Dave Filoni continues to mine his one idea for Star Wars animation with his latest ten part series, Star Wars: Maul - Shadow Lord. Not that I have a big problem with that. At this point I'm hooked on all his Star Wars animated shows, but I do wish he would try something different with the basic story structure every now and then.
However, young, inexperienced apprentice, either already teamed, or looking to be teamed with a Jedi Master (or in this case, reluctantly with a former Sith Lord) is a main character combination that just keeps giving in the Filoni-verse.
The difference between shows is in the detail. Maul - Shadow Lord focuses on the Star Wars Underworld, local law enforcement, and the aforementioned Jedi Apprentice. As well it includes Star Wars lore that is usually less prominent in the animated shows, specifically the dominance of the Empire and how it changes a society once its ideology is imposed.
If you've only ever watched the feature films you'll likely be thinking this series is set before The Phantom Menace, since you saw Maul's demise in that film. However it's actually set about a year after the prequel movies.
If you watched The Clone Wars animated series his reappearance is detailed there. Fortunately it's not required viewing. All you need to know is he's back - well the upper half of him at least. As we've seen in the Star Wars universe, cyborg tech of entire limbs is definitely a thing.
In Maul - Shadow Lord, Maul arrives on a planet, as yet unaffected by the Empire's immediate rule, though it's local law enforcement definitely answers to the Empire once you get high enough up the command chain.
Maul's goal is to rebuild his criminal syndicate but the new wave of underworld activity catches the attention of the local law, and things kind of escalate from there. In amongst this a Jedi Master and his apprentice, who are just passing through, but need to stay low profile (thanks to order 66), come to Maul's attention, who takes a particular interest in said apprentice.
If you like Dave's other Star Wars shows then this will not disappoint. That said, Dave's taken a few pointers from what Andor did in regards to depicting the Empire more as a looming and feared organisation, and incorporated that idea into this show. Which I think adds a new layer of storytelling that otherwise takes a back seat in the animated shows. Dave tends to focus more on action adventure than politics.
It's a good balance, that may appeal to a wider audience, because you still have plenty of action and adventure, but there's just enough politics to make the Empire feel like the menacing but claustrophobic presence it should be.
The voice cast are all great with Star Wars veteran, Sam Witwer reprising the voice of Maul, and Richard Ayoade being the only other recognizable voice for me as the Police Droid, Two-Boots.
If you were disappointed that Maul was a 'one and done' character when he first appeared, this is the story, that you may have been looking forward to, finally realized. (Although, had he not seemingly died, there would have been a few good years of him being at Palpatine's side before Anakin would've been old enough to take his place).
Otherwise, if you haven't followed the Filoni-verse, this is an ideal jumping on point. It features a main character you know, and you don't need to know anything else beyond what you've seen in the feature films - particularly the first prequel, and what Order 66 meant for the Jedi.
Hopefully Dave Filloni builds more in this direction with his other animated shows, so that they don't feel like they're just for younger Star Wars fans.
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