Star Wars: Darth Maul—Son of Dathomir

"As I have always said, the stories told during the Clone Wars era will live on, and we are eager to share Darth Maul’s storyline with you."

- Dave Filoni

Star Wars: Darth Maul&mdash;Son of Dathomir is an ongoing four-issue comic book miniseries written by Jeremy Barlow, with artwork by penciller Juan Frigeri, inker Mauro Vargas, colorist Wes Dzioba, and cover artist Chris Scalf. The miniseries was published by Dark Horse Comics beginning on May 21, 2014, and will conclude with the fourth and final issue on August 20, 2014. Son of Dathomir is an adaptation of unproduced scripts from Star Wars: The Clone Wars, which would have been part of the television show's sixth season had the series not been cancelled in 2013. Although thirteen episodes from the sixth season were released as "The Lost Missions" on March 7, 2014, the episodes that Son of Dathomir were based on were not completed and therefore not released as actual episodes.

Son of Dathomir is set during the Clone Wars, and is a continuation of Darth Maul's story from the show. The rogue Sith Lord, who was revealed to have survived the events of Star Wars Episode I: The Phantom Menace in the episode "Witches of the Mist," has been captured by his former master, Darth Sidious, following the events of the episode "The Lawless." Sidious uses Maul in an attempt to draw Mother Talzin, Maul's mother and the leader of the Nightsisters, out of hiding so she can be destroyed, as Sidious considers her a potential threat to the eventual Sith domination of the galaxy. Maul confronts the Confederacy of Independent Systems and captures Count Dooku and General Grievous in pursuit of vengeance against his old master, while the Galactic Republic and the Jedi Order become involved in the hopes that they can defeat Maul, Dooku, and Grievous&mdash;and, in doing so, end the Clone Wars.

Publisher's summary
Getting cut in half by Obi-Wan Kenobi and being rejected by his former Sith master Darth Sidious isn't going to defeat Darth Maul. In fact, it only makes him mad enough to take on the galaxy&mdash;with an army of Mandalorians!

After forming the Shadow Collective&mdash;a criminal organization composed of the Hutts, Black Sun, the Mandalorians, and the fearsome Nightbrothers&mdash;Maul wages war against Darth Sidious and his generals, Count Dooku and General Grievous!

Adapted from unproduced screenplays for Season 6 of The Clone Wars television show, this is the final chapter planned for Darth Maul's saga!

Part 1
In the aftermath of Darth Maul's takeover on Mandalore, Maul is captured by Darth Sidious, his former Sith master. Sidious imprisons Maul in The Spire, a fortress controlled by the Confederacy of Independent Systems on Stygeon Prime. Sidious is followed by two Death Watch warriors, Rook Kast and Gar Saxon, who have orders from Mandalorian Prime Minister Almec to set Maul free. Once freed, Maul and the warriors are to rendezvous with Death Watch forces on Zanbar.

On Stygeon Prime, Sidious reveals that he still has use for Maul. The two are interrupted by Count Dooku, Sidious' current apprentice, whose arrival angers Maul; Maul views Dooku as a Sith pretender, one unworthy to the title. Sidious and Dooku leave Maul, as Sidious explains that he imprisoned his former apprentice to draw Mother Talzin, the Dathomir Witch, out of hiding so she can be destroyed. Sidious also reveals that he has a history with Talzin, who offered a young Maul to Sidious as a gift. Sidious orders Dooku to interrogate Maul and find out more information about the Shadow Collective, knowing that causing Maul to believe the Sith want to destroy his army will lead the former apprentice to seek out Talzin for help.

Meanwhile, Kast and Saxon arrive on Stygeon Prime and prepare to rescue their captive leader, who is being held on the seventh level of the fortress. Dooku proceeds to interrogate Maul, electrocuting him in an attempt to learn the names of Maul's associates and the location of his base of power. Maul, however, resists the Sith Lord, refusing to give up any information. Dooku leaves just before Death Watch sets off an explosion on the third level of the prison as a diversion, allowing them to enter the seventh level. Dooku sees through the charade, however, and commands his battle droids to pursue Death Watch. The two warriors reach Maul in time and blast out a wall of the interrogation cell, before making their way out of the fortress and down the mountain it sits upon via zipline. The three are able to escape the planet aboard a Mandalorian ship.

Separatist forces, led by General Grievous, pursue the ship on orders of Count Dooku. The Sith Lord makes it clear that Maul is not to be killed, only weakened. That way, he has enough reason to believe that the Sith wish to destroy his Shadow Collective and to seek out Mother Talzin for help. With Separatist forces in pursuit, Maul and the two warriors reach Zanbar. Maul speaks with Almec via hologram, where the Prime Minister says he ordered Maul's rescue as repayment for Maul freeing Almec from prison on Mandalore. Once again in command of his army, Maul reclaims his darksaber and tells the Mandalorians that the war they had been craving is at hand.

The Separatists arrive on the moon and launch all of their forces against Maul, knowing from experience that the Mandalorians will be a formidable enemy. Death Watch is overwhelmed by the droid soldiers, while Maul faces Grievous in single-combat. Death Watch is left in tatters, but Maul orders his Gauntlet fighters to firebomb the area, destroying much of the Separatist force as a result. Maul escapes in the chaos and orders his surviving forces to retreat from Zanbar.

In the battle's aftermath, Grievous speaks to Dooku via hologram and tells the Sith Lord that Maul's army is on the run, at the cost of most of Grievous' forces. Dooku reminds the General that these are acceptable losses, as they further the plan to push Maul towards Mother Talzin. Grievous inquires as to why the witch would choose to reveal herself to Maul and asks what value Maul could hold to her, to which Dooku replies that Grievous will learn in good time.

Part 2
Maul flees back into space, where he contacts Mother Talzin for guidance&mdash;just as Darth Sidious and Count Dooku intended him to do, hoping to lure Talzin into a trap. Talzin speaks to Maul from across space using Nightsister magic, as Maul tells her what happened on Zanbar. Talzin has anticipated that Sidious wants to lure her into a trap, so she sends Maul to Ord Mantell to regroup with his Black Sun allies. She tells Maul to gather his forces for another battle with the Separatists, so they can capture Dooku and Grievous, though she herself does not intend to be on Ord Mantell.

Upon arrival on Ord Mantell, Maul speaks with his allies in his Shadow Collective, namely Ziton Moj of Black Sun and Fife of the Pyke Syndicate, to inform them that a battle between them and the Separatists will take place on Ord Mantell. Maul expresses his confidence that they can defeat the Separatist battle droids and trap both Dooku and Grievous. Meanwhile, Dooku and Grievous prepare their own strategy while making their way to Ord Mantell, and Dooku informs the cyborg general that Talzin and Darth Sidious were once allies.

On Ord Mantell, Maul and his allies plan for their attack against the Separatists. The plan is to lure them into a specific point in the Black Sun-controlled territory, where the Mandalorians, Black Sun, and Pykes will engage in a counterattack against the invading droids. As they continue to prepare for battle, a team of Nightbrother warriors, led by Brother Viscus, arrives after having been sent by Mother Talzin to reinforce Maul's army. As Maul greets the Nightbrothers, the Separatists arrive in orbit and begin their attack, using their fleet to bombard the surface of Ord Mantell. Maul immediately orders his forces to begin carrying out their assault, while the Nightbrothers are to wait in the command center for instructions.

The Separatists deploy their droid forces on the surface, where they are met in battle by the limited but powerful number of Shadow Collective troops&mdash;Mandalorian, Pyke, and Black Sun alike. Meanwhile, Count Dooku arrives with a number of droid guards, while Maul leaves the surface and makes his way to the Separatist fleet. He and his Mandalorian warships attack the command ship, as Grievous realizes the Separatists have been lured into a trap. On the surface, Dooku is confronted by the Nightbrothers, and a duel ensues between the Sith Lord and the Dathomirian warriors.

The droid army continues its advance on the city, where Moj and Fife both begin to question Maul's plan while the droids cut through the Shadow Collective forces. As the droids arrive on their position and take the forces into custody, Maul continues his assault in space. His vessel attaches to the hull of the Separatist command vessel, as Maul and his forces board the ship and make their way to the bridge. Once there, the forces take out the battle droids, while Maul captures General Grievous and gives him a choice: disable the signal powering the droids on the surface, or die. Grievous disables the signal, shutting down the droids and allowing the captured Shadow Collective forces on the surface to escape from custody and cut the droids down. Dooku, meanwhile, defeats Viscus and the Nightbrothers, but is taken into custody by the Shadow Collective.

From the Separatist command ship, Maul contacts Mother Talzin to tell her what has happened. She promises that with Dooku and Grievous in custody, Sidious will soon be captured as well and they will both find revenge against him.

Part 3
In the aftermath of the battle on Ord Mantell, the Jedi Order sends a team to Ord Mantell to investigate what happened. Jedi Master Mace Windu contacts Supreme Chancellor Palpatine, secretly Darth Sidious,, to inform him that Darth Maul was behind the battle. Windu suspects that the Galactic Republic can use this information to capture Maul and Dooku, and use their capture to end the Clone Wars.

The Jedi continue their investigation in Ord Mantell City. Along with Windu are Obi-Wan Kenobi, Tiplee, and Aayla Secura. They discover a Death Watch helmet, confirming their intelligence that Mandalore had allied with Darth Maul. Fearing that Mandalore could fall to the Separatists, Kenobi and Tiplee launched an investigation of an asteroid outpost where the Jedi suspected Maul was hiding.

On the outpost, Maul contacts Darth Sidious via hologram and informs him that Dooku and Grievous have been captured. Sidious tells Maul to kill them, for the Dark Lord of the Sith has no use for what he sees as failures. Rather than kill them outright, Maul orders Grievous to be taken to the brig. Meanwhile, the Jedi begin their approach towards the outpost, and Tiplee fears that Kenobi will be unable to keep his emotions under control; Maul killed Satine Kryze, the Duchess of Mandalore and a close personal friend of Kenobi's. Kenobi assures his fellow Jedi that he will not fail.

As the Republic approaches, Maul offers Dooku a choice: join Maul or die. They were both betrayed by Sidious, so Maul believes they can be allies. Mother Talzin appears in a cloud of magic smoke, and reveals that she too was once betrayed by Darth Sidious&mdash;and that Darth Maul is her son. As Talzin explains, Sidious always betrays his allies, and even now is working to find a new apprentice. As they speak, the Republic assault on the outpost begins, and the Republic ships make their way through Gauntlet fighter fire towards the base. Grievous uses the chaos to make it to an escape pod, while Dooku agrees to join Maul and fight against Kenobi's boarding party.

When Kenobi and his team make it on board, he and Tiplee are quickly confronted by Maul and Dooku. They engage in a lightsaber duel, which is soon joined by Windu and Secura. Dooku kills Tiplee, and Gar Saxon shoots a small missile into the lightsaber duel to incapacitate the Jedi. With the Jedi knocked out, Maul and Dooku escape aboard a Gauntlet fighter. In the aftermath of the battle, Windu contacts Palpatine and informs him of the battle's outcome. The Jedi Master also surmises that the battle proves Dooku is the Sith Master, an incorrect assessment that Palpatine, the true Dark Lord, allows the Jedi to believe.

Part 4
Following their retreat from the supply outpost, Darth Maul races towards Dathomir with his forces&mdash;as well as Count Dooku. While en route to Dathomir, Maul is contacted by the Black Sun and Pyke Syndicate. Having lost the Zanbar, Ord Mantell, and the asteroid base in their fights against the Sith, the two allies have become worried that Maul's plan is failing that the fight has become the rogue Sith Lord's personal vendetta against his old master Maul assures them that they will be paid, and that, once Darth Sidious is dead, the galaxy will belong to the Shadow Collective. Maul then orders Saxon to keep the Pykes and Black Sun in line. Meanwhile, Maul tells Dooku that he knows the Sith Lord is not truly an ally, and that Dooku has been told by Sidious to play Maul's game. Maul then has Dooku taken into custody by Rook Kast..

Once on Dathomir, Maul speaks to Viscus, who survived his encounter with Count Dooku on Ord Mantell, and Viscus tells Maul that the preparations have been made for the next phase of their plan. The Nightbrothers take Dooku before Mother Talzin, who appears in a cloud of smoke and begins to unleash a magical attack against the Sith Lord.

Development
Son of Dathomir was initially conceived as four episodes of the television series Star Wars: The Clone Wars. There were four finished scripts that ultimately became Son of Dathomir, and those scripts were written for what was intended to be a full sixth season of the show; thirteen episodes of the sixth season were completed and released as "The Lost Missions" on March 7, 2014, but the Darth Maul episodes were not completed and therefore not included in the release. The scripts were written in conjunction with George Lucas, making them and, by extension, Son of Dathomir part of the official Star Wars canon. Once the episodes were written, they continued through the production process. The team on The Clone Wars did some design work for the episodes, and those designs, as well as the stories and characters from the scripts, were incorporated into the comic miniseries itself.

After the cancellation of The Clone Wars in 2013, Lucasfilm decided to adapt the four Darth Maul episodes into the Son of Dathomir comic miniseries. Dave Filoni, the show's supervising director, stated that he thought an adaptation would be a great idea. Not only would it allow Lucasfilm to continue telling unfinished stories from The Clone Wars, but Filoni also knew that Dark Horse Comics had done great work on Star Wars in the past and would be well-suited to adapting the episodes. Filoni turned over the design and story work for the episodes to Dark Horse, which would allow them to create, in Filoni's words, "an accurate representation of what [the production team] were planning for the show."

Writer Jeremy Barlow was brought on to adapt the episodes into comic book form. Barlow, who was hired for the miniseries by Star Wars editor Randy Stradley, set out to make the comic reader-friendly, knowing that not all readers would be aware of Maul's story from The Clone Wars. Because it was an adaptation of pre-written scripts, Barlow's work required, in his words, "sharp editing skills" and "judicious choices" in order to "keep as much of the screenplays intact as possible while still giving the comics their own exciting and natural flow. Filoni has also hinted that Son of Dathomir may not be the final Darth Maul story.

The first issue of the comic was released on May 21, 2014, with the second and third issues being released on June 18, 2014 and July 16, 2014, respectively. The fourth and final issue will be released on August 20, 2014.