Disney’s Star Wars sequel trilogy ended up letting down a lot of fans. It definitely stands as one of the more uneven trilogies out there. Star Wars: The Force Awakens was a zeitgeist-capturing financial juggernaut, but many felt it was too comfortable replicating the story beats of Star Wars: A New Hope. Then, Rian Johnson’s Star Wars: The Last Jedi flew in the face of everything the franchise’s fans expected from one of its installments. Some people appreciated that, others despised it. Then, to cater to the latter group and course correct, J.J. Abrams was brought back in to tie a bow on the whole thing with Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker, and the result was a yawn of a trilogy-capper that escapes one’s memory as soon as the credits roll.
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Originally, we were supposed to get a more well thought out trilogy, albeit one that would also take some big swings. And, with the forthcoming release of Star Wars: Maul – Shadow Lord, fans are getting something of a consolation prize. A taste of what George Lucas’ idea for the sequel trilogy would have looked like, as it were.
How Does Shadow Lord Skew Towards Lucas’ Plan?
Lucas’ idea for the Star Wars sequel trilogy would have moved away from Luke Skywalker a bit, instead aiming its lens primarily towards Princess Leia. It was a neat and satisfying direction to go, essentially revealing that the whole nine-film saga was less about Luke’s parents and Luke himself and more about Leia’s parents and Leia herself. It would have worked. After all, the first of the big three we meet in A New Hope isn’t Luke, but rather Leia.
We wouldn’t have had as many big space battles or lightsaber duels, but rather a focus on Leia rebuilding the galaxy after the Empire blew it apart. We also would have gotten to see her be a mother (something we saw in Disney’s trilogy, not that she and Ben Solo ever really shared the screen). But it wouldn’t be a trilogy without conflict, as there would be some lingering, living, breathing remnants of the Sidious rise and fall era.
The leader of these nefarious “gangsters,” as Lucas called them, would have been none other than Darth Maul, who would have become the primary antagonist of the sequel trilogy. By his side would be his apprentice, the similarly red-skinned Darth Talon, a Twi’lek (like Aayla Secura and Bib Fortuna’s, Jabba the Hutt’s assistant).
Darth Talon was first introduced in Dark Horse Comics’ Star Wars: Legacy #0 back in 2006. However, she has been relegated to the non-canon Star Wars Legends expanded universe. Shadow Lord is going to be her canon introduction. And, considering this show takes place between Star Wars: The Clone Wars and Solo: A Star Wars Story, it is canon. In other words, Talon was always supposed to enter canon in Lucas’ mind, and Shadow Lord is helping to make that a reality. It’s not adhering to the saga creator’s idea for the sequel trilogy in full, but at least we’re getting a little slice of it in the Disney era.
In fact, Shadow Lord is using Lucas’ plan as more of a blueprint than her Legends origin. He Legends counterpart was trained by Darth Ruyn, but she killed him under Darth Krayt’s orders then started training under Krayt himself.
Now, technically, Gideon Adlon is playing an original character in Shadow Lords named Devon Izara. But, while pink-skinned, she’s still a Force-sensitive Twi’lek who is training under Maul. That certainly sounds like Darth Talon. If anything, Shadow Lord is as much a chance to see Talon’s origin story on-screen as it is a chance to see what Maul was up to between the events of Clone Wars and his talking to Emilia Clarke’s Qi’ra in Solo.
That brings up a question. If this 10-episode series takes off with audiences, could we get a season two that picks up Qi’ra’s story? After all, Solo takes place about eight years prior to Maul’s death in Star Wars Rebels. We’ll know more about what Shadow Lord has in store for audiences when its first two episodes hit Disney+ on April 6th.
Are you excited to see Darth Talon in a canon project? Leave a comment below and join the conversation now in the ComicBook Forum!
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