Darth Maul secretly created his own Sith Empire in Star Wars‘ Dark Times. Treachery is the way of the Sith, as Darth Maul learned to his cost. The Sith Apprentice of Darth Sidious, Maul was discarded when Palpatine no longer felt he was useful. He wasn’t the first to be thrown aside by Palpatine, of course, with Sidious himself encouraging Anakin Skywalker to kill Count Dooku.
Oddly enough, Maul taught Palpatine an important lesson: that even an apparently failed apprentice could accomplish great things. As seen in Star Wars: The Clone Wars, Darth Maul effectively became a rival to Palpatine himself, establishing a Shadow Collective who served as a third power during the Clone Wars. Palpatine was forced to step out of the shadows to defeat Darth Maul personally, and he notably didn’t dismiss Anakin Skywalker after his defeat at Mustafar. But this wasn’t the end of Darth Maul’s rivalry to Palpatine; Maul survived Order 66 thanks to Ahsoka Tano, and reestablished the Shadow Collective, with a particular focus on an organization called Crimson Dawn.
Crimson Dawn Served As Darth Maul’s Greatest Tool
Darth Maul copied the Sith playbook when he figured out a way to undermine Palpatine. The Jedi had believed the Sith destroyed a thousand years before the Star Wars sequel trilogy, but instead they had retreated into the shadows. There, they launched a secret campaign to destroy the Jedi, one that involved working their way into the Republic and gradually corrupting it, turning it against its rulers and defenders. Darth Maul did pretty much the same with Crimson Dawn and the various other crime cartels, recruiting countless agents of the Empire to serve as his assets. He cultivated these over the course of decades, with even high-ranking generals (such as The Empire Strikes Back‘s General Veers) linked to his empire.
Maul was careful to ensure none of his agents knew his true identity; only the highest ranking leaders did. But he seems to have been particularly in Crimson Dawn, a crime cartel that existed before the days of the Empire, but that became more important than ever under Maul’s rule. He used Crimson Dawn to collect ancient Jedi and Sith artifacts, seeking tools to use against Darth Sidious; he even found an ancient Jedi superweapon, although that seems to have been too dangerous even for Darth Maul.
Darth Maul’s Crimson Dawn Followed The Rule Of Two
Darth Maul was a Sith at heart, and he followed the Sith Rule of Two as much as possible. It’s hard not to see Dryden Vos, leader of Crimson Dawn, as Darth Maul’s apprentice; Vos was a skilled combatant, trained in the art of Teräs Käsi, a martial art deliberately created to allow practitioners to hold their own against Force-sensitives. What is striking, though, is that Maul was clearly being forced to adapt to operate in a galaxy where Force-sensitives were few and far between; where Darth Vader and the Imperial Inquisitors were hunting down and killing any potential threats, even children. Maul had no Force-sensitives to work with, and so had no choice but to recruit others, and simply make do.
E.K. Johnston’s Crimson Climb charts the ascension of Han Solo’s first love, Qi’ra, through the ranks of Crimson Dawn. It shows the same pattern as the Rule of Two running through the entire organization; Qi’ra is essentially Dryden Vos’ apprentice, and she rises only so far before she must kill her master if she is to take his place. It’s the familiar pattern, that there must always be two; one to crave power, and the other to wield it. As seen in Solo: A Star Wars Story, Qi’ra ultimately killed Dryden Vos, and she took his place as Maul’s second in command.
Qi’ra Continued Darth Maul’s Mission Even After His Death
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When Darth Bane established the Rule of Two, the goal was to ensure he was not the last of the Sith – and that his cause lived on after his death. That was Darth Maul’s goal, too, and Marvel Comics’ “Crimson Reign” event revealed his plan was fulfilled. Maul died before he was able to avenge himself against the Sith, but Qi’ra turned the galaxy’s crime syndicates against Palpatine in a brutal and bloody uprising. She wasn’t successful, but she helped the Rebel Alliance a great deal, and she cost Darth Sidious his greatest weapon; his secrecy. Qi’ra revealed Palpatine’s true nature to countless beings, ensuring the Sith could no longer operate in the shadows in the Star Wars galaxy.
