsoka then taunted Maul, stating that he was fortunate Anakin had not appeared. Maul likened this to Kenobi's arrogance. The two continued fighting and briefly engaged in a saber lock, with Maul gaining the upper hand, though he was surprised by Ahsoka, who kicked him through a glass window.

Outside, Ahsoka pursued Maul to the rooftop of a building. As his Mandalorian forces were being overrun, Saxon contacted Maul requesting reinforcements, but he abandoned him, stating that a ship would soon arrive to extract him. Saxon and his forces were outnumbered by clone troopers and forced to surrender shortly thereafter. As Maul reached the rooftop, Ahsoka caught up with him and they resumed their duel, before Maul's ship arrived to pick him up. Ahsoka prevented his escape, only for Maul to disarm her of both her lightsabers and sever the beam she was standing on. With Tano cornered, Maul offered her one final opportunity to join him, but she refused, prompting him to slash at her in anger. Evading his strikes, Tano seized Maul's lightsaber and tripped him over the edge of the beam, though she used the Force to prevent his fall.

Preferring death to capture, Maul urged Ahsoka to let him fall, but she refused, just as three LAAT gunships arrived. Maul furiously told Ahsoka she had no idea what she had just done and that they were all going to die soon, before being stunned and taken into custody. The Shadow Collective would collapse following Maul's defeat on Mandalore. Maul was subsequently imprisoned within a Mandalorian vault designed to restrain Force-users and placed aboard the Venator-class Star Destroyer Tribunal commanded by Ahsoka, who was instructed by the Jedi High Council to transport him to Coruscant for trial. En route to Coruscant, Palpatine (who had revealed himself as Darth Sidious) initiated Order 66, causing Rex and the rest of Ahsoka's clone troopers to turn against her. Maul sensed these events while in captivity, before a pair of clones arrived to execute him, having received a different order from Sidious, who sought to eliminate his former apprentice once and for all.

Before the clones could shoot the renegade Sith Lord, Ahsoka knocked them out and subsequently freed Maul from his restraints. He expressed his surprise that Tano had survived, but she threatened him with her lightsabers and demanded to know if he was behind the events, which the former Sith denied. She then revealed that the clones had turned against her and Maul laughed at the "brilliance" of Sidious' plan to use the Jedi's army to destroy them, much to her disgust. Maul went on to explain that despite being Sidious's apprentice, he was unaware of the plan's finer details. He then proposed a team-up with the former Jedi Padawan, but she harshly rejected his offer and told him he was merely a distraction to cause some chaos, refusing to lend him one of her weapons to aid in his escape. Despite being unarmed, Maul, using the Force to rip panels from the walls, tore a path of destruction through the ship, slaughtering every clone trooper in his way. When a group of clones attempted to seal themselves off from him, he used the Force to pull one of the troopers' arms through the closing blast door, severing it and providing Maul with an active wrist comm connection to the clones' radio chatter.

Maul then proceeded toward the hyperdrive chamber, still eavesdropping on the clones using his pilfered wrist communicator. Two clone troopers materialized, aiming their weapons, but Maul effortlessly levitated them and constricted their airways. Upon entering the hyperdrive room, he swiftly eliminated all clones present with the Force, ripped the control panel away, and then toppled the hyperdrive generators, causing the ship to exit hyperspace above a certain moon. The vessel was then ensnared by the moon's gravitational pull. As the ship plummeted towards the lunar surface, Maul hastened to the hangar and sprinted towards a waiting shuttle. Ahsoka spotted him and pursued, but Maul unleashed a Force attack, declaring he was simply sowing chaos, as she desired. Incensed, Ahsoka nearly delivered a fatal blow with her lightsabers, but Maul countered by shoving her into a chasm, from which she was rescued by the astromech droid RG-G1. Maul attempted to depart in the shuttle, and while Ahsoka tried to thwart him by Forcefully seizing the craft, she was compelled to release her hold when clone troopers shot both R7-A7 and Rex (whose behavioral modification biochip had been removed by Ahsoka). This allowed Maul to escape into hyperspace, with plans to rebuild his power.

As Maul had predicted, Anakin Skywalker succumbed to the dark side, becoming Sidious's new apprentice and adopting the moniker Darth Vader. With Vader at his side, Sidious established the Galactic Empire and initiated the Great Jedi Purge, a crucial step in his overarching scheme. Vader and the Jedi-hunting Inquisitorius were dispatched to obliterate the Jedi Order, which Maul had once sought to overthrow. Maul himself became a target for these Inquisitors, yet despite their considerable skills, they failed to pinpoint his location. Over the years, Maul remained so elusive to the Imperial hunters that they began referring to him as "The Shadow." Furthermore, The Grand Inquisitor incorporated components from Maul's ship, the Scimitar, into the construction of his personal TIE Advanced v1. Eventually, Maul obtained a new lightsaber that seemed to be constructed from salvaged parts of an Inquisitor's double-bladed lightsaber.

Following the Jedi Purge's commencement, Maul piqued the interest of the rogue Padawan Ferren Barr, who compiled a file on the former Sith Lord within the archives of Endee, an R1-series astromech droid in his possession. Barr had gathered information on Maul, alongside other subjects, hoping to decipher how the Jedi Order so rapidly fell to the Sith. During the Invasion of Mon Cala in 18 BBY, Barr and his disciples were discovered by Vader. Before the confrontation, the Padawan instructed Endee to upload a backup of the archive to a datacard and then self-destruct. Barr subsequently perished in combat with Vader.

After his escape during the Purge, Maul returned to Dathomir, establishing himself as the enigmatic leader of Crimson Dawn, using Dryden Vos as a public figurehead. Despite the Shadow Collective's demise, he maintained control over the Five Crime Syndicates, preventing internal conflicts. However, dissent brewed within the syndicates, with Black Sun member Alorium believing Maul held them captive. The financial gains from Maul's leadership largely silenced dissent, though Maul ensured any vocal opponents were silenced. Driven by a desire for independence, Alorium unsuccessfully attempted to seize control of a segment of Black Sun. During his leadership of Crimson Dawn, Maul pursued an ancient Sith holocron. He adopted a stealthy approach, donning a hooded cloak to conceal his identity and replacing his double-bladed lightsaber with one modified with a wooden component to resemble a staff.

Following Alorium's failed coup, Vos's subordinate Qi'ra met Maul for the first time, an encounter she recognized as a pivotal moment that irrevocably shaped her destiny. In 10 BBY, after Vos's death, Qi'ra contacted Maul, reporting that Vos had been betrayed and murdered by Tobias Beckett and his associates, who had stolen his shipment of coaxium during its refining process on the desert planet Savareen.

Annoyed, Maul summoned Qi'ra to Dathomir, where he declared they would determine how to handle Beckett and the other traitors. He ignited his new lightsaber and informed Qi'ra that they would be working more closely, promoting her to Vos's former position. Maul educated Qi'ra about the Sith Order, divulging the Rule of Two, and revealing that Galactic Emperor Sheev Palpatine was, in reality, the Dark Lord of the Sith known as Darth Sidious, and that Darth Vader was his Sith apprentice. Maul outlined his plan to utilize Crimson Dawn to dismantle the Empire. He also trained Qi'ra in Sith combat. Through Qi'ra and Crimson Dawn, Maul's thirst for vengeance against the Sith persists, driving the organization's efforts to destroy them.

Maul became aware of the Fermata Cage, a weapon of the dark side of the Force capable of freezing moments in time, used to contain an ancient Sith Lord. Maul intended to liberate the Sith Lord and watch them target both Sidious and Vader in accordance with the Rule of Two. Ultimately, Maul's attempts proved unsuccessful.

During the Imperial Era, Maul became consumed by the desire to destroy Sidious and exact revenge on Kenobi. Recognizing he couldn't underestimate either adversary, he explored various worlds seeking an advantage in his missions. Sometime between 19 BBY and 5 BBY, one of these expeditions led Maul to a Sith castle on the ash-gray planet Damanos, where he encountered a vision of unexpectedly familiar faces. Within the castle, he first interacted with Savage Opress, who rejected Maul, stating he was neither his brother nor his master, then engaged in a duel with his deceased brother. He blocked his powerful assault just as his blade flashed in front of his face. Savage was strong, and the force of his strength, fueled by his rage, knocked him down. Maul turns away from him and swings his blade at his brother's feet; he leaps, avoiding the attack, and takes a step back to give them some space. The two circle each other, each waiting for the other to strike. Maul told Savage he knew what he wanted, and all he wants was to balance the scales for what they did to him, their mother, and himself. Savage begins to laugh, mocking him for wanting revenge. It may have been once, long ago, that motivated him, but now he fears, and what he truly wants was to no longer feel powerless. Maul's rage grows with each word Savage speaks, and by the time he's finished, he's on top of him, crashing his lightsaber into his. Maul pulls his weapon away from him and then lowers it again. Savage raises his blade in time to parry, and he notices the horror in his eyes. His posture was defensive, timid, and weak; if he didn't know the truth, he would be ashamed for his brother. This terrible sorcery, whatever it was, did not bring back Savage Opress; it was an imposter. Eventually, Maul corners him, grabs back of his neck, and pulls him toward him. Savage began to beg, Maul told him that he was no brother of his and thrust his blade through the imposter's belly, crumpling lifelessly to the ground. He drew his lightsaber back and pushed the body at his feet aside. He looks down for no apparent reason for a little moment. After all, he was just another defeated enemy, another impediment cleared from his path.

He then ventured deeper into the castle, sensing a potent energy, and encountered General Grievous, who ambushed him from the ceiling, wielding his four lightsabers. Maul dodged Grievous's attack, narrowly avoiding the blades. Regaining his footing, he gripped his lightsaber tightly, narrowed his eyes, and glared at his opponent. Maul was asked whether he remembered the last time he saw him and how he witnessed him murdering his mother. Keeping his eyes on the cyborg, he recalled and told him that Kenobi had killed him. Grievous laughs maniacally, echoing throughout the entire room, and asks how he felt knowing that his sworn enemy, Kenobi, stolen his revenge from him. Maul screams and lunges at Grievous, his lightsaber slashed against his. He instantly relieves him with one of his lightsabers, and he screams in pain. Striking at him repeatedly, releasing his rage, his red blades swing in aggressive arcs, and soon he had severed another lightsabers, and the appendage attached to it. Despite being pinned down, Grievous laughed and recalls Maul's anguish expression after he killed his mother, and wonders if that expression would appear when he uses his lightsabers into him next. Despite Maul's yelling that he was not real, Grievous knew and asked if he felt any comfort in knowing the person who murdered his mother was no longer alive. He responds for Maul with a kick driving him into his chest, catching him off guard, knocking him back. Maul immediately jumped into a defensive position, expecting Grievous to attack, but he doesn't and instead stood there, silent. Suddenly, Maul screamed as he rushed at the cyborg, whirling forward and swinging his blades against his. No matter how hard he attacks, no matter how much he uses his wrath, Grievous defends strike after strike and, strangely, he never goes on the offensive. Grievous taunts Maul, asking how he feels and what he thinks about his mother and brother, as well as how swiftly his master abandoned him after he fell. Their weapons clashed again, and Maul turned around, severing another hand and left Grievous with only one remaining saber, seemingly unharmed by his injuries.

Grievous pressed him, messed with him; all Maul could think of was his rage, and he felt like an open wound. The blackness of this place, mixed with the darkness within him, was nearly too much for Maul to bear; it makes him feel vulnerable in ways he doesn't comprehend, and Grievous laughs, mocking everything he represents. Just as he did with his mother, Maul drove his lightsaber through him, cutting his maniacal delight short. Grievous falls silently back into the darkness, and Maul knows without looking that he has vanished. After slaying his enemy and destroying him just as he had hoped for long, he feels nothing and finds no satisfaction. Nothing inside him had changed, and he was still consumed by the same rage that Grievous, or the specter in his form, had predicted. In the temple's heart, Maul faced a vision of Qui-Gon Jinn, who offered him an opportunity to abandon the Temple and embark on a new path, free from vengeance. Upon Maul's refusal, Jinn disappeared, and Maul realized he could no longer sense the power that had initially drawn him to Damanos.

Maul's quest for the Sith holocron ultimately led him to Malachor, where he hoped to discover the powerful weapon within the Sith temple. Maul became frustrated with his inability to enter the temple. However, his ship became wrecked, leaving Maul a prisoner on the planet for years.

Around 3 BBY, an Inquisitor known as the Eighth Brother tracked Maul to Malachor. It was also around this time that Maul came in contact with the Jedi apprentice Ezra Bridger, to whom he confessed that he had crashed his ship years prior, leaving him stranded and isolated. Introducing himself as the "Old Master," while feigning the appearance of a frail old man, Maul claimed he was also seeking the same Sith holocron as Bridger, with the intention of destroying the Sith. Maul proposed assisting Bridger in acquiring the holocron, revealing its location within the temple. As Bridger agreed to collaborate, Maul began manipulating the young Jedi apprentice. During their time together, Maul divulged aspects of his past, claiming the Sith had taken everything from him. As Bridger's trust and empathy for Maul grew, Maul also introduced Bridger to the ways of the dark side, exploiting the boy's passionate and aggressive tendencies.

The pair successfully retrieved the Sith holocron after overcoming a series of physical trials, with Maul guiding Bridger using the dark side. Encouraging him to embrace his feelings of loss and anger, Maul and Bridger discovered a key to access the temple's entrance, where they encountered Jedi Knight Kanan Jarrus and Ahsoka Tano, members of Phoenix Cell within the burgeoning rebellion against the Empire. Observing their engagement with Eighth Brother, Fifth Brother, and Seventh Sister, Maul led Bridger to their position. Despite Tano and Jarrus's reluctance to trust Maul, their combined efforts forced the Inquisitors to retreat. Maul had learned of the Inquisitors' master, Darth Vader, and knew they would inform him of the confrontation. Anticipating Vader's imminent arrival, Maul urged the others to cooperate in order to defeat him.

Remaining wary of Maul, they only cooperated at Bridger's insistence, who remained convinced of Maul's allegiance. Guided by Maul, the rebels ascended the temple, seeking the knowledge to defeat the Sith at its summit. Along the way, Maul and Bridger confronted the Seventh Sister, with Maul easily overpowering her with a Force choke. Maul then urged Bridger to strike her down. When Bridger hesitated, Maul hurled his lightsaber, killing her instantly. Maul reprimanded Bridger for his hesitation, warning that it could jeopardize his life or the lives of his friends. Maul and Bridger continued their ascent and reunited with their companions, who were engaged in a lightsaber duel with the Fifth Brother and Eighth Brother.

At that moment, Maul sensed Darth Vader's presence approaching Malachor. However, he dismissed his feeling to Ezra when the young Jedi asked him what was wrong. Maul then engaged the Inquisitors while Bridger continued on alone. Maul, aided by Tano, slew the Fifth Brother, while Jarrus managed to damage the Eighth Brother's lightsaber. As the Eighth Brother attempted to escape using his weapon, it malfunctioned, resulting in the Inquisitor's fatal fall.

With the Inquisitors eliminated and Ezra nearing the summit, Maul betrayed the Jedi, attacking Jarrus and blinding him. With Jarrus incapacitated, Maul engaged Tano in a brief duel. He then revealed that the holocron was intended to power an ancient superweapon and that he planned to make Bridger his apprentice. Tano departed to retrieve Bridger and confronted Darth Vader as Jarrus regained himself, with Tano claiming to the former Sith Lord he would have to face Jarrus to get to her. Underestimating Jarrus, Maul declared that he would finish off the Jedi quickly. However, utilizing his other senses, enhanced by the Force, Jarrus seized Maul's arm and tripped him, causing the Nightbrother to fall from the temple.

Maul survived the fall and eventually escaped the planet aboard one of the fallen Inquisitors' TIE Advanced v1s, following the destruction of the Sith temple on Malachor. With his plans thwarted, Maul developed a personal interest in Bridger, whose proximity to the dark side was amplified by Maul's influence.

Months later in 2 BBY, Maul resurfaced and continued to pursue the rebels. Managing to board a Sphyrna-class Hammerhead corvette, Maul interrogated one of the rebels on board, forcing him to reveal the location of the rebel freighter, and Ezra Bridger's home, the Ghost. Shortly after, Bridger and Kanan Jarrus arrived at the transport and learned of the attack. Believing it to be the work of an Inquisitor, the pair contacted Hera Syndulla, the Ghost's pilot, and found out that Maul had taken her and the rest of the crew hostage. In exchange for their friends' lives, Maul demanded the Jedi give him both the Sith holocron and the Jedi holocron, to which they agreed.

While Jarrus and Bridger returned to the planet Atollon to retrieve the Sith holocron, Maul softly demanded Syndulla give him a "tour" around the Ghost, prompting Sabine Wren to implore her not to, to which Maul replied she should trust him, for he did once rule her people. Surveying each living quarter, Maul identified Jarrus's as the dull and dour one, befitting of a Jedi. Instructing Syndulla to reveal the location of the Jedi holocron, the Twi'lek told Maul that she didn't know anything about Jarrus. Knowing this to be a lie, Maul probed her mind with the Force, and learned that it was Syndulla's idea to recruit Bridger, and that the boy once stole the holocron, which was being held in a compartment below Jarrus's bed.

While Maul struggled to open the holocron, the Ghost's crew took the opportunity to escape. Using their restraints to destroy the reprogrammed tour guide droids guarding them, the rebels quietly moved down to the cargo hold, planning to magnetize it in order to immobilize Maul's robotic legs. Discovering their absence, Maul went searching for the rebels and eventually made his way to the cargo hold. Seconds later, the rebel crew's astromech droid, C1-10P, activated the magnets, causing Maul's legs to adhere to the vessel's ceiling. The rest of the rebels promptly rushed into the cargo hold and started firing at him; however, Maul deflected one of the bolts into the control interface, deactivating the magnets. Knocking the crew down with the Force, Maul threatened the rebels with their deaths once their usefulness was over.

Having already informed the Jedi of their rendezvous point, the Mandalorian asteroid outpost, Maul landed the Ghost in one of its hangars and kept the rebel prisoners under the watch of his reprogrammed droids. When the Jedi arrived, they met with Maul in the hangar, where the Dathomirian instructed Bridger to follow his droids to the command center, while Jarrus came with Maul. Looking to succeed where he failed on Malachor, Maul led the Jedi to an airlock and pushed him in, proceeding to eject him into space. Believing Jarrus to be dead, Maul went to meet Bridger, quietly instructing one of his droids to execute the rebel crew.

Swapping holocrons, Maul and Bridger sat down on the floor and opened the devices, seeking to combine them and have their questions answered. After combining the holocrons, Bridger, who wanted to know the key to destroying the Sith, saw locations both familiar and unfamiliar, while Maul saw nothing. Shortly after, the Ghost crew, who had been freed by Jarrus after he made his way back into the hangar, arrived at the command center but were dazzled by the light coming from the holocrons. Bridger exclaimed that he saw "twin suns," and Jarrus implored his apprentice to look away, while Maul incited the Jedi to focus. Heeding his master's warning, Bridger closed his eyes, causing the energy from the holocrons to explode and giving Maul a chance to escape. As Maul proceeded back to his ship, he realized what he had seen in the holocrons, repeating the phrase, "He lives."

Due to the ritual involving the two holocrons, Maul and Ezra became mentally linked, both gaining information of what they both desired. As a result, Maul found Chopper Base on the planet Atollon. Using his mastery of the dark side, Maul tormented Ezra by causing the young Jedi to see and hear visions of him. On one occasion, Ezra even attacked and almost killed a rebel trooper whom he mistook for Maul. Later, he approached Ezra and Kanan in the wilderness while they were talking to a mysterious Force wielder called Bendu, who served as a bridge between the light and dark sides of the Force. Despite Bendu's warnings not to turn around, Kanan and Ezra did so and found Maul watching them from the top of a dune.

After complimenting the two Jedi for their safe hiding place, Maul assured them that he had come in peace to talk with his "apprentice" Ezra. When Ezra demanded to know how Maul tracked him down, the dark sider replied that Ezra's abrupt severance of their connection to the holocrons caused them to see fragments of each other's visions and knowledge. Maul added that he needed Ezra to come with him in order to retrieve the remaining fragments of the vision from his mind. When Kanan refused to negotiate with Maul, the dark sider threatened to activate a homing beacon that would alert the Empire to their presence in the event of his death.

Maul then offered to show Ezra how to destroy the Sith. With Kanan's reluctant approval, Ezra complied with Maul's ultimatum and departed with Maul on the Nightbrother. Maul took his unwilling apprentice to his homeworld of Dathomir. Unknown to them, Kanan and Sabine had placed a tracker on Ezra's wrist comm and followed them there. Maul took Ezra to the ruins of the Nightsister lair and explained that he was the last survivor of the Nightsisters. As Maul led Ezra into his cave-dwelling, he explained that the only way to retrieve the information was to merge their minds again in a ritual.

Maul's cavern was filled with keepsakes from his past life, notably a damaged portrait of Duchess Satine Kryze and the Darksaber, a symbol of Mandalorian authority. To perform the ritual, Maul and Ezra consumed magick water, causing their eyes to glow green and emit brilliant beams. Consequently, Maul and Ezra learned that his adversary, Obi-Wan Kenobi, was in hiding on a planet with twin suns, and that Kenobi possessed the key to the Sith's destruction. Following the ritual's completion, Nightsister spirits appeared, demanding that Maul and Ezra offer their flesh and blood in exchange for the information they sought.

Just then, Kanan and Sabine entered the cave and began shooting at the spirits. Nevertheless, the spirits overcame them and took control of their bodies. The possessed Kanan and Sabine then launched an attack on Maul and Ezra. Maul was compelled to defend himself against the possessed Kanan, while Ezra had to evade the possessed Sabine's blaster fire. After a struggle, Maul and Ezra made it to the cave's entrance. The Nightsister spirits were unable to leave, as their power originated from the altar. Having achieved his goal, Maul proposed to Ezra that he become his apprentice, asserting that their destinies were intertwined with the planet with the twin suns. However, Ezra declined, refusing to abandon his companions. Annoyed by the young man's compassion and loyalty to his friends, Maul expressed his disappointment in Ezra before departing to seek out his old enemy, Obi-Wan Kenobi.

Ultimately, Maul traveled to Tatooine, utilizing information gleaned from the two holocrons months prior in his pursuit of his longtime foe, Obi-Wan Kenobi. While scouring the desert for him, Maul became disoriented. Overcome with exhaustion from his search and contemplating his impending death in the desert, he collapsed onto the sand, desperately shouting Kenobi's name. However, he rediscovered his resolve and continued his quest for Kenobi. Realizing that he couldn't locate his enemy alone, he devised a plan to lure him out, employing the matrix he had acquired from the Sith holocron to contact his "apprentice," Ezra Bridger.

Inspired by the vision Maul had sent, Bridger traveled to Tatooine to prevent the former Sith Lord from assassinating Kenobi. The Jedi apprentice also hoped to persuade the aged Jedi Master to join the growing rebellion. Upon landing in a canyon at night, he discovered a fragment of the Sith holocron that Maul had strategically placed to entice him. Recognizing it as a trap, he and his droid were suddenly attacked by a group of Tusken Raiders, who attempted to kill Bridger. Although the Tuskens failed to kill him, they succeeded in destroying his ship. Shortly after Bridger was knocked unconscious by the explosion, Maul arrived and slaughtered all of the Tuskens before seemingly abandoning Bridger.

Seeking a way to leave the planet, Bridger and Chopper, who had secretly boarded Bridger's ship, debated whether to follow the canyon's natural ridgelines in hopes of finding a nearby settlement, or to venture across the vast desert before them. Maul appeared as a spectral image and convinced Ezra to journey into the desert. Ezra and Chopper ventured into the desert, but they collapsed due to a sandstorm. Shortly thereafter, Bridger and Chopper were discovered by Kenobi, who was riding a dewback. Kenobi built a small campfire, recharged Chopper using a portable light source, and tended to Bridger's injuries.

After Ezra regained consciousness, Kenobi explained that Maul had manipulated Ezra into leading the former Sith Lord to Kenobi. At that instant, Maul arrived to settle his long-standing feud with his old enemy. Having led Maul to Kenobi, Bridger insisted on fighting the former Sith himself, but Kenobi ordered Ezra to return to his friends. Ezra and Chopper departed, with Maul bidding farewell to his "apprentice." Commenting on Kenobi's meager living conditions, Maul mocked his old rival, wondering aloud whether death might be a mercy compared to Kenobi's current existence. Kenobi remained composed and responded that because Maul defined himself by his shallow desires for domination, killing, and possession, he possessed nothing of true value. Maul, stung by the verbal attack, ignited his lightsaber and struck the ground in front of Kenobi's small campfire, showering it with sand and extinguishing it. The former Sith Lord speculated on what could have brought Kenobi to Tatooine, knowing it was not simply hiding, but deduced that he was there to protect something—or someone. He could discern Kenobi's thoughts: a boy.

Prompted into action by Maul's threatening insinuations toward his ward, Kenobi activated his lightsaber and assumed the Soresu defensive stance. Maul, in response, activated the second blade of his weapon, and the two adversaries locked eyes. Kenobi transitioned from Soresu to Ataru, and Maul recognized Kenobi's new stance as that of Kenobi's former master, Qui-Gon Jinn. He charged Kenobi, and the adversaries exchanged two rapid strikes before Maul raised the hilt of his blade to strike Kenobi's face—the same attack he had used to kill Jinn decades earlier. However, Kenobi had anticipated Maul's strategy, and he brought his lightsaber down in an overhead strike as Maul initiated his attack. Kenobi's attack passed directly through the hilt of Maul's weapon, severing it in two and inflicting a fatal wound on Maul's chest.

A stunned Maul glanced down at his wound. Unlike their previous encounter, both ends of the lightsaber remained operational. He deactivated them before collapsing to one knee, but Kenobi caught him before he fell to the ground and held him. Knowing that his death was inevitable this time, Maul pleaded with his sworn enemy to reveal whether the boy he was protecting was the Chosen One. Sensing Maul's pain and desperate need for closure, Kenobi confirmed that the boy was indeed destined to fulfill the prophecy and destroy the Sith. Upon hearing this, Maul seemed to come to terms with his impending death and, with his last breath, declared that the boy would one day avenge what Darth Sidious had done to them both.

With that, after countless years of rage and torment, Maul finally passed away peacefully, believing that his master's tyranny would soon end. As a final act of compassion, Kenobi closed his eyes and laid him to rest.

Kenobi honored his old adversary by constructing a funeral pyre for him, an event he recalled shortly after becoming one with the Force. The Spectres' eyewitness accounts and information about Maul were archived in the Rebel Alliance Archives. Maul's ship, the Nightbrother, was commandeered by Ezra and Chopper and taken back to Chopper Base to serve as a new vehicle for the Alliance. It played a crucial role in the Battle of Atollon, where Ezra and Sabine used it to transport members of Clan Wren to disable an Imperial Interdictor and enable the Rebels to escape Grand Admiral Thrawn's blockade.

Sidious viewed Darth Maul as a loss, while he considered Count Dooku to be both a proton torpedo and a mere placeholder. While experiencing a Force vision involving Luke Skywalker, Sidious appreciated that he was a simple boy, unlike Maul, who was covered in demonic tattoos.

Crimson Dawn persisted for many years after Maul's death, but it was then led by Qi'ra. Her goal was to accomplish what Maul had failed to do: use Crimson Dawn to overthrow the Empire and the Sith who led it. After Crimson Dawn resurfaced in the galaxy between 3 ABY and 4 ABY, Lando Calrissian recalled the horrific deeds of Crimson Dawn and its public leader, Dryden Vos, speculating that Vos was overseen by an "even worse" individual.

Imperial historians were aware of Maul's association with Sheev Palpatine. Historical records indicated that Maul was the owner of the heavily modified Star Courier, the Scimitar. It was theorized that Raith Sienar customized the Scimitar for Palpatine, who then gifted the ship to Maul.

Twenty-three years after the end of the Clone Wars, Palpatine's Galactic Empire was defeated by the Alliance to Restore the Republic and the last Jedi Knight in the galaxy: Luke Skywalker, the son of Anakin Skywalker and Padmé Amidala. Luke's twin sister, Princess Leia Organa, traveled to Naboo shortly before Operation: Cinder, which compelled her, the queen, and her escort Shara Bey to reopen the Theed Royal Palace hangar—the site of Maul's duel with Qui-Gon Jinn and Obi-Wan Kenobi over three decades earlier—to gain access to starfighters. Upon entering, Organa sensed, through the Force, lingering traces of Maul's dark power, experiencing a physical chill as a result.

Following the collapse of the Galactic Empire, Maul's manipulations within the Shadow Collective became public knowledge.

By 34 ABY, a bust of Maul was on display at Dok-Ondar's Den of Antiquities, one of the many shops in Black Spire Outpost on Batuu. Although it was widely believed that Palpatine had perished during his confrontation with Luke Skywalker, he had in fact survived and continued his operations with the aid of the Sith Eternal cult on the planet Exegol. In 35 ABY, Sidious was permanently defeated by the Jedi Rey Skywalker, and the Sith Eternal was eradicated through the efforts of the Resistance at the Battle of Exegol. After the battle, the Resistance initiated the Exegol Excavation Project, where files containing Darth Maul's biography were discovered in the Arcane Library. In his book, The Rise and Fall of the Galactic Empire, Resistance historian Beaumont Kin included details about Maul's life, citing the uncovered Sith Eternal files as a source.

Maul was remembered long after the Clone Wars, and was mentioned by a member of the Whills as a figure to be remembered in galactic history.

Maul, a former Sith Lord and a skilled warrior, embodied the obsessive and frenzied aspects of Sith vengeance for most of his life. As a Sith apprentice, Maul sought retribution against the Jedi for their victory over the Sith and aimed to restore the Sith's dominance over the galaxy. Following his exile and the restoration of his sanity, Maul redirected his vengeful thoughts toward the galaxy itself, proclaiming himself and his brother as the true Sith Lords; he particularly focused on Obi-Wan Kenobi, who had defeated him and forced him into exile after their duel on Naboo. He felt the emptiness of losing power, having been aware of the Clone Wars and intending to participate, only to discover that the Sith's plans had progressed without him. Consequently, Maul was prepared to go to extreme lengths to achieve his vengeance, including massacring civilians and plunging Mandalore into civil war to gain power and provoke Kenobi into confronting him. He knew the Jedi would respond to a plea for help.

Like all Sith, Maul's anger served as his driving force. However, Maul actively cultivated his hatred. He believed there was much to despise, from the mists of Dathomir to the way he was discarded as a child.

During his exile, Maul's mind was fractured. He became fixated on revenge, fueled and sustained solely by his hatred for Kenobi, despite losing his sanity and many memories. His aggression and fear intensified in his deranged state, as Maul attacked Savage Opress upon their initial encounter on Lotho Minor. When his brother discovered him, he was unable to speak coherently enough for Opress to understand him, and he repeatedly recited lines from the Code of the Sith. Mother Talzin's magic was required to restore his mind, providing him with clarity while preserving his desire for revenge against those who had wronged him. Maul's personality was profoundly affected by his isolation and defeat at Kenobi's hands. After his restoration, he lost much of his reserved demeanor and was prone to outbursts of anger and frustration whenever Kenobi was mentioned. However, he regained enough discipline to control his brother, Savage. He also retained his bloodthirsty nature.

Maul's power fueled his desire for dominance over the Sith and the galaxy, although he did not believe he was strong enough to challenge his former mentor, Darth Sidious. Sidious appeared to be the only being in the galaxy that Maul feared, not only because of his power but also because of his sadistic nature. Nevertheless, Maul possessed the courage to confront his former master in open combat alone, as if he had nothing left to lose. He also refused to yield to Sidious and Count Dooku's torture during his imprisonment on Stygeon Prime.

Maul used fear to ensure the obedience of his followers, seeking wealth and power as a crime lord. Despite considering it a weakness for the dark side, Maul seemingly displayed a degree of honor when he freed the clone trooper Jesse after he no longer had any use for him. However, shortly afterward, he abandoned his Mandalorian warriors to their deaths.

Despite his ruthless and vindictive nature, Maul was not entirely devoid of compassion, as he demonstrated genuine affection for his brother, Savage Opress, and their mother, the Dathomir Witch Mother Talzin. He also knew how to forgive those he deemed weak, such as the fleeing Black Sun members, who were insignificant to him. Although Maul frequently ordered Savage around and defined their relationship in the Sith tradition of master and apprentice, much to Savage's annoyance, they genuinely cared for each other. This was evident when Maul rushed to Savage's defense when he was wounded by Kenobi, and when he yielded when threatened by Death Watch. Furthermore, after witnessing Savage's death at the hands of Sidious, Maul was grief-stricken and briefly mourned him before flying into a rage and attempting to avenge him by attacking Sidious. Maul was extremely devoted to his mother and reciprocated her loving and protective affection for him. Even when cornered by Sidious and his minions, he refused to abandon her and was devastated by her death.

Even after many years, Maul harbored an intense and bitter resentment toward Sidious and all those who served him for taking everything he held dear. He also recognized great potential in Ezra's abilities, desiring him as an apprentice and even saving his life on two occasions. However, he sought only to manipulate Bridger and use him to further his own obsessive agenda for power and revenge, and he attempted to kill Kanan Jarrus twice to free Bridger from the Jedi's influence.

While still adhering to their core beliefs, Maul distanced himself from the Sith, primarily due to the Order's association with Sidious. Cunning and deceptive, Maul was perfectly willing to feign weakness to achieve his objectives, or even ally with the Jedi if necessary. He was not above mocking such "allies," as evidenced by his referring to Ahsoka as "Lady Tano" and "a part-timer" in reference to her departure from the Jedi Order, as well as calling Jarrus "Master Jedi." Maul also saw aspects of himself in Tano, noting how they had both left their respective orders and stating that they had both been used as "tools." He hoped to join forces with her to defeat Sidious, but she rejected his offer when he revealed his visions of Anakin Skywalker's downfall. Nevertheless, he made another offer at the end of their duel and during Order 66.

Driven by his desire for hope, Maul kidnapped Bridger and Jarrus's rebel companions in a successful attempt to force them to surrender the Sith holocron from Malachor and Kanan's Jedi holocron. He sought to merge the holocrons to gain the clarity of vision needed to realize his ultimate desire: Kenobi's death at his hands. Maul also hoped to take Ezra as his apprentice. Despite his promise to Bridger that he would not harm his friends, Maul secretly attempted to kill Jarrus and ordered his droids to execute the other Spectres in an attempt to claim Bridger as his apprentice. Although Jarrus convinced Bridger to close his eyes and end the vision, Maul nonetheless learned that his old enemy, Obi-Wan Kenobi, was still alive.

Maul's unwavering desire for vengeance against Kenobi led him to use his mastery of the dark side to torment Bridger in an effort to gain his attention. While Maul was aware of the high cost of Nightsister magic, his desire to learn Kenobi's location led him to risk the wrath of these spirits. As a result of their revelations, Maul came to believe that his destiny was intertwined with finding and killing Kenobi on Tatooine. Maul considered Bridger to be an ideal candidate for his apprentice. However, Bridger's attachment and loyalty to his friends angered Maul, who berated his desired apprentice as a "disappointment" for refusing to let go of the past.

Later, Maul's vendetta against Kenobi led him to once again use his mastery of the Force to lure Bridger to Tatooine. Despite his hatred for Kenobi, he considered sparing him before their battle after seeing that he had been reduced to hiding on the desert planet. Maul reconciled with his adversary in his final moments. Maul passed away believing that Kenobi was protecting the Chosen One, who would restore balance to the Force and avenge them by destroying the Sith.

In conclusion, Maul was not entirely the monster that most perceived him to be, but rather a tragic figure who had lost everything he cared about due to Darth Sidious' actions (much like his successor, Darth Vader), and who was unable to relinquish his hatred until his final moments.

As Darth Sidious' apprentice, Maul was trained to be a living weapon of the Sith, intended to help Sidious destroy the Jedi and seize control of the galaxy. Under Sidious' guidance, Maul became one of the deadliest and most efficiently trained Sith in the Order's history. He evolved into an acrobatic and highly skilled Sith warrior who could relentlessly pursue his enemies while wielding his double-bladed lightsaber. Indeed, Maul had been trained in various forms of lightsaber combat. He first demonstrated these skills in his duel against the Jedi apprentice Eldra Kaitis; although the young Twi'lek managed to hold her own against the Sith for a time, Maul emerged victorious. Later, during his duel on Naboo against Jinn and Kenobi, he proved his ability to fight both the Jedi Master and his prodigious apprentice simultaneously on equal footing, and he overpowered Kenobi after killing Jinn.

Although Kenobi defeated Maul, this was partly due to Maul's own arrogance and disregard for the fallen Jinn's lightsaber. He later outmatched Kenobi in several encounters after emerging from exile, including the fight over Raydonia, although their duel on Florrum ended in a stalemate. Maul was also highly proficient in unarmed combat, which he often incorporated into his fighting style. This was particularly evident when he defeated an armed Pre Vizsla with minimal assistance from the Force.

Maul also displayed considerable skill in Jar'Kai, holding his own against Jinn and Kenobi simultaneously on Naboo before separating them. He even put up a respectable fight against Darth Sidious on Mandalore when they dueled with dual blades, even managing to land a kick on the Dark Lord. After the Clone Wars, Maul demonstrated the ability to wield an additional weapon alongside his double-bladed lightsaber, using a walking stick as a club in conjunction with his connected blades on one occasion.

Maul was capable of defeating numerous enemies, including Banking Clan droid guards, pirates, Hutt Clan forces, hordes of Separatist battle droids, clone troopers, and four of General Grievous' MagnaGuards. He also held his own against Mace Windu and Aayla Secura at a Mandalorian supply outpost, the elder Jedi being a long-standing and esteemed member of the High Council; Maul considered this a "fair" fight. He successfully overpowered the infamous Jedi hunter General Grievous; although their first duel ended in a stalemate, he overwhelmed the cyborg in their second and third encounters.

Over a decade later, Maul's fighting skills remained as sharp as ever. While on Malachor, he assisted Ahsoka Tano and Kanan Jarrus against three members of the Inquisitorius, defeating them with ease. He also fought Tano and Jarrus in turn, but he lost the high ground to Jarrus, whom he blinded with his lightsaber.

Despite Maul's dueling prowess, Darth Sidious defeated both him and his brother, Savage Opress. Although he forced Sidious onto his back foot, he was disarmed before being overpowered by the elder Sith Lord's Force abilities. In his final duel, Maul was fatally wounded within seconds of challenging his old rival, Obi-Wan Kenobi.

Unlike the Inquisitorius, whose lightsabers could rotate, and General Grievous, whose split arms could spin with a weapon in each hand, Maul had the ability to twirl a double-bladed lightsaber using only one hand.

Maul was also highly skilled at deflecting blaster bolts with his lightsaber. He deflected the combined shots of Hera Syndulla, Sabine Wren, and Zeb Orrelios, even when he was in a disadvantageous position.

In addition to his lightsaber skills, Maul demonstrated considerable Force strength, enough to survive being severed in half. Maul attributed this survival to his hatred for Kenobi and the training he received from Sidious.

During a battle on Florrum, Maul utilized a Force push so powerful that it sent Obi-Wan Kenobi flying a great distance and caused the tunnel to collapse. Later, despite suffering severe injuries that resulted in the loss of a cybernetic leg, he was able to use telekinesis to pull an Eta-class shuttle from a plateau. During his time on Mandalore, his continued development was evident in his ability to Force choke Satine Kryze, holding her aloft without any hand gestures. During the Battle of Zanbar, he unleashed a Force Wave of incredible magnitude, sweeping away numerous battle droids.

As the dark side's influence grew during Order 66, Maul's raw power experienced a temporary surge. He showed the capability to telekinetically manipulate pure energy, effortlessly deflecting blaster bolts fired by Bo-Katan with a mere wave of his hand, redirecting them into the surrounding walls. Shortly after his capture during the Siege of Mandalore, Ahsoka Tano released Maul when Order 66 was executed and the clones turned against her. Upon his release, Maul used his telekinetic abilities to kill several clones, tearing panels from the walls for defense and to crush and decapitate them. This rampage culminated in Maul disabling the Venator-class Star Destroyer that was transporting him, the Tribunal, solely through his mastery of the Force. He crushed the ship's massive hyperdrive generators, leading to its complete destruction. More than a decade later, Maul told Ezra Bridger that his age had lessened his powers; however, this was later revealed as a lie to gain the boy's trust. In fact, Maul was capable of Force Gripping the Seventh Sister against her resistance while simultaneously killing her with a Saber Throw.

Maul also possessed skill in telepathy, specifically the mind probe technique. He demonstrated this ability by using it on Hera to discover the location of Kanan Jarrus's Jedi holocron and his true identity. He had even successfully used the technique on Obi-Wan Kenobi before their final duel, uncovering the existence of Luke Skywalker. It is likely that he employed it on Ahsoka Tano, gleaning information about her past, and possibly probed the minds of the Inquisitors to understand their intentions and the identity of their master. Maul was also acquainted with the magick practices of the Nightsisters, including a scrying spell involving two people sharing a potion of magical ichor. He could manipulate the Force-bond he had established with Ezra Bridger through holocron fusion, causing the young Jedi to experience hallucinations. Furthermore, he used a fragment of a Sith holocron to activate Kanan's Jedi holocron and the Malachor Sith holocron as part of a scheme to trick Ezra into drawing Kenobi out of hiding.

Despite this, during the Clone Wars, Maul's Force abilities were still inferior to those of Sidious, who effortlessly pinned both Maul and Opress against a wall using telekinesis. However, as Maul grew in power, Sidious began to see him as a potential rival. Darth Tyranus clearly held Maul in high regard, referring to his predecessor as a great Sith Lord. Obi-Wan Kenobi, before his final duel with Maul, stated that his old adversary had the power to "alter the course of many things," indicating Maul's extensive knowledge of the dark side.

Maul was a proficient manipulator and a skilled military and political strategist, as evidenced by his rapid formation of the Shadow Collective and its use in conquering Mandalore. He was cunning enough to deceive and capture both General Grievous and Darth Tyranus simultaneously. Earlier, he likely surveyed the Theed power generator on Naboo before the arrival of his Jedi adversaries, enabling him to set a trap for them.

After being rescued by Death Watch, Maul declared that he had become "indifferent to pain," suggesting a high tolerance for it. Maul possessed expertise in surveillance, tracking, and espionage, serving primarily as a covert operative during his apprenticeship. Maul displayed exceptional agility and proficiency in hand-to-hand combat.

During the Naboo Crisis, Maul wore Sith clothing designed for freedom of movement, including loose-fitting pants for high kicks. Beneath a black cloak, he wore an undertunic, heavy-action boots, and protective gloves. At some point, the R3-series astromech droid R3-B0017 was programmed to assist Maul and scavenge on Dathomir.

Maul's ship, the Scimitar, was considered the deadliest Sith vessel ever created at the time. It was equipped with six laser cannons, spy and surveillance equipment, interrogator droids, and a cloaking device. The ship also carried Maul's Razalon FC-20 speeder bike, the Bloodfin.

Maul's initial lightsaber was a double-bladed weapon used during the Invasion of Naboo and the Clone Wars. Obi-Wan Kenobi bisected it during their duel on Naboo, after which Maul continued to use the remaining half in several battles until he temporarily lost it in his duel with his former master on Mandalore. After being freed from prison, he recovered the half, reformed it into a double-bladed hilt, but lost it permanently after a duel with Ahsoka Tano.

Maul's second lightsaber was the Darksaber, which he used against his former master on Mandalore and later against Grievous, though he was forced to retreat. Maul continued to wield the Darksaber in various subsequent battles, including the battle of Ord Mantell, the assault on Vizsla Keep 09, and the Second Battle of Dathomir.

Maul's third and final lightsaber was a new double-bladed weapon that also functioned as a cane lightsaber. The lightsaber emitted two crimson-red blades, and the upper grip-guard resembled those of the Inquisitors' lightsabers, albeit broken and bent outward. Indeed, the lightsaber appeared to have been constructed from parts salvaged from an Inquisitor's blade. He would conceal the hilt by attaching a piece of wood to it, posing as a frail old man with a walking stick. Maul later used it in his pursuit of Obi-Wan Kenobi. During this final duel, the lightsaber was bisected in a manner similar to his first, when Kenobi sliced it in two. However, unlike the previous instance, both halves of the lightsaber remained functional, only deactivating when Maul lost his grip as he succumbed to his injuries.

Darth Maul debuted in Star Wars: Episode I The Phantom Menace, portrayed by actor and martial artist Ray Park. While present throughout the film, the character only spoke three lines, all voiced by actor Peter Serafinowicz. Sam Witwer voiced the character in the animated series Star Wars: The Clone Wars and Star Wars Rebels (Witwer also voiced Starkiller in the Force Unleashed games). Park provided motion capture reference for the seventh season of The Clone Wars. For Maul's cameo in the 2018 Star Wars Anthology film Solo: A Star Wars Story, Park returned to the role, with Witwer again providing the voice. The Solo script only mentioned a "Boss" character, and director Ron Howard chose Maul from a list of possibilities.

Iain McCaig designed the character for The Phantom Menace, feeling challenged by the task of creating a new Star Wars villain. He remembered George Lucas describing Maul as "a figure from your worst nightmare," so McCaig used his own nightmares as inspiration. McCaig's worst nightmare involved a lifeless face pressed against a window during a thunderstorm, a dead but alive figure staring through the rain. This became the basis for the initial design, with metal teeth and blood-red ribbons instead of rain. Lucas found it too intense, requesting McCaig's second worst nightmare.

McCaig spent much of the three-year pre-production period drawing masks, trying to create something similar to Ralph McQuarrie's original Darth Vader design from Star Wars: Episode IV A New Hope. Eventually, he realized he was off track. He found his direction by drawing members of the Episode I Art Department as Sith Lords, using their personalities and faces for inspiration. At one point, McCaig used a circuit board as a face, which intrigued Lucas, who also liked a concept based on production photographer Greg Gawlowski.

Darth Maul's design underwent several variations before McCaig created a series of Rorschach designs using splattered ink patterns, leading to the character's tattooed appearance. McCaig wanted to soften the character's look, at one point adding feathers to the top of Darth Maul's head. He envisioned these feathers as part of the Sith Lord's personality: "every morning I imagined Darth Maul would get up and bind his head with this piano wire, and that the feathers had to end up at the right points—it was just a part of the focusing of the Sith." These feathers were interpreted as horns, which became part of the final design.

After completing the face, McCaig designed Maul's costume. Originally, Maul wore a large muscle suit, "making him larger than life," with Batman-like spikes on his neck. This costume survived most of the storyboarding process until McCaig reduced its size after Lucas mentioned an acrobatic lightsaber duel. The resulting smaller costume became the Sith robes Maul wore in The Phantom Menace. In the February 1999 issue of Vanity Fair, which promoted the film, Maul was described as a menacing "pre-Vader dark side Jedi," even though Lucas referred to Sidious as a Sith in the same interview. Also described as a mysterious figure, Maul was pictured in a lightsaber battle against Kenobi in a promotional image of Tatooine included in the issue.

When Maul returned in The Clone Wars, Witwer recognized the character's popularity and felt obligated to do him justice. He portrayed Maul as broken, attempting to convey a shattered mind through his acting. One method was to quote the Code of the Sith from the Expanded Universe, a portion of which made it into the episode. The character's design closely resembled his appearance in The Phantom Menace, and the animators used the design process to improve animation on the series. Because the character's appearances required him to show emotion such as anger and hatred using only facial expressions, the animators spent time improving the modeling process to achieve better expressions. Since Maul had been cut in half in The Phantom Menace, he needed new cybernetic legs for The Clone Wars. Aaron McBride, an Industrial Light & Magic concept artist, had previously created the cyborg form of Darth Maul for the Infinities graphic novel Star Wars: Visionaries.

Lucas initially planned to use an aged Maul as a villain in the sequel trilogy, with Darth Talon from Legends as his apprentice, becoming "the godfather of crime in the universe." Although the Zabrak never appeared in the sequel films, the idea of a crime lord Maul was later realized in the 2018 live-action film Solo: A Star Wars Story. During the development of the second season of Rebels, the original plan was for Maul to die at the hands of Darth Vader in the season finale "Twilight of the Apprentice," but this became unfeasible due to too many storylines and insufficient emotional material between Maul and Vader.

To avoid leaks about Maul's appearance as the true leader of Crimson Dawn in Solo: A Star Wars Story, the script did not name him, leading some filmmakers to believe that the decision of who led Crimson Dawn was still pending. Before Maul's selection, the first draft of the film's script featured Dryden Vos as Crimson Dawn's second-in-command, with a Hume Cronyn–esque genial but ruthless character known as The Kazier. While Sam Witwer voiced Maul in the finished film, Peter Serafinowicz, Maul's original voice actor, initially recorded Maul's lines for the film, but his performance was ultimately replaced by Witwer's.

Since his debut in the trailer for The Phantom Menace, Maul has been a popular character among Star Wars fans. On May 4, 2015, a Darth Maul costume was added to The Sims 4, allowing playable Sims to wear it in-game. The costume is purely cosmetic and does not affect gameplay.

The description for the Witches of Dathomir Squad Pack stated that Savage Oppress was the oldest of Mother Talzin's sons, implying that Maul was his younger brother. However, Oppress's Databank Download page for the set stated that Maul was older than him. Therefore, this article does not assume which of the two was born first.

Star Wars The Dark Side Pocket Expert incorrectly lists Maul's height as 1.83 meters.