A 2001 Star Wars Legends novel by Michael Reaves, Darth Maul: Shadow Hunter is a prelude to Episode I. It is the first of two preludes to The Phantom Menace published during 2001 (the other being James Luceno's Cloak of Deception). Whereas Cloak is a political drama, Shadow Hunter is a much more action-oriented thriller.
In the wake of the events of Cloak of Deception, the Trade Federation is now under the control of Nute Gunray and his Neimodian bloc. This ascension to the Directorate was secretly engineered by the Sith Lord Darth Sidious, who seeks to use the Federation's naval and droid assets for his planned Blockade of Naboo.
On the eve of the Blockade, however, a last-minute complication has arisen: Hath Monchar, one of the Neimoidian co-conspirators, has vanished from the Trade Federation flagship Saak'ak. While Gunray and his underlings try to conceal this disappearance from their Sith patron, they and Sidious (who sees right through the Viceroy's deception) rightly conclude he's gone AWOL for Coruscant.
Monchar intends to sell details of the impending Blockade to the highest bidder. Such an act of betrayal would expose not only the Blockade, but also Sidious himself (and before the Sith are ready to reveal themselves to the Jedi Order). While the Neimoidians engage their own agent to locate Monchar, Sidious sends in Maul. The hunt for Monchar will drag in both non-Jedi (Corellian information broker Lorn Pavarn and his droid I-5YQ) and Jedi (Master Anoon Bondara and his Padawan Darsha Assant).
Their actions, one way or another, will help decide the fate of the Republic and the galaxy...but what, if any, hope do they have against a one-man army of darkness like Maul?
Shadow Hunter was re-released in 2022 as part of the Essential Legends Collection, including an unabridged audiobook narrated by Sam Witwer, the voice of Darth Maul and Darth Sidious in Star Wars Rebels and other works.
Darth Maul: Shadow Hunter provides examples of the following tropes:
- All There in the Manual: Darth Sidious' references to Maul's 'Black Sun assignment' are a reference to events in Ron Marz's then-recent Darth Maul comic book mini-series.
- The Bad Guy Wins: Sidious and Maul successfully recover Monchar's stolen intel and eliminate all the major witnesses before they can inform the Jedi or Republic of the impending Naboo Blockade or the Sith's return.
- Blatant Lies: Gunray tries to sell Hath Monchar's absence to Sidious as a result of overindulging on rich food and having a delicate constitution.
- Continuity Overlap: Shadow Hunter opens shortly after the events of both James Luceno's novel Cloak of Deception and Ron Marz's Darth Maul comic book mini-series.
- Downer Ending: Hath Monchar is killed before he can sell the knowledge of the Blockade or expose the Sith. Loran Pavarn, Anoon Bondara, and Darsha Assant likewise all die. I-5YQ is betrayed by Lorn's associate Sal, who wipes the droid's memory and covets him for his own use. Finally, and worse of all, Pavarn passes on the Blockade intel to Senator Palpatine... and without knowing Palpatine is Darth Sidious.
- Dramatic Irony: Pavarn dies at Maul's hands believing he at least has succeeded in warning the Jedi about the Sith and the Naboo Blockade... and with no way of knowing that not only has he failed, but he unknowingly handed the evidence right into the hands of the Blockade's architect (Palpatine).
- Evil Is Not a Toy: Monchar finds out the hard way that you try and screw over the Sith at your own peril.
- Face Death with Dignity: Pavarn at the end when Maul comes for him.
- Foregone Conclusion: The Naboo Blockade will only be delayed and not stopped. Likewise, the Jedi won't learn of it or the Sith's return until The Phantom Menace. The tragedy of Shadow Hunter lies instead in seeing just how close the Sith's plans came to being stopped before they were even out of the gate.
- It Only Works Once: The 'Monchar Has Food Poisoning' excuse. Gunray knows that it's only bought them a little time. When Sidious inevitably calls back and Monchar still isn't present and accounted for, the jig's up. The irony, of course, is that Gunray doesn't know his lie didn't actually work at all the first time (as Sidious put the pieces together).
- It's All About Me: Hath Monchar absconded with the information about the Naboo blockade not out of moral quandary but simple Neimoidian greed.
- Off with His Head!: Monchar's fate when Maul catches up with him.
- Race Against Time: The Trade Federation and the Sith are racing to locate and take care of Monchar before he can sell the Naboo Blockade intel. Gunray's also in a race to get to Monchar first before Sidious discovers his lies in the opening (about Monchar being absent because of 'food poisoning').
- Sequel Hook: I-5's fate would be followed up by Reeves in the MedStar Duology during the Clone Wars multimedia campaign.
- Spanner in the Works: Monchar going rogue is one for the entire Blockade of Naboo and the Sith's plans.
- That's What I Would Do: After Monchar goes MIA, Gunray guesses he's trying to sell the information about the Blockade to the highest bidder. He guesses this because it's exactly what Gunray would do in Monchar's place (and in fact Gunray actually had briefly entertained such an idea before sense and fear of Sidious overrode his greed).
- Too Dumb to Live: The entire plot of the book happens because Hath Monchar's greed overrode his sense and he tries to sell the information about the upcoming Naboo blockade to make a quick buck. Even Nute Gunray knows better than to actively sabotage a Sith Lord's plans, and true to form, the lethal part of Monchar's stupidity catches up with him in the form of Darth Maul.
- Worthy Opponent: Maul comes to regard Bondara, Darsha, and especially Pavarn as one over the course of the novel. It's why he gives Pavarn a quick death at the end rather than making him suffer.
