49 Years Into Star Wars, I’m Finally Rooting for a Jedi to Turn to the Dark Side

Star Wars is at its best when a character flirts with the dark and you can feel the slope getting slick. That is exactly where Maul - Shadow Lord lives, and I hate to say it, but for once I am actively hoping the Jedi in the story takes the plunge.

"Once you start down the dark path, forever will it dominate your destiny. Consume you, it will."

Yoda meant well. He also watched it all fall apart, only to see Anakin crawl back to the light at the end and literally glow blue for it. Star Wars loves a redemption arc. Shadow Lord might be the rare case where going dark actually makes the story better.

So what is Shadow Lord doing?

The series drops us into the Empire era when the Jedi are scattered and hunted. Darth Maul, who is not exactly on team Palpatine anymore, is hunting for a new apprentice to help him take a swing at both his old master and Darth Vader. He sets his sights on Devon Izara, a Twi'lek Jedi Padawan who survived Order 66 and is now trying to figure out what being a Jedi even means under Imperial rule.

If that sounds like it nods to George Lucas' early sequel- trilogy ideas where Maul would run the criminal underworld with a Twi'lek apprentice (Darth Talon, borrowed from Legends), that is not an accident. Shadow Lord clearly knows that playbook.

Devon herself gives off early Ahsoka energy: confident, sharp, not afraid to call an audible. But unlike Ahsoka, who walked away from the Order and still held to its core principles, Devon is much more bendy with the rules. She pushes back on her teacher, Master Eeko-Dio Daki, treats the Jedi Code like a guideline, steals to survive instead of going hungry, and she is already throwing the Force around in a pretty aggressive way. She is not buying what Maul is selling yet, but she is standing close enough to the display case to fog the glass.

The lightsaber misstep that changes everything

Here is the wild bit: Devon picks up Maul's lightsaber. In-universe, those are not just laser swords; they are power conduits that a Force-user bonds with. By attuning to Maul's saber even briefly, she opens a door. Through his own connection to that weapon, Maul gets a read on her, down to details like her name. In other words, he now has a direct line into her head and a better map of how to push her buttons. That is a bigger problem than the show treats it like in the moment, and it hangs over everything that follows.

Season 2 is coming, and the story math points one way

Shadow Lord is already locked for a Season 2. The entire engine of the show is the tug-of-war between Maul and Devon, and that only stays interesting long-term if she crosses the line. Yes, I can see a temporary team-up if Inquisitors show up and everyone agrees to stab the Empire first and each other later. But that kind of uneasy alliance is a short arc, not a second season foundation. A real fall to the dark would keep the Maul-Devon relationship ticking in a way nothing else can.

• Fans are wondering if Devon is being set up as this era's take on Darth Talon. The creatives know that theory is out there, even if they have not said it is true.
• We already know Maul's public timeline: he ends up running Crimson Dawn (Solo: A Star Wars Story), then loses his grip on power. By the time we hit Star Wars Rebels, he is isolated and trying to recruit Ezra Bridger because he has no one left. If Devon does join him, the big question becomes where she is when Maul is alone again. Did she leave, die, or get sidelined? Any of those paths are juicy.
• Because Devon is new to canon, there is no safety net. She is not fated to boomerang back to the light just because a toy catalogue says so. That uncertainty makes her potential fall feel genuinely dangerous in a way Star Wars does not always allow.

Why I am rooting for a Jedi to go bad (this time)

Usually the story tells you who is unbreakable. Even when a hero slips, they yo-yo back and make Yoda look overly dramatic. Devon is different. She is capable, adaptable, already cutting corners, and now entangled with Maul through his own saber. If Shadow Lord really wants to be the most gripping Star Wars character study in years, it lets her choose the dark and then lives with the consequences.