Since Disney acquired Lucasfilm in 2012, many fans agree that the company has not been able to quite capture the essence of Star Wars better than the creator of the franchise himself, George Lucas. Disney has produced some extremely successful and objectively good pieces of Star Wars media since 2015. The Force Awakens is the highest-grossing movie at the domestic box office of all time. The Mandalorian helped launch Disney+ and make the streaming service what it is today. Andor has been praised by both critics and fans as one of the greatest stories ever told in fiction.
Star Wars has been one of modern storytelling's juggernauts since George Lucas created the franchise in 1977 with a film that, at the time, was simply called Star Wars (now known as A New Hope). A lot of fans have mixed opinions about the direction Disney has taken the universe, but every now and then (like with The Mandalorian and Andor), pretty much everyone agrees that a project is great. In some cases (looking at you, Rise of Skywalker), nearly everyone agrees that it's not so great.
Star Wars would not be where it is today without the story of Anakin Skywalker. Lucas spent three feature films telling the story of that character's fall to the Dark Side of the Force, and then three more movies explored his redemption. Between all of that, more media, such as the animated, seven-season Clone Wars series, added even more layers to the overall story. The story of Anakin and Darth Vader was always the central point of Lucas' Star Wars story, and what a fantastic story it is.
Maul - Shadow Lord Took George Lucas' Best Star Wars Story and Improved It
Disney and Lucasfilm recently released a 10-part animated series titled Maul - Shadow Lord on Disney+. The title follows Sam Witwer's Maul, one of the most iconic and layered villains in Star Wars history, as he tries to rebuild his criminal empire known as the Shadow Collective while trying to stay out of the crosshairs of the actual Galactic Empire, which rules the galaxy far, far away with an iron fist led by Emperor Palpatine and Darth Vader.
Many fans expected to see a rather simple show modeled after Disney's other animated Star Wars titles. What actually came, though, was something entirely different, and is best described as a deep character study, not just of Maul, but also of an entirely brand new character.
Maul - Shadow Lord introduced Star Wars fans to a character named Devon Izara. Devon was established as a Jedi Padawan who had survived Order 66 alongside her master, Eeko-Dio Daki. The pair were hiding on the planet Janix when Maul also came to the planet looking to hide from the Empire. Devon eventually got tangled up with Maul and local law enforcement, which is where her character arc truly began.
Essentially, Maul was in search of a new apprentice. His end goal has always been to get revenge on those who have deeply wronged him, and no one has wronged him more than Emperor Palpatine. After learning of Devon's existence and spending a bit of time around her, Maul seemingly chose her as his new apprentice, even though she was more than unwilling to even speak to him.
Throughout Shadow Lord, Maul made Devon be in his presence. Then, when the Empire finally showed up on the planet, Maul, Devon, and Master Daki had no choice but to work together in order to survive and escape the planet. Maul took this opportunity to continue to manipulate Devon, constantly urging her to give in to her anger and let a more extreme side take over.
As the series progressed, it was clear Devon began to trust Maul more and more. Then, during the Season 1 finale (Shadow Lord has already been renewed for a second season), Devon finally made the jump and fully embraced the Dark Side after her master was killed.
Devon ended up in the same headspace as Maul. Master Daki's death filled her with rage, and she wanted nothing more than to get revenge on the Empire, specifically Darth Vader (who killed Daki) and the Inquisitors.
George Lucas' three Star Wars movies in the prequel trilogy and The Clone Wars were all about Anakin's fall to the Dark Side. In a way, Maul - Shadow Lord is more about Devon's fall to the Dark Side than anything else.
It isn't a surprise that Disney would try to recreate Anakin's tragic character arc in its own manner with a different character. After all, the fall of Anakin Skywalker is George Lucas' greatest work in the galaxy far, far away, and is so prominent that it can be compared to some of the most influential stories or events that have remained prominent for thousands of years. For example, there is a direct resemblance between Anakin's fall from the Jedi Order/turning into Darth Vader, and Lucifer betraying God, being cast out of Heaven, and becoming Satan in Christianity.
However, what is surprising and even hard to admit is that Disney and Lucasfilm did a better job with Devon's character arc and turn to the Dark Side than George Lucas did with Anakin's. At the end of the day, Anakin's may be more effective in the long run, but Devon's was absolutely more efficient and felt just as earned.
In just 10 episodes (which were around 25 minutes each) of a TV series, Devon went from a full Jedi to fully embracing the Dark Side, and everything was organic and made complete sense. It took three feature films and a seven-season TV show (The Clone Wars) to fully justify Anakin’s turn and make it believable. In total, Devon’s happened in around 4 hours of content (some of which she wasn't even a part of), and Anakin's occurred across countless hours.
It is also worth noting that Devon's fall to the Dark Side was told linearly. It was all planned out to happen throughout Shadow Lord Season 1, and it was executed without anyone having to go back and fill in any details. In Anakin's case, he was first introduced as a villain, so Lucas then went back and gave him a backstory and told the major details of what led him to the Dark Side. Then, he still wasn't fully satisfied with it, so he created The Clone Wars, which provided even more evidence and credibility to Anakin finally giving in.
So, with Devon's story, Disney and Lucasfilm successfully recreated Anakin's turn to the Dark Side but improved it in many ways. However, it does help that Devon and Anakin share quite a few character similarities, some of which fans probably didn't even catch.
Anakin and Devon Are More Similar Than Fans Think
Devon's story is not unlike Anakin's. In fact, when compared side-by-side, they are extremely similar. Obviously, Devon isn't the Chosen One, and the fate of the galaxy doesn't rest in her hands (at least, not yet), but a lot of the layers Anakin has are a lot of the same layers Devon has.
They both suffered compounding trauma (Anakin’s was his mother dying and then the fear that Padme would die, while Devon’s was Order 66 and then Daki dying), they were both being manipulated by a prominent Dark Side figure (Darth Sidious for Anakin and Maul for Devon), and more.
It is also worth noting that both Anakin and Devon were essentially failed by the Jedi Order, despite having extremely strong Jedi Masters who really cared for them. Obi-Wan Kenobi was like a brother to Anakin, and he did so much to help Anakin, as well as make sure he was as prepared as possible for everything he would face as a Jedi.
However, the hypocrisy of the Order played an integral role in Anakin's turn to the Dark Side. After Anakin began having dreams of Padme dying, he went to Yoda, the wisest person he knew, so that he could talk about those dreams. Instead of really helping Anakin, Yoda basically told him that he shouldn't be worrying about things like death and that he should let any feelings and attachments go. Obviously, Anakin was deeply in love with Padme, so that wasn't an option.
In Devon's case, she became extremely conflicted during Maul - Shadow Lord. She witnessed Order 66 firsthand and its aftermath, so she had already gone through something traumatic. Then, Devon and Daki were literally starving, but Daki did not give her permission to steal any food for themselves.
Then, all throughout the series, Devon could have benefited from at least tapping into the Dark side just a little bit. She didn't have to turn full Sith, but at least finding a balance between the Light and the Dark could have been useful for Devon and Daki. However, Daki was set in his ways that he learned from the Jedi, which eventually led to his death, which then caused Devon's full Dark Side turn. So, essentially, the ways of the Jedi failed Devon, just as they did Anakin.
One more interesting element of Maul - Shadow Lord came right when Daki was killed by Darth Vader. Vader stabbed Daki through the chest with his lightsaber, and it was revealed that Devon saw everything. As Devon saw her master being killed, she was overcome with rage. The Kiners (the composers for Maul - Shadow Lord and other animated Star Wars projects) included a rearrangement of a section from "Anakin’s Dark Deeds."
"Anakin's Dark Deeds" is a track that played in Revenge of the Sith as Anakin was fulfilling his turn to the Dark Side. It is quite interesting that the Kiners would take a motif that played when Anakin was completely giving himself over to the Dark Side and reuse it for when Devon's turn was fulfilled as well.
At the end of the day, Star Wars will always be most known for being about Anakin Skywalker and his turn to the Dark Side, and then his redemption. It is a story that has directly caused Star Wars to not only stay relevant but also remain a fictional juggernaut for nearly 50 years.
However, when comparing Anakin's fall to the Dark Side (which is the best part of Anakin's story and George Lucas' best storytelling within Star Wars) with Devon's, hers was probably executed more efficiently, and, honestly, even a bit better.
