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Star Wars: Maul - Shadow Lord: Chapter 5: Inquisition

What is it ? : With the Star Destroyer overhead, the Empire dispatches forces across the city getting involved at all levels of life. Stormtrooper begin asking citizens in the streets whether they've seen Maul, and Jedi Master Eeko-Dio Daki tells his Padawan Devon Izara that they should leave the city. Devon wants to stay to deal with Maul, but Daki says the Empire will deal with him.
In the police headquarters, Lawsons boss tells him that his droid has caused all sorts of problems, and Lawson stands up for Two Boots, saying he was only following protocol. But the headquarters is rapidly taken over by the Empire, and Lawsons boss is taken away for interrogation.
At Mauls base, Rook Kast speaks with her men who aren't keen on staying, as they work for money and the money isn't flowing during the Imperial Lockdown. Vario approaches Maul making the same complaint, and Maul tells him he's free to go if he thinks he can avoid the Empire.
Lawson is in the police office, where Two Boots detects he's stressed, and tells him that he forgives him for switching him off. Lawson asks him if he doesn't see what's going on, and Two Boots responds that the Empire is dealing with a situation the police were not equipped to deal with. When two Stormtroopers take Lawson away for interrogation, where he is questioned by an Imperial Inquisitor.
At the police station, Lawson's son arrives to speak to his father, but when the police droids are too busy to deal with him, he sneaks in a door to the police offices, where he finds Two Boots, who escorts him out, but not before they are questioned by the commanding Imperial Officer, Lieutenant Blake.
Daki and Devon are in a train station to escape the city, but when the train arrives it is filled with Stormtroopers, so they try to leave the station, however a Stormtrooper asks for their identification, which Daki mind tricks him into letting them go, but another nearby Stormtrooper notices, and they are pursued, but manage to escape.
Lawsons son contacts his mother, who assures him the Empire is there to help and to not interfere with their operations.
The Inquisitor arrives at the site of the battle between Mauls Gang and the Police, and the Inquisitor searches the site looking for clues. And back at headquarters, Lawson is released from interrogation and returns home, where his son awaits, along with Daki and Devon . . . .

High Points : A very minor moment really impressed me, as I thought that all these Stormtroopers are pretty useless against Force Users, as we saw with Obi-Wan gaining access to Mos Eisley back in A New Hope. Now in that occasion the Empire had no idea it was going up against any Force Users, but this time they've been brought in against Maul, so I thought they were completely outclassed. But we see they're keeping an eye on one another, so when Daki uses a mind trick another Stormtrooper notices their comrade acting oddly, they react to it. A lovely little touch to show you that they're ready for the usual tricks.

Low Points : But this episode feels slow, there's not much happening throughout, we see Maul is relying on training Devon as his plan, and his people aren't behind this plan. We get a reveal of what life is like as the Empire takes over, but it seems orderly, and only a little oppressive, certainly nothing beyond what we'd expect in the real world if a major terrorist turned up in a city and the authorities were trying to catch him. Life goes on, but there are security checkpoints and soldiers on the streets. What I'm saying is, the Empire doesn't really feel like the bad guys, Lawson is interrogated, but if a police department was discovered to be hiding a terrorist, you'd expect there to be a certain amount of questions.

So what do you really think ? : While it passed the time, I definitely wasn't impressed by this episode. It still looks good, but the story seems to be putting characters into place for something later, and nothing much is happening. It's slow, and I can't really imagine ever watching this episode again.

Final Words : So we're halfway through the season, and the standalone stories of Clone Wars and Rebels are starting to look like absolute genius. In those series, something happened and we got a self contained story in most episodes, a beginning, middle and end. But Maul is all middle, bloated and slow. Don't get me wrong, it's pretty, and some of the characters are compelling, Two Boots and Lawsons ex-wife, both came across well in this episode, but there's not much else to recommend.

Score : 7.5/10

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