The last four episodes of Star Wars: The Clone Wars are coming soon, detailing the final days of the war and the Siege of Mandalore. Ex-Jedi Ahsoka Tano will be called upon to aid her former master Anakin Skywalker and Obi-Wan Kenobi in wresting the planet of Mandalore away from the control of Maul, the former apprentice to Darth Sidious and now the leader of Crimson Dawn, his own criminal empire. The final episodes promise to have plenty of action-packed moments of galactic proportions. However, there are some questions as to how Darth Maul is on Mandalore in the first place.
When fans last saw Maul in Clone Wars, his former master has killed his brother and captured Maul himself. So how is he now back on Mandalore, ruling his criminal enterprise once more? The Son of Dathomir comic series has the answers and fill in the gaps, adapted from unused scripts of the Clone Wars series itself, which begs the question: Why wasn't this comic series arc for Maul in the final season to begin with? It seems as though it would have been a great fit, as opposed to another arc that actually is in Season 7 and perhaps shouldn't be.
Son of Dathomir actually details Maul's rescue and escape from Sidious, thanks to his loyal Mandalorian soldiers. Once having retreated, Maul regains control of his Shadow Collective of criminals and prepares for Sidious to inevitably strike back. Indeed Sidious does, sending Dooku and General Grievous both to end Maul once and for all, as well as the Nightsister matriarch Mother Talzin (who is revealed to be Maul's actual mother as well in this series). After a massive battle accrued heavy losses on both sides as well as Dooku's capture, the Republic takes notice, specifically Obi-Wan Kenobi. The Republic stages an attack on Maul, and Maul convinces Dooku to temporarily join him in warding off the Republic's forces. Maul then takes Dooku to his homeworld of Dathomir in order to sacrifice him to grant Mother Talzin a physical body once more. However, Sidious and Grievous both arrive on Dathomir, and an epic battle ensues: Maul and Dooku (possessed by Talzin) take on Sidious and Grievous. In the end, the power of Sidious is no match for Talzin, and she gives her life so that her son might escape. Maul then presumedly retreats to Mandalore, which is where fans will find him in the last episodes of Season 7.
The entire narrative of Son of Dathomir is completely epic through and through: hidden truths revealed, dark rebellions, uneasy alliances quickly broken, and an epic duel featuring every major villain during the Clone Wars era. Why wasn't this incredible story part of the actual series? In truth, they almost were. Son of Dathomir was based on unused scripts when Clone Wars was canceled on Cartoon Network after Disney purchased the Star Wars franchise back in 2012. Furthermore, unfortunately, it wasn't a part of the sixth season that aired on Netflix a couple of years later in 2014, despite the miniseries being published just after in the same year. At that moment in time, it was most likely assumed by the creatives in charge, such as supervising director Dave Filoni, that this sixth season was to be Clone Wars' last and that the best way to tell this Maul arc would be via the comics medium (however that obviously changed with the release of Disney+ and the opportunity for one more season.)
While the decision to not have Son of Dathomir as an arc in the final season most likely came from a desire to not retread narratives that had essentially already been told in the comics, this arc for Maul feels pretty critical to his overall development. Without this story, Maul is captured by Sidious in Season 5, and is then next seen back in control on Mandalore at Season 7's end. While there could certainly be some lines of exposition to provide the context the comic provides, that seems like a terrible waste. This epic story feels worthy of the animated series, and should have perhaps replaced an arc that did make the cut. A perfect example would be the 4 most recent episodes prior to the upcoming final four, which feature Ahsoka helping two struggling sisters in the underbelly of Coruscant. While these episodes are by no means poor in their own dynamics and engagement, they do seem like they would have been better suited for the season before this final one, especially in contrast to Son of Dathomir, which has all the beats one would expect from a culminating and final season. In any case, hopefully, Son of Dathomir will at least get that contextual exposition in a mention or reference, and not swept under the rug to be forgotten.
The first episode of Clone Wars: The Siege of Mandalore airs Friday, April 17th.