When ‘Maul – Shadow Lord’ Takes Place on the ‘Star Wars’ Timeline

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The new Disney+ series, Star Wars: Maul – Shadow Lord, is receiving positive reviews. After first appearing in Star Wars: Episode I – The Phantom Menace 27 years ago, the character Maul is now the focus of his own animated show. With so many Star Wars movies and series released over the years, and spanning different time periods, it can be confusing to keep track of when each story fits into the overall timeline.

It’s complicated to pinpoint exactly where Darth Maul fits into the Star Wars timeline. Though he appeared to die in The Phantom Menace, he was brought back during The Clone Wars and has since shown up in various Star Wars projects set during the Empire’s rule, like Solo: A Star Wars Story and Rebels. We last saw him escaping the aftermath of Order 66 at the end of The Clone Wars. Considering all of this, let’s explore where Maul – Shadow Lord fits into the larger Star Wars story.

Maul Takes Place One Year After The Clone Wars

While many fans first remember Darth Maul from The Phantom Menace, some might assume the new TV series will show events leading up to his death in that film. However, The Clone Wars animated series actually showed that Maul survived his duel with Obi-Wan Kenobi and continued to be a threat during the Clone Wars. He even took over the planet Mandalore, leading a group called Death Watch. One of his key followers was Rook Kast, who fought alongside him in the Shadow Lord arc. Eventually, Ahsoka Tano and the Republic captured Maul during the Siege of Mandalore, near the end of the Clone Wars. Later, during the chaos of Order 66, Ahsoka intentionally freed Maul as a distraction, allowing him to escape.

The comic series Maul – Shadow Lord is set about a year after the end of The Clone Wars TV show, and fourteen years after the events of Star Wars: Episode I – The Phantom Menace. This places the story at least in 18 BBY (Before the Battle of Yavin), or eight years before the original Star Wars movie. A comment from Detective Lawson suggests the timeline might be a little further after the Clone Wars – perhaps around 17 BBY. Despite this, the story is still set fairly early in the Empire’s rise to power, as evidenced by the appearance of early stormtroopers in the trailer.

TK Stormtroopers, sometimes called TK Troopers, were the first soldiers the Empire recruited who weren’t clones. They represented the shift from the Clone Troopers to the Stormtroopers we see later. These troopers first appeared in the first season of The Bad Batch, specifically the episode “War-Mantle.” The Bad Batch starts right after the events of The Clone Wars and Revenge of the Sith, and mostly takes place between 19 and 17 BBY. This timeline means that the events of Maul – Shadow Lord likely happen around the same time as seasons 2 or 3 of The Bad Batch.

This places the events of Maul – Shadow Lord around eight years before Solo: A Star Wars Story. Solo is set ten years before the Battle of Yavin and shows Maul leading Crimson Dawn, a criminal group with a fragile agreement with the Pyke Syndicate. We previously saw Dryden Voss, the public face of Crimson Dawn, communicating with Maul in the final season of The Clone Wars, establishing their existing relationship. This suggests Maul will achieve at least some success in rebuilding his criminal empire.

As a huge Star Wars fan, I always find it a little bittersweet watching Maul. We already know how his story ends – he ultimately loses everything, his criminal empire and all his allies. It’s interesting to see where things stand now, though. In Star Wars: Rebels, we learn he’s been stuck on Malachor for a while, searching for a weapon to take down his old master, Palpatine. That episode takes place about 15 years after the Maul – Shadow Lord comic series. Honestly, I didn’t expect Season 1 of Shadow Lord to show us how he goes from being a big crime boss to a lonely guy on a desolate planet. But with Season 2 now confirmed, I’m hoping for a time jump that will bridge that gap and fill in the missing pieces!

Darth Maul’s Age and Timeline Appearances

The Star Wars series covers a long period, so it’s easy to lose track of how old the characters are. Darth Maul, for example, was born 54 years before the Battle of Yavin (BBY). In Maul – Shadow Lord, which takes place in 18 BBY, he’s around 36 years old. He became Palpatine’s apprentice at just 14, and was 22 during The Phantom Menace when he fought and was defeated by Obi-Wan Kenobi. Maul ultimately dies in 2 BBY, at the age of 52, during a final battle with Obi-Wan on Tatooine.

Here is a complete breakdown of Maul’s major activities during the Star Wars timeline.

Event Date
Maul is Born 54 BBY
Darth Sideous Takes Maul as his apprentice 40 BBY
The Phantom Menace 32 BBY
Maul’s Resurrection, Rise of Shadow Collective, Capture, Order 66 (The Clone Wars) 20 BBY – 19 BBY
Maul – Shadow Lord 18 BBY
Solo: A Star Wars Story 10 BBY
Maul meets Ezra Bridger (Rebels) 3 BBY
Maul dies fighting Obi-Wan (Rebels) 2 BBY

There’s a significant gap in Darth Maul’s story between the events of Maul – Shadow Lord and Solo: A Star Wars Story, and again between Solo and Rebels. This leaves plenty of room for future storytelling. Lucasfilm’s presidents, Dave Filoni and Lynwen Brennan, could explore these missing years through additional seasons of Shadow Lord, comics, video games, or even new movies.

wish.

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2026-04-08 03:35