Rey (Daisy Ridley) holding Luke's lightsaber in Star Wars: The Last Jedi
Warning! This article contains SPOILERS for Maul - Shadow Lord season 1, episode 4.Star Wars has officially changed one of the most iconic lightsabers in the entire franchise through Maul - Shadow Lord. Lightsabers have been an integral part of Star Wars since the original Star Wars movie in 1977. The franchise has also been constantly experimenting with the iconic weapons ever since Luke Skywalker first ignited a green lightsaber in Return of the Jedi. Since then, Star Wars has only added more iconic lightsabers over the years.
Some of the best lightsabers in Star Wars have earned that distinction for experimenting with the formula of what a lightsaber can be. Who could forget when Darth Maul first ignited his double-bladed lightsaber in The Phantom Menace, when Mace Windu ignited a purple blade, when Kylo Ren ignited his crossguard lightsaber, or even Dark Rey's hinged double-bladed lightsaber, and later her yellow-bladed one, in The Rise of Skywalker. New variations of lightsabers almost always make for great Star Wars moments.
For the most part, however, Star Wars usually experiments with new lightsabers. Existing iconic lightsabers usually stay the same or are lost forever, such as the many lightsabers Anakin lost over the years. Some Jedi, like Ezra Miller and Cal Kestis, admittedly do end up changing their lightsabers over the years to fit different needs. Still, it's fairly rare that an existing lightsaber gets significantly modified in Star Wars, much less one of the most iconic ones in the entire franchise. Maul - Shadow Lord, however, has done exactly that.
Now, 27 years after he first ignited his double-bladed lightsaber in The Phantom Menace, Maul has made a rather significant change to the design of his weapon in the ongoing animated series. It doesn't affect the major design of the lightsaber — the double-sided, blood-red blades are still thankfully there — but it is a notable difference nonetheless. Maul - Shadow Lord Made Maul’s Double-Bladed Lightsaber Into A Split Saber As Maul - Shadow Lord episode 4 revealed, Maul's lightsaber is no longer just a double-bladed lightsaber, it's now a split saber.
Maul's lightsaber in The Phantom Menace and throughout The Clone Wars featured a single solid hilt that housed two separate kyber crystals that could ignite via emitters on either end. In Maul - Shadow Lord, however, Maul has modified his lightsaber so that it can be separated at the center, essentially creating two separate single-bladed lightsabers. Shadow Lord confirmed that Maul had changed his lightsaber in episodes 3 and 4. Devon Izara briefly used one end of Maul's lightsaber while it was in its separated configuration, and Maul later rejoined the two ends of his lightsaber into the double-bladed configuration while he was fighting the Pyke Syndicate at the start of episode 4.
It's not entirely clear when Maul made this modification to his lightsaber, but it must have occurred sometime between The Clone Wars and Shadow Lord in the Star Wars timeline. Having the ability to separate his lightsaber into two distinct weapons would have given Maul a huge edge in battle, especially against Jedi who were used to fighting him already. If he had access to the split saber design before, he would have used it, so this is an entirely new change for Maul - Shadow Lord. The split saber design also has a long history in Star Wars. It was first seen in The Clone Wars movie in 2008, when it was wielded by Asajj Ventress. Ventress, however, rarely used her blades in the double-bladed configuration, so the design is much more notably attributed to Cal Kestis of Jedi: Fallen Order and Jedi: Survivor. A similar design was also used by the Stranger in The Acolyte, though the configuration of the emitters meant that when the blades joined together, they didn't form a double-bladed saber.
Maul’s Lightsaber Could Change Even More By The End Of Shadow Lord Maul's lightsaber becoming a split saber is a big change from his status quo, but it may not be the only change Maul - Shadow Lord has in store for his weapon. Maul had two lightsabers that we know of over the course of his life. The first was the double-bladed lightsaber he used in The Phantom Menace and The Clone Wars. That one is presumably the same version seen in Maul - Shadow Lord so far, just modified to be a split saber. The second lightsaber Maul used was seen in Star Wars Rebels. In Rebels, Maul used a modified version of the Inquisitor lightsaber, presumably because he lost his original saber. That saber had the distinctive circular hand guard that allowed Inquisitor sabers to spin cut off, with a bit of the guard remaining.
Eventually, sometime between Maul - Shadow Lord and Rebels, Maul will switch from his first saber to the modified Inquisitor saber. Because we know that Maul will eventually switch lightsabers, it's entirely possible that he'll do so in Maul - Shadow Lord. The show even has a built-in way to explain the switch. Some of the trailers for Maul - Shadow Lord have hinted that Maul will engage in a lightsaber battle with Marrok, one of Darth Vader's Imperial Inquisitors. Maul's first lightsaber could be damaged in that fight, and if he manages to defeat Marrok , he could take Marrok's blade as his own. Giving Maul a new lightsaber would also be a perfect fit for Maul - Shadow Lord. This entire series is centered around redefining who Maul is as a character. Already, the show has depicted Maul as being much more nuanced and philosophical than we've been led to believe he is, and he's surprised us a few times by showing sympathy for the Jedi. Giving him a new lightsaber would be symbolic of Maul's larger change in character in Maul - Shadow Lord.
9.9/10 Star Wars: Maul - Shadow Lord 10 stars 9 stars 8 stars 7 stars 6 stars 5 stars 4 stars 3 stars 2 stars 1 star Like Follow Followed TV-PG Animation Sci-Fi Adventure Drama Release Date April 6, 2026 Network Disney+ Directors Brad Rau Franchise Star Wars Cast See All Creator Dave Filoni, Matt Michnovetz Powered by Expand Collapse
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