Battle of Zanbar A battle was fought on Zanbar between the Death Watch forces of the Shadow Collective and the Confederacy of Independent Systems during the Clone Wars . The battle followed Darth Maul ' s escape from Sith imprisonment on Stygeon Prime , and was the result of a Sith ploy to use Darth Maul to lure the Dathomir witch Mother Talzin out of hiding so she could be destroyed . With plans to engage Maul enough for him to seek out Talzin ' s help , the Sith Lord Count Dooku sent General Grievous and Separatist forces to Zanbar , where Maul and his rescuers rendezvoused after the prison break . Grievous launched all of his forces against Maul and the Mandalorian s , knowing that Mandalorian warriors would not be easily beaten . Maul and Grievous met in single combat , while the two armies collided and suffered heavy losses . By the battle ' s end , Maul ordered his forces to retreat , while the Sith waited for him to find Mother Talzin . Prelude . During the Clone Wars , Darth Maul allied himself with the Mandalorian splinter faction Death Watch as part of Maul ' s Shadow Collective . Together , they took control of Mandalore , with Maul becoming its leader . Shortly thereafter , however , Maul was captured by his former Sith master , Darth Sidious , and imprisoned on Stygeon Prime . Sidious intended to use Maul as bait to lure Mothern Talzin , a Dathomir witch and enemy of the Sith , out of hiding so she could be destroyed . Sidious also wanted to learn more about the Shadow Collective and the power Maul had amassed . On the orders of Mandalore ' s Prime Minister , Almec , two Death Watch warriors , Rook Kast and Gar Saxon , pursued the Sith to Stygeon , where they intended to rescue Maul from Separatist captivity . The two were able to free Maul after he had been interrogated by the Sith Lord Count Dooku , and together the three rendezvoused with more Death Watch forces on the moon of Zanbar . Maul took command of his forces once again , and assured them that the war they had longed for was at hand . The battle . Maul was tracked to Zanbar by General Grievous , the leader of the Separatist military , and a Separatist fleet . Dooku ordered Grievous not to kill Maul , simply to defeat and wound his forces enough that Maul would seek out Mother Talzin ' s help . Grievous launched his forces towards the surface , and Maul ' s troops immediately began firing anti - aircraft weaponry at them . The heavy fire was not enough to repel the ships , however , so the Separatists pressed their attack and deployed all of their forces . Grievous knew that they would be fighting powerful Mandalorian warriors , and that the odds were stacked against the Separatist army . The forces that landed engaged the Mandalorians in battle . Grievous sent a number of his droids against Maul and Death Watch , and Maul made quick work of those whom he personally fought . Grievous also entered the battle , taking on Death Watch forces and killing at least one Mandalorian himself . As he did so , Grievous was attacked by Darth Maul , who engaged the cyborg general in single - lightsaber combat ; Grievous was armed with two lightsaber s , while Maul used his Darksaber . As the two leaders engaged one another , Grievous taunted Maul about the battle droid onslaught , making Maul realize that his forces were being crushed . Grievous then seized the upper hand in their duel , kicking Maul backwards ; the latter then recognized that he was losing the battle and sent in his Gauntlet fighters , which firebombed the battlefield and destroyed many of the Separatist battle droids . Maul used the chaos to his advantage by escaping onto one of the fighters , before ordering his surviving forces to retreat . Aftermath . The Separatists suffered heavy losses , losing most of their droids in the battle . At the battle ' s end , Grievous contacted Count Dooku and informed him of the battle ' s outcome . Dooku informed him that these were acceptable losses , as Maul had to believe that the Sith and Separatists were attempting to destroy the Shadow Collective so he would seek out Mother Talzin .