Star Wars’ Maul TV Series Is Introducing George Lucas’ Favorite Legends Sith After 20 Years

January 22, 2026, 1:46pm

Star Wars’ Maul – Shadow Lord TV series promises to be unlike anything else we’ve seen before in the franchise. It’s the first ever Star Wars TV show to star a villain, with the new Shadow Lord trailer even featuring dialogue where Maul explicitly riffs on the Sith Code. The series kicks off a year after Revenge of the Sith, with Maul a wanted man after he escaped Order 66 at the end of the Clone Wars. But Maul has always been willing to stand up and be counted, and he has plans of his own.

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Those plans appear to involve setting himself up as a rival to Palpatine himself. Maul attempted this once before, during the Clone Wars, but he’s now reestablishing his old criminal empire under the auspices of Crimson Dawn. What’s more, the trailer also teases that he’s gained a red-skinned Twi’lek Force-sensitive apprentice, a character who’s been set for a canon debut since she first appeared in Legends exactly 20 years ago.

Darth Talon Made Her Debut in the Star Wars Expanded Universe

Darth Talon was originally a dangerous Sith assassin who lived a full century after the Skywalker saga, in the time of a Sith resurgence. The Sith of that era had abandoned the Rule of Two, meaning she was just one of a legion of Sith, but she was undoubtedly one of the fiercest and most dangerous. Darth Talon was one of the two “Emperor’s Hands,” a skilled warrior who was among the most loyal and brutal agents of Sith Emperor Darth Krayt. Her talents at combat were amplified through Force techniques and a lightsaber form that emphasized acrobatics.

Darth Talon cuts a visually impressive figure, and she immediately became one of the most popular characters in the epic Star Wars: Legacy series set during that part of the Star Wars timeline. There, she attempted to (literally) seduce Luke Skywalker’s descendant Cade to the dark side, even serving as his mentor for a time. Unlike most Sith, Darth Talon was fiercely loyal to her master and the Sith cause, even remaining a member of the One Sith after Krayt’s death.

George Lucas Wanted to Make Darth Talon Part of His Sequel Trilogy

Remarkably, we now know that George Lucas himself quite liked the concept of Darth Talon. This was revealed by Paul Duncan in his book The Star Wars Archives: 1999-2005, which features information on Lucas’ plans for the prequel trilogy. Struck by the popularity of Darth Maul, Lucas had planned to make the resurrected villain key to his sequel trilogy as head of a crime syndicate threatening the galaxy after the Empire’s defeat. What’s more, Lucas planned to give Maul an apprentice – Darth Talon, lifted straight out of the old Expanded Universe.

This would have presumably been a very different version of Darth Talon, of course, simply because she lived in such a different time. Lucas presumably meant to continue the Sith Rule of Two (given he only intended to have Maul and Talon as the villains). She would have grown up under the Empire, and it’s reasonable to assume she’d have been as fiercely loyal to Maul as she was to Krayt in Legends. Lucas’ planned sequel trilogy was scrapped, of course, but Darth Talon remains a standout as the Legends Sith who he felt could have been brought into the movies.

Maul – Shadow Lord is Clearly Riffing on Darth Talon

Star Wars canon has taken Maul’s story in a very different direction, with the Sith apprentice destined to die shortly before the events of A New Hope. Maul’s show is set well before that, and it seems he’ll be taking on a Twi’lek apprentice who clearly riffs on Darth Talon. Devon Izara has been described as a runaway from the Empire who “must adapt and accept a future far different than the one she expected for herself.” According to plot synopses, she’s a former Jedi Padawan who’s now clearly being schooled in the ways of the Sith.

We don’t know whether or not Devon Izara will actually claim the name “Darth Talon” for herself by the end of Maul – Shadow Lord. In a sense, that doesn’t matter; the very design is clearly inspired by Darth Talon, although she’s been adjusted to be a little less over-the-top in terms of overall sexuality. It seems Lucasfilm has decided to honor Lucas once again by bringing a character he loved into canon at last.

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