No character from a galaxy far, far away has had quite the same impact as Darth Maul. This mysterious Sith-in-training with a double lightsaber entranced audiences in The Phantom Menace before he was chopped in half and dropped down a ventilator shaft. Thankfully, that wasn't the end of his story. As the Star Wars universe expanded into Clone Wars and Rebels, Darth Maul was brought back into the fold where he continued to cause chaos while hunting down his adversary Obi-Wan Kenobi.
How did Darth Maul survive his dismemberment and lengthy fall? And what about Darth Maul in the Clone Wars? And how did he make his way into Solo: A Star Wars Story? The history of this demon-faced anti-hero is long and twisted. At times, he seemed to be complacent with a life of wrongdoing, but he was also driven mad by his quest for revenge.
The life of Darth Maul is mired in tragedy, anger, and defeat. He's one of the most fascinating characters in the Star Wars universe, and hopefully, there will be more to his story.
54 BBY: Maul Was Born Into The Life Of A Dathomirian Nightbrother
The boy who would be Darth Maul was born in 54 BBY (Before the Battle of Yavin) on Iridonia to Mother Talzin, a Nightsister. He had two brothers, Savage Opress and Feral, both of whom were nothing like their brother, at least not in the ways of the Force.
Very little is known about Darth Maul's time on Dathomir - even his original name is shrouded in mystery. His time spent with his family was sadly cut short a few years after he was born. There's no way to know how his life would have played out had he stayed with his family.
50 BBY: Darth Sidious Took Maul On As His Apprentice, Skipping Maul's Mother In The Process
It's not entirely clear when, but a few years after the birth of Darth Maul, Darth Sidious traveled to Dathomir on the hunt for a Sith apprentice. Initially, he considered bringing on Mother Talzin as his apprentice because of her Nightsister abilities, but chose her infant son instead once he recognized the child's acumen with the Force.
After Sidious rid himself of his Sith master, Plagueis, he trained the young Dathomirian in the ways of the Sith. After proving himself to his new Sith master, the child was given the name Darth Maul. He was trained to be an acrobatic Sith assassin who spared no one. As an apprentice to Sidious, he grew to be a ferocious fighter with little respect for anyone who wasn't a member of the Sith. In this era, he trained with a double-bladed lightsaber before crafting his own.
After years of training, Maul felt he had exceeded his capacities as a trainee, and he was ready for action. He asked Sidious for a chance to fight the Jedi, but his master wanted him to remain patient. Sidious explained that once Maul revealed himself, it would take away the element of surprise from the Sith, ruining any chance to get a jump on the Jedi.
Darth Sidious sent Maul to the Kellux system to deal with a group of pirates who were creating issues with the Trade Federation. After taking care of the pirates, Maul learned there was a Padawan to be auctioned off to the highest bidder in the Drazkel system. Maul traveled to this system where he waited for the young Jedi, Eldra Kaitis, to be auctioned.
Maul gained entrance to the ship carrying Kaitis before crashing it onto the moon of Drazkel. He fought Kaitis to the death on the moon's surface before returning to Sidious to tell him his bloodlust was not yet quenched.
Trained and with one unsanctioned Jedi demise under his belt, Darth Maul was sent to Tatooine by Darth Sidious to intercept Qui-Gon Jinn and Obi-Wan Kenobi. Maul traveled in his ship to the desert planet where he set up shop to take out the two Jedi.
Maul first revealed himself to Qui-Gon Jinn in the empty desert of Tatooine where he went lightsaber-to-lightsaber with the Jedi master. Maul nearly took Jinn to that great Jedi training center in the sky, but then Obi-Wan and the young Anakin Skywalker rescued him in the queen's ship at the last moment. Maul was understandably furious at this turn of events.
32 BBY: Maul Took Out Qui-Gon Jinn In A Duel Before Falling To Obi-Wan Kenobi
Shortly after he first did battle with Jinn, Maul tracked the Jedi master and his apprentice to Coruscant where he planned to square off against both of his enemies in the twisted hallways of the capital city's hangar bays and power generator facilities. Maul ran circles around Jinn and Kenobi with his acrobatic abilities and double-edged lightsaber before separating the duo to take them out one by one.
Maul first went after Jinn and ran him through with his lightsaber as Kenobi powerlessly watched. Kenobi gathered his strength and was able to fend off Maul with Jinn's lightsaber before slicing the Sith Lord in half and pushing his body down a giant shaft.
32-20 BBY: Maul Used Nightsister Magic And Sith Techniques To Survive On The Trash Planet Lotho Minor
Sliced in half but not totally dead, Maul was able to use the Force to get a hand on an air vent before dragging himself to a trash disposal area. He managed to stay alive through his Sith abilities, latent Nightsister magic, and his deep-seated anger toward Obi-Wan.
What was left of Maul's body was deposited on Lotho Minor, a trash planet where Maul holed up while losing his mind and rebuilding the bottom half of his body. He spent the next decade surviving on garbage and perfecting his metal spider legs. All in all, it was a pretty bad time for Maul.
