SSSW - Maul: Shadow Lord - Chapter 9 & 10 / Season Finale

SSSW - Maul: Shadow Lord - Chapter 9 & 10 / Season Finale

From Tower of Babble by Julian Meush and Jeremy Kozier

May 6, 2026 · 2h 16m

About this episode

The episode discusses the season finale of 'Maul: Shadow Lord', highlighting its visual style and narrative shortcomings.

There it is, folks - the season finale to the latest creation from Lucasfilm Animation. It was certainly gorgeous to look at, with the new painterly stylings, and there was no shortage of thrilling action to sink your teeth into, nor did they skimp on the stakes. But while the season started off on a welcomed unfamiliar foot, by the end of this season, and certainly in these final two episodes, the hallmarks of what we've come to know from Star Wars animation showed their head. Early on, the admitted inspirations from films such as 'Heat' and 'The Dark Knight', provided a needed grit to a show which was ostensibly following a villain. This provided the show with a fresh personality - distinguishing itself from it's predecessors in animation. Unfortunately, the creatives couldn't seem to maintain that tone, as by this two-part season finale the old tropes and predictable beats of 'Clone Wars' rose into prominence. And while the appearance of a certain fan favourite character adds some very cool action, the unoriginality from a narrative perspective robbed the final moments of the needed pathos and drama required to land the plane in the most satisfying of ways. Tune back into…

People in this episode

Hosts: Julian Meush, Jeremy Kozier

Topics covered

  • Star Wars
  • animation
  • season finale
  • action
  • narrative analysis

Keywords

  • Star Wars
  • animation
  • season finale
  • action
  • narrative
  • Clone Wars
  • Lucasfilm

Mentioned in this episode

Organizations: Lucasfilm Animation

Books & works: Heat, The Dark Knight, Clone Wars, The Mandalorian and Grogu

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