Analyzing this scene because oh, my God, it fed my love for mentally ill characters
Okay, so, I've seen some people call this scene a grab for sympathy, and, first of all, it's not a sympathy grab, but you gotta understand that Maul is a sympathetic villain, you can feel bad about what he's gone through while knowing he is not a good or moral person. Second of all, this scene showcased not just his trauma, but how badly his mind is damaged that he cannot even handle the possibility that he had no one waiting for him after being taken by Sidious, so he created that memory of Savage asking for him to stay.
I gotta say, Maul is one of the most well-written mentally ill characters, because unlike most characters, he doesn't show signs of how far gone he is around others. If you'd just seen him even from Brander's point of view, he appears to be normal (well, as normal as a bisected, crime lord, former Sith can be), but it's when he's alone, that's when it truly shows. And this scene gives more insight to how Maul becomes the way he is in Rebels, because--especially with all that he's gone through--he can only really hide this side of himself for so long before it starts to show to other people (ahem, his weird, Satine shrine, blood-on-the-wall bedroom says it all)
Now, FOR THE OVERANALYSIS OF THESE FEW SECONDS
This part was done absolutely beautifully, because you can hear and see that it seems like a small part of him is still holding back from crying, but the restraint is slipping, so what does he do? You know, instead of the normal thing being to let it out because, Maul, baby, you're alone in sewage, literally no one is here to judge you
He turns the sadness into rage, because lil old buddy SHEEV. SIDIOUS. PALPATINE. has drilled this into him. Look at the expression on the far left--that is fear. No matter what, he still has this ideology of turning his emotions, his sadness, his fear into rage, because anything else will be considered weak.
And as for the whole "Sidious. You did this to me" line, I don't think this is just him realizing this now. Think about it, Maul was just told to his face that the Emperor wants him dead. Throughout all the pain Sidious caused him, he has never wanted Maul dead, because he had some use for him through all this. But now, it's fully hit him that he is truly disposable, that he is worth as much as the Jedi in hiding are to Sidious. And realizations can happen multiple times. I know that I've had certain realizations where it's small at first, and I don't put much thought into it, but as time goes on and more things pile on, the realization hits harder and harder each time
So, point being, Maul is absolutely one of the most well-written mentally ill and abused characters in my opinion, because oh, MY GOODNESS, they could've easily gone with the route of "Maul is scary and kills a bunch of people but look guys he's nice now" or "this show is just Maul fighting people for revenge because we want money," but they didn't. I absolutely love that they took this character, Sidious' living weapon, and showed just how damaged he has been, and even though he says he will not let Sidious do this to anyone else, in the end, he is too far gone. He cannot let go of the mentality that he is a weapon, not anyone's savior
Thank you for coming to my TED Talk 👍
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