Maul - Shadow Lord broke the biggest rule in storytelling as it completely changed past events in Star Wars canon, but series lead Sam Witwer explained exactly why, and it makes complete sense. It is no secret that Disney and Lucasfilm created something truly special with Maul - Shadow Lord. The animated Disney+ series is currently tied with The Empire Strikes Back on IMDb (8.7 out of 10) as the highest-rated Star Wars project to ever be released, and fans can't stop talking about it. However, it made a lot of bold choices, and one of those choices was to entirely break canon in order to support Maul's character arc.
In Maul - Shadow Lord Episode 8, Maul found himself alone following a fight that pitted him against Marrok and the Eleventh Brother, who are two Force-wielding Dark Side users part of an initiative known as the Inquisitorius. As Maul was essentially dealing with defeat, he encountered multiple visions of the past. These visions presented themselves as flashbacks and were extremely important moments from Star Wars canon that led Maul to be in the position he was in during the events of Shadow Lord.
Essentially, Maul witnessed points in time that directly fueled his hatred for characters like Darth Sidious, Obi-Wan Kenobi, and himself. However, when Maul saw these visions, they weren't accurate at all, as a lot of the most important details had been changed.
For example, one of the visions was of Maul being pulled away from his family by Sidious when he was just a young boy. When Maul looked on, he saw Sidious take his younger self away from his brother, Savage Opress. However, that never actually happened that way, because Maul did not meet Savage Opress until he was much older in The Clone Wars, and Savage never knew Maul was his brother.
So, essentially, these visions completely changed Star Wars canon because they were not depicted in the same way they happened in earlier projects.
In a recent interview on My Mom's Basement (shared via YouTube), Maul - Shadow Lord actor Sam Witwer (who plays Maul) explained that this was entirely intentional and that the decision was made to change those events in Maul's mind to prove how much certain moments of trauma affected Maul's current psyche.
Specifically, Witwer noted that he and the Shadow Lord crew actually "recorded" more of those previous Star Wars scenes for the show, but that they ended up "[hitting] the cutting room floor." He also confirmed that "the dialogue" from some of the scenes, such as the one that featured Maul with his spider legs, "was brand new for Shadow Lord."
Also, it is worth noting that Witwer was asked to portray all of the characters in those scenes for the same reason that the canon events were changed:
"You would be shocked how much we recorded for that storyline alone that either got revised or hit the cutting room floor. In regards to Spider-Maul, the dialogue that he has, although brief, was brand new for 'Shadow Lord.' And Brad (Rau), by the way, did me the extraordinary favor, he came to me and he said, ‘I want you to do all of the characters in this world, this dream world.’ And I’m like, ‘What? Am I Dee Baker? What’s- Brad? He's an amazing talent on 'The Bad Batch,' but I don’t know that I'm Dee Baker.’ He's like, ‘No, here's what I think.’ He said, ‘This is all in Maul’s head.’"
The Maul - Shadow Lord actor then talked about how the creative minds behind the show came together and agreed that the scenes would essentially be a combination of a flashback and a vision, but that they would be distorted and be "different."
For example, Witwer pointed out that "nothing that we see in those visions matches up with The Clone Wars or The Phantom Menace," and that the audience should "try to interpret why:"
"And Brad, very smartly, along with Dave (Filoni)’s help, and Matt (Michnovetz), he made sure that everything we saw in those ‘flashbacks…’ are they flashbacks? Seems like a vision? Is a vision a flashback? How does that work? Because nothing that we see in those visions matches up with 'The Clone Wars' or 'The Phantom Menace.' They're different. People saying things in a different order, you know, and the audience can take from that what they will. They can try to interpret why. We know why we did it that way. Brad knows why he did it that way."
Witwer more or less went on to explain why, though, as he revealed that the events were altered because, "while it's a vision, it's also [Maul's] remembrance," and that it "is all in his head:"
"But, going along with that, Brad said, ‘It needs to be your voice with all the characters. Young Savage, Sidious, Young Maul, because this is Maul’s, while it's a vision, it's also his remembrance, so this is all in his head."
So, the past events from Star Wars canon showed back up in the manner that they did and were changed because fans were seeing those moments from Maul's point of view instead of from an objective lens. They were skewed and different due to the trauma Maul had built up inside of him, and even though they didn't actually happen like that, the way he saw them in the show is how he remembers them, which in turn has caused him to feel the anger and hatred he does in the show.
This is actually a very real representation of how humans deal with trauma in real life. A lot of times, when someone goes through an extremely trying or traumatic experience, their memory of it becomes fuzzy, and then when their subconscious recreates that memory, it isn't entirely accurate.
So, Maul - Shadow Lord didn't actually change Star Wars canon from an unbiased point of view; it just recounted certain events from Maul's perspective, which was essentially a retelling of them from an unreliable narrator.
How Maul Remembers Important Star Wars Events Vs. How They Actually Happened
Maul Being Taken By Sidious
As mentioned, in Maul - Shadow Lord, one of Maul's visions features Darth Sidious taking Maul from his family when he was just a young boy. In the vision, Maul and Sidious aren't the only two characters there, as a younger version of Savage Opress is also there, pleading with Sidious not to take Maul away.
This specific scene was never actually depicted in The Clone Wars or in any other media, but The Clone Wars did specifically prove that there was no way Savage could have been there when Maul was taken away. In that show, when Savage is told of Maul's possible survival by Mother Talzin, he explicitly states that he did not know he had a brother.
After that, Mother Talzin sent Savage to find Maul, and when he was successful in his mission and the two crossed paths, it was for the first time. So, Maul remembering being taken away from Savage at an early age could not have happened, because Savage never even knew Maul existed until much later in life.
Obi-Wan Versus Maul in The Phantom Menace
Darth Sidious and Savage Opress made cameo appearances in Maul - Shadow Lord's eighth episode, but they weren't the only ones. Obi-Wan Kenobi also showed up extremely briefly in a memory from Obi-Wan's fight with Maul on Naboo in The Phantom Menace, but, like Maul's memory of being taken away by Sidious, this one also wasn't accurate.
Many fans will remember how, in The Phantom Menace, Maul killed Qui-Gon Jinn while Obi-Wan helplessly watched behind an impenetrable energy shield. After the shield went away, Obi-Wan ran into the room Maul was in and the two began a one-on-one duel. Moments later, Maul used the Force to push Obi-Wan into a seemingly bottomless shaft, but he was able to grab onto a protruding object to keep himself from falling.
After a few moments, Obi-Wan jumped over Maul's head, used the Force to pull Qui-Gon's green lightsaber to him, and cut Maul in half. Obi-Wan was trying to get a bit of revenge for his master, but he also had to kill Maul in order to survive himself.
In Shadow Lord, the same sound effects from The Phantom Menace of those energy doors opening played, and Obi-Wan, with a green lightsaber, ragefully charged at Maul and simply cut him in half as soon as he got to him. There was no duel, Maul didn't kill Qui-Gon, and Obi-Wan didn't flip over the top of Maul. Instead, Maul remembered it almost as Obi-Wan striking him down in cold blood. While that obviously didn't actually happen, it could further explain why Maul hates Obi-Wan so much, and why he wants revenge on him.
Spider-Maul
Another altered memory Maul had in Shadow Lord was from when Savage Opress first found him in The Clone Wars. In Maul's memory, while he still had his spider legs, he called out for help and asked his master not to leave him to die. Then, Savage saw him and asked if that was him. That vision made Maul seem extremely reserved, pitiful, and in a horrible state of mind.
However, in The Clone Wars Season 4, Episode 21, Maul actually tried to attack and kill Savage before Savage could convince him that they were brothers. The call for help and the line about his master not leaving him there to die were completely new, as those weren't said in The Clone Wars.
So, in Maul's memory, it seems as though he never attacked Savage when they first saw each other, and that he instantly called out for his help. He did eventually let Savage help him, but Maul still doesn't have an accurate recollection of what happened.
Savage's Death
Another traumatic experience from Maul's past that he experienced again in Shadow Lord was the death of his brother, Savage. Now, one part of this particular vision was entirely accurate, and it was the way in which Sidious killed Savage.
In The Clone Wars Season 5, Episode 16, Savage was standing behind Sidious. Sidious took both of his lightsabers, twirled them around, and then thrust them backwards into Savage's midsection. This is exactly what happened in Maul's vision, so that part was completely accurate to what actually happened.
However, in Maul's memory, when he then went to grab Savage's hand as he was dying, he recalled Savage say, "You must have your revenge." This is absolutely not even close to what Savage actually told him in The Clone Wars.
In reality, as Maul was holding Savage's hand and he was dying, Savage said, "Brother, I am an unworthy apprentice. I'm not like you. I never was." This is probably the most drastic change between Maul's memory and reality, because Maul actually has a lot of respect and love for Savage, and the fact that he remembers him telling Maul to get his revenge is absolutely a driving force for Maul's continued hatred and motivation to kill those who have wronged him.
Savage's real words had a much different meaning, as he was telling Maul that he lacked the pure hate and ruthlessness to be a Sith Lord. Savage was actually an extremely honorable Dathomirian warrior who was essentially forced and brainwashed into villainy. If Maul could remember what Savage truly said to him as he passed, it could greatly affect Maul and potentially help him change for the better. However, since he remembers Savage saying to get revenge, it only makes Maul continue even farther down the Dark Side path.
