Don’t misunderstand me, I thought he was very cool and the high point of TPM. I’m just confused as to why Sidious sent him in. Wasn’t the Sith supposed to be a secret? At least 20 people saw some guy in black, even if they didn’t see the lightsaber! I would think that it would have been MUCH easier and more efficient to save Maul for a less public place.
Qui-Gon, who was apparently an idiot, never reported his fight on Tatooine to the Jedi council. If he had, more Jedi would have come to Naboo, Maul would have died anyway, and the Sith are revealed. Assuming Palpatine thought Maul could take two Jedi (which he almost did), what next? The Jedi council would still have learned about it, as they did anyway. You would have to assume that the Jedi are high-profile enough that an unexplainable death of any of them would be investigated.
Another question: How much did Maul’s death mess up Palpy’s plans? If Maul hadn’t died, would he still have recruited Tyrannus? Two apprentices seems to go against the “There are always two” speech. Did Palpatine turn around and get Dooku right after Maul’s death? Was he training both of them at the same time? That would seem to take more free time and risk than Palpatine would want. And what part would Maul have had in those future plans? He seemed like more muscle than brains to me.
And one more thing that’s always bugged me: What does someone have to do to become a Sith Lord? Is that equivalent to a Jedi Knight? A Master?
I realize that these may be unanswerable questions, save from Lucas himself. They’re just things that popped up in my mind as I watched the movie. Your thoughts?