– Spoiler Review –
Dealing with the repercussions of his failure, Dooku must try his best to be civil with his captor Darth Maul, while the Jedi get involved when word comes down Sith were part of the Ord Mantell battle. While Darth Maul: Son of Dathomir #3 doesn’t have as many payoffs as the last issue, it certainly sets the stage for an explosive finale.
The Jedi have finally gotten involved with the situation as Palpatine leaks word of a possible sighting of Maul on Ord Mantell before it was blitzkrieg-ed to near oblivion from Dooku and the Separatist forces. Sensing possible Sith in-fighting, and after the tragedy on Mandalore when all the Jedi besides Obi-Wan ignored the threat of Maul, four Jedi Masters are sent on the trail of Maul, Dooku, and Grievous. The Masters include Obi-Wan, Mace Windu, Aayla Secura, and Tiplee. Tiplee was first seen in the first episode of The Clone Wars S6 “The Unknown” alongside her twin sister Tiplar, who died at the hands of a clone trooper who accidentally started Order 66 a little too early.
While the Jedi hunt, the Sith scheme. Maul taunts Sidious with his capture of Grievous and Dooku, but Maul’s old master doesn’t seem impressed. Instead, Sidious blames it all on their incompetence and utters some very familiar words not heard again until Dooku’s in a similar situation in Revenge of the Sith. It’s interesting to note just how expendable Sidious really considers Count Dooku with regards to his greater plan. Having Grievous locked up, Maul’s more persuasive nature (which he’s shown ever since his revival in TCW) tries to turn Dooku against Sidious.
But Maul has backup and Mother Talzin appears, in her ever so delightful magick version of holograms, using her past history with Sidious and his betrayal of her to attempt to sway the Count. Oh, and she drops the bomb that Maul is her literal son. She’s not Mother Talzin for nothing folks, but now the question arises: who’s the father? When she briefly discusses her time with Sidious, there’s little hints that he could possibly be the father, whether it be from ‘traditional’ means or some Dark Side and Magick mixing. Or I’m just reading too much into it. Either way, Maul definitely has some powerful blood running through his veins.
Catching up to Maul quickly, Obi-Wan and Tiplee initiate an attack on a Mandalorian supply base where he’s holed up. It’s smartly built inside a giant asteroid, but as is the habit with secret bases in the Son of Dathomir, they don’t stay that way for very long. Before they go into battle, Tiplee briefly touches on the death of Satine, to which Obi-Wan replies, “My emotions are under control, Master Tiplee. I will not fail you or this mission.” His stoic resolve hides the inner turmoil as best he can, but you can see the conviction to get Maul in his well-drawn face. It’s nice to see Satine’s death mentioned again, and how it affects Obi-Wan, as it was largely untouched after the incident besides in the Legends’ novel Kenobi. And yes, his line of dialogue is a sad bit of foreshadowing.
In the chaos of the Republic’s attack, Dooku gets Grievous freed, who pulls the “coward special” he’s famously known for and jettisons in an escape pod. However, it’s not before a gruesome killing or six of some Mandalorians, with a rather striking visual of blood on Grievous’ claws.
Seeing no other option (but I’m sure always aligned with Sidious till the end, literally), Dooku joins forces with Maul and they face off against the Jedi strike team of Mace, Aayla, Tiplee, and Obi-Wan. Unfortunately this battle is too short, brought about by Dooku’s swift murder of Tiplee (yup, TCW‘s habit of killing off new characters strikes again!) and a well-placed rocket strike by Mandalorian troopers.
Mace reports with head hung low to Palpatine that Maul, Dooku, and Grievous escaped, along with the Jedi’s guess that Dooku was the Sith Master they’ve been hunting for since The Phantom Menace. Palpatine’s gleeful final shot, where he tells Mace the Jedi’s work on the matter is through, sends shivers down my bones. The Dark Lord plans on attending to the matter personally, and we all know how well that worked out for Maul the last time around. Will Sidious kill Talzin and Maul? Or is this just another small chapter in both of their stories? Only one issue left.
+ Jedi strike team
+ Attempt to sway Dooku
+ 4 on 2 lightsaber battle
+ Mother Talzin
– Tiplee’s death
– Short capture
– 4 on 2 lightsaber battle
Ryan is Mynock Manor’s Head Butler. You can follow him on Twitter @BrushYourTeeth.