18 Biggest Easter Eggs & Star Wars References In Maul

Warning! This post contains SPOILERS for Star Wars: Maul – Shadow Lord episodes 7-8

Star Wars: Maul – Shadow Lord episodes 7-8 are now streaming on Disney+, featuring the coolest Easter eggs, Star Wars references, and cool connections to the canon we’ve never seen before.

In Maul – Shadow Lord episodes 7-8, the Galactic Empire ramps up its pursuit of Maul with the addition of a second Imperial Inquisitor, while Brander Lawson, his son Rylee, Devon Izara, and Master Daki attempt to get off-planet during the Imperial lockdown. Following a major showdown between Maul’s agents and the Empire, we also see Maul facing the nightmares and shadows of his own dark past alone, featuring elements most Star Wars fans probably thought they’d never see on-screen.

Throughout these new episodes, there are some really cool ties and nods to Maul’s entire dark side journey thus far. Without further ado, here are 18 of the biggest and best Easter eggs, Star Wars references, and major connections we found in Maul – Shadow Lord episodes 7-8.

The Biggest Star Wars Easter Eggs And References In Maul – Shadow Lord Episodes 7-8

Credit: Disney+ via MovieStillsDB

“Not The Deepest Wound” — Speaking with Devon Izara in the train tunnels after their encounter with Marrok, Maul confirms that while Darth Sidious’ rejection of him was devastating, “it was not the deepest wound he would inflict upon me.” This is more than likely a reference to Sidious killing Maul’s brother, Savage Oppress, as well as his mother, the Nightsister matriarch Mother Talzin.

Maul’s Plan To Take Out The Whole Empire — While Devon is skeptical and questions if Maul really thinks they can take on the whole Empire, Maul confirms that he has a plan “to do just that.” While Maul obviously fails in his goals, canonical comics confirm that Han Solo’s first love Lady Qi’ra implemented elements of Maul’s Grand Plan while leading Crimson Dawn between The Empire Strikes Back and Return of the Jedi. Qi’ra took command after Maul’s death thanks to his final duel with Obi-Wan Kenobi before A New Hope.

A Familiar Inquisitor Shuttle — Marrok gets some Inquisitor backup on Janix in Shadow Lord episode 7. Naturally, this backup arrives in The Scythe, the Phi-class Imperial shuttle used by the members of the Inquisitorious, first seen in 2022’s Obi-Wan Kenobi.

Eleventh Brother — The Eleventh Brother joins Marrok in his hunt for Maul and the two Jedi survivors. Having debuted in Tales of the Jedi, it’s notable that both Inquisitors eventually get killed by Ahsoka Tano at different points in the Star Wars timeline. That said, Marrok’s defeat at the hands of Ahsoka was likely his second death, as it was heavily implied that his corpse was reanimated by Nightsister magicks. Perhaps Maul was the one who killed Marrok the first time…

Rook’s Loyalty — Rook Kast confirms that she still recognizes Maul’s claim to the throne of Mandalore and his takeover of the planet during the Clone Wars. However, the loyalties of her fellow Mandalorians are tied to credits alone, explaining why three of the Mandalorian mercenaries end up betraying Maul and his forces.

Mandalorian Gauntlet Starship — While they didn’t get far before being blown up by Imperial gunships, the Mandalorian traitors attempted to leave Janix aboard a Mandalorian Gauntlet, a starship first seen in The Clone Wars animated series.

“Brother!” — During the Imperial Inquisitors’ showdown with Maul, the Zabraks serving the former Sith lord attempt to provide support. However, Scorn (the heavy rotary cannon-wielding Zabrak) is murdered by the Eleventh Brother, a loss that clearly pains Maul as much as Scorn’s brother Icarus, no doubt reminding Maul of his own brother Savage and his murder at the hands of Darth Sidious during The Clone Wars (bringing Shadow Lord episode 7 full circle with the Savage reference at the start).

“The Emperor Wants You Dead” — The Inquisitors tell Maul that the Emperor wants him dead, confirming that Palpatine is well aware of his former apprentice’s survival during the Age of the Empire. Likewise, this likely confirms that Palpatine was the off-screen holo whom Marrok was reporting to at the end of Shadow Lord episode 6.

Sith Scream & Spin — Escaping the Inquisitors by causing a cave-in and falling down a chasm below, the beginning of Shadow Lord episode 8 sees Maul unleashing a brutal “Sith Scream” while spinning to cut through a metal panel, just like his old master did during the Jedi Knights’ attempt to arrest him in Revenge of the Sith, and it sounds exactly the same.

Young Maul — Facing ghosts, nightmares, and traumas from his tragic past, we surprisingly see Maul as a child. While Maul initially rejects the reflection of the scared boy staring back at him, the end of the episode sees him promising the boy that he won’t let Darth Sidious do to anyone else what he did to them. We even see Maul shed a tear, easily making this one of the most tragic and compelling Star Wars moments of all time.

“The Creeping Fear” — The title of Shadow Lord episode 8 is a deep-cut reference. Back in 2004, it was heavily theorized by fans that “The Creeping Fear” was going to be revealed as the title for Episode III. Hilariously, Lucasfilm responded and showed support for the title…as an April Fool’s Day joke.

Palpatine’s Voice — We can hear Sidious laughing and speaking to Maul during this nightmare sequence, but it’s not Palpatine actor Ian McDiarmid. Although McDiarmid most recently returned to voice Palpatine for The Bad Batch, Maul voice actor Sam Witwer also voices Palpatine in this episode, having done so before for The Force Unleashed and a handful of other Star Wars games and projects.

When he’s not voicing Maul or Palpatine, Sam Witwer’s voice can also be heard with various uncredited background Star Wars roles (he’s voiced a lot of helmeted stormtroopers in both live-action and animation, including Shadow Lord).

Maul’s Training With Sidious — Not only do we see Maul and Savage as young Zabrak boys on Dathomir, but we also see the moment when Maul went with Palpatine to be trained as a Sith, despite Savage begging Maul to stay. Likewise, we see that Sidious’ training was as brutal and abusive as one would expect, blasting the boy with lightning for his weakness after a lightsaber sparring session.

Duel of the Fates — Not only do we hear the same ray-shielded doors opening from The Phantom Menace’s Duel of the Fates, but we also see the silhouette of Obi-Wan Kenobi wielding Qui-Gon Jinn’s green lightsaber, which he used to bisect Maul.

Spider-Maul — Footage from The Clone Wars animated series is recycled during the nightmare sequence, reminding viewers how Savage first found his brother exiled on the trash world of Lotho Minor, completely crazed with long horns and a robotic spider body for a lower half, with Maul having been alone with his pain and suffering for nearly a decade after his Phantom Menace defeat.

Savage’s Death — Another Clone Wars moment is shown where Darth Sidious murdered Savage right in front of Maul, having come to Mandalore himself to deal with his former apprentice who’d become a dark side rival. Although Maul was captured and tortured by Palpatine, he did eventually escape thanks to his Mandalorian followers (including Rook Kast).

Two-Boots Channels His Inner K-2SO — Two-Boots gets Rylee Lawson out of the Imperial-controlled police headquarters by pretending that Rylee is his prisoner. However, his acting skills are quite poor, just like K-2SO in Rogue One: “I am taking these prisoners to imprison them…in prison.“

“Dryden Vos Requests An Audience” — At the end of Shadow Lord episode 8, Vario tells Maul that Dryden Vos of Crimson Dawn wants to meet with him, having been a former member of Maul’s Shadow Collective. In Solo: A Star Wars Story, Vos was the public face leading Crimson Dawn, while secretly serving Maul, who ruled from the shadows. Because Vos was played by Paul Bettany in Solo, one would hope that he’d be voicing the character in Shadow Lord’s final two episodes.

The final two episodes of Star Wars: Maul – Shadow Lord are set to begin streaming next week on Star Wars Day (May 4th).

Release Date

April 6, 2026

Network

Disney+

Directors

Brad Rau

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