The Clone Wars: Darth Maul: Shadow Conspiracy

The Clone Wars:
Darth Maul: Shadow Conspiracy

Publisher's summary[]

Fueled by vengeance and rage, the newly reunited brothers Darth Maul and Savage Opress spread terror and violence. As they forcibly recruit criminals from the darkest corners of the Outer Rim to join their army, the brothers begin to consolidate their new criminal empire in an effort to bring out Darth Maul's most hated enemy: Obi-Wan Kenobi.

With the backing of an army composed of the galaxy's most vicious criminal organizations, there is nothing that stands in Maul's way that he cannot crush. Will Darth Maul have his vengeance against Obi-Wan Kenobi, or will the Jedi Knight escape his grasp? And if so, at what cost?

Plot summary[]

Revival[]

The chapter focuses solely on the season premiere ofthe Clone Wars: Season Five. Each event as seen in the episode is included in the chapter.

Eminence[]

Darth Maul andSavage Opress are found near dead in an escape pod orbiting the planet Florrum by theDeath Watch and their leader,Pre Vizsla. The two brothers are taken to the planetZanbar where they receive treatment for the loss of theirlegs and arm, respectively. In addition, Maul donsblack garments. After a brief discussion Death Watch and the twoSith Lords realize that they can help each other to get what they want and form an alliance.

They then travel to the volcanic world ofMustafar where they hope to invite theBlack Sun led byXomit Grunseit into their alliance. Upon their landing, they are greeted byCaptain of the GuardZiton Moj, who takes them to speak with Grunseit. Maul attempts to rally theFalleen, but they refuse and mock the brothers and Pre Vizsla. Opresshurls hislightsaber at the Falleen, killing them all. Moj witnesses this and decides that the Black Sun will join Maul. Back at the camp on Zanbar thePyke Syndicate, led byLom Pyke, arrive and form theiralliance with them.

From there, the Death Watch and brothers travel toNal Hutta to secure a partnership with theHutt Grand Council. However, the confrontation becomes askirmish in whichJabba Desilijic Tiure sets thebounty huntersDengar,Sugi,Embo andLatts Razzi against them, the bounty hunters manage to push away Maul, Opress and Vizsla for a short time until they eventually have to escape.Oruba the Hutt is killed in the skirmish. The group then travels toTatooine where Jabba decides to also align himself and the Hutt systems to Maul.

Shades of Reason[]

Maul has named himself and the groups that have aligned themselves with him the Shadow Collective. In the camp on Zanbar, the Collective are reviewing their attack onMandalore, and holograms ofSundari are planning their attack. The plan is for the Shadow Collective to attack Sundari, to makeDuchessSatine Kryze look weak and for Death Watch to come and stop them, so that the Death Watch look like heroes in the eyes of the public. Pre Vizsla and Bo-Katan are planning on betraying Maul and Savage but they expect the treachery, as they are crucial to their plan.

The Shadow Collective travels to Mandalore. One group consisting of Ziton Moj and his thugs attacks theMemorial Shrine and another group including the Pykes and Savage attack the banks. Duchess Satine tries to calm her people down outside theSundari Royal Palace but is stopped as the Death Watch fly in and tell the people that they can stop the criminals, Satine looks on in horror as the people cheer for Vizsla. Death Watch stops the attacks across Sundari and presents the criminals to the public to show their strength. Pre Vizsla declares himself the newMandalore.

The Duchess is led into a cell, which is next to that of the previous Prime MinisterAlmec. Maul arrives on Mandalore, where he is outgunned by the Death Watch and is also forced into aprison cell with Savage. The pair simply escapes and find the Duchess, they need another government leader to which she replies with Almec. The brothers break him out of his cell and they head of to the palace. Maul enters the throne room to challenge Vizsla to a duel, (in Mandalore tradition whenever the Mandalore is challenged, the victor becomes the new Mandalore) to which Vizsla accepts. Vizsla is no match for Maul, and is beaten down to his knees to which Maul grabs his darksaber and decapitates him. Bo Katan and herNite Owls are infuriated; they defy Maul's rule and escape. Almec is reinstated as Prime Minister, while Maul secretly sits on the throne as the leader of Mandalore and over 2,000 systems.

The Lawless[]

Duchess Satine is pondering over the past years of her life when a Death Watch commando (The new armor is now red and black) enters her cell. The commando takes off his helmet to revealKorkie Kryze. Korkie reveals he is working with Bo-Katan, the three along with the Nite Owls escape the prison and in speeders escape to thedocks. The Death Watch is soon after them and they race across the city, Bo-Katan protects the Duchess so she can get signal to send a message to theRepublic. The Duchess gets to the docks and manages to send a short hologram to the Jedi Council. Darth Maul finds Kryze and puts the Duchess back into her cell.

OnCoruscant,Obi-Wan Kenobi meets withGrand MasterYoda andKi-Adi-Mundi to find the hologram sent by Satine. They advise Kenobi to stay away, as since Mandalore is a neutral planet, they cannot do anything. Obi-Wan findsAnakin Skywalker while wearing hisRako Hardeen disguise and asks if he can use theTwilight to rescue Satine. Darth Maul brings Satine to the throne room, he is glad she escaped and managed to call the Republic as he now knows Kenobi will be coming. Kenobi lands at the docks, where he tricks a Death Watch commando and steals his armor.

Obi-Wan gets into the prison and rescues Satine, after a chase with the Death Watch the pair manage to get into theTwilight. As the ship is about to take off, a rocket hits the ship and spirals it out of control, crashing it into the docks. Maul arrives and force chokes Obi-Wan into unconsciousness. When he awakes he is chained up in the royal throne room. Expecting Maul to choke him, Maul instead brutally chokes Satine and she rises up off the ground. He almost kills her, but lets go. Maul instead walks up to Satine and stabs her with theDarksaber. Obi-Wan runs to her and cradles her in his arms as she dies.

Mas Amedda is preparing for his afternoon meeting with ChancellorPalpatine when he is stopped. The Chancellor states: "There is a disturbance in the Force. Prepare my ship". Obi-Wan is being taken to his cell when out of the shadows, Bo-Katan and her squad arrives to save him. They give him a jet pack and escape. At the royal docks, Palpatine, appearing as Darth Sidious, arrives and kills two Death Watch guards and boards a speeder straight to the Royal Palace. Obi-Wan and the Nite Owls fight with Death Watch across the city and reach the docks to see an even bigger fight taking place. The warriors rush into the battle.

At the Royal Palace, Darth Sidious enters to find Maul and Savage. Maul rushes to Sidious and kneels beside him. Sidious does not approve and force pushes the brothers across the chamber, they activate their lightsabers. Sidious calmly activates two duel sabers and engages the twoSith into a duel, Maul believes that he is defeating Sidious, until he sees him smile. On the docks, Bo finds a ship for Obi-Wan and tells him to escape and to tell the Republic of what has happened. The epic duel between the three Sith travels across the palace onto the entrance steps, Sidious is easily defeating the two. Caught off-guard, Sidious pushes Maul away giving the Sith Lord enough time to kill Savage. Savage falls to ground asMotherTalzin'smagic fades away and he reverts back to his former self. Sidious fully attacks Maul and uses the Force to brutally damage Maul in every way. Maul starts to fade into unconsciousness, but Sidious uses his ability ofForce lightning to electrocute Maul. Maul is in pain and Sidious smiles…

Continuity[]

There were some differences between the book and its sources:

• Bo-Katan's familial relationship with Satine Kryze was only alluded to indirectly.
• Maul's fate in the book was left ambiguous, though it is heavily implied that he was killed; in the episode, Maul is spared.

According to Jason Fry when covering the book in his blog, Bo-Katan's relationship with Satine being indirectly alluded to was covered in the original script of the episode, and that he was delighted that the writers decided to make it explicit in the aired version.

Appearances[]

Sources[]

• The Essential Reader's Companion
• Shining a Light onShadow Conspiracy onStarWars.com(backup link)

Notes and references[]

External links[]

• Star Wars: The Clone Wars: Darth Maul: Shadow Conspiracy onScholastic'sofficial website(backup link)