How Maul the Shadowlord could fulfill George Lucas' plans for a sequel trilogy

Jan 14, 2026

Maul (Sam Witwer) in the upcoming Maul, Lord of Shadows, which will air later this year on Disney+.

Maul – Shadow Lord will (in all likelihood) be the first Star Wars TV series in 2026. Announced at Star Wars Celebration Japan last year, the new animated series is set between the events of The Clone Wars and Rebels and follows everyone's favorite Sith Lord-turned-crime lord as he rules the underworld following the rise of the Empire. Judging by footage shown exclusively at Celebration Japan and other rumors, there's a good chance Maul of Shadows will be more than just a solo outing for fan-favorite character Sam Witwer, but a fulfillment of George Lucas' shelved plans for a sequel trilogy.

The trailer for Maul - Lord of Shadows shows dark gangs of crime, ominous talk of changing the situation in the galaxy and, of course, Maul himself. However, it was the appearance of another character that made us think about the full scope of the upcoming series.

The trailer shows Maul taking on a new Padawan after he has a vision that she can help him in his revenge against Palpatine, the Empire and Obi-Wan Kenobi. The theme of masters training their apprentices is present in almost every Star Wars project in some form, including the recent appearance of another dark side member, Asaj Ventress, as an apprentice in last year's Tales from the Underworld. However, Maul's student is different from the others.She is a red-skinned Twi'lek, a description many Star Wars fans will immediately associate with their favorite Legends/EU character.

Darth Talon first appeared in the Star Wars: Legacy comic book series, which takes place around 137 after the Battle of Yavin and focuses on Cade Skywalker, a descendant of the Skywalker family who became a bounty hunter. Legacy went further into the canon than any other Star Wars project at the time, allowing writer John Ostrander to reboot the Skywalker saga and introduce a new Empire and a new Sith Order.

Darth Talon became extremely popular over the course of the fifty issues of Star Wars: Legacy and the subsequent miniseries Legacy - War. Talon eventually caught the attention of Star Wars creator George Lucas, who asked her to star in a video game called Clash of the Sith Lords. In this video game, which was eventually cancelled, Talon would team up with a descendant or clone of Darth Maul to fight Darth Krayt and his new Empire.

Concept art of Darth Talon in the canceled LucasArts video game Clash of the Sith Lords

Although LucasArts canceled the game in 2011, Lucas was not yet finished with Talon. Before selling Lucasfilm to Disney, Lucas developed ideas for a Star Wars sequel trilogy that would feature Darth Talon as one of the main antagonists. “She was the new Darth Vader,” Lucas said. “And a lot of the action [in the planned sequels] was around her.” According to Lucas, Talon would become Darth Maul's apprentice, and together they would fight the heroes of the original trilogy and ultimately corrupt the son of Han Solo and Leia Organa.Paul Duncan's The Star Wars Archives: Episodes I-III, 1999-2005 even suggested that Rihanna could play the role, or at least serve as the model for the concept art below.

Concept art of Darth Talon for the Star Wars sequel trilogy by Ian McCaig

Over time, the sequel trilogy was reworked and Darth Talon became a character codenamed "Jedi Slayer" who eventually became Kylo Ren, according to Lucasfilm creative director Phil Szostak and Pablo Hidalgo of the Lucasfilm Story Group. But the trailer for Maul - Lord of Shadows may contain clues indicating that Talon will soon make his canon debut...

As mentioned earlier, in Maul - Lord of Shadows, Maul takes on a red-skinned Twi'lek as his apprentice, which is exactly in line with George Lucas's abandoned plans for a continuation trilogy. While the trailer doesn't confirm it, we suspect that Maul's apprentice in the series is Talon, albeit in a reworked version that's more canon-appropriate. However, instead of fighting Han and Leia, Maul and Talon will presumably be involved in the underworld, given that the series takes place a year after Revenge of the Sith and before we see Maul as the leader of the Bloody Dawn in Solo: A Star Wars Story. Stories."

If this theory is correct, this would be just the latest example of Lucasfilm (and Dave Filoni in particular) integrating key Legends/EU components into canon. Of course, Filoni had done this before with the great Admiral Thrawn, when he introduced Heir to the Empire antagonist Timothy Zahn in Star Wars Rebels and years later made him the main villain in the Ahsoka series. Since then, Filoni has been peppered with all sorts of references to Heir to the Empire, including the characters of Captain Pellaeon and Rukh. In addition to Filoni's direct work, other characters from Legends have appeared in canon, including Prince Xizor, Zorba the Hutt, Malla, Jaxon, and Tag and Bink, who have been changed to fit more seamlessly into canon.Darth Talon could very well be the next Legends character to cross over from the EU into canon when Maul - Lord of Shadows premieres on Disney+ later this year.