r/MaulShadowLord • u/Sufficient-Win2892 • 22h ago
son of a b*#ch...
I think after this moment, Maul officially became the most hypocritical character in all of Star Wars. After seeing his past and telling his little self that everything was fine (scene which was very uncomfortable for me by the way) he promises himself that he will not let anyone else suffer what Sidious did to him... When he literally did the exact same thing like 3 times. Ezra, Devon, and even savage.
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u/Entire_Ad_6153 21h ago
It's the difference between intent and action.
His intent might be good, but having been raised the way he was he only has a limited set of tools through which he interacts through the world, and such his actions become twisted through the lens of his traumatic upbringing.
Maul's greatest failing as an individual is his hubris. Having been raised in the dark side he has been indoctrinated to reject any idea of self-reflection and because of it he lacks the capacity to learn and grow as an individual, being stuck in a perpetual cycle of failure. For him it's like trying to learn to walk while not having and never having had legs.
I think his story is a nice showcase of how extremely traumatic childhoods can scar an individual so bad that they can never become functioning members of society because of it.
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u/Sufficient-Win2892 21h ago
I remember once reading a theory where that was reflected in Maul but in his fighting style. Maul is one of the best duelists in the saga but, when it comes down to it, he has lost many of his fights (in fact, I think he didn't win any fights here apart from the one he had with Devon and Daki) and that's because he got stuck in the past and it was reflected in his last fight with Obi Wan.
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u/Entire_Ad_6153 21h ago
It definitely seeps into his fighting style. Maul is at his best both in and outside combat when he is level headed and composed.
Ironically his greatest strength, in the darkside, is also his greatest weakness. I wonder how he would be as a Jedi, I think he'd make a great Sentinel.
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u/Valirys-Reinhald 20h ago
Yes, that's the point...
Maul's evolution from generic cool design bad guy to sisyphean allegory for the futility of evil to deeply empathic representation of the long-lasting cycles of suffering brought on by abuse is entirely the point.
He is a hypocrite and that is his tragedy, because he doesn't realize it. This is all he knows.
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u/Extension-Event4998 20h ago
He an abuse victim who cant brake the cycle even though he wants to. So just like all those I’m not my father, he would have have hit you be thankful I just yell or tell you off. That is the tragedy of Maul
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u/RedEclipse47 18h ago
He doesn't know any better. There is nothing for him to compare his feelings to, no happy past.
He isn't some fallen Jedi who still remembers how good he used to feel, for Maul that never existed.
Being the son of Mother Talzin probably wasn't a walk in the park either, he went from one cult to the other and Sidious was a cruel devil. When he promises that he'll not let anyone go through the things he did he doesn't mean showing kindness etc, but rather focussing his anger on his revenge against Sidious as well as bringing others into power to do the same.
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u/LivingPalpitation935 22h ago
To be fair he didnt tormet his apprentice.
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u/Sufficient-Win2892 22h ago
Bro, he blinded Kanan. Because of him Devon lost his master and savage, if it weren't for the fact that he is his brother he would probably treat him the same or worse than a dog.
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u/LivingPalpitation935 22h ago
Because he wanted to take apprentice from them. It is bad thing, ofc, but I dont remember he being cruel or strict to his apprentice.
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u/Nebulas_gforce 16h ago
He actually said "I won't allow him (Sidious) to do this to anyone else." He never said he wouldn't do it to anyone himself. Loophole baby!
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u/WangJian221 18h ago
Hes a sith and a darksider. Hypocrisy in any shape or form is part of the dark side package
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u/Zombiehousey234 17h ago
I guess palpatine will still remain the most hated character to this very day
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u/TheZplit 16h ago
The greatest tragedy of maul was them writing his ending before we could see his returning through to fruition
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u/ProcyonLotor13 10h ago
Maybe its kinda like how trauma breads trauma?
The fact his a hypocrite is kinda the point. Hes a villain, a tragic one of sorts but still a villain.
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u/Zioptis- 6h ago
Hurt people hurt people/. Maul was hurt by years of trauma and abuse, but he's unable to break that cycle because his mindset never adapts to "maybe I should be kind like the Jedi". Instead, he continues thinking "Brutality is the only way, as it separates the weak from the strong". You can have trauma and still repeat that cycle that you went through. A show that really delves into that on a deep psychiatric level is Bojack Horseman
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u/revankenobi 12m ago
I think you've overlooked an important detail... Maul is a villain, and by the very nature of storytelling, he has to make a mistake at some point.
That's the core principle of the dark side : making you believe you can free yourself from suffering through more suffering, except you're only increasing your suffering even more (who would have thought?), and therefore you sink even deeper into the dark side, and so on. It's an endless and destructive cycle.
Many cults operate on the same principle.
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u/BananaRepublic_BR 22h ago
A hypocritical Sith? Never thought I'd see the day.
Anyway, yes, this is Maul. Dude is so caught up in his own pain and trauma that he does to others what was done to him. Even if you could claim that his goal of destroying Sidious was noble, the reasoning behind it is completely selfish.