SPOILER WARNING!
I’m really sorry that my “Rebels Dispatch” column is late by a few days this week. I’ve been a bit busy returning and adjusting to work again in my personal life, so it’s been a bit difficult finding the time to sit down and write. But enough about me already. Onward into some much needed “Star Wars Rebels” talk like the return of someone way cooler than I can ever be: Darth Maul.
Another fascinating episode of Rebels. So much to say, question and ponder. Is that to a fault for the show? We'll have to wait and see.
— Jon Reyes (@werdynerdy) October 2, 2016
It was the first we’ve seen of Maul in a prominent role in any medium of Stars Wars since Rebels’s season two finale “Twilight of the Apprentice.” And he doesn’t miss a beat, or should I say Sam Witwer doesn’t? The man never phones in his performance as this dangerous foe, who’s been causing tons of headaches in this universe since “The Phantom Menace.”
No one can argue against me when I make the statement that Witwer’s voice work through “The Clone Wars” the animated-series and currently in a few episodes of Rebels, he’s easily the best iteration by far. Whenever Witwer’s Maul is onscreen, I have the feeling of uncomfortable intensity and skepticism as to what he’s thinking and going to do at any given moment. That’s a sign of a heck of a job being done by the actor.
The most significant part of “Holocrons of Fate” was when Maul and Ezra put their respective Jedi and Sith holocrons together. Bendu, who’s still my favorite character so far this season, taught Ezra and Kanan when they went to retrieve the Sith holocron from him the knowledge that can be revealed to anyone who should bring both libraries of thought as one can’t undo what they’d seen and learned. In Ezra’s case, how to destroy the Sith. For Maul, in his words, “hope.”
Kanan actually being able to see for a brief time when the holocrons fused and created a bright light had me on the edge of my seat because then one of my speculations for this season would be spot on. However, once everything went back to normal after Ezra saw “Twins suns” — a nod to Tatooine and Luke — and Maul runs off to escape saying “he lives” — Obi-Wan? Kanan still couldn’t see, it was neat nonetheless.
I didn’t mention it once throughout the column because I wanted to highlight Maul but Ezra and Kanan, with the help of Bendu, were able to somewhat make up as Master and Apprentice. So Ezra continues to show that he might not be as tempted by the dark side as we might think. There’s a lot of incredibly interesting season left.
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