One thing you can say about the Clone Wars series is that those in charge were doing their best to give the fans their all and really bring to life some of the greatest characters from the franchise. Near the end of the Clone Wars a lot of people were excited to think that Ahsoka Tano and Darth Maul were going to hook up and see just who was the stronger between them, as this is the kind of fight that doesn’t really have a favorite unless one is thinking that Maul would simply annihilate her or that Ahsoka would somehow gain an edge in a way that people weren’t expecting. The truth is that a lot of people can’t own up to the fact that as a character and as a Force-user, Ahsoka can and has beaten Maul on occasion and it’s been seen that she’s done so without her lightsabers at hand. The process of bringing this fight to life however did require more than the usual effort as Ray Park and Lauren Mary Kim actually took to wearing the motion sensor suits that would grant even more fluidity to the scene and enhance the fight in a way that regular CGI has a bit of trouble with at times despite the fact that so far much of the Clone Wars has been more than a little impressive.
The long history of Darth Maul and the more recent but equally intriguing history of Ahsoka Tano have become big parts of Star Wars lore throughout the years and it’s definitely fair to say that more and more people continue to be turned on to the idea that Ahsoka has far more potential than she’s already shown and could have been a much bigger character in the Star Wars universe. The only problem of course is explaining where she was when A New Hope came along, and from there either deciding that she stayed away for good and decided not to return to fight alongside the Rebellion or the Resistance, or had perished at some point before the original trilogy came along. It would be great to think that she’s been around, watching and waiting to finally appear, but it doesn’t speak to the character that Ahsoka has already displayed throughout her involvement in the timeline, as she’s not the type that just stands by and doesn’t do anything. It is a big universe, and there’s a good chance that she was occupied for the entire trilogy, but in a way it’s still hard to explain just why she wouldn’t do everything in her power to return and help out the Rebels. But seeing how Ahsoka’s story kind of takes a few twists and turns it does feel as though she’s been handled about as well as it could have been.
Darth Maul on the other hand does have set beginning and ending as the Clone Wars displayed and Rebels concluded during his final fight with Obi-Wan. That final fight actually showed that Maul might have been a little overrated throughout the years, but many would point out that Kenobi was a Master Jedi with a great deal of combat experience. There’s nothing to take away from Maul as he’s had plenty of fighting experience and his training was enough to make him a lethal assassin and berserker when it came to fighting. But in terms of being a more rounded technical fighter, Kenobi and Ahsoka had a definite edge that Maul couldn’t really compete with. His power and his ability was great enough to take down quite a few opponents, but Ahsoka and Kenobi weren’t just any other Force-users, as they’d both been through their own trials in life and had the kind of combat experience that had taught them how to improvise and how to readjust during a fight in order to gain some advantage against their opponents. The legend and reputation of Maul, derived from the fluid movements of Ray Park and the fact that he was trained by Darth Sidious, were enough to strike fear in a lot of individuals, but it did come up short every now and then since Maul was given over to a level of arrogance that kept him from walking that edge that made him so dangerous in the first place. Ben Pearson of SlashFilm has more to say on this matter.
The fact that Ahsoka can beat him, and has, is proof of this since he sees himself as being so far above so many others that defeat is not a consideration. As it’s been seen in many fight scenes throughout cinematic history that kind of attitude is typically one that is only well-earned when one’s opponent has absolutely no chance in hell of winning a fight or even matching their opponent. Otherwise, as happened to Maul, arrogance can be a sure way to defeat.
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