Duel at the Sundari Royal Palace

"Remember&hellip; the first and only reality of the Sith&mdash;there can only be two&hellip; and you are no longer my apprentice!"

- Darth Sidious to Darth Maul

The duel at the Royal Palace in Sundari was a lightsaber battle in which Darth Sidious eliminated the threat of former Sith Lord Darth Maul and his apprentice Savage Opress, during the Battle of Sundari in 20 BBY. Sidious sensed in the Force Maul's desire to replace him as the ruling Sith Lord, so he proceeded to get conquer both Maul and Opress at Sundari, on the planet Mandalore. Sidious killed Opress and cornered Maul with his Force lightning.

Prelude
"How unfortunate&hellip; that you are attempting to deceive me." "Master?" "You have become&hellip; a rival!"

- Darth Sidious and Darth Maul

Darth Maul was once the Sith apprentice to Darth Sidious before his defeat during the Battle of Naboo and subsequent exile. Sidious took a replacement apprentice following Maul's supposed death. Twelve years later, Maul returned to the galaxy in 20 BBY and joined his brother Savage Opress in raising an army from members of the galaxy's underworld: the Shadow Collective. The two Sith joined with the Mandalorian Death Watch to takeover the planet Mandalore.

As Darth Maul grew in power on Mandalore, Palpatine sensed the resulting disturbance in the Force. He took a shuttle to Mandalore in order to confront the new threat to his power.

While Darth Maul meditated in the Sundari Royal Palace throne room during the ongoing Battle of Sundari&mdash;between Death Watch loyal to Maul and rogue members of the Death Watch allied with the Jedi Knight Obi-Wan Kenobi, he suddenly felt a familiar presence and recognized it as that of his former master. As if in confirmation of his recognition, the two Mandalorian super commandos guarding the door at the end of the throne room were suddenly Force choked to death, and the door opened to reveal Darth Sidious, who walked toward the two Nightbrothers.

Bowing before his former master, who voiced his surprise that Maul survived the duel on Naboo, Maul claimed that he had used his Sith training to live and form the network he had built, in the hopes of returning to Sidious' side once more. However, Sidious, turning away, stated that he saw through Maul's deception and, suddenly turning back again, Force pushed Maul and Opress onto the windows, clarifying that Maul has become a rival.

First duel
Once Sidious released Maul and Opress, the two brothers cast off all pretenses and prepared to engage the Sith Lord by activating their lightsaber. In response, Sidious ignited two of his own lightsabers. Maul and Opress attacked him from both sides, but Sidious blocked the blows.

The duel progressed out onto the Palace balcony, where Maul managed to distract Sidious temporarily from Opress' charge. However, as Sidious fell, he Force pulled both brothers from the balcony, and together they fell to the plaza below. There, they continued to battle until Sidious, in a display of Force-enhanced acrobatics, disengaged from both opponents and used the Force to push Maul into the stairs, where he suffered a blow to the head and temporarily blacked out. Sidious was now free to focus on defeating the hulking Opress, and he paralyzed the Zabrak's arms with well-placed kicks before impaling him with both lightsabers, while smirking and chuckling at a horrified Maul, who had just regained consciousness.

Opress' death
"Brother, I am an unworthy apprentice. I'm not like you&hellip; I never was."

- Savage Oppress, to Darth Maul

After mortally wounding Opress, Sidious threw him off the courtyard into the street below using the Force. He then allowed Maul to run past him to the fallen Opress. As the wounded Zabrak died, the enhancements provided by Mother Talzin dissipated in a green mist that swirled around the brothers. With his last breath, he communicated his regret that he was never worthy to be an apprentice to Maul, due to their differing personalities.

As Maul knelt over the body of his fallen brother, Sidious spoke, reminding him of Darth Bane's millennium-old Rule of Two: there could only ever be two Sith Lords at a time. He revealed that Maul had been replaced after his defeat, before he jumped down to continue the duel.

Second duel
"Don't worry. I'm not going to kill you. I have&hellip; other uses for you."

- Darth Sidious, to Darth Maul

Enraged, Maul ignited the darksaber and engaged Sidious once again. For a while, his use of Jar'Kai allowed him to hold his own against the elder Sith until the two entered a bladelock. Sidious overpowered Maul and forced his blades down towards the hilts of Maul's sabers, before forcing them apart and away.

He finished the duel by flinging Maul against wall with a mural on it, and Maul fellagainst the ground. Despite Maul's pleas for mercy, he stated that among the Sith there was no mercy, then started to electrocute Maul with Force lightning. As Maul screamed in pain, Sidious told him that he had other plans for him, while sporting a triumphant smile.

Aftermath
The Battle of Sundari soon concluded with Kenobi escaping Mandalore with the knowledge of what was happening on Mandalore after Maul's rise to power. Following Maul's defeat, the Shadow Collective eventually returned to power in Mandalore. In addition to this, the Rule of Two was maintained with the death of Opress and the defeat of Maul, ensuring that only Palpatine and Darth Tyranus were the only Sith Lords left.

Behind the scenes
"You belong to me. Your existence is now perfectly meaningless."

- Sidious to Darth Maul in an altered quote from ''Star Wars: The Clone Wars: Darth Maul: Shadow Conspiracy

The Duel at Sundari appears in Star Wars: The Clone Wars fifth season episode "The Lawless".

Though this duel was similar in most respects to the one presented in Jason Fry's 2013 book Star Wars: The Clone Wars: Darth Maul: Shadow Conspiracy, the book left the impression that Maul met his death at the hands of Sidious, whereas the episode reveals he spared Maul for his own purposes.

Appearances

 * Star Wars: The Clone Wars: Darth Maul: Shadow Conspiracy