It’s another Monday which means we’ve got ourselves two more episodes of Star Wars: Maul – Shadow Lord. WARNING! Spoilers are ahead, click off now if you don’t want to see my full thoughts on today’s new entries.

Episode 5 – Inquisition

Maul – Shadow Lord Episode 4 saw the arrival of the Empire at the very end of the episode. With Episode 5 we see the Empire descend onto the city. LAAT gunships spreading like wildfire and troop transport shuttles closing off the spaceport. Very quickly the Empire’s presence was established, scanning everyone’s identification, pushing citizens for information and being a general nuisance.

Whilst this isn’t something entirely new to those who watched shows like Star Wars: The Bad Batch and Star Wars: Rebels, I always find it gripping to see how the lives are so quickly changed by the authoritarian state’s sudden arrival. On this note, one thing I particularly liked in this episode was when on the run from the Empire, Devon and Master Daki were asked for their identification, to which Daki waved his clawed hand and uttered a play on the words spoken by Obi-Wan Kenobi in Star Wars: A New Hope. “You don’t need to see our identification, move along”. Though unlike Obi-Wan, this didn’t last long as a TK-Trooper saw what had happened and engaged pursuit.

The Inquisitor

A big highlight of this episode for me was Marrok’s introduction. Known also as “The First Brother”, Marrok has been someone I’ve wanted to know so much more about since we see him in Ahsoka Season 1, before he poofs away. As per the trailers, Marrok is creepy AF. The tone of the show and the way Marrok is lit in the interrogation room certainly helps with this and I couldn’t wait for him to continue showing up in the episode, which of course he did.

Whilst Marrok’s creepiness stood out to me, it was his Force Echos, AKA Psychometry, that really got me excited. For those unaware, psychometry is a force ability that allows people to see events that unfolded or learn about an object or place simply by touching it or entering it. We first see this from Quinlan Voss as he hunts down Ziro The Hutt with Obi-Wan in Star Wars: The Clone Wars, but it was popularised and identified as a Force Echo in Star Wars Jedi: Fallen Order. I love the idea of Force Echos and to see its continued use in Star Wars feels really rewarding as a big fan of the Jedi games.

Poor Lawson

Captain Lawson is really going through it right now, bless him. In the previous episode his close friend and partner, Two-Boots, goes against him and calls in the Empire. Now the Empire are taking over the streets, he’s been interrogated by an Inquisitor and now he’s gone home to find his son harbouring the two Jedi fugitives his superior earlier joked about.

“At least we’re not harbouring Jedi fugitives”

Chief Klyce, Maul – Shadow Lord Ep 5

Star Wars: Maul Shadow Lord Episode 5 is another strong entry to the series through Marrok’s introduction, the Devon & Daki chase sequence and Imperial occupation. It sets up for what’s to come next very well.

Episode 6 – Night of the Hunted

As the name of the episode implies, we were in for a lot of action and it did not disappoint. It started off gently however, with Maul going through the motions with his Lightsaber, which isn’t something we often see for those on the dark side.

We then went back to where Episode 5 finished, Captian Lawson’s apartment. Things escalated quickly as Marrok made his entrance following two seperate chats between the adults and the children. Thus the chaos begun.

Chaos Begins

The entire episode saw Devon, Daki, Lawson and Rylee on the run from the Empire and whilst it was packed with action, we were allowed time to breathe with short scenes featuring Two-Boots and his continued naiveity of the Empire, Rook being the ever loyal second, and Spybot being humourous as ever with his commentary.

I really enjoyed the fight sequence between Daki, Devon and Marrok. They made a tight space work for an exciting duel before ascending to the rooftop. With Devon, Lawson and Rylee now onboard the stolen LAAT, thanks to Devon’s acrobatics and control, Daki was left to fight Marrok alone…again. At this point, I suddenly had alarm bells telling me he would sacrifice himself to save Devon and Co, perhaps pushing Devon closer to Maul. Though Daki knows of her conflict and likely believes he must survive to protect her from the darkness rising. Thankfully, Daki was safe on the transport and I could breathe.

Following a short stay at Rheena Sul’s casino, the adults separate from the children once more to hold off the Empire. After a sneaky passby with some TKs, Devon and Rylee are re-acquainted with Marrok and so the train sequence begins.

What a fight!

This fight was fantastic the whole way through. I thought Devon held herself well againt Marrok but Maul’s entrance couldn’t have come at a better time. Now with Maul in the picture, the sequence really picked up the pace with fast strikes, spinning blades and saber throws. It was relatively short but it was so sweet and we’d been treated to a number of saber fights already. I can positively say that it’s left me wanting more.

To close off the episode we see Marrok enter a room illuminated by a blue hologram. Marrok greets this holo as “My Lord”, which can only mean one thing…Vader. I’m not surprised they closed the episode there but it left me shouting at the television hoping for even the slightest look but no…I imagine Vader will be introduced only in the finale and next week we’ll get to see The Crow, AKA, The Eleventh Brother.

Another immaculate episode of Star Wars: Maul – Shadow Lord complete and probably my favourite week of the series thus far. I can’t wait for next week, though it will be a painful one.

Let me know your thoughts below!