One of the reasons Star Wars: Maul — Shadow Lord is a major hit, aside from the fact that it centers on Sam Witwer‘s titular dark-side user, is that it’s largely been a standalone story. All you need to know is that Maul is a former Sith Lord, he’s rebuilding his empire, and it’s affecting everyone’s lives on the planet Jannix. For longtime Star Wars fans, the idea of Maul rebuilding his criminal empire during the rise of the Empire is an idea ripe with promise. That’s especially true of this week’s episode, which introduces a surprising character from a Star Wars film that debuted eight years ago.
In the episodes “Call to Oblivion” and “The Creeping Fear,” Maul ends up fighting the Empire’s Inquisitors, as the Jedi hunters come to Jannix looking for him. During the conflict, Imperial forces outright decimate most of his “Shadow Collective,” including the Mandalorian mercenaries who work for him. “The Creeping Fear” reveals that Maul has been contacted by the criminal syndicate Crimson Dawn, with a request to meet with its leader, Dryden Vos. Vos previously appeared in Solo: A Star Wars Story, where he played a major role in shaping the man Han Solo (Alden Ehrenreich) wouldbecome.
Dryden Vos and Maul Become Allies Prior to ‘Solo: A Star Wars Story’
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Solo: A Star Wars Story quickly establishes that Vos is one of the deadliest gangsters in the galaxy, as Han is forced to steal the rare mineral coaxium for him or be killed. Thanks to the network of scars across his face, Vos is also a rare Star Wars villain who stands out in both personality and appearance. Sadly, Vos’s time was short-lived, as his right-hand man, Qi’ra (Emilia Clarke), kills him and then reports to Maul. Maul tells Qi’ra that “they will be working much more closely in the future,” which was a moment ripe with promise…until Solo had a massive stumble at the box office.
Incidentally, Solo isn’t the only Star Wars project that hints at Vos and Maul working together. In the final season of Star Wars: The Clone Wars, Maul ends up communicating with his fellow crime lords about their future prior to his battle with Ahsoka Tano (Ashley Eckstein) and the fall of the Republic. Vos was among those crime lords, though whether he abandoned Maul like the rest of them remains to be seen. Previous episodes of Shadow Lord established that Maul wasn’t in a very forgiving mood when dealing with his former associates, so Vos would either have to stay loyal to him or have a deal he couldn’t possibly pass up.
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The series has already been renewed for Season 2 and become one of Star Wars’ highest-rated shows.
‘Star Wars: Maul — Shadow Lord’ Will Pick Up On a Loose Story Thread from ‘Solo’
Now that Crimson Dawn has re-entered Maul’s orbit, Shadow Lord can finally establish their connection and how it affects crime in the Star Wars universe. While Vos might have been feared, Maul is a deadly force all on his lonesome; having someone like that on your side would make people fall in line very quickly. Shadow Lord has also been renewed for a second season, so there’s plenty of room to explore Maul’s criminal activities and how they shaped Solo‘s events. It also ties into Maul’s quest to discover who he is following the Empire’s rise to power, which Sam Witwer discussed with ScreenRant at last year’s Star Wars Celebration.
“He comes from a time of knights and magic and dragons, and now he’s seeing an Empire that is sucking the magic and life and color out of the galaxy…How does he feel about a world where his sworn enemy, the Jedi Knights, are gone? How does he feel about the Jedi now? How does he feel about his whole life?”
With Maul at a crossroads, he needs all the allies he can get, and Vos could provide him with those allies in Crimson Dawn. It also shows that Lucasfilm head Dave Filoni isn’t willing to let any idea go to waste, no matter what Star Wars story it comes from.
- Release Date
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April 6, 2026
- Network
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Disney+
- Directors
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Brad Rau
