Here’s How Old Darth Maul Was When He Died
Star Wars has always had a lot of different characters that fans just can’t help but love, and Darth Maul stands at the top of the list in terms of the coolness factor that makes him a favorite among fans. However, Maul was a tragic figure who ended up having a sad childhood that shaped how he lived his entire life until his death, when his vengeance finally got the better of him. At that time, Maul had lived decades with hatred and revenge in his heart. So, how old was Darth Maul when he died?
Darth Maul was around 52 when he died on Tatooine at the hands of his archnemesis, Obi-Wan Kenobi. At that time, he had already lost everything and was only looking forward to killing Kenobi before the old Jedi Master put him out of his misery. Maul died as Kenobi felt pity for his longtime rival.
Even though he was always an evil man that never stopped hating and killing, Darth Maul was as tragic as any other character in the world of Star Wars because he was merely a pawn in the greater game that Palpatine played. He didn’t deserve the kind of life he lived, but he certainly didn’t do anything to improve how he lived his life. Now, let’s look at Maul’s age when he died.
How Old Was Maul When Sidious Took Him?
Chronologically speaking, Darth Maul was the first Sith Lord that the Jedi Order encountered after around a thousand years. Of course, the Jedi thought that the Sith had been eradicated from the galaxy around a thousand years ago, and that was why Maul’s appearance was quite surprising to them because that was when it was clear that the Sith was still operating in secret.
And when Obi-Wan Kenobi defeated Maul on Naboo, that was when the Jedi started wondering whether or not it was the master or the apprentice that was killed, as there were only supposed to be two Sith Lords due to the Rule of Two.
Of course, we all know that Maul was the apprentice because his master was Darth Sidious, hiding in plain sight as Sheev Palpatine, who had become the Supreme Chancellor of the Galactic Republic. Maul was Palpatine’s first apprentice after the Sith Lord killed his master, Darth Plagueis, and became the new master of the Sith. Maul was quite young when Palpatine took him as his apprentice, as that was when it was made clear that he was a manipulated pawn in Sidious’ game from the very moment he was born.
Maul was born to Mother Talzin, the leader of the Dathomirian Zabrak Nightsisters, on 54 BBY. Talzin had been in contact with Sidious for a while because she shared knowledge with him. The Nightsisters taught Palpatine the ways of their magick, while the Sith Lord also shared his knowledge of the dark side of the Force. Talzin tried to please Sidious, hoping he would choose her as his next apprentice.
But Sidious had already sensed the dark side of the Force coursing through Maul’s young veins. Around 40 BBY, he ordered Talzin to give Maul to a keeper that was ordered to treat the young Dathomirian Zabrak harshly. Wanting to please Palpatine, Talzin complied.
The keeper fed Maul scraps and even allowed his sons to beat him. As such, Maul’s anger started to build up. It wasn’t long before Maul could break out of his confines to kill the keeper and his sons right before a pleased Darth Sidious. It is possible that Maul was just at least 15 years old because he was 14 when he was given to his keeper. The pleased Palpatine took him in as his apprentice and trained him in the ways of the dark side of the Force extremely well that Maul was already a powerful Sith Lord at the age of 17.
Maul’s Age at Death
We all know what happened to Maul after joining up with Sidious. At the age of 22, he got cut in half by Obi-Wan Kenobi in Naboo when he attempted to stop the Jedi from liberating the planet from the Trade Federation. However, he survived what was supposed to be a fatal situation as he became a prominent character during the Clone Wars.
Maul became a crime syndicate leader that took over Mandalore before Ahsoka and the Republic apprehended him. And during the era of the Empire, he tried to find a way to defeat Darth Sidious and destroy the Sith because this was part of his revenge plot, as he had learned to hate his former master as well.
In that regard, Maul returned to his role as the leader of Crimson Dawn, the same crime syndicate he started during the Clone Wars. But his obsession with destroying the Sith and the Empire led him to Malachor V, where there was supposedly an artifact that could help him defeat Sidious and Vader. He got stranded on the planet when his ship was destroyed, and it was only when Ezra Bridger and the crew of the Ghost arrived that he was finally able to get off the planet after years of living on Malachor alone.
Maul failed to use the Sith artifact to kill Vader on Malachor V, But he got a consolation prize when he found out through Ezra that Obi-Wan Kenobi was on Tatooine. And that was when he settled for Kenobi instead of the Sith.
However, Maul failed in his attempt to kill Kenobi because the old Jedi Master was too focused on his mission to keep Luke Skywalker safe from anyone that wanted to harm him. In three strikes, Obi-Wan defeated and killed Darth Maul on 2 BBY.
Maul was still just 52 years old at the time of his death as he died in Obi-Wan’s arms. Kenobi felt pity for his old rival because he realized Maul was a tragic figure who became a pawn in Palpatine’s game. And Maul died peacefully after realizing that Luke could be the one that could destroy the Sith and avenge him.
What Is Darth Maul’s Species (Dathomirian Zabrak) Lifespan?
As mentioned, Darth Maul died at 52, which isn’t an advanced age compared to the other Jedi and Sith in the Star Wars world. Of course, we don’t know how long Dathomirian Zabraks can live, but we can assume that they have a lifespan of around 80 years, considering that they are near-human species.
In that regard, Maul died quite young because he was just 52 when he died. Some Jedi and Sith died at much older ages compared to Maul. But Maul’s death at a comparatively young age resulted from his endless desire to seek vengeance from the Sith and Obi-Wan Kenobi. And that means his death was his own doing as he died trying to seek revenge.
But at the same time, his vengeance kept him alive. For over a decade, he lived a feral life after Obi-Wan Kenobi supposedly killed him on Naboo. His hatred and quest for vengeance kept him alive for over a decade, even though he was missing the lower half of his body. As such, the darkness in his heart kept him alive, but the darkness in his heart also led to his death at the age of 52 when he tried to seek vengeance from the man that nearly killed him 30 years ago.