Star Wars Is Officially Bringing Back George Lucas’ Episode VII Plan Following Kathleen Kennedy’s Lucasfilm Exit

Star Wars is finally realizing George Lucas’ vision for Episode VII through Maul: Shadow Lord. Lucas originally included treatments for Star Wars Episode VII in the purchase of the franchise, but Disney mostly went in a new direction that eventually led to The Force Awakens.

Some elements of Lucas’ vision of the sequel trilogy survived, and now, a new animated Star Wars show is bringing one of those elements back into the limelight. The Maul series will be the first major Star Wars project to come out following the announcement that Kathleen Kennedy is stepping down as president of Lucasfilm. Kennedy took over from George Lucas after the latter sold Star Wars to Disney in 2012, and she was reportedly his hand-picked successor.

Star Wars: Maul – Shadow Lord Introduces Canon Darth Talon

The first trailer for Maul: Shadow Lord revealed quite a bit of footage of Maul seizing power in the early days of the Empire, but one particular character stood out: a Twi’lek named Devon Izara. Though it wasn’t clear through the trailer itself, Star Wars has revealed that Devon Izara is “conflicted” and that Maul both has a tea ceremony with her and teaches her something. Evidently, Devon Izara is something of a protégé for Maul.

This story, of Maul surviving his fight with Obi-Wan Kenobi and coming back to take on a young female Twi’lek apprentice, has been told before. George Lucas’ original plan for Star Wars Episode VII, before he sold the franchise to Disney, was for Maul to have a Twi’lek apprentice named Darth Talon. Clearly, Devon Izara is Disney’s take on Darth Talon within the new Star Wars canon.

Admittedly, there are some glaring differences between Devon Izara and Darth Talon. Lucas intended to make Talon the sequel trilogy’s version of Darth Vader, a steadfast Sith apprentice. Devon Izara, on the other hand, seems much more conflicted in her dedication to the dark side of the Force, and could easily take on a similar role to Ezra Bridger as a young Jedi Maul is trying to corrupt.

The similarities between Devon Izara and Darth Talon are, however, also readily apparent. Both are female Twi’leks, both serve as proteges to Maul, and both are somehow involved in his ruling of the criminal underworld of Star Wars. Devon Izara will likely be a much more family-friendly version of the character, and her story will likely go in unexpected directions, but she’s cut from the same cloth as Darth Talon.

George Lucas Envisioned Darth Maul & Darth Talon For His Episode 7

It’s hard to understate just how central Darth Talon was to George Lucas’ vision for the Star Wars sequel trilogy. Talon originally existed as a character in Star Wars Legends, where she was part of the One Sith who antagonized Cade Skywalker in about 135 ABY. Lucas reportedly liked her character design so much — and had little respect for the Expanded Universe — that he decided to adapt her into the sequel trilogy nearly 100 years before her original comic run.

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From there, Lucas had designed Darth Talon as an apprentice to Darth Maul and the primary antagonist of at least Episode VII. Maul would have been the main villain of the sequel trilogy, akin to Emperor Palpatine, but Talon would have been the main villain heroes like the son of Han Solo and Leia Organa would have faced off against. She also would have been heavily involved in Maul’s reign over the Underworld.

What Darth Talon’s Canon Debut Means For Star Wars

Devon Izara is the closest Star Wars is ever going to get to putting Darth Talon into canon, and it’s a huge moment for the franchise. Star Wars has, in recent years, been trying to establish a new “sequel trilogy” to focus on in addition to Rey Skywalker’s story. The Mandalorian has become a franchise unto itself, and now, Maul: Shadow Lord may be proof that Lucasfilm is doubling down on Maul as a new face of modern Star Wars.

Maul has made several appearances in recent years, from the final season of Star Wars: The Clone Wars to a short live-action cameo in Solo: A Star Wars Story. The fact that Maul: Shadow Lord has effectively canonized a version of Darth Talon seems to be confirmation that Star Wars wants to make Maul an even bigger character in line with Lucas’ original vision for the sequel trilogy. Why give him an apprentice if he’s not going to remain a fixture of upcoming Star Wars projects?

More broadly, Darth Talon’s canon debut could also indicate that Disney has decided to look more to the history of Star Wars rather than focusing solely on Rey and the sequel trilogy. While there is the upcoming New Jedi Order movie that will focus on Rey, most of the upcoming Star Wars movies and shows are more centered around Lucas’ ideas, like the aftermath of the original trilogy. Given the backlash newer shows and movies have received, it wouldn’t be surprising if Disney is returning to the roots of George Lucas’ ideas.

Dave Filoni Has A History Of Re-Canonizing Legends

The fact that Darth Talon is finally making the jump from Legends to canon (albeit only in spirit) is certainly not unprecedented in modern Star Wars. Dave Filoni, creator of Star Wars: The Clone Wars and the new creative head of Lucasfilm following Kathleen Kennedy’s departure, has a long history of taking elements from Star Wars Legends and re-canonizing them. Filoni also created Maul: Shadow Lord, so it’s clear to see what he was up to.

Filoni, for example, is the main reason Grand Admiral Thrawn wasn’t left in the Expanded Universe following Disney’s acquisition of Star Wars. Filoni created Star Wars Rebels and used the animated show to bring a slightly altered version of Thrawn into canon. He also used The Clone Wars to re-canonize Darth Bane, the concept of Jedi holocrons, and much of the lore surrounding Mandalorians, such as the Darksaber.

Now, Filoni is borrowing from Legends once again for Maul: Shadow Lord. As in his previous instances of re-canonizing EU stories, Darth Talon is going to be different from how she was portrayed in Legends so that she can better fit into canon, but the essence of the character has survived.