Back when Ventress and Dooku had their angry spat over betrayal and revenge, Savage Opress (not the most subtle of names) returned to Mother Talzin, who gave him a quest to find his brother Darth Maul, previously believed to be dead.  Tonight we join Savage on his mission.

SPOILERS AHEAD!!!

Dooku and Ventress both express an uneasy sense of a growing malignant presence.  Savage is killing time beating up random strangers in a diner when some dust from a fellow traveler awakens something in the medallion Mother Talzin gave him.  He finds the traveler, who says he was at the junkyard planet Lotho Minor, and Savage forces him to take him there.  Anakin and Ahsoka stop at the same diner to eat and, despite the patrons’ reassurance that it was a routine altercation, Anakin can sense a sinister disturbance.  Anakin and Ventress both remark that although they don’t know what the disturbance might be, it’s familiar to them.

Savage meets Morley

As Savage and the traveler get within sight of Lotho Minor, Savage ejects his fellow passenger.  He can sense his brother is close.  The planet is all smoldering fire and thick smoke, and Savage’s medallion, which had been lit up,  suddenly stops working.  He encounters several strange inhabitants:  a talking snake named Morley who offers to be Savage’s guide; the fire breathers, huge crane monsters consuming everything with flames;  and junkers, little droid nomads who attempt to fight Savage.  Savage tells Morley that he’s looking for his brother, and the snake shares an urban legend about a horned man who drags things underground.

Savage searches for his brother

Seeking shelter from acid rain in a cave, Savage’s medallion lights up again, but no one’s around.  Morley turns on him and drops him into a holding cell as an offering for his master.  Savage explores the underground tunnel, looking for his brother but instead finding a mechanical half-spider, half-man.  The man part turns out to be Darth Maul, who is insane and alternates between weeping and laughing.  He is wild and bandaged and muttering gibberish.  Morley returns to the pit, intent on eating some of his master’s leftovers (what else has Darth Maul been eating?!),  and insists that he found Darth Maul in this state.  In a fit of anger, Savage breaks Morley’s neck.  Darth tells Savage that a Jedi took his legs and “[he] must have revenge.”

Yoda tells Obi-Wan that he senses the return of Darth Maul, back from the dead.

A wild and feral Darth Maul

Tonight’s episode was creepy!  Lotho Minor is harsh and stark, the stuff of nightmares and fever dreams.  The talking snake was a bit bizarre – almost silly – but the arrival of Darth Maul was pretty dark.  I wasn’t expecting him to be a Frankenstein spider-man, and it’s somehow so desperate and macabre that he seems to have built himself the spider legs and grafted them on.  I wasn’t sure if it was more unsettling to hear him laughing or crying.  Sam Witwer‘s voicework is amazing and chilling, switching from hysterically high to normal and conversational sometimes in the same sentence.

What did you think of tonight’s show?  It looks like next week Savage builds Darth some robotic legs, and he works on getting the only thing his insane mind has held onto all these years – revenge.  Next week is the season finale, so be sure to stay tuned!

If you missed the previous episode, be sure to read ‘Star Wars: The Clone Wars, Bounty’ recap.