‘Star Wars: Maul – Shadow Lord’ Drops Its Season Finale Clip on the Most Fitting Day Possible

Rotten Tomatoes has released the first official clip from the season finale of ‘Star Wars: Maul – Shadow Lord’, and the timing could not be more deliberate. Episodes 9 and 10 of the season arrive at 12 a.m. local time on May 4, 2026, making the finale a Star Wars Day event that will roll out staggered across the globe as midnight strikes in each time zone. For a show that has become one of the most talked-about animated releases in recent memory, the finale drop feels less like a scheduled release and more like a proper occasion.

The 10-episode first season premiered on Disney+ on April 6, 2026, with two episodes released each week. Set after the events of ‘The Clone Wars’, the series follows Maul as he plots to rebuild his criminal syndicate on a planet untouched by the Empire, crossing paths with a disillusioned young Jedi Padawan who could become the apprentice he is seeking. That Padawan, Devon Izara, voiced by Gideon Adlon, has been a breakout presence throughout the season and sits at the center of the show’s most compelling tension heading into the finale.

Not only has ‘Star Wars: Maul – Shadow Lord’ debuted with a perfect 100% score on Rotten Tomatoes (currently 98%), breaking the record for Star Wars series on the reviews aggregator, but it has also dominated the streaming landscape as the number one trending series on Disney+ in the United States. Previously, ‘Andor’ held the high watermark with 96% and 97% for its two seasons respectively. Critics have pointed to the show’s brooding, noir-inspired tone and elevated animation as the key ingredients behind its unanimous praise.

The first episode hit 4.1 million views globally after just seven days on Disney+, and the series has ranked in the Disney+ Top 10 every single day since its premiere. Lucasfilm chief creative officer Dave Filoni, who created the series, called it a genuine step forward for the studio.

The finale arrives with considerable dramatic weight. In an interview with The Direct, Sam Witwer, who voices Maul, teased that the last two episodes are centered on choices, with Maul approaching them from a place of new self-understanding. Witwer described a genuine sense of responsibility in the character heading into the finale, a feeling Maul has never before experienced. Whether that hard-won sense of purpose can survive the only tools his dark upbringing has given him is what fans will find out on Star Wars Day.

Fan speculation about Devon’s fate has been building for weeks, and Witwer has had some fun with it. In a recent interview with ComicBook, he noted with amusement that viewers wondering when Maul would start training an apprentice are already watching it happen. As he put it, Maul is training Devon “whether she likes it or not,” with every encounter between them functioning as a lesson. That reframing turns the entire season into something darker and more deliberate than a straightforward mentor storyline.

A second season of ‘Maul – Shadow Lord’ was officially confirmed prior to the first season’s premiere, a rare vote of confidence from Lucasfilm that signals a long-term vision for the character. Witwer himself has said fans will not have to wait “too, too long” for the follow-up, adding that the team has already been working on it for some time. With the season one finale now hours away and the first clip already out in the world, the Sith lord’s story is very far from over.