Star Wars Is Bringing Back The Sith Lord Kylo Ren Replaced, & I Couldn’t Be Happier

Star Wars’ upcoming series Maul: Shadow Lord is finally bringing back the Sith Lord who was replaced by Kylo Ren in the sequel trilogy. In 2015’s The Force Awakens, audiences were introduced to Kylo Ren, Supreme Leader Snoke’s dark side apprentice and the corrupted son of Han Solo and Leia Organa. However, Ben Solo wasn’t always going to be the leading villain of the sequel trilogy.

Star Wars Celebration is well underway in Japan, and ScreenRant has been in attendance to provide all the biggest news and reveals coming from the galaxy far, far away. This includes the announcement that Darth Maul is finally getting his own animated series in 2026, entitled Maul: Shadow Lord. An exclusive trailer for Maul was released at Lucasfilm’s 20th Anniversary panel as well, including the reveal that a major Legends character is finally coming to the Star Wars canon, who was nearly one of the sequels’ primary villains: Darth Talon.

Darth Talon Was Originally Created By Star Wars Legends

A Major Villain Alongside Darth Krayt In Star Wars: Legacy

Debuting in Dark Horse’s Star Wars: Legacy comic series in the mid-2000s, Darth Talon was originally part of Darth Krayt’s One Sith in Legends’ New Republic Era over a century after the original trilogy. Also known as the New Sith Order, these dark side Force wielders were a new breed of Sith who operated much differently to the Sith of the past, ignoring Darth Bane’s Rule of Two. To that end, Darth Talon was a Twi’lek who served as one of Darth Krayt’s Hands, sporting red skin and black Sith tattoos she’d won in ritual combat, mirroring Darth Maul himself.

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In Star Wars: Legacy, Darth Talon was tasked by Krayt with the corruption of Cade Skywalker, a descendant of the Skywalker lineage in Legends who’d given up his Jedi path to become a bounty hunter. While Talon was successful for a time and Cade became her dark apprentice, he eventually returned to the light. Regardless, Darth Talon remained a loyal agent to Darth Krayt up until his death in the Battle of Coruscant which forced the rest of the One Sith to go into hiding, 138 years after the Battle of Yavin. However, George Lucas had grander plans for Darth Talon.

George Lucas Wanted Maul & Darth Talon As The Villains In His Sequel Trilogy

Talon Was Eventually Replaced By Kylo Ren

Despite her Expanded Universe story taking place over a hundred years after the events of the original trilogy, George Lucas liked Darth Talon and her design so much that he decided to incorporate her into his early drafts for the sequel trilogy, envisioning a new origin for Talon as the apprentice to an aged Darth Maul. The duo were meant to serve as the primary villains of Lucas’ sequels, where Talon would have essentially been the new Darth Vader (and Maul the new Palpatine). However, this was before George Lucas sold Lucasfilm to Disney in 2012.

Interestingly enough, Darth Talon was indeed part of The Force Awakens’ early development even after J.J Abrams came onto the project, envisioned as a Jedi killer who would corrupt Han Solo and Leia Organa’s son. However, the decision was eventually made to have Ben Solo be the Jedi killer instead, already corrupted and wielding the dark side himself in service to Supreme Leader Snoke. Nevertheless, concept art of Talon wielding dual red lightsabers drawn by Iain McCaig can be found in The Art of Star Wars: The Force Awakens.

George Lucas’ Plans Are Finally Becoming A Reality

A Canonical Talon Will Become Maul’s Apprentice In Shadow Lord

In Star Wars Celebration’s exclusive trailer for Maul: Shadow Lord, Maul encounters a young Force-sensitive Twi’lek girl during the Imperial Era, and it can’t be a coincidence that she’s positioned to become his new apprentice as Maul controls the underworld via Crimson Dawn. Although it’s been nearly a decade since Kylo Ren replaced her in The Force Awakens, it seems as though a canonical Darth Talon is finally becoming a reality (just in a different part of the Star Wars timeline). As such, it’s going to be fascinating to discover this new Talon’s story in the established Star Wars continuity.

Maul: Shadow Lord is set to release sometime in 2026, streaming on Disney+.

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