Maul is Boosted from Prison, Reunited with the Darksaber, and Battles Grievous

The final time we see Darth Maul on-screen in Star Wars The Clone Wars, he watches Darth Sidious kill his brother, followed by being captured by Sidious. While there were further Star Wars The Clone Wars episodes intended to have been produced with Darth Maul, they were not to be. However, some of them were salvaged through The Clone Wars Legacy, which saw several story arcs get produced in various media forms. The only comic book medium is that of a story arc featuring Darth Maul. Entitled Darth Maul: Son of Dathomir, the four-part comic furthers the story of Darth Maul.

The first issue begins with the Death Watch, who remain loyal to Maul, breaking Maul out of Sidious’ prison, led by Gar Saxon. Once they’re able to return to their camp at Zanbar, the darksaber, which Maul had lost on Mandalore during his battle with Sidious, is returned to Maul. While Maul is reunited with his Mandalorian loyalists on Zanbar, there are other machinations at hand, of which he is a mere pawn.

Darth Sidious plots with Count Dooku to use Maul to lure out Mother Talzin, whom Sidious perceives as a power threat. However, while Dooku asks Sidious, “Why not simply send our armies to Dathomir?” – reminiscent of when Dooku had ordered General Grievous and the droid army to Dathomir in the “Massacre” episode – Sidious responds, “Because such methods cannot defeat a witch that powerful. Talzin must be coaxed into the light.”

Sidious speaking to Dooku about plotting against Talzin

Dooku then sends Grievous and his army to ambush Maul and his gathered army at Zanbar, where Grievous’ droid army fights Death Watch, with Grievous easily killing many Death Watch members and Maul slicing through many droids, including magnaguards. Eventually, Grievous and Maul engage in duel. However, as Grievous notes, Death Watch’s losses are quite great, resulting in a frustrated Maul having to retreat with the remainder of his forces.

While Maul is not particularly happy about this situation, Dooku, when informed by Grievous about the battle, is pleased, as he states, “Maul will believe that we are attempting to destroy his power base and disrupt his syndicate.”