Darth Maul

""At last we will reveal ourselves to the Jedi. At last we will have revenge!""

- ~Darth Maul

Darth Maul was a Sith warrior and former apprentice of Darth Sidious in Star Wars Episode I:The Phantom Menace. He served as the main antagonist of that volume. His main objective was to seek the Naboo Royal Starship that had escaped from the reach of the Trade Federation, so that they could capture her. What he really wanted, though, was to reveal himself to the Jedi and have his revenge.

Darth Maul discovered the Queen was hiding on Tatooine, the home planet of Anakin Skywalker. He encountered and ambushed Jedi Master Qui-Gon Jinn when he and Anakin were on their way back to the Naboo Starship. He made Qui-Gon fight him in the lightsaber duel, launching quick attacks after swings. After all the people on the starship had arrived at Coruscant, the Jedi were surpised that the Sith had returned, believed to be nonexistent for more than 2,000 years.

Shortly after the Queen had planned and started an attack on the droid armies of the Trade Federation, Qui-Gon and his apprentice Obi-Wan Kenobi entered the ship hangar of where Nute Gunray was hiding. After the Jedi, Queen, and Republic officers had taken out the droids, Darth Maul stood behind the blast door and drew out his double-bladed lightsaber. Obi-Wan and Qui-Gon fought him in a long battle. He chased them into the reactor room, and after Obi-Wan was separated from his master by one of the laser walls in the security hallway, he quickly killed Qui-Gon.

Obi-Wan was overwhelmed with despair and anger by the loss of his master, and let anger grew inside him. He delivered several vicious attacks on Maul, catching him off guard and slicing his saber in two. With only one functional lightsaber blade, Darth Maul fought back and knocked Obi-Wan into the shaft, and kicked Obi-Wan's weapon into the pit. While Obi-Wan was hanging on for his life, he remembered what his master had told him: "Be mindful of the living Force." At that moment, the Force flowed within Obi-Wan, and he jumped up, called his master's lightsaber to his hand, and striked at Darth Maul. Maul stood still, groaned weakly, and fell backwards into the pit, splitting in two at the waist as he fell.

In the third season of Star Wars: The Clone Wars tv series, Darth Maul is mentioned on many occassions in the episode "Monster" and his origins are revealed. Maul was born and raised on the planet Dathomir by the Nightbrother Clan and left to become one of the galaxy's most feared villains. Maul also had two siblings: Savage Opress and Feral. Savage was chosen to become the replacement of Count Dooku's assassin Asajj Ventress whom Dooku betrayed to prevent her from killing him and taking control of the Sepratists. Ventress was presumed dead by Dooku after he ordered his droids to open fire on their command ship where a battle between Ventress, Obi-wan Kenobi, and Anakin Skywalker was taking place. As a result, Kenobi and Skywalker escaped in their ships while Ventress supposedly died. In reality, she narrowly escaped with her damaged ship and fleed to Dathomir. Mother Talzin, the leader of the Nightsister Clan, along with Ventress herself, planned to use Savage to get close enough to the Count and eventually kill him as an act of vengeance for betraying Ventress.

In "Witches of the Mist", Ventress and Savage Opress confronted Dooku together, but failed and ended with Dooku victorious, Ventress betraying Savage, and Savage Opress himself using a stolen spacecraft to escape. Ventress escaped seprately through one of the frigate's escape pods. After Savage returned to Dathomir, he informed Talzin of the event. Talzin revealed that Darth Maul is in fact still alive and that he lives in exile somewhere in the Outer Rim. When Talzin suggests he find his brother, Savage Opress promised to return and left for the Outer Rim in search of Darth Maul. Darth Maul was confirmed to return in season 4 of Star Wars: The Clone Wars once again as an antagonist, possibly alongside Savage Opress.

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