Darth Maul has been a menacing villain ever since appearing in the first Star Wars movie in Lucas’ Prequel Trilogy, but the character’s premature death led to fans wondering about whether his presence in the story was a one-off deal.
A couple of years later, the Sith Lord returned in Dave Filoni’s The Clone Wars series, this time as a rogue agent out for revenge against those who had wronged him. As you’d imagine, the list included Obi-Wan Kenobi, the Jedi Master who cut him in half and left him for dead on Naboo. As such, the two butted heads on a number of other occasions until at last, they met one last time in the deserts of Tatooine, where the self-exiled Ben Kenobi dealt him the killing blow, finally ending his misery.
While Maul has served as a compelling side character even after the Prequels and in Disney’s era, especially through the final season of The Clone Wars, things would’ve gone a little differently had George Lucas still been in charge of the creative decisions regarding the Sequel Trilogy.
Indeed, according to the director, who talks about this in Star Wars Archives Episode 1-3 The Prequels, the former dark lord would have ultimately turned into the big bad of the story, with Luke, Leia, and the New Jedi Order working hard to destroy his galaxy-wide criminal syndicate. A fan on Reddit recently shared a photo of the book which reveals this, and you can check it out below.
As you can see, Lucas says that Maul would eventually become the “godfather of crime” in the galaxy, alongside his apprentice Darth Talon. Additionally, and as was the case in Disney’s Sequels, Luke would try to rebuild the Jedi Order from scratch, while his sister Leia struggled to help develop the New Republic.
Furthermore, had it been made, the creator’s Star Wars Sequel Trilogy would end with Leia as the Supreme Chancellor of the new Galactic Senate, implying that she was the Chosen One all along.
