Star Wars: Maul Shadow Lord SPOILER FILLED Review

There are many fan holidays over the course of a single year and this review just so happens to be written on May the 4th which is the unofficial Star Wars Day. To celebrate this Disney and Lucasfilm have dropped the final two episodes of the show that is actually pretty good and well as I did my first impressions of the show back when it first aired and have been watching the show on a week to week basis it only made sense that I now do a review of the show as a whole and so then join me as I give you my SPOILER FILLED review of the show is alot more better then what we all thought that it was going to be with the show in question being called simply just "Star Wars: Maul Shadow Lord" enjoy.

The plot of this show when former sith lord turned underground gangster Darth Maul lands on the planet Janix he starts a chain of events that includes two Jedi on the run from the empire a policeman and the empire itself. Now then interms of what I personally thought / felt about the actual plot that's actually featured / presented to us in this very show well then in all honesty I in all honesty personally thought / felt that the actual plot that's actually featured / presented to us in this very show was in all honesty really good. This shows plot is one that very easily could gave been the bogstandard Disney Star Wars plot where there's no thought and effort put into it and while there is some of that due to the fact that we have more surviving Jedi it's plot on the whole does seem more thought out with it being made clear as day that the purpose of this show was to tell a genuinely good story with everything else mainly taking a step back to that. Which is how it should be as the story should always come first and while yes there are things in this show plot that don't get resolved this is something that does still make sense as there is a second season of this show coming out and therefor there is a strong chance that those plot lines could get picked up then with the main plot of the show being where the plot does shine it's best with all of the characters sideplots like the one with the policeman and his son learning to get along or Devon learning to embrace the dark side being some of the more weaker and less interesting aspects of the shows plot with the plot of this film also being really rather entertaining and as well as being really rather engaging as well in my freaking opinions anyways / at least.

Starring in these episodes is Sam Witwer as Maul , Stormtrooper 2 and A Stormtrooper Commander , AJ LoCascio as Marrok , Stormtrooper Commander 2 and The Crimson Dawn Pilot and Ben Diskin as The Imperial Announcer , Stormtrooper Commander 1. Also starring in these episodes is Charlie Bushnell as Rylee Lawson , Chris Diamantopoulos as Looti Vario , David W. Collins as Spybot , A Commando and Stormtrooper 1 , Dennis Haysbert as Master Eeko-Dio Daki , Gideon Adlon as Devon Izara , Richard Ayoade as Two-Boots , Steve Blum as Icarus , Vanessa Marshall as Rook Kast and Wagner Moura as Brander Lawson.

Now then interms of what I personally thought / felt about the actual acting that's actually featured / presented to us in this very show well then in all honesty I in all honesty personally thought / felt that the actual acting that's actually featured / presented to us in this very show was in all honesty really good. The fact that this show has good acting in it is something that's not really all that surprising due to the fact that all of the Star Wars animated shows have had some rally good acting in them and with this show taking place after The Clone Wars and even using alot of the same crew from that show and some of the same actors it does make sense that the acting in this show and in these two episodes is really good. With the best actor by a long mile being Sam Witwer as Maul as the man just owns this character by now due to the fact that he does give him a voice that is not only really creepy and scary but it also makes you wonder if you can actually trust him with Sam being able to bring out a side of the character that we haven't seen before as we do get to see him planning and scheming not only in these final two episodes but in the rest of the show as well with us even getting to see a more kinder side to the character and yet due to how Sam plays those scenes it does also make you wonder if Maul is a nice person or not or if he's trying to earn people's tryst before then stabbing them in the back. With the acting that's in this show really being helped by the fact that this shows scripts are just so good that all this shows actors have to do is just say the lines as they are written and a good performance will come out of them naturally which is something that really does help to raise the overall quality of the acting that's in this very show.

Doing the for this show is the legends and the greats that are currently over at CGCG, Inc. and Lucasfilm Animation. Now then interms of what I personally thought / felt about the actual animation that's actually featured / presented to us in this very show well then in all honesty I in all honesty personally thought / felt that the actual animation that's actually featured / presented to us in this very show was in all honesty really good. Which much like with the shows acting isn't something that's all that surprising as you can tell right from the very first frame of the first episode of the show just how good that this shows animation is going to be as it does feel more like the kind of animation that you'd want to see in a movie and not something that would be in a Disney+ TV show and it is something that makes you wonder why they haven't done another Star Wars animated movie since 2008's The Clone Wars as they clearly have the technology now to give us something wonderful. There's not one episode in this show that has some bad looking animation as be it from the backgrounds to the character animations to even the characters designs everything about this show from an animation point of view is just stunning to look at and while yes some things could have been done a bit more better like a wider variety of backgrounds and settings would have been nice instead of just keeping us mostly in this one city for the vast majority of the show and while it would have been more nice if we did get more of wider verity of character designs for the background characters a that would help the world of this show feel more real and lived in it doesn't change the fact that the shows overall animation was really good to look at.

SPOILERS START HERE!!!!!!!!!!!!!

In something that could be seen as being a smart move this show does actually tie itself into Solo: A Star Wars Story by not only having a worker from Crimson Dawn show up in the final two episodes but also by having Dryden Vos show up with him being played by Scott Whyte. This is something that does make alot of sense as Maul did appear at the end of that film with it being hinted that he did have ties to the main villain of that film and yet here in this show we do somewhat get to see the origins of that as while Maul does state that Crimson Dawn has let him down before he is still willing to work with them to get him off of Janix. Yet it's never really stated that he and Vos have met before or if they have they haven't spent long together with the show even making Vos out to be this really tough villain by having him offer to help Maul if Maul kills someone that is powerful which is both a good thing and a bad thig it's good thing as it does show us just menacing that Vos could have been if he was written alot more better then what he was in Solo: A Star Wars Story but it's also a dumb thing as its pretty sign posting that Maul is going to kill this character and take all of the credit for himself thus becoming more powerful then Vos is which just makes Vos look bad as he knows that Maul is a sith and could already beat him in a fight if he so chooses to do so and yet he's willing to hire him on the hopes that he will live up to his end of the bargin and be this nice guy and just let him take all of the credit. Even Scott Whyte does a pretty good impression of Paul Bettany and while it was good to see that film get some kind of love as even tho it didn't make as much money at the box office the fact that it ended with Maul still being alive and being involved with this organization in someway is still something that is a good idea and it is something that future seasons of this show could very well explore.

This show thankfully doesn't do the one thing that alot of us thought that they would do and that's the fact that they don't have Maul be the good guy. He is very much still the bad guy at the end of this show with small good thing that he does like for example saving Devon being for his own evil end as he is playing the long game with that character as we see him save her once or twice in the show thus gaining her trust and then in the final episode he lets Vader kill her master while she's watching on thus allowing her to feel rage all of this is because of the fact that he wants to train her as his apprentice with the fact that he's willing to go those extremes just to get what he wants is something that does tell you that he is is still the bad guy of the show even tho there are people just as bad as Maul all around him he really is still the one of the worst ones due to the mental mind games that he willingly plays with people in this show. With Devon herself not really being that interesting of a character which is something that does make sense as she isn't the title character of the show Maul is but even so there still needed to be something about her character literally anything about her character that made her interesting as all of the things about the character that could have made unique are things that are already done in other Star Wars media and the fact that Maul is essentially trying to trick her into joining the dark side is something that doesn't get fully explored despite the fact that it could have added some extra dimension to her character as we could have gotten to see how acting evil does somehow effect her in both a negative and positive way and yet the show does shy away from showing us that which does have the adverse effect of making her a bland character with the same thing also being true for Brander Lawson and his son Rylee Lawson.

For one reason or another they really love making Darth Vader seem like a true Bada** as they did it at the end of Rogue One: A Star Wars Story and they did again at the end of this first season. With him being revealed in a really cool way at the end of episode nine and he is just this looming threat in episode ten with him hunting down Maul. This is how you use this character from now on as it gets across just how much of a threat that he is all without uttering a single line of dialog with episode nine even ending in the best way possible as all you see of Vader in that episode is just his outline in some smoke with his breathing being the only thing that gives him and then the episode just cuts to the end credits which is a perfect way to end that episode. With the whole episode ten basically just being one long fight scene with him Maul and Master Eeko-Dio Daki as they are the only two characters that are strong enough to not only fight him but possibly even defeat him and even they not only have a tough time facing him but due to when this show takes place in the timeline also fail to beat him with Maul only barely running away with his life, that is how you make Vader look like a true bada** as you have him be this unstoppable monster think Godzilla but with a lightsaber and you get the point as you don't want Vader to go down that easily and having two strong force users struggle to beat him is a good way of getting across just how strong that this villain is whilst also protecting your main character as having Maul run away is something that does make sense as he is a smart character and he would know that Vader isn't going to be easily defeated therefor the only thing that he could possibly do if he wants to survive is run away.

Now then these episodes has / had an exact grand total running time of no longer then twenty four minuets with episode nine having a running time of exactly twenty three minuets and ten seconds and episode ten has a running time of exactly twenty four minuets and two seconds. With all of the other episode having roughly the same amount of running time as episode nine did which is perfect for this kind of show this is the type of the show is more suited to having a running tike that's just over twenty minuets as it forces the makers of this show to stick to things that are relevant to the episodes plot and nothing more then that. With the show having more then enough plot there to cover that amount of running time in the first place and yet in saying this show the episodes don't really use there respective running times all that wisely as none of the shows episodes take the time to fully develop there respective plots with this being more due to the fact that this first season is only ten episodes long and yet the story that they were trying to tell could easily cover fifteen episodes and with that extra running time it would allow the show to not only fully develop its plot but also pay off things that they set up like for example the set up the fact that these two inquisitors are working for a sith lord that Maul knows and yet they never reveal it when that is something that could have made for some great jaw dropping drama. The show also doesn't take the time to fully develop its characters which in the case of Maul is something that does make sense as we have alot of episodes of The Clone Wars and Rebels for him to get his character development but characters like Devon , Master Eeko-Dio Daki , Rylee and Brander for example get nothing interms of character develop but I really will admit that this show really does have some really good pacing to it tho. 

So now then as this is ana action show that really does mean that I have to actually talk about the actual action that's actually featured / presented to us in this very show well then in all honesty I in all honesty personally thought / felt that the actual action that's actually featured / presented to us in this very show was in all honesty really good. With all of this shows episodes having one maybe even two action scenes per-episode which was something that was completely unexpected as usually you'd just get the one brief fight scene in an episode and that would be it but nope in this show you get a full on action scene in alot of the shows shows episodes with each one blowing away the one that came before it and really upping the game. With the best action scene in the whole entire show also being the best episode of this first season as its the entirety of episode ten as that show is basically one long action scene with very few breaks for the characters to catch there breaths as get Maul and Master Eeko-Dio Daki fighting Vader we also get Devon fighting of a par on inquisitors while the rest of the gang of fighting of horde after horde of stormtroopers all because of the fact that they are waiting for Vos to pick them up and get them of the planet and even when he does arrive there's still alot of stormtroopers to fight off, the best part of this final episode tho is quite easily the fight with Vader as we get to see just how powerful that he is truly against not only a former sith but also a jedi master both of whom are attacking him not only at fully force but also at the same time and yet he's holding them off as if there nothing with the pair of them not even making a dent in his armour with the rest of the shows action being just as good as well in my freaking opinions anyways / at least.

SPOILERS END HERE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Overall this show is so worth watching and if you haven't seen this show yet stop whatever it is that your currently doing and go and load up Disney+ and watch this show right now because it is one of the few Star Wars shows right now that is worth watching due to how good that this show actually is in my freaking opinions anyways / at least. Now then i've talked about all of the good and as well as all of the bad things that are in this very show in this very review and as such that really does mean that this very show really does earn itself a grand old score of exactly an 8 out of 10 from me.

Now then as for where I personally got all of the images that I personally used in this very review well then boys and girls and as well as ladies and gentlemen I personally got all of the images that I personally used in this very review from the official Star Wars fandom wiki page and Google Images. With my personally preferred website to use to get the images from this very show that I used in this very post being the really great the official Star Wars fandom wiki page really simply just due to the fact that really alot of if not really all of the images that are all really from this very show with alot of them really being really better quality then what you'd really think of and all of the images are really of course up and really on the official Star Wars fandom wiki page really are also really all fairly high in quality and as well as them all being really fairly freaking high in definition and happy Star Wars day everybody and May the 4th be with you.

My SPOILER FREE First Impressions Star Wars: Maul Shadow Lord

Whilst the whole world right now it rightfully talking about Daredevil: Born Again season 2 what they don't realise is that there is a new Star Wars animated show that's just been released. As while thia show hasn't had the best marketing out there this is a show that really will very easily become a favorite for alot of people as just by going off of these first two episodes alone it does really seem to be a really good show and so then join me as I give you my SPOILER FREE first impressions of the show that will end on May 4th with the show in question being called simply just "Star Wars: Maul Shadow Lord" enjoy.

The plot of these first two episodes is when Maul starts planning to take over the underworld now that the jedi are thought to be and he discovers that it might not be as easy as he first thought. Now then interms of what I personally thought / felt about the actual plot that's actually featured / presented to us in these very episodes well then in all honesty I in all honesty personally thought / felt that the actual plot that's actually featured / presented to us in these very episodes was in all honesty really good. It's really is safe to say that no one had any idea that the plot for the show let alone these first two episodes was going to be as good as they were as lets be honest here Star Wars plots very recently haven't been the best and yet here we have a couple of episodes that proves that the folks over at Lucasfilm do still know how to make good Star Wars plots as there is alot more thought and effort into the plot of these first two episodes alone then there in the entire sequel trilogy as here you do get to see moments with the characters just talking abut what it is that there going to do next and while yes episode one is the typical set up episode where it's all about setting up the plot of the show that is something that's to expected ad to be fair to this show it is something that does work really well. As foes the fact that the episodes plot really does take it time as even tho this is set not that long after The Clone Wars TV show you do still get to just sit in this world and see how the characters both good and a bad are effected by it with the episodes plot showing us both the goo and bad sides of being both good and evil and it is something that does work for the story that this show is trying to tell with the plot of these episode also being really entertaining and as well as being really rather engaging as well in my freaking opinions anyways / at least. 

Starring in these episodes is Sam Witwer as Maul , Gideon Adlon as Devon Izara and Chris Diamantopoulos as Looti Vario. Also starring in these episodes is Dave Fennoy as Scorn , David W. Collins as Spybot and Pyke Pilot 1 , Dennis Haysbert as Master Eeko-Dio Daki , Richard Ayoade as Two-Boots , Sam Corlett as Officer Reb , Vanessa Marshall as Rook Kast , Wagner Moura as Brander Lawson , Andrew Kishino as Pyke Captain , Avery Kidd Waddell as Officer Wade , Charlie Bushnell as Rylee Lawson , Keiko Agena as Chief Klyce , Pamela Adlon as Rheena Sul , Sam Corlett as Officer Reb and Steve Blum as Icarus and Pyke Pilot 2.

Now then interms of what I personally thought / felt about the actual acting that's actually featured / presented to us in these very episodes well then in all honesty I in all honesty personally thought / felt that the actual acting that's actually featured / presented to us in these very episodes was in all honesty really good. To say that these episodes have some really good acting in them would be a huge understatement as both of these first episodes are filled to the brim with good acting with this being something that does make alot of sense as not only do we have actors that are reprising their roles from other animated Star Wars media but we also have actors that are just good actors in there rights with there skills showing through in both of these two episodes alone. With the best actor in both of these episodes being quite easily Sam Witwer as Maul as not only does he have a voice that is creepy in it's own right but it's also just oozing evil with Sam making what is already a really unlikable character now be quite smart and thinking several steps ahead which is something that makes him be more evil with the fact that you get scenes in both of these first two episodes where you get to see the character act and not just the actor as there are scenes where Maul does have to take a minuet and think with Sam's performance really selling you on those more quiet moments with the character. With the acting that's in these episodes really being helped that both of these scripts are just so good that all these episodes actors have to do is just say the lines as they are written and as a good performance will come out of them naturally which is something that really does help to raise the overall quality of the acting that's in these very episodes.

Doing the animation for these episodes is the legends and the great that are currently over at Lucasfilm Animation. Now then interms of what I personally thought / felt about the actual animation that's actually featured / presented to us in these very episodes well then in all honesty I in all honesty personally thought / felt that the actual animation that's actually featured / presented to us in these very episodes was in all honesty really good. With the animation in both of these episodes being feature film good as that's how breath takingly good that the animation is n both of these episodes and while the animation from The Clone Wars onwards has always been really good no one's going to ever deny them that but here it felt like they were taking what they did in both Rebels and The Clone Wars and took it that extra step as everything in both of these episodes from a character design point of view to background point of view looks like that it could very easily belong in a live action movie or even an animated movie as that's how good that they look. With the thing that helps to sell you on the animation being being the lighting as that is something that never gets talked about when people mention animation and yet here in both of these episodes it is something that is worth talking about as it does help to sell you on this world and it helps to make this world feel more real and lived in and while a large part of episode 1 is set at night and therefor we don't get to see much colors the colors that we get to see in episode 2 look all the more better because of the fact that the lighting for this show seems to be really good. Heck the same thing is also true for the characters movements as they all have movements that look good with it being made clear as day that the makers of these episodes put alot of thought and effort into these episodes animation and it is something that does pay off as this show looks visually stunning to look at. 

Without giving away to much of what happens in these first two episodes it does seem like that they are going to reveal something big about Brander Lawson. Due to the fact that it does feel like that he might know a bit more then what he's letting on about when it comes to Maul as he refuses to get the Empire involved with this which is something that does make him seem like a good guy but at the same time the Empire didn't really let the public know that they were evil therefor it makes no sense for him to be distrusting of them especially as this show is meant to be set not that long after the events of The Clones Wars. However tho there is a good chance that this character does really no nothing about Maul and is basically acting as the audience surrogate character in that he's the one that's going to be asking all of the questions about him which is something that would be fine as he is meant to be a police officer but given the fact that Maul is essentially a war criminal it also wouldn't make sense that no police officer wouldn't know a thing about him all of which does make you wonder if by episode ten of this first season are we going to find something about Lawson as they can't make him a Jedi as that would be to obvious but what they could do is make him someone who once worked with Maul in the past or maybe he met Maul during the events of The Clone Wars which us something that is plausible. However tho there's one thing that makes me think that there's more to him then meets the eye as in episode 2 we find out that he's divorced single father and yet when his son has the opportunity to go and see his mother who he clearly loves Brander says to wait until he can go with him this is despite the fact that the son is more then old enough to see her on his own this could be for nothing and he could just be genuinely caring father however the episode wouldn't have added a scene like that if it wasn't leading to something bigger down the line.

Disney have done this show so dirty with it's marketing as there hasn't been a big push for this show at all as there's only been one teaser and I think one trailer plus a small handful of posters for the entire show. Which is something that does say that they might not have had much faith in the show to begin with however given the fact that they have given the show a season 2 renewal does seem to hint that they have come round to it either way tho there won't be alot of people that know that this show is even out now let alone that's been made in the first place which is a shame as this might be one of the more better things to come out of Disney era Star Wars due to the fact that it does have people working on it behind the scenes that do care for the characters and that do care for this franchise as a whole and want to see it back in the good graces of the fans that got made it as well as it once was in the first place. However tho those fans won't be able to do that if they don't know about the show coming out in the first place and while yes good word of mouth could also get the numbers up on Disney+ for the show weather or not those numbers will stay high for episodes 3 and 4 is not certain and that's something that would have been more certain if this show was marketed alot more better as there's not been one single social media post about the show which is where alot of this shows target fanbase will be this is not to say that they won't watch the trailer on Youtube and want to check it out because they could do but only doing one teaser and one full trailer weeks ago with nothing inbetween does mean that people are going to forget about this show even being a thing in the first place. 

Let's talk about Devon Izara as there is something that is revealed about this character in the shows second episode which is something that if you payed close attention to what was said by Eeko-Dio Daki in episode one it's something that you'll be able to work out right away. As in episode one just as she's about to steal some fruit he says "you can always rely on the kindness of strangers" now this might not seem like nothing but that is something that a Jedi would say with that one little line of dialog also being something that makes Devon not steal the fruit which again shows that she's good at heart which again is something that a Jedi is. This is something that makes the thing that gets revealed about her in episode two not all that surprising when it is something that should been a big shocking moment and yet as it was already pretty much signposted in the previous episode as heck she doesn't give Brander her name when she gets taken to the local police station thus hinting even further that she's on the run this is something is a bit of a negative aspect for me personally as if the makers of these episodes wanted that moment to be this big earth shattering reveal then they really should have had scenes in the first episode that show that she can be a bit a bad character like maybe she takes a minuet before deciding not to steal the fruit or maybe she given Brander a fake name just small things like that would go along way to make her big reveal as a force user in episode two all the more shocking. Yet on the flip of this tho is the face that we don't get to see Devon use her Jedi skills for all of the first episode with her only outing herself in the second episode when she has to stop a freeway from falling on her and even then she needed help to do it which is something that does say that she took the fact that she was essentially on the run very seriously.

Now then episode one of this show has / had an exact grand total running time of exactly twenty eight minuets and eighteen second whilst episode two of this show has /had an exact grand total running time of exactly twenty two minuets and nine seconds. With episode one being the more better running time this is despite the fact that episode two might have the running time that's more similar to what the other running times will be like for the rest of this show with both of these episodes having the right amount of plot there to cover there respective running times yet tho episode one has the better running time as everything about the show is just so good and therefor with episode one being longer it does give us the audience more time to get to know these new characters and to spend more time in the world of this show. However tho tho both of the episodes really don't use there respective running times all that wisely as none of them take the time to fully develop there plots this is something that does somewhat make sense as these are the first episodes of a new show and therefor of course the episodes aren't going to have plots that are that well developed but they both still could have taken the time to add things to either plot that makes them more well developed then what they are in the first place. This is also the same case for the episodes lack of character character development as of course none of this shows characters are going to be that well developed but it still would have been nice if the ground work was done for the character development to feel more natural since as of right now it does feel like that any character development that the characters cold get will come out of nowhere and be against just who they are as characters but I really will admit that these episodes really do have some really pacing to them tho.

So now then as this is an action show that really does mean that I have to actually talk abut the actual action that' actually featured / presented to us in these very episodes well then in all honesty I im all honesty personally thought / felt that the actual action that's actually featured / presented to us in these episodes was in all honesty really good. With both of the shows first two episodes having some really good action scenes in them both of which do tell that Lucasfilm does still know how to give us some really cool looking action scenes as that's what all of the action scenes un both of these episodes are with it being helped by the fact that both the animation and the lighting really do help to make the actin in these episodes come alive as there action scenes that are just lit by Maul's lightsaber which is just such a cool idea. With the best action scene in both of these episodes being quite hard to choose as both episodes really do have some really good action in them however if push did indeed come to shove i'd say that the best action scene in both episodes is the escape scene in episode one as we get to see Maul take on several police officers all at once without even breaking a sweat and while yes that scene is very similar to the one in Rogue One here it's done in such that it does make it feel new again as we've never seen Maul in a situation where he has to take on this many people just to get to this one prisoner and that is something that does make that scene so much fun to watch with it being helped by the fact that we get to see Maul do a lot of really cool moves with his double ended lightsaber with these episodes action scenes being just as good in my freaking opinions anyways / at least.

Overall if you didn't know about this show in the first place now you do and it is a show that does come very highly recommend as while it might not be the show that saves Star Wars it is the show that proves there really is still life to be found in this franchise yet as that's how good that these episodes are in my freaking opinions anyways / at least. Now then i've talked about all of the good and as well as all of the bad things that are in both of these episodes in this very post and as this is only my first impressions of this show there won't be a rating given but if i'm still watching the show when the final episode airs then I will do a review of the revival as a whole.

Now then as for where I personally got all of the images that I personally used in this very post well then boys and girls and as well as ladies and gentlemen I personally got all of the images that I personally used in this very post from IMP Awards . Com and Google Images. With my personally preferred website to use to get the images from these very episodes that I used in this very post being the really great Google Images really simply just due to the fact that really alot of if not really all of the images that are all really from these very episodes with alot of them really being really better quality then what you'd really think of and all of the images are really of course up and really on Google Images really are also really all fairly high in quality and as well as them all being really fairly freaking high in definition.