22 Years Later, Star Wars: Maul – Shadow Lord Finally Pays Off 1 Massive Revenge of the Sith Rumor

Star Wars: Maul – Shadow Lord Season 1, Episode 8 has a great, deep-cut Easter egg that references Star Wars: Episode III – Revenge of the Sith. When it comes to the prequels and Maul – Shadow Lord, the focus is naturally on what it does for Star Wars: Episode I – The Phantom Menace. It’s well accepted by now that the movie wasted Darth Maul, and Star Wars has spent over a decade since his debut in Star Wars: The Clone Wars putting that right, with Shadow Lord the biggest fix of all.

However, Episode 8 mixes things up by paying homage to Episode III – although, technically speaking, not to Revenge of the Sith. The title of the installment is “The Creeping Fear,” and prior to the confirmation of Revenge of the Sith, that was a huge online rumor about what Episode III would be called circa 2004.

At the time, it was circulating heavily on sites like Ain’t It Cool News, and the official Star Wars website even posted it as the official title… as an April Fool’s Day joke [via StereoNet). Other rumored titles at the time included Rise of the Empire and Birth of the Empire, but The Creeping Fear was particularly compelling, and fits well with Maul – Shadow Lord, too.

“The Creeping Fear” Is A Great Title For Star Wars: Maul – Shadow Lord Episode 8

On balance, Revenge of the Sith probably works better as a title for Episode III than The Creeping Fear, though that’s easier to say in hindsight. The Creeping Fear does have more of a mystique about it, but it also feels a little too similar in nature to The Phanom Menace, which then doesn’t work as well when this is the final installment. On the flip side, even by Star Wars’ standards, Rise/Birth of the Empire might’ve been too literal and on-the-nose, whereas Revenge strikes a better balance between the two (and itself pays off an unused idea: the original title for Return of the Jedi was Revenge of the Jedi).

Read Next

Star Wars Definitively Confirms Darth Maul as One of the Best Villains Ever

For Maul – Shadow Lord Episode 8, though, it works rather perfectly. It once again highlights the growing power of the Empire, which in this case is now creeping into the underworld that Maul seeks to dominate. It highlights the fear of the dark side held by Devon Izara, or rather, the fear of the pull to it that she is seemingly feeling. And above all, it highlights how Maul’s fears were used by Darth Sidious, with us finally witnessing how he was trained as a Sith apprentice, making him an even more tragic figure. It’s a great title, and a perfect Easter egg for Star Wars fans.

The final two episodes of Star Wars: Maul – Shadow Lord Season 1 release on Disney+ on – when else? – May 4th!

What do you think? Leave a comment below and join the conversation now in the ComicBook Forum!