Darth Maul's Sith Weakness Is Exactly Same As Palpatine's

Darth Maul and Emperor Palpatine are two of the most iconic and powerful villains in Star Wars, and the former Sith duo share the same weaknesses.

Darth Maul is one of the most popular and powerful Star Wars villains, but his greatest weakness is the same as Emperor Palpatine, the main antagonist of the Skywalker saga. Known for his double-bladed lightsaber and distinctive appearance, Darth Maul made his debut in The Phantom Menace as Palpatine's first Sith apprentice, where he battled Qui-Gon Jinn and O Biwan Kenobi famously fought. Although he was seemingly killed by Kenobi, Maul returned to the Star Wars: The Clone Wars franchise and later appeared in Star Wars: Rebels and Solo: A Star Wars Story.

Like his teacher Darth Sidious (better known as Shev Palpatine), Maul's main weakness is overconfidence. During Luke Skywalker's confrontation with Palpatine during Return of the Jedi, he told the Emperor that his overconfidence was his weakness. This turned out to be true, as Palpatine spent far too long trying to kill the young Jedi, giving Darth Vader the chance to turn on his master and save his son. Darth Maul displayed the same overconfidence during his fights against Qui-Gon and Obi-Wan, especially after he defeated Qui-Gon, as instead of using his powerful Sith powers to quickly wipe out the Jedi Padawan, he called for help in one A protracted lightsaber duel with Obi-Wan, which he ultimately loses. Thus, the two Sith Lords ultimately succumbed to the same fatal flaw.

Why Obi-Wan Defeated Darth Maul In The Phantom Menace

The final battle of the Phantom Menace surprisingly leaves Obi-Wan Kenobi the sole survivor, although he is less experienced in combat than Qui-Gon Jinn and Darth Maul. During the first half of the battle, Maul separated Qui-Gon from Obi-Wan, then outmaneuvered the much older Jedi, thereby defeating him. Qui-Gon's preferred fighting style, Ataru, requires agility and acrobatics, which can be difficult against his much faster opponents in the penalty area. Despite defeating one of the most powerful and respected Jedi in Star Wars, Darth Maul's defeat of Qui-Gon led to his downfall, as it made him arrogant.

Darth Maul is a powerful Force user, as he single-handedly destroys an Imperial ship in the Clone Wars finale, and in The Phantom Menace, where Darth Maul pushes Obi-Wan down with force late in the duel Reactor pit. If Darth Maul wanted a quick win, he could have used this power earlier instead of engaging in a lightsaber fight, but he did it anyway because he thought he could easily defeat the young Padawan. Even after winning his duel with Kenobi, Darth Maul Spending his time taunting his opponents instead of getting the job done, Palpatine displayed the same arrogance in front of Luke Skywalker. Maul's taunt gave an emotional Obi-Wan time to use the Force to capture Qui-Gon's lightsaber and miraculously defeat Darth Maul.

Did Darth Maul Learn From His Defeat?

The Clone Wars reveals that Maul survived being cut in half by Obi-Wan, with vengeance one of his top priorities. In their first encounter since The Phantom Menace, Maul and his brother Savage Opress easily defeated Kenobi in a brief duel in which Maul used force to steal the Jedi's lightsaber, showing that he Learned from previous mistakes. But as before, instead of killing Obi-Wan quickly, Maul wanted to bask in his victory and make Kenobi suffer, which gave Obi-Wan the opportunity to escape. In Star Wars Rebels season 3, Darth Maul's overconfidence once again let him down as he still believed he could defeat the now more experienced and stronger Obi-Wan in lightsaber combat, but he Chung-in loses, proving he never really learned from his first defeat in Kenobi in The Phantom Menace.