TV Recap / Review: Maul Taunts His Prey in "Star Wars: Maul - Shadow Lord" Episode 3 - "Whispers in the Dark"

Today saw the debut of the third and fourth episodes of Lucasfilm's animated series Star Wars: Maul - Shadow Lord. Laughing Place was provided with early access to screeners of these installments, and below are my recap and review of episode 3, which is entitled "Whispers in the Dark."

"Whispers in the Dark" begins where the previous chapter left off, with Jedi Padawan Devon Izara (voiced by Gideon Adlon) having escaped her cell in the Shadow Collective's hideout on the planet Janix. She is immediately cornered by Rook Kast (Vanessa Marshall) and her Mandalorian mercenaries and brought to Maul (Sam Witwer), who waits patiently in front of a small table. He invites her to sit down and asks how her injured arm is healing, then attempts to win her over by comparing their life experiences, recapping his own narrative, and insisting that they have a common enemy in Darth Sidious, AKA Emperor Palpatine. This scene ends with Devon stealing Maul's lightsaber using her Force abilities, and igniting it.

At the Janix police headquarters, Brander Lawson (Wagner Moura) and his partner Two-Boots (Richard Ayoade) are still working on the case, trying to track down the Shadow Collective and their captives. Lawson suggests bringing in members of local smuggling rings for questioning, and then we cut back to Maul taunting Devon by saying that she "craves her unfulfilled destiny" of the now-collapsed Jedi Order. "The Jedi wanted to destroy me. You could be the one to do it," suggests Maul. Elsewhere in the hideout, Rook asks Looti Vario (Chris Diamantopoulos) about the location of the next Pyke shipment, and next we're at that location, where Two-Boots and Officer Reb (Sam Corlett from Vikings: Valhalla) witness members of the Pyke syndicate arguing with Vario's men. Then Rook and her Mandalorians show up and fire a rocket launcher at the shipment before the police can take it as evidence. The smugglers escape in the ensuing chaos.

Lawson makes his best effort to watch his son Rylee's (Charlie Bushnell) sports game, which Rylee initially appreciates, but then Brander is approached by Jedi Master Eeko-Dio Daki (Dennis Haysbert), who warns him about Maul. Lawson asks Daki why Maul is interested in Devon, to which the Jedi master replies, "That is another mystery." Then Brander is called away to the incident at the docks. Rylee notices that he's disappeared and is disappointed in his father. Back at the hideout, Maul continues taunting Devon, and offers to train her to help him take down the Empire, also warning her about facing the Inquisitorius.

At the docks, Lawson arrives and picks up Two-Boots, who once again insists on reporting the situation to the Empire, but Brander refuses. Here we learn from Two-Boots that Lawson's ex-wife now works for the Empire, and the scene concludes with Brander ordering the droid to drop it. At the Shadow Collective hideout, Rook takes Vario out of his cell and tells him to contact the Pykes, and then we cut to the Pyke home planet of Oba Diah, where syndicate leader Marg Krim (Stephen Stanton from Star Wars Rebels and several other Lucasfilm projects) talks to Vario's hologram. Looti denies involvement in the recent attacks on Pyke shipments, and then offers a deal in which he would return the syndicate's lost payments and the value of the destroyed cargo. Marg Krim threatens Vario with the punishment of death if the deal turns out to be a trick.

At police headquarters, Chief Klyce (Keiko Agena from Gilmore Girls) tells Lawson that Two-Boots went over his head and asked the chief to bring in the Empire, but instead she reassigned the droid to desk duty, allowing Brander more time to resolve the situation himself. At the Shadow Collective hideout, Devon finally reaches the base's exit but she is blocked by Maul. Lightsabers come out, and the two Force-users duel, with Maul only using one hand. The fight ends in a draw and Izara leaves, but not without Maul reclaiming the second half of his saber first.

I thought this was a solid installment, with Maul predictably trying his best to win Devon Izara over to his side of the galactic struggle. I'm also still enjoying the police procedural aspect and I find the relationship between Lawson and Two-Boots to be an interesting one. The big question right now is how Maul and Rook Kast plan to deal with the Pykes, and whether or not poor Looti Vario will survive the ordeal, but the threat of the Empire's involvement also looms large over the series and its characters. Don't forget, another episode also dropped today, so that recap will be available imminently, right here at LaughingPlace.com!

The first four episodes of Star Wars: Maul - Shadow Lord are now available to stream, exclusively via Disney+.