Why Star Wars: Maul – Shadow Lord Waited So Long To Bring In The Empire [Exclusive]

The Empire is the ultimate force of cruelty and evil in the "Star Wars" galaxy, and stands as the manifestation and result of the dreams of the Sith. Indeed, the destruction of the Jedi and the rise of the Empire was the end goal of the Great Sith Plan, created by Darth Bane of "The Rule of Two" fame, over a millennia before the events of the original trilogy.

Ever since Disney acquired LucasFilm, the Empire has been the main antagonist and the focus of virtually every new "Star Wars" title. It's always present, whether as The First Order being the successor to the Empire in the sequel trilogy, the Imperial Remnant in the Mando-verse, or just the original Empire in "Andor," "The Bad Batch," and the "Star Wars Jedi" video game series. The Empire is a reflection of the worst aspects of our history and has largely been an omnipresent force across this entire franchise ... except in the most recent "Star Wars" show.

That's because "Star Wars: Maul — Shadow Lord" doesn't really bring in the Empire until the very end of episode 4. But that delay was for a good reason.

I had the chance to talk to the cast and crew of "Star Wars: Maul — Shadow Lord" about the animated series, and supervising director Brad Rau spoke about delaying the appearance of the biggest villain in "Star Wars."

"We always knew we didn't want very many shots of the Empire at the end, because the end of episode 4 concludes the first act of the serialized story of the show," Rau explained. "So we wanted it to [serve as] a button and [be] ominous, and we could think about the music, and Team Kiner [composers Kevin, Sean, and Diana Kiner] brought all the music in as you see just a couple of shots of the Destroyer coming over Janix."

The portrayal of the Empire is one of the most interesting things about "Star Wars: Maul — Shadow Lord." We don't see them for the first four episodes — no stormtroopers, no TIE fighters, no banners, no nothing. Yet, you don't have to see any of its emissaries to feel its presence.

Throughout the first four episodes, we hear from characters that they are fearful the Empire might swoop down on the planet Janix because they know what's happened to other systems once the Empire sends troops down. Detective Brander Lawson (Wagner Moura) is highly skeptical of the Empire, and when he comes across a classified file of Maul (Sam Witwer), he decides to go against protocol so as to not have the Empire come down and take over his investigation.

The show employs the language of noir detective stories, using the jurisdiction friction trope of small town authorities being distrustful of the big federal agencies in the story of Detective Lawson. Janix is technically part of the Empire, but the planet is self-governed. Lawson knows that if the Empire sees a reason to send forces there, even if it's just to aid in a police investigation, it will fully take control of Janix and never leave. We saw this in "Andor," where the Empire's increased military presence on Ferrix resulted in oppression of citizens, suppression of rights, and ultimately a massacre.

We've seen plenty of stories about the Empire already being present on a planet and doing awful things. This animated show presents something different: a story about more distant places that are relatively safe from the bulk of the fascist regime's oppression, and what happens when their peace is suddenly disturbed by the arrival of the government.

The Empire's arrival on Janix comes as a result of the most tragic entities in the franchise — droids. "Star Wars" has a long and complicated history with droids, treated as either the butt of a joke or murder machines. They have been depicted as puppies, slaves, assassins, alive, soulless, and everything in between.

In "Maul — Shadow Lord," we meet 2B0T, or Two-Boots (Richard Ayoade), a police droid and partner to Brander Lawson. He has a personality, because he wears actual boots like a real person. Most importantly, Two-Boots is a stickler for rules and does not understand nuance. When Lawson suggests they not report their potential sighting of Maul to the Empire in the first episode for fear the regime will invade Janix, Two-Boots doesn't understand its presence would do more harm than good. He only knows what the protocol states, what the rules are.

So, in episode 4, after seeing his partner mess up and continue to disobey rules without results, even resulting in cop deaths, Two-Boots calls in the cavalry. He's the one who notifies the Empire, resulting in the ominous shot of a Star Destroyer descending on Janix.

As showrunner Matt Michnovetz told me in an interview, this is Two-Boots' arc. "He's a little bit of a goody two shoes. He's a by-the-book protocol [droid], but also a great detective and a great cop," Michnovetz said. "So he is doing what he feels in his programming is the best course of action for the circumstances that they're facing."

Except, we know what Two-Boots doesn't. We know the Empire is not going to just provide assistance and then leave when the case is closed. They're not just going to look for Maul. They're in Janix now and forever.

The first four episodes of "Star Wars: Maul — Shadow Lord" are streaming now on Disney+.