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(SeaPRwire) –   The idea that every villain is the hero of their own narrative is one the Star Wars saga has explored repeatedly. From Anakin Skywalker’s descent into darkness to the schemes of the Stranger in The Acolyte, Star Wars has shown countless times that the Hero’s Journey isn’t exclusive to purely virtuous protagonists. While academic studies of the monomyth don’t formally recognize a Villain’s Journey, the series Maul — Shadow Lord strongly implies that former Sith antagonists may view their own stories through a similar lens as heroes do.

In Episode 3 of Shadow Lord, titled “Whispers in the Unknown,” a particular instant during Maul’s fight with Devon indicates the show is acutely conscious of appropriating a key stage from Joseph Campbell’s Hero’s Journey for a Dark Side narrative.

Spoilers ahead.

Set soon after the conclusion of The Clone Wars (both the conflict and the series), Shadow Lord documents what is essentially the second chapter of Maul’s reign as a crime lord. His ascent was depicted in The Clone Wars, and by the era of Solo (roughly a decade after Shadow Lord), he commands multiple major syndicates. When Rebels begins, Maul faces adversity once more and seeks to win over Ezra Bridger, a young Jedi unaware of his Sith history. This pattern is deliberate. Maul’s actions toward Devon in Shadow Lord echo the manipulations he will later use on Ezra. The key distinction is that in Shadow Lord, Maul is more self-assured and transparent about his past than he will be in the later timeline of Rebels. Essentially, his persuasive tactics are now classic Maul strategies. He even attempted to sway Ahsoka in The Clone Wars by suggesting a spiritual alliance—a tactic he repeats with Devon in Shadow Lord.

The more significant moment arrives in “Whispers in the Unknown.” As altered musical themes from “Battle of the Heroes”—the John Williams piece from Revenge of the Sith that accompanied the fateful duel between Anakin and Obi-Wan—play, Maul explicitly references a crucial component of the Hero’s Journey structure. He tells Devon she is “refusing your call to fight.” This precise terminology, “refusing the call,” appears intentional.

George Lucas drew heavily from Campbell’s monomyth theory when creating the original Star Wars, particularly the concept of recurring, universal patterns in the Hero’s Journey across global myths, stories, and religious texts. In his 1949 book The Hero with a Thousand Faces, Campbell outlines various stages of this journey, including one named “The Refusal of the Call.”

This is the point in a grand adventure where the potential hero resists embarking; examples include Bilbo’s initial reluctance to join Gandalf and the Dwarves in The Hobbit, or Luke flatly rejecting Obi-Wan in A New Hope by saying, “I can’t get involved,” before his aunt and uncle are killed by the Empire. This moment of refusal is a vital part of the Hero’s Journey, as it often presents the most human and relatable aspect of the emerging hero.

Thus, in Shadow Lord, Maul’s direct statement that Devon is “refusing your call” suggests he perceives himself as the Obi-Wan (or Gandalf) figure in this tale. It’s improbable Maul owns a copy of The Hero’s Journey in Aurebesh (or in ur-Kittât, if he reads at all), but the series seems to be sowing a specific narrative idea here.

Devon’s ultimate fate in the series remains unknown. However, if she eventually accepts Maul as her mentor or ventures into a wider world, it will be clear that, in many respects, her official hero’s journey commenced at this very point. Even if that path ultimately leads her to villainy.

Maul — Shadow Lord streams on Disney+.