Darth Maul SAVED The Galaxy Long Before The Phantom Menace (Yes, Really)

Warning! This post contains SPOILERS for Darth Maul: Black, White & Red #1

Star Wars has revealed that Darth Maul actually saved the entire galaxy before the events of The Phantom Menace (and no one ever knew). Despite being the first Sith apprentice to Darth Sidious/Palpatine, a mission carried out by Darth Maul resulted in the galaxy being spared a terrible fate. While it was still in the name of the dark side of the Force, Maul’s canonical new series from Marvel Comics proves that there are worse things than the Dark Lords of the Sith.

As seen in Marvel’s Darth Maul: Black, White & Red #1 from Benjamin Percy and Stefano Raffaele, Darth Sidious sends his apprentice to investigate a prison ship overtaken by a Force cult known as the Final Occultation. Thanks to the cult sending transmissions filled with agonized screams and mind-breaking horrors, Sidious is very eager to learn about their chaotic power sourced from the netherworld of the Force and how it might be used for his ends. However, Maul quickly recognizes the true chaos and danger the cult poses by the end of this issue, set before the Star Wars prequels:

Confirming that the Final Occultation would have broken the galaxy had he not destroyed them by crashing the prison ship, this issue confirms that Darth Maul saved the Star Wars galaxy from this Force cult that intended to overwhelm it in absolute chaos and terror-filled pain.

Darth Maul Was Offered New Power Beyond The Sith

Sidious’ Apprentice Saw The Truth Of The Final Occultation

Facing the leading trinity of the Final Occultation one by one, the final leader did promise Maul a position among their ranks. Offering him the chance to become one of their high priests due to his knowledge and control of pain, Maul could have embraced their chaotic power and desire to break the entire galaxy in agony. However, Maul rejects their offer due to his training and beliefs in the ways of the Sith.

Unlike this new Force cult, the Sith Lords wield the dark side of the Force to subjugate and exert their will and control over the galaxy. Power and control are their core tenets, and Maul correctly sees that the Final Occulation seeks only chaos and discord. To that end, Maul knew that they would have to be destroyed to maintain the will of the Sith, while also saving the galaxy from a fate that likely would have been much darker and worse than the plans of his master.

Darth Maul Saved The Galaxy By Defying His Master

Maul Saw The Need For Order

Darth Maul saving the galaxy from the Final Occultation did involve defying his master (to a degree). As an act of borderline Sith heresy not uncommon for Palpatine, the Sith Lord originally wanted Maul to take prisoners so he could interrogate and learn more about their power. However, Maul believed it was far too dangerous to keep any of them alive. As such, Maul ensured that the legacy of the Final Occultation ended with him, an impressive and equally surprising mission that confirms he saved the Star Wars galaxy before trying to bring it under the control of the Sith in The Phantom Menace.

Darth Maul: Black, White & Red #1 is available now from Marvel Comics.