Duel on Tatooine The Duel on Tatooine was fought between the Sith Lord Darth Maul and Jedi Master Qui - Gon Jinn during the Invasion of Naboo . Maul had been sent by his master , Darth Sidious , to capture Queen Amidala of Naboo , who had managed to get through the Trade Federation ' s Sith sponsored blockade of her home planet and take temporary refuge on Tatooine under Jinn ' s protection . By tracing transmissions from the Queen ' s royal starship , Maul managed to successfully track the starship and its crew to Tatooine , where he dispatched a probe droid to confirm their presence there . Maul ambushed Jinn as he prepared to load a newcomer to their party , Anakin Skywalker , onto the Queen ' s starship , which was due to depart for the galactic capital of Coruscant . The duel was a brief but fierce skirmish , with Maul gaining the upper hand as soon as he leapt into action . Maul ' s terrifying combination of agility , anger and ferocity surprised Qui - Gon Jinn , who seemed to tire as the battle went on . He was unable to sufficiently counter - attack Maul ' s lethal lightsaber technique , as the Zabrak relished in a first duel with a Jedi Master . Although Maul would go on to wield a double - bladed lightsaber , he was still equally skilled with a single blade , and this was the factor that nearly cost Jinn his life . Jinn managed to hold off Maul long enough for the ship to launch . The sudden appearance of Maul revealed to the Jedi Order the reemergence of the Sith , who were thought to have been destroyed for almost a thousand years . Prelude . During the Trade Federation ' s invasion of the planet Naboo , the Sith Lord Darth Maul tracked the vessel of Queen Padmé Amidala to Tatooine , where it landed for repairs after escaping Naboo . After the Boonta Eve Classic ' podrace and the acquisition of the hyperdrive parts for the Queen ' s starship , Jedi Master Qui - Gon Jinn and young Anakin Skywalker were making their way to the ship . When Maul discovered the escapees ' location , he hurried to intercept . The duel . As Anakin and Qui - Gon ran for the ship , mere yards away , Jinn sensed Darth Maul ' s approach . Turning around to encourage Anakin to pick up the pace , he saw Maul bearing down on them on his speeder bike . Anakin quickly obeyed Qui - Gon ' s command to drop , just in time to avoid being skewered by Maul ' s speeder . As the speeder closed in on Qui - Gon , Maul leapt off the bike at the Jedi , attacking before his feet even touched the ground . Jinn barely managed to block the attack . As Maul landed , he quickly followed up with an overhand , which Jinn deflected before attacking himself . As Maul blocked Qui - Gon ' s blow , Jinn ordered Anakin to get onboard the ship and to tell them to take off . As Anakin did so , Qui - Gon attempted to launch his own offensive , but Maul easily brushed off his overhand and unleashed his own frenzy of attacks . Jinn was viciously driven back , barely able to protect himself , as the terrifying combination of agility , anger and ferocity of Maul ' s lethal lightsaber technique surprised him . When Anakin boarded the ship and told the crew of the situation , they attempted a rescue , flying low towards the duel with the boarding ramp lowered . As Qui - Gon blocked a slash from Maul and countered , he saw the ship approaching . Disengaging from the fight , Qui - Gon leapt aboard , getting inside just as the hatch closed and the ship sped off . As the ship streaked for the heavens , Maul was left fuming on the desert floor . Aftermath . Later , Qui - Gon told his apprentice , Obi - Wan Kenobi , that the mysterious stranger was definitely after the Queen . He also mentioned that the attacker was well trained in the Jedi arts , leading the Jedi Master to believe he was a Sith Lord . Qui - Gon later reported the incident to the Jedi High Council , and after the Invasion of Naboo was over they realized that this warrior must have been a Sith . Darth Maul later avenged his loss at the duel when he killed Jinn in a lightsaber duel on Naboo during the retaking of Theed Royal Palace . Maul was later defeated by Kenobi and believed to have died in the process , having been sliced in half and fallen down a seemingly bottomless put . However , his hatred of Kenobi kept him alive and he somehow escaped Naboo , ending up on Lotho Minor and staying there for twelve years until he was found by his brother , the Nightbrother Savage Opress . Despite Maul ' s defeat and disappearance at the end of the Naboo conflict , his ominous emergence at such a time marked a subtle imbalance in power between the Jedi and the Sith , one that had not been experienced for centuries . Although it was a tactical stalemate , the duel represented the first known encounter between the Jedi and Sith for a millennium . The Jedi had believed that the Sith were extinct , and it was the duel on Tatooine when the Sith finally revealed themselves to their ancient enemies . The event coincided with the discovery of Anakin Skywalker , believed to be the Chosen One , and thus helped catalyse a series of events that , over the next several years , led to the fulfillment of millennia - long Sith goals : the collapse of the Galactic Republic and the destruction of the Jedi Order . Behind the scenes . This is the first lightsaber duel in the prequel trilogy . This lightsaber duel was also the first fight showing both the Jedi and Sith in their prime . One of George Lucas ' major objectives for the prequel trilogy was to make the lightsaber fights " faster and more intense . " This duel was shown early on in " " and was made short to give the viewers a small taste of what was to come in the film ' s climax . A deleted scene just prior to this duel involves Qui - Gon striking down one of Maul ' s probe droids that is tracking him as he and Anakin are leaving Mos Espa . However , its removal from the theatrical release results in a slightly disjointed transition showing Qui - Gon and Anakin running toward the Queen ' s ship before Maul attacks them ( as Qui - Gon realizes after his encounter with the probe droid that they are being hunted ) , when they had earlier been seen walking calmly to their destination .