Star Wars : Darth Maul — Son of Dathomir Star Wars : Darth Maul — Son of Dathomir is a four - issue canon comic book miniseries written by Jeremy Barlow , with artwork by penciller Juan Frigeri , inker Mauro Vargas , colorist Wes Dzioba , and cover artist Chris Scalf . The miniseries was published by Dark Horse Comics beginning on May 21 , 2014 , and concluded with the fourth and final issue on August 20 , 2014 . A was released on October 1 , 2014 and re - published by Marvel Comics on November 21 , 2017 . " Son of Dathomir " is an adaptation of unproduced scripts from " " , which was part of the television show ' s sixth production season . The episodes that " Son of Dathomir " were based on were not completed and therefore not released as actual episodes . The story is part of " The Clone Wars Legacy " line . The series is set during the Clone Wars , and is a continuation of Darth Maul ' s story from the show . The rogue Sith Lord , who was revealed to have survived the events of in the episode " Witches of the Mist , " has been captured by his former master , Darth Sidious , following the events of the episode " The Lawless . " Sidious uses Maul in an attempt to draw Mother Talzin , Maul ' s mother and the leader of the Nightsisters , out of hiding so she can be destroyed , as Sidious considers her a potential threat to the eventual Sith domination of the galaxy . Maul confronts the Confederacy of Independent Systems and captures Count Dooku and General Grievous in pursuit of vengeance against his old master , while the Galactic Republic and Jedi Order become involved in the hopes that they can defeat Maul , Dooku , and Grievous — and , in doing so , end the Clone Wars . Publisher ' s summary . Getting cut in half by Obi - Wan Kenobi and being rejected by his former Sith Master Darth Sidious isn ' t going to defeat Darth Maul . In fact , it only makes him mad enough to take on the galaxy — with an army of Mandalorians ~ After forming the Shadow Collective — a criminal organization composed of the Hutt s , Black Sun , the Mandalorians , and the fearsome Nightbrothers — Maul wages war against Darth Sidious and his generals , Count Dooku and General Grievous ! Adapted from unproduced screenplays for Season 6 of " " television show , this is the final chapter planned for Darth Maul ' s saga ! Plot summary . Part 1 . In the aftermath of the events of " The Lawless , " Darth Maul has been captured by Darth Sidious , his former master , and imprisoned in the Spire , a Separatist prison on Stygeon Prime . Sidious is followed by Gar Saxon and Rook Kast , two of Maul ' s Death Watch followers , on orders for Mandalorian Prime Minister Almec to free Maul from imprisonment . Once freed , Maul and the warriors are to rendezvous with Death Watch forces on Zanbar . Sidious speaks to Maul in the Spire and reveals that he still has use for his former apprentice , before the two are interrupted by Count Dooku . The arrival of Sidious ' new apprentice angers Maul , who views Dooku as a Sith pretender and unworthy of the title of Sith Lord . Sidious and Dooku leave to confer with one another , as Sidious explains that he imprisoned Maul to draw out Mother Talzin , leader of the Nightsisters , so she can be destroyed as a potential threat to the eventual Sith rule of the galaxy . Sidious also reveals that he has a history with Talzin , from whom he received Maul when Maul was a child . Sidious orders Dooku to find out more information about Maul ' s Shadow Collective , as Maul will end up believing that the Sith want to destroy his arm , and seek out Mother Talzin for help . After Dooku briefly interrogates Maul , Kast and Saxon mount their rescue . The two Mandalorians reach their captive leader and free him from his restraints , before blasting out a wall of the interrogation cell . Maul and the Mandalorians make their way down the mountain , via zipline , that the Spire sits upon and escape aboard a Gauntlet fighter . Separatist forces , led by General Grievous , pursue the ship , while Dooku makes it clear that Maul is not to be killed , only weakened . That way , he can seek out Mother Talzin for help . With Separatist forces in pursuit , Maul and the Mandalorians reach Zanbar . Once again in command of his army , Maul reclaims his Darksaber , the weapon that belonged to the previous Death Watch leader , Pre Vizsla , and tells the Mandalorians that war is at hand . The Separatists arrive on the moon and launch all of their forces against Maul . Death Watch is overwhelmed by the droid soldiers , while Maul faces Grievous in single - combat . Maul ' s army is left badly damaged , but Maul orders his fighters to bomb the area , taking out many Separatist forces as well . Maul escapes in the chaos and orders his surviving forces to retreat . After the battle ends , Grievous informs Dooku of what happened , leaving Dooku satisfied that Maul will seek to find Mother Talzin . Part 2 . In retreat from Zanbar , Maul contacts Mother Talzin for guidance , just as Sidious and Dooku intended . Talzin uses Nightsister magick to speak to Maul from afar , and anticipates that the Sith want to lure her into a trap . Refusing to play along , Talzin sends Maul to Ord Mantell without her , where he is to regroup with his Black Sun allies and prepare for another battle with the Separatists — one where Maul can capture Count Dooku and General Grievous . Once on Ord Mantell , Maul confers with his allies and informs them of the impending battle . Meanwhile , Dooku and Grievous prepare their own strategy en route to the planet . Maul and his allies plan to lure the Separatists into a specific point in Ord Mantell City , where the Mandalorians , Black Sun , and Pyke Syndicate will engage in an attack against the invading droid army . A team of Nightbrothers , led by Brother Viscus , arrives on orders from Mother Talzin to reinforce Maul ' s army . As Maul greets the Nightbrothers , the Separatists begin their attack , using their fleet to bombard Ord Mantell City . The Shadow Collective begins carrying out their defense , while the Separatists deploy their droid forces on the surface . Once there , they are met in battle by the limited but powerful number of Shadow Collective troops — Mandalorian , Pyke , and Black Sun alike . Meanwhile , Count Dooku arrives with a number of droid guards , while Maul leaves the surface and makes his way to the Separatist fleet . He and his ships attack the Separatist command vessel , while Grievous realizes the Separatists have been lured into a trap . On the surface , Dooku is confronted by the Nightbrothers , and a duel ensues between the Sith Lord and the Dathomirian warriors . The droid army advances on the Shadow Collective and takes Maul ' s forces into custody , while the renegade Sith Lord himself continues his space assault . He and Mandalorian warriors board the Separatist command ship and take General Grievous into custody , and they force the Kaleesh cyborg to disable all battle droids on the surface . The disabling of the droids allows the Shadow Collective forces to regroup and capture Count Dooku . Maul contacts Mother Talzin to tell her what has happened , and she promises that , with Dooku and Grievous in custody , Sidious will soon be captured and they will fulfill their quest for vengeance against the Dark Lord . Part 3 . A team of Jedi arrives on Ord Mantell to investigate the aftermath of the battle , and recognizes the connection between Darth Maul and the Mandalorians once they recover a Death Watch helmet . Jedi Master Mace Windu contacts Supreme Chancellor Palpatine , who is secretly Darth Sidious , to inform him that Maul was behind the battle . Windu hopes to use this information to capture Maul and Dooku , and to use their captures to end the Clone Wars . Windu then speaks to fellow Jedi Obi - Wan Kenobi , Tiplee , and Aayla Secura , and together they surmise that Maul may have headed to a Mandalorian asteroid outpost . Fearing that Mandalore could fall to the Separatists , Kenobi volunteers himself , along with Tiplee , to investigate the outpost . Meanwhile , on the Mandalorian outpost , Maul contacts Darth Sidious and informs the Dark Lord that Dooku and Grievous have been captured . Sidious tells Maul to kill them , for he has no use for what he sees as failures . Maul instead orders Grievous to be taken into custody . As he does so , the Jedi begin their approach towards the outpost , and Tiplee fears that Kenobi will be unable to keep his emotions under control ; Maul killed Satine Kryze , the Duchess of Mandalore and a close personal friend of Kenobi ' s . Kenobi assures his fellow Jedi that he will not fail . As the Republic approaches , Maul offers Dooku a choice : become an ally or die . Mother Talzin appears in a cloud of magic smoke and reveals that she too was once betrayed by Darth Sidious — and that Darth Maul is her son . As Talzin explains , Sidious is even now working to find a new apprentice . The Republic assault on the outpost begins , and the Republic ships make their way through Gauntlet fighter fire towards the base . Grievous uses the chaos to make it to an escape pod , while Dooku agrees to join Maul and fight against Kenobi ' s boarding party . The Jedi arrive on the outpost , where Kenobi and Tiplee are confronted by Maul and Dooku . They engage in a lightsaber duel , which is joined by Windu and Secura . Dooku kills Tiplee , while the Mandalorians shoot a small missile towards the Jedi , incapacitating them . This gives Maul and Dooku time to escape . In the aftermath of the battle , Windu contacts Palpatine and informs him of what happened . The Jedi Master also speculates that the battle proves Dooku is the Sith Master , an incorrect assessment that Palpatine , the true Dark Lord , allows the Jedi to believe . Part 4 . In the aftermath of the Galactic Republic and Jedi assault against the Shadow Collective on the Mandalorian asteroid outpost , Darth Maul races towards Dathomir with his Death Watch allies — as well as Count Dooku , who had claimed to join Maul ' s vendetta against Darth Sidious . While en route to Dathomir , Maul is contacted by Ziton Moj of Black Sun and a member of the Pyke Syndicate . Having lost the moon of Zanbar and the planet Ord Mantell — as well as the supply outpost — in their fights against the Sith , the two allies have become worried that Maul ' s plan is failing and that the fight has become the former Sith Lord ' s personal vendetta against his old master . Maul assures them that they will be paid , and that , once Darth Sidious is dead , the galaxy will belong to the Shadow Collective . Maul then orders Gar Saxon , a Mandalorian , to keep the Pykes and Black Sun in line . Meanwhile , Maul tells Dooku that he knows the Sith Lord is not truly an ally , and that Dooku has been told by Sidious to play Maul ' s game . Maul then has Dooku taken into custody by Rook Kast . Once on Dathomir , Maul speaks to Brother Viscus , who survived his encounter with Count Dooku during the battle on Ord Mantell , and Viscus tells Maul that the preparations had been made for the next phase of their plan . The Nightbrothers take Dooku before Mother Talzin , who appears in a cloud of smoke and begins to unleash a magick attack against the Sith Lord . Meanwhile , a Sith Infiltrator arrives in orbit , carrying both General Grievous and Darth Sidious , after tracking Dooku ' s location to Dathomir . Sidious orders Grievous to jam the Dathomirian communications and cloak the ship , allowing them to arrive on Dathomir undetected . Maul and the Nightbrothers do not see the ship coming and continue with their plan , as Talzin uses her magic to draw the life force from Dooku so she can use it to physically manifest herself again . As Maul explains , Talzin ' s physical return requires a great sacrifice , and they had chosen Dooku to make that sacrifice . As the process continues , an explosion rips through the area , and Grievous and Sidious appear before Maul to confront him . Sidious reminds his former apprentice that there is only one plan that matters : the plan of Darth Sidious to rule the galaxy . As they speak , Moj and Pykes contacts Kast , informing her that the Separatist armies have begun attacking them . The Shadow Collective allies demand to know where Maul is , but Kast says that his not their concern and that they are to fight the Separatists . On Dathomir , Mother Talzin takes control of Dooku ' s body , and she and Maul engage in combat against Sidious and Grievous . Talzin fights the Dark Lord of the Sith while Maul attacks Grievous . Sidious quickly gains the upper - hand against Talzin , demanding that she release his apprentice . Sidious bombards Dooku ' s body with Force lightning before Talzin releases Dooku and appears in physical form once again . Kast , meanwhile , continues speaking with Black Sun and the Pykes , who inform her that they are pulling out of the Shadow Collective , leaving Maul on his own as a Separatist fleet emerges from hyperspace over Dathomir . Maul continues his fight against Grievous , pushing him out of and away from the battle . Sidious once again unleashes lightning against Talzin , while Talzin herself sends a torrent of magical energy towards the Dark Lord . Maul pleads with Talzin to take his strength , but , as Dooku enters the fight with his own lightning attacks , Talzin tells her son to retreat without her , even if it means her own doom . Talzin uses her magic to telekinetically throw Maul from the fray , and he is pulled away by Kast and another Mandalorian warrior — but watches as Grievous returns and uses two lightsaber s to fatally stab Talzin through the chest . With his Shadow Collective in tatters , Maul and Death Watch flee from Dathomir . Sidious , Dooku , and Grievous overlook Talzin ' s body , while Dooku regretfully says that Maul has once again escaped . Sidious is not concerned , however , as everything transpired as he had intended . Maul ' s future as a Sith rival has been destroyed , while the Sith have taken another step in securing their own future . Main characters . Darth Maul . Darth Maul is a renegade Sith Lord who was once the apprentice of Darth Sidious , the Dark Lord of the Sith . He was believed to have been killed by Obi - Wan Kenobi during the Battle of Naboo , but survived his encounter and returned to galactic prominence during the Clone Wars over ten years later . After being captured by his former master on Mandalore , Maul is imprisoned in the Spire on Stygeon Prime . Sidious and Count Dooku allow Maul to escape , hoping that he will lead them to Mother Talzin , leader of the Nightsisters , so she can be destroyed . This leads to the Battle of Zanbar , where General Grievous leads the Separatist Droid Army to the Mandalorian - occupied moon and forces the Shadow Collective into a retreat . Maul contacts Mother Talzin for guidance , but Talzin — Maul ' s mother — refused to be drawn out into a trap . The two put a plan in place to capture the two Separatist leaders , which sparks a battle on Ord Mantell and the capture of Count Dooku and General Grievous . Maul offers Dooku a chance to ally with him , and Dooku feigns loyalty to his predecessor . The two fight off a Republic and Jedi assault on a Mandalorian asteroid outpost , where Maul again comes face - to - face with Kenobi , before leaving and making their way to Dathomir . Maul escorts his Sith Lord prisoner to Dathomir , where Talzin takes over Dooku ' s body and absorbs enough life energy to resurrect herself . However , Sidious and Grievous arrive and overwhelm Maul and Talzin , and she sacrifices herself to allow her son to escape . Mother Talzin . Mother Talzin is a Dathomir witch , the leader of the Nightsisters , and the mother of Darth Maul . She was once an ally of Darth Sidious before he turned against her , and the Dark Lord now deems Talzin to be a threat to the eventual Sith rule of the galaxy . Talzin was able to revive her son , but this caused her to sacrifice much of her own form , leaving her unable to physically manifest her body . Talzin correctly assumes that the Sith are attempting to use Darth Maul to lure her out of hiding so she can be destroyed , and refuses to fall prey to the trap . Talzin sends her son to Ord Mantell to capture Count Dooku and General Grievous , a plot he successfully executes . Talzin appears in a cloud of magical smoke before Maul and Dooku and attempts to sway the Sith Lord to their side , telling him that Sidious , Dooku ' s master , is already searching for a new apprentice . Dooku feigns an allegiance with Maul , but Maul sees through the facade and brings Dooku to Talzin ' s crypt on Dathomir , where she draws from Dooku ' s life energy to regain her physical form . Sidious and Grievous arrive to carry out Talzin ' s execution and a battle ensues , with Talzin giving her life to save Maul . Darth Sidious / Sheev Palpatine . Darth Sidious is the Dark Lord of the Sith , more widely known by his public persona of Supreme Chancellor Palpatine , and the former master of Darth Maul . Having captured Maul on Mandalore , Sidious takes his former apprentice to the Spire on Stygeon Prime , where Sidious and his new apprentice , Count Dooku , put a plan in motion to use Maul in the hopes of luring Mother Talzin out of hiding ; Sidious and Talzin were once allies , but Sidious now deems her to be a threat to the eventual Sith rule of the galaxy . The Separatists are able to weaken Darth Maul ' s Shadow Collective army and send him towards Talzin , but the Dathomir witch refuses to be baited and instead has Maul capture Count Dooku and General Grievous on Ord Mantell . Sidious tells Maul via hologram that the renegade Sith Lord can kill the two Separatist leaders , as the Dark Lord claims he has no interest in failures , but Maul offers Dooku a chance to join him . Dooku feigns allegiance with Maul in order to further Sidious ' plans to destroy Maul and Talzin , but Maul ultimately sees through the facade . Sidious personally enters the fray and fights Darth Maul and the newly - revived Mother Talzin on Dathomir , and with Dooku and Grievous ' aid is able to destroy her , though Maul is able to flee . Count Dooku . Count Dooku is a Sith Lord , secretly known as Darth Tyranus ; the apprentice of Darth Sidious ; and the political face of the Separatist Alliance . Dooku is present on Stygeon Prime when Sidious brings Darth Maul to the Spire as a prisoner , and , on Sidious ' orders , Dooku interrogates his predecessor for information about the Shadow Collective . Dooku allows Maul to escape from Stygeon Prime , to be followed by General Grievous and the Separatist Droid Army , all in the hopes that weakening Maul ' s forces in a battle on Zanbar would lead the renegade Sith Lord to Mother Talzin so she could be lured out of hiding . Talzin did not take the bait , however , and Dooku and Grievous attacked Maul on Ord Mantell . It was there that Maul captured the two Separatists leaders . Dooku feigned an allegiance with Maul while escaping a Republic and Jedi assault on a Mandalorian asteroid base , but Maul saw through the lie . Dooku was taken to Dathomir , where Mother Talzin ' s spirit possessed him and began draining his life energy . Dooku was freed when Talzin ' s body reformed , and he joined his master ' s assault against her , allowing Grievous to finally kill the witch . Dooku then apologized for Maul ' s escape , but his Master dismissed the former Sith Lord as a threat . General Grievous . General Grievous is a Kaleesh cyborg and the commander of the Separatist Droid Army . He and the Separatist Droid Army are sent by Count Dooku to pursue Darth Maul and weaken his Shadow Collective forces on Zanbar . When Darth Maul fled Zanbar to seek out Mother Talzin , Grievous was joined by Dooku , and the two led their armies after the Shadow Collective to Ord Mantell . During the battle on the planet , Grievous and Dooku were captured and brought to the Mandalorian asteroid outpost . Grievous was taken into custody , while Dooku feigned an alliance with Maul . After the Republic and Jedi assaulted the outpost , Grievous fought his way out of custody and escaped from the asteroid base . Grievous then accompanied Sidious to Dathomir , where he battled Maul once again . As Sidious and Dooku assaulted Talzin with a barrage of Force lightning , Grievous used the opportunity to impale and kill her . Obi - Wan Kenobi . Obi - Wan Kenobi is a Jedi Master , member of the Jedi Council , and a Jedi General in the Grand Army of the Republic . He is one of the targets of Darth Maul ' s lust for revenge , as the renegade Sith Lord was beaten by then - Padawan Kenobi on Naboo over ten years earlier . In the aftermath of the battle on Ord Mantell , Kenobi is part of a team investigating what happened on the planet , and volunteers himself and Master Tiplee to investigate and , ultimately , lead an assault against Darth Maul on the Mandalorian asteroid base . Tiplee is concerned about Kenobi ' s mental state — Maul murdered Mandalore ' s Duchess Satine Kryze , a close personal friend of Kenobi ' s — but he is determined to carry the mission out . He comes face to face with Maul again on the asteroid base , but Maul and his forces are able to escape , leaving Kenobi and his team behind . Development . " Son of Dathomir " was initially conceived as four episodes of the television series " Star Wars : The Clone Wars " . There were four finished scripts that ultimately became " Son of Dathomir " , and those scripts were written for what was intended to be a full seventh season of the show , had it been ordered by the network . The scripts were written in conjunction with George Lucas , making them and , by extension , " Son of Dathomir " part of the official " Star Wars " canon . Once the episodes were written , they continued through the production process . The team on " The Clone Wars " did some design work for the episodes , and those designs , as well as the stories and characters from the scripts , were incorporated into the comic miniseries itself . After the cancellation of " The Clone Wars " in 2013 , Lucasfilm Ltd . decided to adapt the four Darth Maul episodes into the " Son of Dathomir " comic miniseries . Dave Filoni , the show ' s supervising director , stated that he thought an adaptation would be a great idea . Not only would it allow Lucasfilm to continue telling unfinished stories from " The Clone Wars " , but Filoni also knew that Dark Horse Comics had done great work on " Star Wars " in the past and would be well - suited to adapting the episodes . Filoni turned over the design and story work for the episodes to Dark Horse , which would allow them to create , in Filoni ' s words , " an accurate representation of what [ the production team ] were planning for the show . " Writer Jeremy Barlow was brought on to adapt the episodes into comic book form , with art provided by penciller Juan Frigeri , inker Mauro Vargas , colorist Wes Dzioba , and cover artist Chris Scalf . Barlow , who was hired for the miniseries by " Star Wars " editor Randy Stradley , set out to make the comic reader - friendly , knowing that not all readers would be aware of Maul ' s story from " The Clone Wars " . Because it was an adaptation of pre - written scripts , Barlow ' s work required , in his words , " sharp editing skills " and " judicious choices " in order to " keep as much of the screenplays intact as possible while still giving the comics their own exciting and natural flow . " Filoni has also hinted that " Son of Dathomir " may not be the final Darth Maul story . According to " Star Wars " Insider 149 , a creature called the shatterax was set to appear in " Son of Dathomir " . However , the scene did not appear in the final comic . The Insider article , written by Daniel Wallace , was based on rough story notes that he had received for the comic . The first issue of the comic was released on May 21 , 2014 , with the second and third issues being released on June 18 , 2014 and July 16 , 2014 , respectively . The fourth and final issue was released on August 20 , 2014 . A trade paperback was released on October 1 , 2014 . The publisher ' s summary incorrectly stated that the script was based on episodes from the " sixth " broadcast season of The Clone Wars series , when this was in fact referring to the sixth " production season " . Had the episodes been produced they would have become part of the seventh season . Continuity . " Son of Dathomir " makes extensive references to numerous different episodes of " The Clone Wars " , most of which involved Darth Maul . The events of the final three on - screen appearances of Darth Maul — " Eminence , " " Shades of Reason , " and " The Lawless " — served as the backstory for the comic , and the consequences of those episodes , including Maul ' s capture on Mandalore , played out in the comic miniseries . The series also references the Battle of Dathomir , as portrayed in the episode " Massacre , " and used numerous characters who first appeared in the show . Events from the " Star Wars " films are also referenced . At one point , Mother Talzin tells Dooku that Sidious is already planning to replace him with a new Sith apprentice , a reference to the impending events of — in which Anakin Skywalker kills Dooku and , soon thereafter , becomes the Sith Lord Darth Vader . As a story from the official " Star Wars " canon , " Son of Dathomir " has the distinction of being the first appearance of the planet Ord Mantell , which was first referenced in . Although the planet had appeared in " Star Wars " Legends stories , it had not yet appeared in an official canon story . Additionally , the Black Sun has a base on Ord Mantell in " Son of Dathomir " . In the Legends video game " " , in which Black Sun made its first ever appearance and figures prominently in the story , Ord Mantell is the location of a fight between Dash Rendar and IG - 88D . Ord Mantell also serves as the starting point to the Smuggler and Trooper class story - lines in " " . The Stygeon prison depicted in " Son of Dathomir # 1 " would later be adopted for the television series " Star Wars Rebels " . The prison , which appeared in the third episode , " Rise of the Old Masters , " was officially named the Spire in " " . The reference book also officially names Stygeon as Stygeon Prime . Legacy . " Son of Dathomir " was ultimately only just the first unfinished story from " The Clone Wars " to be adapted into another medium . At San Diego Comic - Con 2014 , Lucasfilm announced a new novel , " Dark Disciple " , featuring Asajj Ventress and Quinlan Vos , based on unproduced scripts from what would have been the show ' s seventh season . Filoni has said that there are numerous unfinished stories , and has even released concept art — some of which included Darth Maul — for those unproduced stories . The possibility exists for further unused stories to be used in some form in the future .