Warning: Contains SPOILERS for Star Wars: Darth Maul – Black, White & Red #1!Darth Maul is a character whose history in Star Wars lore is infamous, as he’s the first confirmed Sith to be spotted by a Jedi in a thousand years. However, his latest appearance in Star Wars canon has added even more significance to his position as a Sith, albeit a more personal one. In fact, it’s fair to say that Darth Maul’s lore change actually gives him the perfect ‘second origin’, as it makes his commitment to the Sith much stronger than fans originally thought.
In Star Wars: Darth Maul – Black, White & Red #1 by Benjamin Percy and Stefano Raffaele, Darth Maul is sent on a mission by Darth Sidious to neutralize (though, if possible, capture alive) the three leaders of a Star Wars cult known as the Final Occultation. This cult may seem on the surface like a dark side cult (similar to the Ascendant or the Knights of Ren), but in truth, they follow the will of an interdimensional energy that is effectively the Anti-Force, as it is power rooted in cosmic chaos as opposed to the universal order the Force represents.
The three cult leaders of the Final Occultation tap into the ‘Anti-Force’ while trying to create a rift between this universe and the Netherworld. In order to defeat the cult and the extradimensional power their leaders were channeling, Darth Maul had to focus on the dark side of the Force like he never had before. Rather than tapping into his pain or his hatred, however, Maul focused on the order the Force represents. Indeed, Maul put it best himself when he said, “I see now more than ever the need for control” after defeating the Final Occultation.
When Darth Maul was taken by Palpatine at a young age from his homeworld of Dathomir, he was effectively brainwashed into believing the dark side of the Force, and the ways of the Sith, were the correct ways to live one’s life. While Palpatine knew everything he did was evil, and genuinely enjoyed every step along that insidious path, Darth Maul was raised to believe that he was good, and the dark side was simply an avenue of power that was necessary to ensure peace in the galaxy.
Originally, Star Wars fans may have assumed that Maul was merely conditioned by Palpatine into believing the dark side was good, and those who oppose the Sith were evil. While indoctrination was definitely a major part of it, this Star Wars comic confirms that Darth Maul himself truly believed it after seeing first-hand what the alternative could be.
After fighting the Final Occultation (and saving the entire universe), Maul doesn’t have to take Palpatine’s word for it that the ways of the Sith are the answer to galactic peace, as it’s only by the will of the dark side of the Force that Maul was able to use order to triumph over chaos. Therefore, when Maul finds himself standing opposite Qui-Gon Jinn in The Phantom Menace – shining a light on the existence of the Sith for the first time in a thousand years – he does so as a man on a righteous mission to save the galaxy.
Following his encounter with the Final Occultation, Maul is reaffirmed in the lessons he’d been taught his whole life, giving him a deeper personal connection with the dark side of the Force, as well as more ownership of his commitment to the Sith. In other words, this change in Darth Maul’s Star Wars lore gives him the perfect second origin as a Sith.
Star Wars: Darth Maul – Black, White & Red #1 by Marvel Comics is available now.
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