After 12 episodes of diversion, we finally return this week to Darth Maul. The intervening episodes weren't bad (ok, some of them were) but when you bring back one of the most popular and visually interesting villains in the franchise, naturally that's what we're going to be interested in. But boy, was the wait worth it.
Our episode begins with Darth Maul and his brother Savage re-enacting the beginning of Aliens, by which I mean frozen and floating through space. But things get interesting when they're found by Death Watch. Death Watch are the guys I mentioned Lux Bonteri used hang out with back in my War on Two Fronts review. They're nationalist Mandalorians who think the current government has betrayed their heritage by becoming pacifist, so they became terrorists in Boba Fett armor. Cause Boba is Mandalorian. Last time we saw these guys Duchess Satine, Mandalore's leader and Obi-Wan's ex, had exiled them so now they're looking for a way to take back Mandalore. Remember that, it'll be important.
More after the break,
Getting back to the plot, Death Watch has brought the two Sith back to their shitty camp on some swampy moon. Death Watch's leader Pre Vizsla saw their lightsabers and figured either they were Jedi or were enemies of the Jedi. Maul wakes up and explains who he and Savage are and proposes an alliance between themselves and Death Watch to take back Mandalore. Vizsla and his second-in-command (played by Katee Sackhoff) are understandably cautious because the last Sith they made a deal with was Count Dooku and he fucked them over. To prove he's genuine Maul force chokes Katee Sackhoff and gives a villain speech. This impresses Death Watch, because almost killing one of your high command is the foundation of a stable alliance. Vizsla agrees to the alliance, intent on attacking Mandalore then and there but Maul tells him to slow his roll. Death Watch isn't powerful enough to take Mandalore alone. They need an army.
The rest of the episode is pretty repetitive so I'm just going to recap it all now. The new alliance visit the Black Sun crime syndicate on Mustafar and say "you're working for us now" after killing their leader. Now they've got soldiers for their army. The alliance is visited by the Pykes, alien spice traders who pledge support. Now they've got supplies. Finally they visit the Hutts to say "you're working for us now" but the Hutts just laugh at them before sicking some bounty hunters on them. But seeing as this alliance is made of dudes in Boba Fett outfits and two mass-murderers, a huge fight breaks out. This fight is the highlight of the episode, it has a lot of great action and music that gives a really ominous atmosphere. Knowing that the villains are going to win and the different way they fight from our usual heroes makes it cool to watch.
After that, the alliance show up at Jabba's place to basically say, "we're not fucking around". Jabba's not an idiot so he agrees to join the alliance. Maul and Vizsla agree they're ready to attack Mandalore and this will give them a foothold to even greater power. But it's revealed that Vizsla is suspicious of Maul and planning to kill him, which is good because Maul is planning the same thing. End Episode.
Holy shit, that was fucking awesome. Last thing I was expecting was two of the unaligned villains joining together. Maul allying with Death Watch is a radical development, creating a lot of potential for a third party to enter the deadlocked war and shake things up. Especially since both Maul and Death Watch have good reason to go after both those sides. This could make things really interesting.
The standout, as usual, is Sam Witwer as Maul. His performance is excellent and it's all in his voice. He can do the unchained feral animal side great, but his real strength is restrained Maul. You can hear all the rage coiled behind his voice in the way he speaks. But there's also an intelligence there, an intelligence that is razor focused on getting exactly what he wants. It's especially impressive when you remember that Darth Maul was a completely physical presence in Episode 1. Katee Sackhoff, Jon Favreau as Pre Vizsla, and Clancy Brown as Savage also turn in good work but don't have the opportunity to show off like Witwer.
All in all, I would probably recommend this Witwer's performance alone. But with the mountain of potential this has and the fun easter eggs for long-time Star Wars fans, this is definitely a season highlight. My only complaint is that the plot feels slight and the other characters get sidelined by Maul, especially Savage. If you're a longtime Clone Wars watcher, check this out.
See you next week.
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