Every time an episode of Star Wars: Maul – Shadow Lord lands, Fantha Tracks will be giving their responses, and here are our initial gut feelings, deep dives and thoughts on episodes five and six of season one, ‘Inquisition’ & ‘Night of the Hunted’. Beware of spoilerific elements in here.
Eric Onkenhout
Here we are already 60% through the first season of Maul – Shadow Lord, and I wish it would go on forever. This week’s pair of episodes, Inquisition and Night of the Hunted, gave us all what we were waiting for: the Empire’s arrival. Their search for Maul was initiated by Two-Boots in the previous episode to assist in his apprehension. Little did Two-Boots know what he had unleashed on Janix. With the Empire’s arrival, not only will they aid in the search for Maul, but they may never leave once they accomplish their goal. What Two-Boots did is a very similar situation to what Jar Jar Binks did in Attack of the Clones. A well-meaning action initiated by a person, or in this case, a droid, that had grave consequences. The only difference is that Jar Jar was manipulated into making his vote. Two-Boots made his decision fully independently. I’m not sure which is worse.
The Empire arrives, dropping dozens of LAAT/i’s filled with stormtroopers who instantly begin interrogating civilians. Leading a squad of troopers was Lieutenant Blake, dripping with arrogance and contempt for the citizens of Janix. Blake immediately heads for the Command Center and pulls Chief Klyce aside to find out what she knows about Maul and whether or not she kept his location a secret, which would not be wise. You would think they would happily tell Blake that it was Two-Boots who made the call if nothing more than to take the heat off Klyce and Lawson. And maybe, just maybe, receive a few words of praise from Blake. Who would later tell Two-Boots to remove his non-issue boots.
The Imperial interrogation is something we’ve seen many times in Kenobi, Rebels, and Andor. The only difference with this one is that it’s still very early on in the Empire’s reign, so folks aren’t fully aware of what the Empire is really doing. At this point, some still want to believe that all the Empire wants is to keep peace through control. The only ones really fearful are Jedi Devon and her master Eeko-Dio Daki. After Klyce’s interrogation is over, they pull in Lawson, who is personally interrogated by an inquisitor, Marrok, who first appeared on season one of Ahsoka. Much later, after Lawson is released, he comes home to find Daki and Devon hiding out in his apartment with his son, Rylee, when Marrok slices through the front door.
Let’s face it, the highlight of both of these episodes was the lightsaber duels. First between Daki, Devon, and Marrok, and then the heavyweight bout between Maul, Devon, and Marrok (but mainly Maul and Marrok). That’s why we’re all watching, isn’t it? Don’t get me wrong, the entire show has been phenomenal from the word go, but it’s the lightsaber duels that have been the icing on the cake. First of all, they are absolutely beautiful to watch in all their deadly glory. Witnessing Maul embrace his talent for wielding a lightsaber is a gift to everyone. He is so much more than his need for revenge. I’m always a little surprised at how deft inquisitors are with lightsabers. I always think of them as being henchmen like the Fifth Brother or the Ninth Sister from Jedi: Fallen Order. I’m sure Vader dispenses whoever he thinks is appropriate for the mission.
As lightsabers fiercely clash aboard a subway train, Devon cuts the link to the car Marrok is standing on, causing him to fade in the distance while Maul, Devon, and Rylee speed away. Devon turns to face Maul, but he extinguishes his saber and walks away, and basically tells Devon, I told you so. Marrok, on the other hand, returns to the Star Destroyer in orbit to confirm that Maul lives to a cloaked figure via hologram. Will we see Sidious dispatch Vader to deal with Maul? I’m not sure the internet can contain the level of insanity that would be conjured if that were to happen. I actually might have to call out of work the next day. Sorry, boss, I have a bad case of Star Wars fever!
Daniel Lo
Screenwriter Matt Michnovetz described Janix as “untouched by the Empire. It’s got a functioning democracy and law enforcement doing a good job of policing their own community. It’s a rich environment for crime and gangsters, but so far there’s been a very peaceful accord between all of them in the interest of business.” Since the show had already opened with a robbery, we never fully get to see this. After the third and fourth episodes of Star Wars: Maul – Shadow Lord, that door now seems closed forever.
In the first week’s review, I had mentioned that the dynamic between Maul and Devon reminded me of Palpatine and Anakin: a dark force user playing a long game in order to manipulate a young Jedi. That barge appears to have sailed as well. Maul likely lacks Palpatine’s finesse, while Devon may be a bigger skeptic than Anakin. Surviving Order 66 would do that to anyone.
Within these two episodes, Maul makes quick work of the Pykes and places a new puppet boss in charge, Devon escapes and reunites with her master, and the Empire finally shows up. We also get a couple of lightsaber duels, of which the outcome of the second still isn’t clear. How badly hurt is Daki? The power balance between Maul and the Empire is also unclear. Surely whatever a Star Destroyer can do is insignificant next to the power of the Force? Then again, Maul is currently “hurt“, too.
If I had to choose one scene that felt out of place, I would go with Lawson’s appearance at his son’s game only to be promptly called away again. This makes for a disappointed Rylee when he notices his dad is gone, but so far the younger Lawson doesn’t play an obvious enough role to guess how consequential that is.
The show is still dark and gritty. For me this means that as an animated show, it remains much more engaging. At this point, I’m left with no reason to think this might change. So far so good, but why does Two Boots need to blink?
Greg McLaughlin
We’re fortunate that we got ten episodes and at least two seasons of Shadow Lord, because each week we are shown that Lucasfilm is delivering the goods with marvelous pacing. I absolutely love how this series lets some scenes breathe. I’ve spoken before about how brilliant the dialogue is, but I also must compliment the space in between those words which are filled quite well.
The Maul combat routine, which presumably was also to test his recently repaired knee, was a cool way to show his devotion, concentration, and about how calm his life ever was at any one time, before eventually interrupted by Rook. I’ll assume the lightsaber routine was at least a partial motion capture, but that’s no slight to the animators who did a wonderful job here.
I also loved the brief scene between Devon and Rylee which underscores the enormous difference between how two teenagers, roughly the same age, can grow up so differently in this universe. But they also strike me as two who don’t feel quite complete – Devon, without a purpose with the end of the Jedi Order, and Rylee, who comes from a broken home. I like his initial instinct to protect her from the Imperial raid, only to find she will be hands down his protector. I would hope that we see more between these two. I think they play well off each other.
We may not though, because Jedi Master Daki played his only hand, seeking refuge at the Lawson residence, only to see it destroyed when they are discovered. With the Lawsons now on the run, they can’t go back to any semblance of their life before. I would also expect some exploration of how this impacts them and Drea, the mother who we got to meet in this arc. With no visible insignia on her uniform, she doesn’t seem to be an Imperial Officer, but does work on Coruscant, perhaps in some rear echelon capacity. With her ex and son on the run, I’m sure that’s not going to look good with her HR department.
Finally we see Two Boots come to a slow realization that the Empire is not as good for Janix as he was computing. I wonder to what extent his protocol will deviate from this point on.
It’s a shame that this will come to a close for season one so quickly. It feels like it’s just getting started.
Melissa T. Miller
These two episodes show the Empire arriving on Janix and the oppressive feeling of their ships and troops arriving and immediately taking over gives real Andor vibes. We know that they won’t leave, won’t give back any of the power they take over. Two Boots continuing his justification of calling Imperial forces is upsetting, as is Lawson’s wife’s advice to their son. “Cooperate and you’ll be left alone” is straight out of the fascist’s playbook and hits horribly close to reality these days.
The artistic look of this show continues to impress. I really hope the recent Disney layoffs didn’t affect the team who made this show. The details actually take my breath away. Lawson’s interrogation scene portrays emotion so persuasively, I’m not sure I’ve ever seen anything like it in an animation TV show – the leg bounce, the hand flex. Amazing to watch. And even cooler than the red vs. red lightsaber battle from last week is the brief double red vs. double red of Maul and the Inquisitor. Devon and Maul teaming up is a powerful moment and I’m enjoying (and empathizing) with her confusion about loyalty and enemies.
I was surprised by the design of the stormtroopers, who already look so different from the clones of only a few years before in the timeline and already very close to the original trilogy. I tried not to let it distract me, but definitely wondered if that makes sense and imagined the assembly line to create that many pieces of armor in such a short time. The blessing and the curse of my Star Wars fandom is that I’m always thinking about off-screen and unexplored things like this. Shows like this, in the margins of the Skywalker Saga, answer as many questions as they pose for me. The stakes continue to rise and I’m eager for the rest of these episodes and pleased to see there will be a season 2!
Sander de Lange looks at all the reveals and easter eggs in Star Wars: Maul – Shadow Lord – The Guide: Chapter 5 ‘Inquisition’
Sander de Lange looks at all the reveals and easter eggs in Star Wars: Maul – Shadow Lord – The Guide: Chapter 6 ‘Night of the Hunted’
Hear Mark Newbold and Mark Mulcaster discuss Chapters Five and Six of season one on Making Tracks Reaction Chat: Maul – Shadow Lord Episodes 5 &6
Watch Brian Cameron and Paul Naylor discuss episodes 5 and 6 on Your Weekly Star Wars News Recap For 26th April 2026 | Good Morning Tatooine
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