Warning! This post contains SPOILERS for Star Wars: Maul – Shadow Lord episodes 1-2

Few relationships in Star Wars are as brutal and twisted as the rivalry between Darth Sidious and Darth Maul. Although Maul was first introduced as Darth Sidious/Palpatine’s apprentice in 1999’s The Phantom Menace, the two Sith Lords have become bitter enemies following Maul’s revival during the Clone Wars. Now, Maul has all-new plans to seek revenge on Sidious and his betrayals, as seen in the new Maul – Shadow Lord series.

Despite being rejected and replaced following his apparent demise in The Phantom Menace, Darth Sidious’ betrayal of Maul goes much deeper, as we can see in The Clone Wars animated series and beyond with canonical comics.

Now that unseen chapters of Maul’s Star Wars journey are finally being shown with the former Sith Lord forming a new “Grand Plan”, it’s important to understand exactly how Maul was betrayed by his old Sith master, and why Palpatine has long been at the top of Maul’s list alongside Obi-Wan Kenobi.

In Shadow Lord, Darth Maul Has A Grand Plan For Those Who Betrayed Him (Including Darth Sidious)

As seen in its first two episodes, Maul – Shadow Lord establishes that the former Sith Lord is once again playing the long game and making major moves in the galactic underworld. Set one year after the rise of Palpatine’s Galactic Empire, Maul has been operating in the shadows, seeking to maintain his anonymity for as long as possible.

At the same time, Maul is pitting major syndicate leaders against each other, seeking vengeance upon the various leaders of his former Shadow Collective who abandoned him during the final days of the Clone Wars. However, Maul confirms in these opening episodes that he’s seeking vengeance upon all that betrayed him. This includes his former master, Darth Sidious.

Darth Sidious Betrayed Maul By Replacing Him (And Killing His Family)

Once the apprentice of the future Emperor, Maul was cast aside and forgotten after The Phantom Menace’s Battle of Naboo, having been cut in half by Obi-Wan Kenobi. In the wake of that apparent death, Darth Sidious moved on to new pawns like Count Dooku, leaving Maul physically broken and mentally shattered for nearly a decade, hidden in exile on the trash world of Lotho Minor.

During the Clone Wars, Maul was eventually rescued by his brother, Savage Opress, while having both his mind and body restored by the Nightsisters’ Mother Talzin. Taking Savage as his apprentice, Maul began consolidating power in the criminal underworld for the sole purpose of revenge, culminating in his first takeover of the planet Mandalore.

Eventually, Maul’s rapid rise in power gained Sidious’ attention, who chose to deal with his old apprentice personally. Traveling to Mandalore himself, Sidious duelled Maul and his brother with ease, brutally killing Savage before taking Maul to be imprisoned and tortured.

Maul eventually escaped in the canonical Son of Dathomir comic storyline adapted from unused Clone Wars scripts, though it was all by Sidious’ design in a bid to draw out Mother Talzin. Although Maul briefly gained the upper hand by defeating and capturing both Dooku and General Grievous, Maul’s second confrontation with Darth Sidious during the Clone Wars era did result in Talzin’s death, giving her life so that her son might live.

We then have The Clone Wars’ culminating arc with The Siege of Mandalore, where Maul’s final attempt to disrupt Sidious’ plans by targeting Anakin Skywalker failed. One year later, Shadow Lord sees Maul once again preparing to strike against his master during the Age of the Empire, determined to make his old master finally pay for everything he’d done to his former apprentice.

Will Maul Face His Old Master In Future Episodes Of Shadow Lord?

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All things considered, it has to be asked if Maul will indeed confront Darth Sidious directly once again in the Star Wars timeline.

Beyond these first two episodes, trailer footage for Maul: Shadow Lord has already teased Maul dueling two Imperial Inquisitors.

Their presence very much supports the idea that Maul’s presence on Janix will eventually draw the Empire’s attention. Likewise, one Inquisitor explicitly tells Maul that the Emperor wants him dead in the Shadow Lord trailers.

Based on Star Wars history, it’s been established that Sidious is willing to get his hands dirty when Maul becomes a significant enough threat, making a future face-to-face confrontation quite possible in future episodes of Shadow Lord (or perhaps in the second season that’s already been greenlit). Although the true tragedy is that we already know Maul’s efforts are doomed to fail, a new duel with his old master would be highly entertaining all the same.

New episodes of Star Wars: Maul – Shadow Lord release Mondays on Disney+ from Lucasfilm Animation.

Release Date

April 6, 2026

Network

Disney+

Directors

Brad Rau