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What is the Shadow Collective in Maul – Shadow Lord? The mysterious group has been mentioned in both episodes released so far, but nothing concrete has been explained about them just yet.
It might not come as a huge surprise that the Shadow Collective actually has a fascinating history in The Clone Wars, and their story even brings in some major backstory about the Mandalorian home planet of Mandalore. So, below, we've explained everything you need to know about the crime group to help you understand what's going on in Maul – Shadow Lord.
A warning that, while the following is spoiler free for the Maul show, there are Clone Wars spoilers ahead. So, if you're not up to date, bookmark this page and come back later.
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What is the Shadow Collective in Maul – Shadow Lord?
(Image credit: Disney)
The Shadow Collective gets mentioned in episode 1 of the new show, then Rheena Sul explains a bit more about the group to Brander Lawson in episode 2. She says the Shadow Collective is a group of crime syndicates that disbanded when Maul vanished after "the war." As you might expect, though, this is only a snapshot of what the group actually is.
In The Clone Wars, Maul is revealed as having survived The Phantom Menace, and he is discovered alive by his brother, the sinisterly named Savage Oppress. Savage and Maul eventually ally with the Mandalorian Death Watch – including one Bo-Katan Kryze – and aim to help them retake their home planet of Mandalore.
To gather allies, Maul and Savage set about – brutally – uniting the various crime syndicates of the galaxy under their power. This group consisted of the Black Sun, the Pykes, and the Hutts. Maul and the Death Watch then retook Mandalore, with Maul seizing power by winning the Darksaber and officially becoming ruler of the planet.
Eventually, Bo-Katan mounted an effort to retake Mandalore from Maul, and Darth Sidious himself came to the planet and killed Savage. Maul stayed in power, however, but the Hutts left the Shadow Collective and never rejoined.
Sometime after this, Crimson Dawn joined the Shadow Collective. Then came the Siege of Mandalore at the end of the Clone Wars, in which Ahsoka Tano duelled – and defeated – Maul. With Maul captured, the Shadow Collective dispersed.
However, as we know from his surprise Solo cameo, Maul was able to retain some power as the real head of Crimson Dawn. Solo takes place after Maul – Shadow Lord on the Star Wars timeline, however, so it's unclear how that will affect the events of the show just yet.
I'm a Senior Entertainment Writer here at GamesRadar+, covering all things film and TV for the site's Total Film section. I previously worked on the Disney magazines team at Immediate Media, and also wrote on the CBeebies, MEGA!, and Star Wars Galaxy titles after graduating with a BA in English.
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