WARNING! THIS ARTICLE CONTAINS SPOILERS. Whenever a discussion about the Star Wars Prequel Trilogy comes up, its only a matter of time before somebody insists that the biggest flaw was killing off Darth Maul after a very brief appearance in Episode I: The Phantom Menace. It is argued that Maul should have become the central antagonist of the new films, and given Obi-wan Kenobi more depth. In fact, many fellow writers on this very site have made this point in recent weeks:
http://whatculture.com/film/10-small-changes-that-would-have-improved-the-star-wars-prequels.php/8http://whatculture.com/film/star-wars-22-products-that-prove-george-lucas-is-a-complete-sell-out.php/17 The consensus is so strong, that even George Lucas agrees, having resurrected Maul for the animated series, The Clone Wars. But 5000 words history essays have a habit of distracting ones attention, and over the last few days Ive been thinking. Now we can all agree that the Prequels have their flaws, but I dont believe this is one of them. Furthermore, I intend to demonstrate that chucking Maul down a shaft in two halves was actually the best thing to do with the character. Even if I fail to convince you in five points, have a little look at the end, where Ive posted a little concession on how the blow of Mauls loss could have been softened. Ill be really interested to hear feedback on this one
5. Any Way To Let Him Live Would Have Been Unconvincing
Just consider the end of Episode I: Qui-gon Jinn gone (Ive wanted to write that for years!), Obi-wan falls down the hole, jumps out and chops Maul in half. Now Ill grant you that the execution of this made Maul look a little dim, but I honestly dont think any other way would be better. To have Maul just run away would diminish his credibility; hes just killed a Master but he flees from a Padawan? He could have left Obi-wan down that hole, because he considered him beneath him (no pun intended). But youve got to admit that having the central villain leave the hero alive just for the sake of setting up the sequel borders on self-parody. Ultimately The Clone Wars had Maul physically survive his bisection at the cost of his mind, leading to a dark ritual that returned his sanity and built him a new bottom half out of bits of old droid. Now, they executed this as brilliantly as possible, but even in the Star Wars Galaxy, it stretches belief for me. Next time you watch one of Mauls TCW episodes, which I do recommend, just think Darth Maul has a battle droid for a backside, and tell me you take him as seriously.