We're just two episodes away from the end of Maul – Shadow Lord, but Darth Vader hasn't made an appearance in the Star Wars show.
Instead, Maul has been doing battle with Inquisitor Marrok and the Eleventh Brother (AKA Crow), but one Easter egg cleverly hidden in a battle sequence points towards Vader himself.
One eagle-eyed fan on Twitter has noticed that Marrok uses a move very similar to a classic Anakin Skywalker lightsaber manoeuvre. "You can tell Marrok was trained by Vader by the overhead rear block he does at the start of this duel. Both Anakin and Ahsoka use that move all the time. The attention to detail in this show is next level," they write, resharing a clip of the moment, which sees Marrok swing his lightsaber over his head and bring it down at Maul.
You can tell Marrok was trained by Vader by the overhead rear block he does at the start of this duel. Both Anakin and Ahsoka use that move all the time. The attention to detail in this show is next level. https://t.co/TM2EEqrZH7April 30, 2026
Anakin does indeed seem fond of this move: you might recognize it from his duel with Obi-Wan Kenobi on Mustafar in Revenge of the Sith, or in his duel with a younger version of Ahsoka Tano in the World Between Worlds in Ahsoka.
Hit that pose for the love of the duel pic.twitter.com/gzLjjhuLsSApril 29, 2026
Vader is the head of the Inquisitorius, and the Darth Vader comic series has established that he is personally involved in their training. So, it's not a stretch at all to assume Marrok learned this move directly from Vader.
"We talked a lot about [how] we wanted these Inquisitors to be as creepy as possible, creepier than we've ever seen them: horrifying, in fact," supervising director Brad Rau told us of Marrok. "And, A.J. certainly gives us a lot of that in his performance. And the way that we blocked Marrok in particular, if you notice, he moves really slowly, like a horror monster, and then he moves really fast, also like some kind of apparition. And so we just played with all of that fun stuff. It's just too much fun."
While Vader hasn't shown up in the show, it is possible he is the mysterious cloaked figure Marrok called for help earlier in the season. We'll just have to wait and see if the Sith Lord does end up arriving on Janix in the final two episodes…
You can keep up to date with our Maul – Shadow Lord release schedule, or, for more on the show, read our Maul – Shadow Lord review.
To catch up on Maul's story, see our guide on how to watch The Clone Wars in order.
