MOVED.

This is kind of tricky. There are several things to consider here. First of all, the various sources across animated series, books and comics are really inconsistent in terms of the introspection they allow Maul (as they are with everything else), and certainly the thought he spares either Savage or Feral. 

He was also removed from Dathomir at such an early age that he wouldn’t have any connection to the culture or an understanding of it that reaches a personal level. For which reason I doubt he particularly cares about either Nightbrothers or Nighsisters or dwells on what happens to them as a culture. Especially given that his alliance with Dathomir is rather a consequence of a darkside affiliation than significant personl attachment.

And his own life has been filled with so much suffering and loss that honestly I think even on this basis alone he doesn’t have much reason to dwell how bad Savage had it being left on Dathomir.

Then of course, there’s the fact that throughout his life Maul has had a hard time seeing the meaning and understanding the value of relationships outside the master-apprentice dynamic. It’s not that he doesn’t want it, but he simply lacks the tools and point of reference. To him even something as basic as having a modicum of trust for someone and their intentions is damn near impossible without that framework. He even subjects Savage to it, calling him apprentice, rather than brother. 

And then of course there’s his singularly focused mind which is programmed to work in this way, but he doesn’t relent either way. For him a lot of the time the big picture is not the big picture, but rather the zoomed-out view of his own plans or focus. So considering Savage falls outside of that picture, especially given that that there really isn’t brotherly closeness between them.

This is something else that really weighs on my heart when it comes to Savage. He is thoughtful, he sees the bigger picture in a way that Maul didn’t until way later. But Maul didn’t know how to be a brother to him, and so he’s also left alone with the burden of being made to kill Feral, of being left behind, of what will happen to Nightbrothers. 

I think that even in the last season of TCW we see Maul beginning to reflect on things that he couldn’t see before. So I would say that yes, he would care. He has the attributes and we see him deal with the weight of what has happened, even though it’s mixed with bitter regret and the awareness that he can’t change certain things. It’s just that again...the writing didn’t give us a chance to see it. 

I’m so happy to hear that you liked it! And thank you for telling me that. I just realized yesterday that it’s been almost a month since the update already, but honestly I haven’t had time to focus on much else besides work and school. I’m wrapping my last project for the semester this coming week so I hope to be able to devote some actual time to writing.

But I’ve been very slow to write this story in any case. I just love Maul so much and I want to do right by him. Yes it’s a romance and a fix-it, but I don’t want to twist him into some out of character meat suit for this fic, to accommodate what I want to write. Instead I hope to be able to show what I’ve always believed to be true about him, that he hasn’t necessarily been able to express even if there were hints dropped along the way. So I’m also going back to Wrath and Lockdown every now and then. It’s important for me that the whole thing feels as natural of a development as it possibly can.