History ComicBook / DarthMaul

Shortly before the invasion of Naboo, a young Darth Maul grows frustrated and impatient with maintaining concealment from the Jedi, per orders of his master, Darth Sidious. To vent his anger, he tests his anger against creatures and cutthroats throughout the Galaxy. However, during one mission, he is one of the few to learn that a powerful crime lord has captured a young Jedi Padawan. Seeing this as an opportunity to test his mettle, he sets out to seek this Jedi, secretly defying his master's wishes.

* DramaticIrony: In Issue #2, Maul believes that he will live a long life. Well, he does survive being HalfTheManHeUsedToBe soon and is believed to be dead for about the next decade. [[spoiler:And then almost two decades later after that, he gets KilledOffForReal, about halfway through the average lifespan of a Zabrak, assuming it is the same as a Human's.]]

** As he fights her Maul realises Eldra is NotSoDifferent, with plenty of anger that could be turned to the ways of the Dark Side. But there's no way of that happening because he can't afford to let his master know about all this and so has to kill her. [[spoiler:Turns out his master knew all along, so it was AllForNothing.]]

[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/a45316be_b613_4233_8ab5_e87937c3596a.jpeg]]

** [[spoiler: Maul finding out about the captured Padwan Eldra, turns out to have been one by Darth Sidious, to sate Maul's lust for vengeance temporarily so he doesn't do anything to expose them trying to sate it himself, while still leaving him hungry for more.]]

** Maul stalks Khaat Qiyn and her Padawan, Bairdon Jace, on Coruscant. Their appearance is to show how the Jedi seem uneased about an unknown presence yet ignore signs of it, as well as how Maul is eager to see his abilities unleashed against the Jedi.

* CoverBlowingSuperpower: Defied. If Maul wants to successfully hunt down Eldra, he has to try not to use the Force too obviously and refrain from using his lightsaber in front of others, because Sidious would not be pleased that the revelation of the Sith still being alive is spreading around in the Galaxy like wildfire and thus ruining his plans. This lead to some complications during a BarBrawl, where Maul has fend off multiple opponents, using only his skills in hand-to-hand combat.

* EnemyMine: Maul and Eldra Kaitis, the padwan he came to kill, are forced to fight alongside each other while thrown in a ''most dangerous game'' scenario.

* {{Irony}}: Maul notes that Sidious would find it amusing that he's having to practise the same patience and scheming that his master is always urging.

* OutsideContextProblem: The Sith are this to everyone involved; even the Jedi only have a vague sense of unease about what's coming.
* OnlyInItForTheMoney: Cad Bane and his crews motive for helping Maul. Something the latter very much aware of.
* RevengeBeforeReason: Maul is obsessed with avenging acts against the Sith committed thousands of years ago, taking RevengeByProxy against a girl he's rather have as an ally in different circumstances.

** As he fights her Maul realises Eldra is NotSoDifferent, with plenty of anger that could be turned to the ways of the Dark Side. But there's no way of that happening because he can't afford to let his master know about all this and so has to kill her. [[spoiler:Turns out his master knew all along.]]

** The Zabrak kid from Issue #2 would later go on to inherit his father's bar and, upon a visit from Luke, he told the patrons to kill him and take his lightsaber in ''ComicBook/MarvelStarWars2015''. He also mentioned that like Luke, his father is dead; we get to see how this happened in ''Darth Maul''.

** Hondo Ohnaka and his gang, as well as [[ComicBook/MarvelStarWars2015 Grakkus]] [[ComicBook/StarWarsPoeDameron the Hutt]] make cameos as bidders at the auction held by the Xrexus Cartel.

* ActionGirl: Eldra Kaitis is a Jedi Padwan who can hold her own against Darth Maul.

* BatmanGambit: [[spoiler: Maul finding out about the captured Padwan Eldra, turns out to have been one by Darth Sidious, to sate Maul's lust for vengeance temporarily so he doesn't do anything to expose them trying to sate it himself, while still leaving him hungry for more.]]

* FaceDeathWithDignity: When Maul has comes to kill her, Xev Xrexus simply continues to look in response, only making a fruitless attempt to try and payoff Maul for her life, before accepting her impending death and only regretting that she didn't get a better vintage for her last drink.

* ExactlyWhatIAimedAt: [[spoiler:Eldra]] throws her sword, missing Maul. He snarks about how [[ThrowingYourSwordAlwaysWorks impractical sword throwing is]], only to turn around and see the avalanche she triggered.

* LetsSplitUp: Knowing the hunters will mainly be after the Padawan, Maul takes off with his prisoner to draw them away from their spacecraft so Cad Bane's crew can hijack one of them.

* OutsideContextProblem: Maul and Cad Bane and his crew are this to Xev's scheme.

* JerkassHasAPoint: The Jedi Order is often criticized for recruiting its members at a very young age and impressing EmotionSuppression and TheStoic lifestyles upon them. However, considering how many people are willing to use and exploit individuals with Force sensitivity -- Eldra is captured and put up for auction, with numerous bidders -- it's more understandable that the Order wants to protect as many young people as possible.

** As he fights her Maul realises Eldra is NotSoDifferent, with plenty of anger that could be turned to the ways of the Dark Side. But there's no way of that happening because he can't afford to let his master know about all this and so has to kill her. [[spoiler:Turns out [[his master knew all along AllForNothing]].]]

* MostDangerousGame: Xev Xrexus, the leader of the cartel selling Eldra, plants a bomb in the winner of auctions's ship, to maroon Eldra and the others on-board on a nearby planet, so she can make even more ''money'' off the losers of the auction for a chance to hunt her. Unfortunately for Xev, this puts her on Maul's kill list when he gets caught in the middle of her plan.

* CoverBlowingSuperpower: Defied. If Maul wants to successfully hunt down Eldra, he has to try not to use the Force too obviously and refrain from using his lightsaber in front of others, because Sidious would not be pleased that the revelation of the Sith still being alive is spreading around in the Galaxy like wildfire and thus ruining his plans.

* FaceDeathWithDignity: Xev's only response to learning that Maul has come to kill her is to regret that she didn't get a better vintage for her last drink.

* CanonImmigrant: Khaat Qiyn is given her name from ''Legends'', and while Bairdon Jace is has yet to be given his name here, he appears as Qiyn's Padawan, just like in ''Legends''.

** The criminal gang that wins the auction for Eldra are Moogans. Moogan smugglers were involved in Almec's corruption conspiracy in ''[[WesternAnimation/StarWarsTheCloneWars The Clone Wars]]''.

* JerkassHasAPoint: The Jedi Order is often criticised for recruiting its members at a very young age and impressing EmotionSuppression and TheStoic lifestyles upon them. However, considering how many people are willing to use and exploit individuals with Force sensitivity -- Eldra is captured and put up for auction, with numerous bidders -- it's more understandable that the Order wants to protect as many young people as possible.
* MythologyGag: This isn't the first time Maul goes after a Padawan to kill them. He does this in ''Darth Maul: Shadow Hunter'' back in ''Legends'' as well.

* TookALevelInJerkass: From what is seen so far, Aurra isn't as sadistic as she is in ''The Clone Wars'' and has shades of a downplayed NaiveNewcomer. Makes sense, since there's a ten-year gap between that and this comic, so she's had plenty of time to change.