The most recent episodes of Star Wars: Maul - Shadow Lord significantly altered the way the Disney+ animated series has been going so far. While Maul may be at the heart of this struggle, characters like detective Brander Lawson and Jedi apprentice Devon Izara are given a lot of weight in the series. When the Empire eventually lands on Janix, Marrok, a violent Inquisitor who hunts Jedi, takes charge of the hunt for Maul.

The majority of the two new episodes, titled Inquisition and Night of the Hunted, follow Jedi Master Eeko-Dio Daki and his Padawan Devon Izara as they attempt to flee the planet, and Maul kind of sticks to the sidelines in this one. When Maul himself returns to the shadows in Episodes 5 and 6, it's fortunate that Shadow Lord has given this ensemble cast a lot of attention, with focus on Daki, Devon, and Lawson.

With the arrival of The Empire, things have surely changed for our main characters, and episode 5 effectively deals with the repercussions they are about to face.

The fifth episode begins from exactly where we left things in episode 4. An Imperial Star Destroyer is seen hovering over Janix City in the opening scene, and we see that The Empire has now taken charge of the planet. Lieutenant Blake, an Imperial officer who has taken over the Janix City police headquarters, declares that all off-world travel is prohibited while TK Troopers, or early stormtroopers, march through the streets.

Chief Klyce and Brander Lawson observe the Empire seizing power - something they have been fighting tooth and nail to prevent. Lawson volunteers to take all the blame for keeping things secret from The Empire, but Chief Klyce stops him, citing that it is her job, and he had better let her do it. Lawson saw Klyce being dragged into the interrogation room in front of his eyes, and he could feel in his bones that something terrible was about to happen.

Two Boots and Lawson engage in a conversation when the former attempts to reconcile with his partner, putting aside their differences. Two Boots genuinely thinks that it was the right call to inform The Empire of the situation on Janix, but Lawson is irritated by the droid's ignorance and once again tries to get him to see the real side of The Empire. However, their conversation is interrupted when Lawson is taken to the interrogation room, too.

Just before being thrown into the room, Lawson finds out that his superior has been “permanently transferred”, which probably indicates that something much worse happened to her. This speculation is further confirmed by the scratch marks he sees on the table in the interrogation room. While Lawson is worrying about Klyce, we see a dark figure entering the room. It was Marrok, the Inquisitor, with a terrifying presence, trying to intimidate the detective.

Elsewhere, Rook gets an update on the situation on the planet through their spy bot and advises Maul that they should get out of the system before things become more complicated. However, Maul cannot leave Janix yet, not without Devon. Rook tries to reason with him and argues that she tried to kill him. But Maul still thinks that she would make a strong apprentice.

Maul might be closer to his goal now that we see Devon conflicted about the idea behind survival and the meaning of power.

We see Jedi Master Eeko-Dio Daki and his Padawan Devon hiding from the stormtroopers, who have set up checkpoints everywhere in the city and are patrolling the whole area vigorously, trying to get the locals to cough up some information regarding the whereabouts of Maul. Daki suggests that they should leave the city immediately and let Maul be dealt with by The Empire. Devon doesn't agree, though. Hiding, in her opinion, is a waste of their skills. Daki can sense Maul’s influence in Devon’s words, and he cautions her about the same.

According to Devon, Maul might be bad, but he is not as big a threat as The Empire. And what she says next might just suggest that Maul’s words have taken some effect on Devon’s mind as she subtly points to joining hands with Maul to defeat The Empire. She deduces that alone they can do nothing against the evil organization, but together they might stand a chance. Daki becomes a bit worried at her suggestion and makes her understand that they might share a common enemy with Maul, but they can never be on the same side as him.

The Jedi master convinced her to flee the city and hide in a forest or something. They reach the train station, but there they also find the stormtroopers harassing the locals for information. Daki and Devon try to make their way out of the station without being noticed. Their cover gets blown, though, when a trooper sees them using the Force on another, and they now have to fight their way out of there.

They both somehow managed to escape, but Daki is injured, and now The Empire is on high alert for two Jedis. Devon is worried about her master’s health, but he assures her that he will live. It does not really make her happy as she is still fretting over the fact that their escape just became almost impossible, and she voices the same to her master, but he has a plan.

The scene cuts away to the police headquarters, where Lawson is still being held for questioning. We see Rylee, Lawson’s son, who enters without authorization and sees Two Boots. He inquires about his father to the droid, who informs him of his father’s detention for interrogation and advises him to go back home and wait for his father. Just as Two Boots was sending the kid home, Lieutenant Blake sees the kid and asks for an explanation as to how the kid got into the headquarters without authorization.

Two Boots gets reprimanded for this lapse in protocol, and Rylee is sent home. There, he contacts his mom, who works for The Empire. She obviously gets worried about Lawson, but reassures her son that he and his father will be alright as long as they cooperate with them. She might believe what she was saying, but Rylee is not exactly sure if that was the truth.

After a long probing, Lawson is let go, and he returns home only to see Rylee with Daki and Devon. He is confused, but at the same time, he realizes that things just became more complicated for him as harboring Jedi is a crime against The Empire, and he and his son both would face dire consequences.

The fifth episode ends with Lawson’s disappointing reaction to seeing them, with the consequences of this little visit left to be revealed in the next episode.

Episode 6 starts with Maul practicing with his lightsaber when Rook comes to inform him about Morrok's visit to their previous hideout. Maul is, of course, not happy about this, and his expressions say it all. The scene shifts to a terrified Lawson, who is trying to conceal every window of the house just to ensure no one sees Daki and Devon there.

Master Daki asks Devon to take Rylee away into another room and let the grownups talk. While Rylee is taking Devon to his room, Lawson makes a snide comment about the stealing habits of the girl. Lawson expresses his displeasure over Daki and Devon's visit to his house. He is worried about his son, and he lets Daki know that.

Daki apologizes and requests assistance in leaving the city. He describes the Jedi Purge that took place after Order 66, but Lawson, being sympathetic to his situation, is aware that aiding the Jedi will endanger his kid. He declines to help them, believing that this will at least get him out of The Empire’s crosshairs. But moments later, he finds out that he was never off the hook.

Marrok shows up using his lightsaber to slash through the entrance door. In the apartment, a violent altercation breaks out. As the building catches fire, Daki and Devon fight with Marrok. The family flees onto the rooftop via a window. Daki orders his Padawan to follow and protect the Lawsons. Devon pursues them and fights off any troopers in their way.

Devon ultimately succeeds in an Imperial dropship and takes everyone to safety on it. However, the spacecraft is tracked by The Empire, and soon enough, more dropships are pursuing them. Lawson is now branded a traitor, and Two Boots is not regretting his decision to call upon the Empire. The dropships finally corner them, forcing all of them to flee on foot.

Lawson leads the group to the casino owned by Rheena Sul. Sul, a former informant of Lawson, owes Lawson her life and was once a bounty hunter. She consents to conceal them in the rear rooms. However, the Empire discovers them once more. In search of the fugitives, stormtroopers raid the casino.

While he and Lawson battle the troopers, Daki orders Devon to take Rylee and flee down the elevator. After holding the troopers off for a while, Daki and Lawson too escape through the elevator; however, they are now separated from Devon and Rylee, and Lawson is worried about his son. Even though Daki assures him of Devon's capabilities, the detective's mind is still not put at ease.

Rylee and Devon wind up in the subterranean parking garage, where Marrok is waiting for them already.

This is probably the best part of both episodes. We get to see an exhilarating action sequence on a moving train with some cool action shots and animation. On a moving rail tram, Devon engages in combat with Marrok. When the Inquisitor outclasses the Jedi apprentice, Maul shows up, and his shot standing on the top of the train behind Devon is just the best possible way to hype up the upcoming clash between the three.

The three-way battle starts, and Maul and Devon fight as a team. Maul and Marrok both extend their lightsabers into double-bladed mode. Devon also contributes to the fight whenever she gets a chance, and she really manages to hold her own between the two expert Force users. Devon succeeds in pushing Morrok back and quickly frees up the railcar he was on, separating him from the rest of the train.

But for her, the job is not yet done, as she is still not sure if Maul is an enemy or a foe. She points her saber at him, but Maul puts his lightsaber away, showing her that he is not there to harm her. Devon also does the same and quickly checks up on Rylee. But as she was catching up her breath, Maul says something that further agitates her conflicted mind about the former Sith Lord.

Maul says, “Now you have seen the face of your true enemy,” to her, which is a deliberate attempt to get her on his side. And it is starting to take effect as she did not contradict him or do anything to disagree with him. The real cliffhanger was the last scene, though, where Morrok is seen bowing down to someone calling him Lord, asking him how to proceed with the situation with Maul.

It might be premature, but the hologram to which Morrok was bowing down probably belongs to Palpatine or Darth Sidious, as whatever partial glimpse we get of the back of his head, it can be said that it was covered with a hood just like the Sith Lord’s appearance, where his head is always hooded.

The truth behind the hologram’s identity will only be revealed in the upcoming episodes, and for now, Maul seems to have made another big stride in his attempt to turn Devon to the dark side. As compared to the last two episodes, these two really doubled down on the action side of the story, and the stakes have also risen with The Empire in the mix.

What did you think of the action sequence at the end of episode 6? Share your thoughts.