In honor of #MayThe4th, let's look at at the epic Sith Lord lightsaber duel between Darth Vader and Darth Maul that never was, but fans wish had actually happened, within the Star Wars universe.
Thanks to Dark Horse Comics' Star Wars Tales #9, the short story entitled, "Resurrection" imagined the return of Darth Maul long before he was canonically brought back during the Clone Wars animated series that would come years after this comics' publication. Instead, Darth Maul is brought back closer to the events just before Star Wars: A New Hope for one specific purpose: to kill Darth Vader and assume his place at Emperor Palpatine's side. What follows is the answer to a question plenty of fans have asked over the years: What if Darth Vader fought Darth Maul? Read on to learn what happens and who wins this deadly duel of Dark Lords.
As previously mentioned, Star Wars Tales was a non-canonical collection of short stories that ran from 1999-2005, imagining different scenarios and events with the Star Wars universe, but not being part of the official continuity. In Star Wars Tales #9, a group of Sith heretics lure Darth Vader to a planet strong with the dark side of the Force. Believing he had a lead on the stolen Death Star plans, Vader instead comes face to face with said heretics. They present Darth Maul to Vader, long thought to have been dead. They see Vader as a threat to the dark side and to The Master (Palpatine/Sidious) due to his past as a Jedi and the remaining light within him. For this reason, they worked to resurrect Maul in order to replace Vader. They assume that if Maul can kill Vader, it will please Palpatine and Maul can take the place he once had as his apprentice. Vader has no choice but to agree to the duel, because if he doesn't, it would diminish him in the Emperor's eyes and according to the heretics, he'd never know if he was Maul's better or not.
The duel between Vader and Maul in Star Wars Tales #9 takes place across an ancient Sith temple, across rocks and rivers of molten lava, evocative of the duel between Obi-Wan Kenobi and Anakin Skywalker in Revenge of the Sith which was responsible for Anakin's transformation into Vader (although the film wouldn't be released until four years later after this comic). Throughout their epic duel, Maul taunts Vader, telling him that he couldn't possibly have the amount of hate and darkness necessary to be a true Sith Lord worthy of Palpatine. The light he refuses to snuff out limits his hate, as well as the parts of him that are machine according to Maul. However, in a surprise move, Vader wins the day with a tactic that requires nothing but pure hatred, just not in any way Maul, or the heretics, could have predicted.
Vader plunges his lightsaber through his own body and into Maul's. Fueled by the hatred and anger he has towards himself is enough to slay Maul. Right as he is about to slay the shocked heretics, the Emperor blasts them with lightning, having just arrived. While the Emperor seems glad that Vader was victorious, the story is left ambiguous as to whether or not the Emperor himself was aware of the heretics' actions (or if he might have even gone so far as to orchestrate the entire event himself). With that, Vader follows his master, presumedly to continue his journey as they are canonically told in the original trilogy of films.
It's so unfortunate that this incredible duel and equally epic dialogue aren't part of the official Star Wars canon, and even more unfortunate that they will most likely never duel at any point. While there was once an opportunity for Vader to battle with Maul in a similar duel in season 2 of the canonical Rebels animated series, it was scrapped. This "What If" from Star Wars Tales is most likely the closest version fans will get. Even so, it's a great and entertaining depiction of two of Star Wars' best villains dueling none the less.