Before Darth Maul ever crossed blades with Qui-Gon Jinn and Obi-Wan Kenobi in The Phantom Menace, he had already imagined that moment many times. In his mind, the duel was never going to be a random encounter. It was meant to be a test.
According to Darth Maul: Shadow Hunter, Maul had specific Jedi in mind long before the Sith revealed themselves. Defeating one of them wasn’t about revenge or orders from above — it was about proving, to himself and to his master, that he was ready.
Maul’s First Jedi Kill Wasn’t the Test He Wanted
In Darth Maul: Shadow Hunter, Darth Maul does kill Jedi before the events of The Phantom Menace. But those early victories don’t give him what he’s actually craving.
The first Jedi he definitively defeats is Darsha Assant, a Padawan learner operating on Coruscant. Darsha is brave, resourceful, and far more dangerous than Maul initially expects, but she is still a Padawan. Their final confrontation ends with Maul impaling her during the chaos of an explosion she triggers herself — a kill Maul confirms through the Force before leaving the scene.
Earlier still, Maul also kills Darsha’s master, Anoon Bondara. Bondara is a respected Jedi Master, but the encounter is brief and tactical. Maul ambushes him, overwhelms him quickly, and moves on. There is no prolonged duel, no moment where Maul feels truly tested.
That distinction matters. These kills prove that Maul is deadly, but they don’t prove what he wants proven. Neither fight forces him to his limits. Neither opponent represents the kind of legendary Jedi warrior Maul has been trained to measure himself against.
And that dissatisfaction lingers. Even after killing Jedi, Maul is still searching for something more: a confrontation that would finally confirm his superiority, not just his efficiency.
The Jedi Maul Truly Wanted to Face
After killing Jedi, Maul’s thoughts don’t settle into satisfaction. Instead, Shadow Hunter makes it clear that those encounters only sharpen his frustration. In his own mind, Maul knows the difference between defeating a Jedi and proving his superiority over the Jedi Order.
Maul’s training explains why those early victories feel incomplete. He wasn’t raised to measure himself against bounty hunters, criminals, or soldiers — he was forged to surpass something far greater. As the novel describes, Maul “had learned the intricate movements and forms of the teräs käsi fighting style… practiced gymnastics in environments ranging from zero-g to gravity fields twice that of Coruscant’s… mastered the intricate and dangerous use of the double-bladed lightsaber. And all for one purpose: to be the best possible tool of his master’s will.”
That level of preparation makes lesser opponents meaningless. Killing Jedi proves Maul is lethal — but it doesn’t prove he is the Sith weapon he was meant to be.
At one point in the novel, Maul reflects directly on this hunger. He thinks about how defeating lesser opponents isn’t enough — what he truly wants is to test himself against the Jedi’s finest. The book names them explicitly. Maul longs to face Plo Koon, or perhaps Mace Windu, because only a warrior of that caliber would make the fight meaningful. That, Maul believes, would be a true measure of his skill and of the Sith’s long preparation in secrecy.
