Maul's family

The family of the one-time Sith Lord Maul was made up of Dathomirian Zabraks from the Outer Rim planet Dathomir. Born to the Nightsister leader Mother Talzin, Maul was raised in the culture of the Nightbrothers, as were his brothers Savage Opress and Feral. Taken in by a Dark Lord of the Sith, Darth Sidious, as a child, Maul would not be reunited with his kin until the Clone Wars, in which he and Opress cut a path of destruction across the galaxy.

History

Early members

Talzin, a Dathomirian female, was the Mother of the Nightsisters clan during the last years of the Republic Era, living on the planet Dathomir.^[12] In 54 BBY,^[12] Talzin gave birth to a son named Maul,^[2] and at some point, she gave birth to two other sons, Savage Opress^[13] and Feral.^[14]

Brothers separated

Talzin lived with two of her sons in a home in the Nightbrother village on Dathomir.^[16] At some point, Dark Lord of the Sith Darth Sidious traveled to their home planet. Talzin and Sidious traded secrets of the dark side of the Force with Sidious promising to make Talzin his apprentice.^[2] Whenever Maul saw Sidious talking to his mother in his house, he would hide in his room. Eventually, Sidious persuaded Talzin to give Maul to a keeper. Despite Talzin's hesitations, she sent him anyway.^[16] After seeing Talzin's son Maul use the Force to choke his keeper and his keeper's two sons, during the Selection, Sidious took Maul instead.^[16] Talzin swore to get her stolen son back.^[2]

Rise of Maul

As Sidious' apprentice, Maul grew hatred for the Jedi Order, planning to avenge his fellow Sith.^[17] Maul and Sidious' plans eventually led Maul to Naboo, where Maul faced off against Jedi Master Qui-Gon Jinn and his Padawan Obi-Wan Kenobi in Lightsaber combat. Maul killed Qui-Gon Jinn, but was ultimately sliced in half by Obi-Wan, falling down a reactor shaft.^[15] Through his fear and hatred, Maul was able to grab an air vent as he was falling.^[18] He was dumped onto the trash planet of Lotho Minor,^[19] only being kept alive by his Dathomirian physiology, Nightsister magicks, and Sith tenacity.^[20]

Feral's death and Savage's rise

Without knowledge of their brother Maul, the close brothers Savage Opress and Feral lived in the Nightbrother village. In 20 BBY during the Clone Wars,^[21] Asajj Ventress was betrayed by her master, Count Dooku. Plotting her revenge, she returned to Dathomir in order to recruit an assassin. Ventress called a Selection, causing Brother Viscus to round up all the Nightbrothers in the Nightbrother village. Feral survived all three tests with the help of Opress, who, having proven his strength as a warrior, was then chosen to be Ventress's assassin.^[7]

After undergoing his transformation, Opress was given the task to kill Feral to show his loyalty to Ventress. Opress did as he was told and killed Feral, his own brother, strangling him with his bare hands as Talzin and the other Nightsisters watched.^[7]

Brothers reunited

After returning to Dathomir, Opress learned from Talzin that he had another brother exiled^[22] on the planet Lotho Minor. Savage travelled to the planet and eventually found Maul with help from the Anacondan Morley. After his fall, Maul had taken up a six-legged aparatusto move around.^[23] After finding Maul, he brought him back to Dathomir, where Mother Talzin restored his mind and gave him new cybernetic legs.^[24] Maul then decided to take on Opress as his apprentice, and the two rampaged across the galaxy on a quest for revenge.^[6]

The Shadow Collective

Following their failed takeover of the Ohnaka Gang,^[6] Opress and Maul were found by the Death Watch and struck an alliance with Pre Vizsla. They recruited the Black Sun, the Hutt Clan, the Pyke Syndicate,^[8] and the Crimson Dawn^[25] to create the Shadow Collective.^[8]

Takeover of Mandalore

The Shadow Collective then assisted the Death Watch's takeover of Mandalore. Following the operation, Vizsla betrayed Maul and Opress, imprisoning them. After escaping, Maul and Opress sought to retake their seat of power. Maul challenged Vizsla for the throne, defeating and beheading him with his own weapon, the Darksaber. While some of the Death Watch submitted to Maul's victory, Bo-Katan Kryze led her forces in resistance,^[26] plunging Mandalore into civil war.^[27]

Death of Savage Opress

Darth Sidious began to see Maul and his empire as a threat to his plan. During the Battle of Sundari, he traveled to Mandalore to remove Maul from power. During a fierce lightsaber duel, Sidious impaled Savage Opress, killing him before capturing Maul.^[27]

Death of Mother Talzin

After his capture by Sidious, Maul was taken to the Spire prison on the snowy planet Stygeon Prime. With help from his Mandalorian super commandos, Maul escaped the prison and continued his operations.^[29] However, Sidious and the Confederacy of Independent Systems chased him down in a series of battles which eventually culminated in a war. After escaping during the Assault on Vizsla Keep 09, Maul travelled to Dathomir with a captured Dooku. Maul brought Dooku into a building in the Nightbrother village so Mother Talzin could regain her physical form through the process of possession. However, Sidious and Separatist General Grievous quickly showed up in order to stop this. Maul and Mother Talzin in the possessed body of Dooku engaged into combat with Sidious and Grievous. Eventually Talzin, removed her self from Dooku's body having regained all her strength. In order to save her son Maul, Talzin sacrificed herself as she was stabbed by Grievous, leaving Maul as the sole surviving member of his family.^[28]

Death of Maul

During the Imperial Era, Maul had continued his criminal activities as the leader of Crimson Dawn.^[10] In search of dark side artifacts and knowledge, Maul scoured various Sith monuments on various planets.^[20] One of these adventures led him to a Sith castle on the planet Damanos. While inside the castle, Maul received a vision of Opress, shunning Maul for his inability to be a master as well as a brother.^[31] When visiting the planet Malachor during another excursion, Maul's ship crash-landed leaving him stranded for years.^[32] Around 3 BBY,^[33] the Eighth Brother of the Imperial Inquisitorius located Maul on Malachor, where he traveled to pursue him. Meanwhile, a rebel cell known as the Spectres landed on the planet^[34] in search of something to help fight the Galactic Empire.^[35]

During this mission, Maul came into contact with Ezra Bridger, a Jedi Padawan and member of the Spectres. Maul took advantage of Bridger's presence, introducing himself as "Old Master" and manipulating him to retrieve a Sith holocron inside of a Sith temple. Coming into to contact with the other Spectres and the Inquisitors, Maul revealed to Bridger's teacher Jedi Knight Kanan Jarrus and his lifelong enemy Ahsoka Tano that his plan was to use the Sith superweapon inside to take revenge on all of his foes. Maul was able to escape from Malachor, and his encounter with Bridger piqued the apprentice's interest in the dark side of the force.^[34] A year later in 2 BBY,^[36] Maul's pursuits to learn to location of Obi-Wan Kenobi led him to various encounters with Ezra Bridger and his team.^[37][38]

Eventually, his search led Maul to the planet Tatooine where he engaged Kenobi. Kenobi quickly carved a wound in Maul's chest, ending his life and in turn his entire family line. Before passing away, Maul would lay in the arms of his enemy, reassured that revenge would finally be dealt to Palpatine, the man who took Maul from his family as a child.^[30] Kenobi privately honored his enemy by building him a funeral pyre, an event which he later recalled during his years as a force ghost, after his death aboard the DS-1 Death Star Mobile Battle Station during the Rescue of Princess Leia^[39] in 0 BBY.^[40]

Family tree

Talzin[4] ♀

Maul[2] ♂

Savage Opress[22] ♂

Feral[14] ♂

Behind the scenes

Maul, and thus his family, made his first appearance in the 1999 prequel trilogy film, Star Wars: Episode I The Phantom Menace.^[15] The rest of his family debuted in the Star Wars: The Clone Wars animated series, starting with Talzin in "Nightsisters,"^[4] the twelfth episode of the series' third season, released on January 7, 2011.^[41]

The Witches of Dathomir Squad Pack for Star Wars: Shatterpoint states that Opress was Talzin's oldest son.^[42] However, the preview databank entry for the set stated Maul was his older brother.^[43] This article does not assume which is correct.

Appearances

Non-canon appearances

• William Shakespeare's The Phantom of Menace: Star Wars Part the First
• LEGO Star Wars: Droid Tales — "Exit from Endor" (In flashback(s))
• LEGO Star Wars: Droid Tales — "Crisis on Coruscant" (In flashback(s))
• Disney Infinity 3.0
• LEGO Star Wars: Droid Tales Episodes I-III (In flashback(s))
• LEGO Star Wars: The Force Awakens
• LEGO Star Wars: The Skywalker Saga

Sources

This in-universe list is incomplete. You can help Wookieepedia by expanding it.

• Jedi Training Academy (Non-canonical appearance)
• Star Wars Super Graphic: A Visual Guide to a Galaxy Far, Far Away
• Star Wars: The Lightsaber Collection (Picture only)
• "Darth Maul and Other Followers of the Dark Side" — Star Wars Encyclopedia
• Star Wars: The Secrets of the Sith
• "Maul: From Sith Lord to Crime Lord" — Star Wars Insider 209 (reprinted in Presents: The Dark Side Collection)
• Star Wars: The Dark Side Pocket Expert
• "This is Obi-Wan" — Star Wars: Meet the Galactic Heroes

Notes and references