Maul & Ahsoka Engage In Intelligence-Gathering on Each Other
Darth Maul seeking information using the Force from ARC trooper Jesse while being held by Rook Kast
After the opening sequence in “The Phantom Apprentice”, the newest Star Wars The Clone Wars episode, we see Captain Rex, Bo-Katan, Ahsoka, and a hologram communication of Obi-Wan Kenobi conferring about what to do. Amidst their conversation, Ahsoka asks Obi-Wan if he knows anything about Darth Sidious. “If you can capture Maul,” says Obi-Wan, “he may be able to provide the missing pieces to this puzzle.” Clearly, finding Maul is the key to uncovering more to what’s going on with Darth Sidious.
Maul captures Jesse to find out about Ahsoka
Captain Rex interrupts their conversation and announces there’s been an attack, leading Ahsoka to head down to see what the matter is. A trooper, Sterling, tells Ahsoka that Maul took Jesse to find out more about Ahsoka. “You need to know: Maul, he went right through us, one by one,” says Sterling to Ahsoka. “He was asking about you. The ARC trooper, Jesse – Maul realized he was older, somehow, looked in his mind…and he took him; he took Jesse alive!”
While it is unsurprising to hear that Maul was easily able to slice through the clone troopers, it is pretty fascinating to hear that Maul was able to detect that one of the troopers was older.
We next see Jesse talking to Maul, held in restraints by Rook Kast.
Jesse: “You’re wasting your time. I won’t tell you anything.”
Maul: “How charming that you actually believe that statement to be true. Clones, bred for combat, all part of the plan.”
Jesse: “What plan? What are you talking about?”
Maul: “The plan. The only plan that matters. Not even I was made aware of its grand design, but I played my part. And do you know what happened to me? I was cast aside. I was forgotten. But I survived, and I can thrive in the chaos that is to come.”
It is fascinating that Maul is going on about “the plan” and the the clone troopers are all part of this grand plan, especially to a clone trooper. What’s further fascinating here is Maul’s declaration that he had survived his being cast aside for years and that he believes he can thrive in the chaos he expects to take place.
Maul Orders Saxon to Shut-up Almec
At this point, Maul turns towards Gar Saxon and says, “Saxon, information is a valuable commodity. See to it that the prime minister does not become an asset to our enemy.” While it could be that Maul is requesting Saxon free Almec from prison, it could also be an assassination order. Moreover, it is very on-the-nose for Maul to be identifying information being a valuable commodity at this point, as both he and Ahsoka are busy amidst gathering information on each other.
Maul interrogates Jesse to find out about Ahsoka
Returning his attention to Jesse, Maul says, “Now, there are some things I need to know, and you’re going to help me.”
Jesse: “We can go round and round in this circle if you want. I ain’t telling you anything.”
Maul: “It is not up to you. Your mind will speak, or it will break. Tell me: who is this Ahsoka Tano?”
Here, we see Maul using a Force technique, much like we have seen Kylo Ren use to gain access to someone else’s mind. The scene closes as we hear Jesse’s screams.
Prison Interrogation Yields Maul’s Concern for Skywalker
Bo-Katan, Captain Rex, and Ahsoka go to the prison and ask Prime Minister Almec questions regarding Maul, including how he will escape, to which Almec responds, “Maul is not trying to escape, because he sees no point in doing so.”
Bo-Katan: “So he believes he can defeat us?”
Almec: “No, that’s not it. For weeks now, he’s been consumed by a strange sense of dread.”
Ahsoka: “Has he mentioned Sidious?”
Almec: “Not that I can recall.”
Bo-Katan: “You said he wanted Kenobi here. Why?”
Almec: “Wasn’t just Kenobi he wanted, no. Uh, there was someone else he was interested in.”
At this point, Gar Saxon shoots Almec twice in the chest, causing him to quickly lose life.
Thereupon, Almec tells Ahsoka, “Maul had a vision – a dream – the name came to him.”
Ahsoka: “What name?”
Almec: “Skywalker.”
In this conversation, Ahsoka and Bo-Katan learn that not only is Maul not trying to leave Mandalore, but that he wanted Kenobi and someone else, as he had been consumed by a strange sense of dread in the preceding weeks. And just as Ahsoka heard a surprising name at the end of her first encounter with Maul at the outset of the episode, she now hears a name she did not expect to hear, her master’s name.
Both Maul and Ahsoka learn surprising tidbits about each other in this intelligence-gathering section of “The Phantom Apprentice”, with Maul learning about Ahsoka, and Ahsoka learning a little about Maul….
What’s Next for Maul
In the next installment of the Darth Maul project, Maul prepares his allies for the chaos to come.
