Darth Maul has his long-awaited rematch with Obi-Wan Kenobi.
Yes, revenge is a dish best served cold.
And it is very cold…in space.
Credit: Lucasfilm
He was talking about Darth Maul, right?
Its been 13 years sinceThe Phantom Menace, when a bisected Maul fell down that reactor shaft on Naboo.
Obi-Wan vs. Maul: The Rematch.
Some nagging questions have popped up surrounding Mauls return that need to be addressed.
First, how did Maul survive being cut in half?
See the epigraph from Palpatine that opened this recap.
Second, how do the Jedi know Darth Mauls name?
His master Darth Sidious was pulling all the strings behind the invasion of Naboo!
She really needs to bottle that stuff!
Theres really nothing like one-off rhyming couplets to make you seem crazy, is there?
NEXT: Why would you want to go to Dathomir?
Theres nothing there but fog…and witches.
To paraphrase C-3PO, the damage didnt look as bad on Dathomir as you might have expected.
And so shes put her faith in Savage and Maul to avenge her people instead.
She told Savage, Dooku sent his minions to destroy us.
But we will survive.
He was too busy repeating the name Kenobi over and over.
Talzin lured him out with her magic.
(Yes, I went there!)
And then she began.
Talzin even gave Mauls horns a much-needed trim!
And when her work here was done, she vanished.
he asked, with an eagerness surprising for someone who had killed another of his brothers last season.
Maul grabbed Savages square jaw in his bony hand.
!heasked in return.
It has been so long and my path has been so dark, Maul said.
Darker than I ever dreamed it could be.
Maul got the hang of his new legs pretty quickly, though.
And he launched into a sprint across the still-smoldering Dathomiri terrain.
My hatred kept my spirit intact, even though my body was not, he said.
But Maul could sense that the Force was out of balance.
Something was happening in the galaxy.
All that conflict and carnage, all those innocents slaughtered, that was a Siths dream!
And it had started without him.
I was apprenticed to the most powerful being the galaxy once, Maul said.
I was destined to be…so much more.
But I was robbed of that destiny by the Jedi.
Like King Theoden, Mauls fingers would regain their old strength if he grasps his sword.
So Savage offered him his lightsaber.
Just one blade this time.
Hes not quite ready for two, just yet.
And Maul used the Force to grab it.
Too bad one of the innocent has to be a colonist voiced by Ashley Eckstein!
A colonist voiced by Ashley Eckstein was particularly excited that her settlement was to get new supplies.
If only she knew she was going to get two crimson lightsabers instead.
Im so glad to hear Ashley voice a character like this, if even just for one line.
Though perhaps those kind of characters would have a better fate than that which met her colonist!
Back at the Jedi Temple, Obi-Wan was horrified.
He knew that hed have to face Maul alone, even if it likely was a trap.
If the Jedi sent a full task force, Maul would find even more innocents to slaughter.
This had to be mano-a-Zabrak.
And even Yoda knew as much…though he did suspect that Obi-Wan might discover an unexpected ally.
The moral that opened Revenge was The enemy of my enemy is friend after all.
But who could it be?
Cut to Chalmuns Cantina in Mos Eisley.
A bartender droid told a group of bounty hunters to stop monopolizing the Holonet transceiver.
Or is it just because of the general anti-droid sentiment that would emerge from the Clone Wars?
These bounties that the mercs were looking through were pretty weak.
A bounty had been posted worth one million credits for a dude named Savage Opress.
Ive got this one.
Sitting in a corner with his anooba, even Embo knew better than to speak up.
Ventress would finally be able to rein in the monster that she herself had created.
An ally for Obi-Wan indeed!
NEXT: Obi-Wan meet Maul.
Obi-Wan landed on the colony, now engulfed in flames.
Ann astromech droid was running over and over into a wall.
Apparently droids can suffer PTSD as surely as any organic.
Obi-Wan put it out of its misery with a flick of his wrist.
This place looked like the village Sanjuro the bodyguard stumbles upon inYojimbo.
What would Cartoon data pipe have thought about that!
I did like the telephoto-style long-shots from inside an abandoned store of Obi-Wan making his way through the debris.
This place was dripping with Kurosawa vibes.
Obi-Wan realized that this indeed was the Sith Lord hed faced 10+ years ago.
But if he defeated him before, surely he could defeat him again, right?
Ah, but this time Maul had backup.
Just behind Obi-Wan landed the equally fearsome Savage Opress, using one blade of his saberstaff in a fierceMakashiattack.
Maul didnt even have to do anything, though he launched himself into the fray with a towering flip.
He just grabbed Obi-Wans lightsaber the moment Savage knocked him unconscious.
Luckily, Obi-Wan had his own backup coming for him.
And he didnt even know it!
Ventress hyperspace-jumped into the system to the tune of a shrieking Morricone-style banshee cry.
She vaulted herself onto Maul and Savages ship before they could take off.
Inside, Maul got to work torturing Obi-Wan.
First, a beating to tenderize him.
Then, some taunts.
(My favorite because it perfectly captures Mauls simmering resentment?
You know, when I cut you in half, Obi-Wan said, I should have aimed for yourneckinstead.
Yeah, you know, Obi-Wan has an amazing to, um,notget the job done.
But whereas Vaders survival meant Obi-Wans eventual doom, we know thats obviouslynotgoing to be the case with Maul.
But it also doesnt mean that Obi-Wan has todefeatMaul, either.
NEXT: Ventress proves shes a bad girl gone good.
Looks like heshalfthe man you are, Savage.
She challenged them both to a fight.
And yet both Ventress and Savage still answer to Mother Talzin!
How long before either of them realize that Talzins just pitting them against each other?
Ventress feigned her exit to lure the horned wonders away, but she really stayed behind to rescue Obi-Wan.
Kenobi, dont tell me somebodys finally knocked the fight out of you, she said.
Personally, I think hes crazy.
What could bebetterto wake up to than a hot bald babe with a glitterstim voice?
Maul and Savage quickly returned, so Ventress gave Obi-Wan one of her own lightsabers for the fight.
As long as hed return it, of course.
Thats fine, Obi-Wan said.
Reds not my color.
I think this is the beginning of a beautiful friendship.
Savage squared off with Ventress, while Maul targeted Obi-Wan for his long-awaited rematch.
I feel like this could have been an Elle Driver vs.
The Bride moment: I killed your master.
And now Im going to kill you.
With your very own sword!
Which in the very near future will become…mysword.
He taunted Obi-Wan about the fact that he killed his master.
My god….the biggest revelation of all!!!
Obi-Wans hair… MOVES!
Nothing like Dookus though you could put an eye out with that beard!
Thats right…Obi-Wans hair moved.
In response, Sam Witwer quickly clarified, Obi-Wan has 1930s hair.
Only when hes angry or getting punched does his hair move.
Like any old-time movie star.
Maul used his trademark acrobatics on Obi-Wan, flipping and spinning like a Sith Dervish.
And it was then that Obi-Wan announced to Ventress that they were outmatched.
They needed to get out of there.
For now, anyway.
Savage was crestfallen, but Maul was able to put this in perspective.
Hiding out in a trash heap for ten years allows you to put things in perspective very easily.
Ive waited so many years for my revenge, he said.
I can wait a little longer.
This time, though, he would not actively move against the Jedi.
He would let them come to him.
And without a doubt Maul knew they would.
I am counting on it.
NEXT: A love letter to Ventress and a theory of Maul.
And thats a wrap, my friends.
Season Four has become One with the Force.
I dont know about you, but I am thrilled they chose not to kill Ventress in this episode.
And I, for one, would hate to lose her.
Not just because of Nika Futtermans spectacular vocal abilities either.
Ventress is now willing to do the right thing, but on her own terms.
And Id have hated to lose her now.Maybe someday it will be necessary.
But thankfully, that moment wasnt now.
(Also, I view the events of Nightsisters as taking placeafterthe comic-book seriesObsession.
As far as Im concerned, her fate is as much up in the air as Mauls.)
A Theory of Maul
Youd think that Maul would venture to join the Separatists now, right?
Get back in the good graces of Darth Sidious?
I dont think so.
Sidious needed someone like Dooku, whose patrician air would lend itself well to becoming a political firebrand.
The taciturn Maul would not have been able to fulfill that function.
I mean, I dont think many would want to follow a politician with that many facial tats.
Recently, the novelDarth Plagueisrevealed that in fact Sidious never saw Maul as a true Sith Lord.
NEXT: Did Obi-Wan touch the Dark Side on Naboo?
Ive wondered this for a long time, but it now seems so obvious.
To defeat Darth Maul on Naboo, Obi-Wan drew upon the Dark Side.
His rage over Qui-Gons death gave him the extra fuel he needed to achieve victory.
Because this time Maul wastrulydrawing upon the Dark Side to battle Obi-Wan.
Before, on Naboo, he wasnt that emotionally invested in battling these Jedi.
He was a servant carrying out a mission.
To me, this also shows that there are two different aspects to the Dark Side.
Thats the Dark Side externally projected.
Nothing else matters in the universe beyond yourself, your own interests, the accumulation of your own power.
NEXT: Have you ever heard the tragedy of Obi-Wan, the Wise?
Its not a story the Jedi would tell you.
He certainly seemed angry enough when he was shouting You were my brother, Anakin!
He couldnt finish what hed started, he couldnt vanquish his enemies, because his intentions werent pure.
Because he was more like them than he himself could ever realize.
That is Obi-Wans tragedy.
All those who hold power are afraid to lose it.
And on that wistful note, I bid you farewell until season five.
What do you think are Mauls plans now?
Will Ventress and Obi-Wan remain allies?
Or will that whole little business of Ventress being a war criminal make that impossible?
Remember, the Force will be with you…always.
