May the Fourth be with you, Dave Filoni. The brains behind many Star Wars shows, including The Bad Batch, The Mandalorian, The Book of Boba Fett, and Ahsoka, and George Lucas’ protégé, Filoni has created a crackerjack show with the animated Maul – Shadow Lord.

The stakes are high, the action is breath-taking, the visuals are chef’s kiss and that appearance at the end of episode 9, ‘Strange Allies’, is a guaranteed heart-stopper for devotees of the happenings in galaxies long ago and far away.

Episode 1, ‘The Dark Revenge’ explodes into action, introducing the main players. Bent on revenge against the Shadow Collective that betrayed him in The Clone Wars, Darth Maul (Sam Witwer) orchestrates a bank robbery on the planet Janix.

The bank he robs is owned by criminal leader Nico Deemis, who thinks his rival, Looti Vario (Chris Diamantopoulos), was responsible for the robbery.

Police detective with the Janix Tactical Defense Force, Brander Lawson (Wagner Moura), and his partner, the droid Two-Boots (Richard Ayoade), investigate the robbery. A fleeing Jedi Eeko-Dio Daki (Dennis Haysbert), and his Padawan, Devon (Gideon Adlon), are passing through Janix but are drawn into the struggle, especially when Maul begins to think Devon could be the right apprentice for him.

There follows a race to safety with rapidly changing alliances, even as the Imperial forces with their stormtroopers and their huge, sleek flying machines land on Janix and take over the investigation.

With each episode less than half an hour long, the show zips through its action-packed sequences, whether high-speed chases or incredibly smooth lightsaber duels, remembering to pause for jokes, either from the fast-talking Vario or the protocol-obsessed Two-Boots.

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There are emotional beats too — from Maul’s anger at being betrayed by everyone, including his evil master, Darth Sidious and the crime lords. Maul hopes to use Devon’s anger and impetuousness, while Master Daki wishes for her to be more cautious.

Lawson has a difficult relationship with his son, Rylee (Charlie Bushnell), who chose to stay with his father after his parents separated, and his mother went to work for the Empire on Coruscant.

There is no shortage of wild and wonderful characters in Maul – Shadow Lord from the lizard-like Vario, with an endearing tic of rubbing his facial fins, and the dino-Jedi, Daki, to the spider/panther-like Spybot (David W. Collins). The spybot is a lot of fun, making strange noises and speaking in a weird syntax.

Giving Maul his spin-off series is an intuitive move, as the bad guys are always more interesting than the straight-as-arrow characters. Maul has always seemed like standard-issue villain, but seeing the story from his perspective gives us a chance to see the conscience behind the horns, red skin, tattoos, and yellow eyes.

The returning voice cast from other media, apart from Witwer, includes Vanessa Marshall as Maul’s Mandalore ally, Rook Kast; A. J. LoCascio as the Jedi hunter, Marrok; and Ewan McGregor as Obi‑Wan Kenobi.

The visuals are awe-inspiring from the sleek craft, to the soaring cliffs and the dark, abandoned mines. The music is suitably rousing, especially those whispers of “The Imperial March.”

Season 1 ended with heartbreak and a flight into the great unknown with someone who might or might not be an ally, which seems like the perfect jump-spot for Season 2.

Star Wars: Maul – Shadow Lord is currently streaming on Jio Hotstar