And those clues are?

Alas for the romance writers among us, Maul declares that he finds it puzzling that there are those who 'would die for love'. Nevertheless, he does not say that he would renounce love should it ever find him. The reasoning behind this assertion is that love or devotion to anything, a fellow being, a world, an object, is not only a distraction but a danger, for it can be used against a person. In his own memory, Maul has never experienced love or affection, and therefore has no knowledge of it's attraction. Moreover, compare this to the rule of the Jedi order, where possessions and relationships are also forbidden, and for the same reason.

Generally portrayed as being without fear, Maul does have one small concern - the fear of failure and the consequent shame in front of his master. He dreads the punishment which is delayed until the reason for it is almost forgotten, lulling him into a false sense of security - a technique favoured by the vicious and cruel everywhere. Yet when he must, he faces it unflinchingly, knowing that his master will look into his heart and mind to discover anything that he hides.

But does Sidious know everything about his Apprentice? Apparently not, for before the fateful battle, Maul suffers a wound which he keeps from him, and which Sidious discovers when he reads the journal Maul has left behind. It is perhaps because of this fear of failure that Maul blames others when things go wrong, such as relaxing his guard after a training session when dreaming of killing Jedi, and being found out by Sidious.

As for using the darker aspects of the Force, Maul describes how he uses it and how it appears to him. Raising his anger when confronted by a re-programmed assassin droid, 'the darkness crests and roars'. As he battles the Togorian pirates, delivery of a fatal blow to his opponent causes the dark side to 'surge in me', and 'fill me'. His agression feeds on it and he becomes faster, more efficient. He revels in it. 'This is what I love: the feel of the dark side of the Force pulsing, growing, until the air crackles with the charge. It is the charge of blood, and pain, and anger.' Blood is a recurring motif in this book, and Maul is cruel, as witnessed by the manner in which he vanquishes the Togorian pirate who has decorated his fur with razors.

The dark side feeds on blood and the life force, and Maul uses the energy created thus when he maims and kills in battle. The dark side also actively aids Maul in his work, 'the dark side propels me across the bridge,' and 'the dark side alerts me' when the captain of the pirates is taking aim at him. 'I pull the darkness around me like a hooded cloak. I surround myself with anger.' And this is when he is meditating upon the pain of his wound, until the pain has become transmuted into desire - desire for revenge against the Jedi.

Impatience - along with hubris, a fatal flaw in his personality. Maul has been punished for this failing before, yet he falls victim to it time and again, prowling around the Infiltrator, waiting for the Jedi, and even admitting it in his final entry. 'For me, patience has never been easy,' he says, so to calm his mind, he concentrates on the battle which lies ahead. When day-dreaming about the destruction of the Jedi temple, he says, 'I cannot calm my eager, racing mind'.

The Jedi are Maul's enemy, and he has nurtured a deep and abiding hatred of them since he was a small child. Over the years, the hatred has grown, and all his training is dedicated to expunging the Jedi order from the galaxy. Maul believes them to be 'fools and liars,' and , 'we, (the Sith) laugh at what they think of as their power.' When he meets them in battle, he intends to be at the peak of his power, 'I will be the strongest fighter in the galaxy.'

He is fanatical about his training, and delights in battle. Indeed, he does not speak while fighting, for he prefers to concentrate on the joy of killing. This is probably the only enjoyment he obtains from his life, that, and the pleasure of Sidious' approval when he reports a successful mission.

Describing some of his training exercises, he tells how he runs up a wall, taking four or five strides, and uses the momentum to flip over and land behind his enemy. Failure to perfect this exercise quickly as a child earned him many blows on the head and shoulders, but even though his muscles burned with fatigue, he tried again and again until he did not fail. It is at this point in his life that he learned the mantra, 'there is no pain where strength lies.'

As an agent of Sidious and as a Sith warrior, Maul would have been trained in military techniques of all kinds. He was reputed to be a master of the martial art Teras Kasi, (translated in some languages, as 'Steel Fist' or 'Hands of Steel') and his knowledge of this art is mentioned in Shadow Hunter. However, this discipline focuses on hand-to-hand weaponless combat, and Maul's weapon of choice is the double bladed lightsabre. As an adult, he practices daily with this most elegant weapon of his own making. He delights in the fact that his body is as strong as durasteel, and as fluid as water, and he twists, turns, performs ten thousand slashes, lunges, and attacks. 'My lightsabre is no longer a separate weapon, but part of my arm,' and, 'I do them until the memory of the movement is part of the muscle itself.'

Whereas the Jedi preach and practice compassion, this is a fatal flaw in Maul's eyes. His most important weapon is that he has no mercy - to anyone. Before he meets Qui Gon and Obi Wan in battle, he prepares by checking his equipment. The lightsabre is switched on, he makes a few passes to test it, and he thinks, 'All my life I have trained. And here is the moment. nothing else matters in the face of this.'

Despite his harsh upbringing, Maul can appreciate the finer things in life, he does not appear to be a loutish brute. When he walks through the palace of Theed, he sees the richness of the materials, the luxury and quality of the furnishings, the grandeur and opulence of the rooms. Having forced himself to be accustomed to bare walls and floors, a simple sleeping mat and a bowl from which to eat, lest he become soft. he wonders whether he is right in this assumption, and acknowledges that ruling from a palace like this 'would not be so terrible a fate'.

Maul's favourite time of day is sunset. Even though the description of the end of the day on Coruscant is in terms of violence and gore, ('the last gasp of the strangled setting sun', 'crimson flashes like splashes of blood'), he describes the lights of the buildings as illuminating the sky 'like a dozen moons.' And there is more. Towards the end of his final trial, just before he is ordained a Sith Lord and after he directs all his hatred and fury towards the master he thinks has betrayed him, he sees his own death 'as clearly as a bone-white moon in an ebony sky.' A stark and bitter, but beautiful, image.

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[ Expanded Universe Maul ] [ Other Darth Maul ]