Darth Maul and Savage Oppress Ally with Death Watch: Exploring Darth Maul VIII

[Part of my ongoing Darth Maul series]After Savage Oppress and Darth Maul are rehabilitated by Death Watch in “Eminence” in season 5 of Star Wars: The Clone Wars, Darth Maul goes in to see the leadership of Death Watch:

Pre Vizsla: “I am Pre Vizsla. We are the Death Watch, descendants of the true warrior faith all Mandalorians once knew. Now my people are living in exile because we will not abandon our heritage. Our people were warriors; strong, feared. Now they’re ruled by the new Mandalorians who think that being a pacifist is a good thing. They’ve given away our honor and tradition for peace. Duchess Satine and her corrupt leadership are crushing our souls, destroying our identity. That is our struggle.”
Darth Maul: “If they are weak, why do you wait?”
Pre Vizsla: “The duchess has powerful allies, including your Jedi friend, Kenobi. He is also responsible for our exile. Perhaps fortune brought us together.”
Darth Maul: “It is the will of the Force. We can help you reclaim Mandalore.”
Pre Vizsla: “And punish Kenobi for his trespasses.”

At this point, Bo Katan jumps in and says, “We alled ourselves with Sith before: Count Dooku, he betrayed us. Sith are no better than Jedi. They claim to be powerful, but we put these two back together after the Jedi gutted them.”  Immediately following her statement, Darth Maul speaks to Pre Vizsla while Force choking Bo Katan: “Doubt will only lead to failure. Our combined strength will be rewarded. Mandalore will be yours, and Kenobi, this Sith pretender Dooku, and all our enemies will fall.” (When he says “fall”, he drops Bo Katan from his Force choke on her.)  Pre Vizsla responds, “Check on your brother. We’ll put it to a vote.” At this point, it seems pretty clear to the leadership of Death Watch that Darth Maul is particularly powerful!

Thereupon, Darth Maul returns to his brother and tells him: “Our crash was discovered by enemies of the Jedi, and we are in their care.”
Savage Oppress: “Are we prisoners?”
Darth Maul: “No: allies. They have much to offer, including their planet. They are strong and, unlike pirates, they possess honor.”
Savage Oppress: “Another weakness.”
Darth Maul: “They know nothing of our intentions. Those revelations will come too late.”
Enigmatically, we are quite curious of what their real intentions are – since it has not been discussed on-screen for us viewers.

Pre Vizsla and other Death Watch leaders then come to visit the brothers:
Pre Vizsla: “Our brothers are in favor of an alliance to liberate Mandalore.”
Darth Maul: “This duchess of yours will soon discover the true burden of peace.”
At this point, we are quite curious as to what this new powerful alliance could bring….

What we see of Darth Maul in this piece of this episode:

• He is interested in allying to confront someone in whom he has no interest (or the planet) – it’s curious to wonder what’s in it for him…(and why Pre Vizsla doesn’t ask him)
• He can do a Force choke and lift up the chokee whilst doing so, which is pretty impressive (and not even looking at the chokee)!
• Somehow, he and his brother perceive a weakness in their valuing of honor(?)
• He allies with Death Watch, with whom they share a desire for the downfall of Obi-Wan Kenobi
• Lastly, while it goes unstated (although the viewer almost sees it in Maul’s eyes), it seems that Darth Maul perceives Death Watch to be a powerful group and well-trained, in great contrast to the pirates – leading them to be more powerful allies in their larger quest