TV Recap / Review: The Empire Has Maul Cornered in "Star Wars: Maul - Shadow Lord" Episode 7 - "Call to Oblivion"

Today saw the debut of the seventh and eighth 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 thoughts on episode 7, which is entitled "Call to Oblivion."

"Call to Oblivion" begins at nighttime on Janix, where an Imperial curfew has been implemented and public transportation has been halted as the Empire continues its occupation of the planet. In an underground tunnel, Jedi Padawan Devon Izara (voiced by Gideon Adlon) and her new ally Rylee Lawson (Charlie Bushnell) reluctantly follow the former Sith Lord Maul (Sam Witwer) toward his hidden base of operations. Rylee suggests to Devon that they should try to sneak away when it's safe, but Maul overhears him and suggests that it would be wiser to continue following him and that he has access to a transport that can get them off-world. Meanwhile in an alleyway in another part of the city, Rylee's father Brander Lawson (Wagner Moura) argues with Jedi Master Eeko-Dio Daki (Dennis Haysbert) about what their priorities should be, and Daki suggests they should try to contact Lawson's friend Rheena Sul.

Back in the tunnel, Maul tells Devon about his former master (meaning Darth Sidious, though he doesn't name him) and admits that he is "unfortunately" still alive. On a rooftop above Janix City, the Inquisitor named Marrok (A.J. LoCascio) watches down like Batman until he's called in by a stormtrooper over hologram to greet an incoming Imperial transport. Meanwhile, Maul returns to his new lair and Rook Kast (Vanessa Marshall) reports that Imperial troops have been spotted nearby. Devon tries to flee the base with Rylee, but their path is blocked by Maul, who demands that Devon come with him and help him defeat the Empire. Lightsabers come out, but just as the duel begins, Maul's Spybot (David W. Collins) spots an Imperial probe droid watching from above. Suddenly stormtroopers land on the platform in a dropship, interrupting the confrontation.

So now Devon is forced to team up with Maul once more to defend themselves against the troopers. Maul's soldiers fight back, shooting down a second dropship, but the stormtroopers manages to take Rylee captive during the chaos. Devon grabs ahold of that dropship, but falls as it gets away. Seeing her chance, she flees into a tunnel. At Janix police headquarters, Imperial Lieutenant Blake (Alastair Murden) tells Marrok that the fugitive are being engaged as the incoming transport lands and the Eleventh Brother-- who we previously saw fighting Ahsoka Tano in Star Wars: Tales of the Jedi-- emerges down its ramp. Now in the tunnels heading toward Maul's hideout, Lawson tells Daki that he once worked alongside a Jedi and that he doesn't believe they were traitors.

Then Devon, running from the opposite direction down the tunnel, reunites with Daki and Lawson and tells them that they have to rescue Rylee from the Empire. Daki is hesitant to get further involved, but Devon says she will help Lawson save his son, and Daki hesitantly agrees. At Maul's hideout, Rook tells her Mandalorian mercenaries to leave their heavy credits behind as they flee, or they will slow them down. Obviously this doesn't make the mercs too happy, and then we cut to police HQ, where Rylee is brought in and immediately asks for Two-Boots (Richard Ayoade), who is no longer wearing his trademark boots because they were "not in compliance with Imperial procedures." Blake tells Two-Boots that Rylee has been abetting fugitives, and Two-Boots tries to intervene but Blake orders the droid to return to his station.

Underground, the Mandalorians threaten to abandon Maul's mission, and Maul tells Rook to "deal with them." She replies that there is a price for the loyalty of commandoes, and that the price is steadily increasing, adding that she believes Devon is clouding Maul's judgment. Out in the city streets now, Lawson calls Two-Boots on his communicator and asks about Rylee's status. Not wanting to alert the Imperial officers around him, Two-Boots hides his comm in a box, but he is finally starting to look concerned about the direction things are headed. In a chasm back beneath the city, the Eleventh Brother hunts for Maul, resulting in the Shadow Collective being confronted by Imperial troops on a bridge toward where their ship is parked. A dropship cut them off as they attempt to cross, and Maul leaps down to another platform.

The two Inquisitors follow, and we see more fighting between the Shadow Collective and the Imperial forces. One of the Dathomirian Nightbrothers uses a rocket launcher to take down another dropship, while below the Inquisitors continue to hunt maul through a series of caves dripping with water. Maul's injured mechanical leg begins to malfunction again, allowing the Inquisitors to catch up to him, but above one of the Nightbrothers decides to spring into action while the other covers him. Meanwhile, the Mandalorian mercs abandon the rest of the Shadow Collective and take off in their ship, leaving poor Looti Vario (Chris Diamantopoulos) behind. "Farewell, Lady Kast," says the Mando named Kebris (Ben Diskin from Disney Twisted-Wonderland: The Animation), but their ship is immediately destroyed by the Empire after it takes off.

In the caves, Maul is cornered by the Inquisitors but the Nightbrother interrupts just before the Eleventh Brother can strike the killing blow. The Nightbrother is killed by a lightsaber through the chest from behind, and it only buys Maul a few seconds to scramble further into the cave. "The emperor wants you dead," says Marrok as he and the Backed Eleventh Brother back Maul into another corner. "Likewise," murmurs Maul as he taps into the Force to brings the ceiling of the cave down on top of them all. Cut to credits for an exciting and action-packed episode, although this is where the circular plotting that I complained about in my season review started to both me during my first watch-through. How many times can Devon be separated from Master Daki and then reunited after a confrontation with Maul? It just feels a bit repetitive, though pretty much everything else is clicking for me. I think my favorite part of this chapter was learning that the Mandalorian commandos under Maul's command do actually have a limit to their patience, even though leaving didn't help them out in the long run. Anyway, there's another episode to get to today, so look for that recap right here at Laughing Place!

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