TV Recap / Review: The Empire Occupies Janix in "Star Wars: Maul - Shadow Lord" Episode 5 - "Inquisition"

Today saw the debut of the fifth and sixth episodes in Lucasfilm Animation's new Disney+ series Star Wars: Maul - Shadow Lord. Laughing Place was provided with early screeners of these installments, and below are my recap and review of episode 5, which is entitled "Inquisition."

"Inquisition" begins where the previous chapter left off, with an Imperial Star Destroyer hovering over Janix City and sending dropships down to the surface. Rylee Lawson (voiced by Charlie Bushnell) watches from his game, concerned. We see TK troopers (the earliest version of Imperial stormtroopers after the clone army was discarded) marching down the ramps of the dropships after they've landed, and we hear over loudspeakers that off-world travel from Janix has been halted. Then we meet an Imperial officer named Lieutenant Blake (Alastair Murden from Ms. Marvel) and cut to an alleyway, where Jedi Master Eeko-Dio Daki (Dennis Haysbert) tells his Padawan learner Devon Izara (Gideon Adlon) that they should leave the city and "let the Empire deal with Maul."

In the Janix City police headquarters, Chief Klyce (Keiko Agena) and Brander Lawson (Wagner Moura) are upset because of the stormtrooper presence in HQ. Blake enters asking about Maul, says he is going to be taking over operations, and brings Klyce to an interrogation room for questioning. He also warns Lawson not to go too far, implying that he will be next, and then we cut to more stormtroopers checking IDs all over the city while Maul's Spybot (David W. Collins) watches. The Spybot then reports back to Rook Kast (Vanessa Marshall), who tells Maul (Sam Witwer) about what's happening with the Imperial occupation. Maul says he wants to stay on Janix and stick to his plan. Then Looti Vario (Chris Diamantopoulos) complains about the situation and Maul tells him he is welcome to leave and take his chances with the Empire, but Vario ultimately decides to stick around with the Shadow Collective. Conversely, Kast's Mandalorian mercenaries seems to be getting fed up with the situation.

Back at police HQ, it's now Lawson's turn for questioning, and Two-Boots (Richard Ayoade) still doesn't get what's so bad about the Empire. Lawson is told that Klyce has been transferred permanently, and then when he's placed in the interrogation room he sees scratch marks on the table. Enter the Inquisitor named Marrok (A.J. LoCascio), who urges Lawson to "Tell me everything." (We've previously encountered Marrok in both Star Wars: Ahsoka and Star Wars: Tales of the Empire.) Out in the city streets, Devon tells Master Daki that they are wasting their abilities, but Daki responds that those are Maul's words she's repeating. "Maul will never be our ally," he adds. Meanwhile, Rylee shows up at police HQ asking for his father Brander, only finding Two-Boots at his desk. Blake is upset that Rylee is there at all, and he tells Two-Boots to escort the boy out of the station.

In the interrogation room, Marrok expresses suspicion that Lawson survived the recent ambush at Maul's hideout, while most of the rest of his team did not. Devon and Master Daki make their way into a Janix City underground train station, and Daki must use a Jedi mind trick on a stormtrooper patrolling the area. Unfortunately another trooper nearby catches on, and a chase ensues across the train tracks. The Jedi manage to lose the troopers, but Daki is still in pain from his recent skirmish with Maul. Cut to Marrok visiting Maul's former hideout and investigating the scene of the battle, and then back at police HQ Lawson is told that he's free to go. At home, Rylee gets a holo-call from his mother Drea (Tamlyn Tomita from The Day After Tomorrow), and she tells him to cooperate with the Empire after learning that her ex-husband had been questioned.

At the train station, the Jedi decide that they must go back into hiding instead of leaving the city, as all escape routes are seemingly blocked by the Empire. At Maul's new lair, the Spybot helps Rook find the Jedi while Maul's mechanical leg is being repaired by his fellow Dathomirian Nightbrothers. The episode ends with Lawson returning home to the apartment he shares with his Rylee, only to find his son harboring the two Jedi. "You gotta be kidding," murmurs Lawson just before we cut to the credits. I thought this episode had some interesting twists and turns, and it made me very curious as to how Lawson is going to deal with his new situation. It's also interesting to me that Maul took a backseat in this episode, but I do think that the supporting characters in this show are compelling enough to carry the story without any major involvement on his part. Blake certainly comes across as a villain we will grow to "love to hate," and the presence of Marrok is quite intriguing as well. Luckily we have a whole other episode to get to today! Check for another recap right here at Laughing Place.

The first six episodes of Star Wars: Maul - Shadow Lord are now streaming, exclusively via Disney+.