Just saw SOLO and I enjoyed it. An above average film, but not highly ranked in the SW saga imo.

Ok, now that I've got that off my chest let me get round to answering your question. My guess is that Maul is either using his sith capabilities to actively hide/shield himself from the Emperor or he's simply now a small fish in the ocean, like you pointed out. The reason they've canonically got Maul back alive is probably for the potential Obi Wan spin off they're considering. Imagine a rematch between the two. People have been saying that there's nothing for Obi Wan to do in his own film, but now there certainly is. Make Maul the lead villain who returns to Tatooine because he knows of Luke's/Obi's location and wants to regain the Emperor's respect.

That was already played out in Rebels.

@Drew007 said:

If Vader or Palpatine are such experts on the Force, wouldn't they feel presence of another Sith Lord that is out there? Maybe they did not view Maul as a threat anymore and were not concerned about Him or Maul would continue to be Palpatine's apprentice once Vader was out of the away. Hopefully they develop Maul in a spin off and not leave him as a cliff hanger in this film.

I really don't nerd out on Star Wars anymore, but didn't the movies infer that proximity was important? The only times that Darth Vader acted as though he sensed another Jedi was when they were nearby. (Obi-Wan in the Death Star and Luke aboard the stolen Imperial Shuttle in Jedi.) Otherwise, you'd have thought Yoda's location on Dagobah would have been something the Emperor would have targeted. So, in short, if Maul were far enough away I don't know that the others would have sensed him unless he was revealed in a Force Vision.

Ugh, sometimes I hate knowing all this stuff.

True, but in TFA they kind of ignored that when Snoke and Kylo were able to sense Rey.

In one of the Star Wars novels from the Expanded Universe, there was an explanation that some time after Yoda exiled himself to Dagobah, a dark side force user was able to track down Yoda and challenged him to a fight. Yoda was forced to kill him. Yoda then realised his space ship was shrouded in the dark side. Yoda somehow managed to bury the spaceship not too far from his home. Yoda used the dark side force energy to cancel out his own light side force energy so he couldn't be sensed from a distance. Yoda was then safe and sound on Dagobah. The spaceship then became the cave that Luke Skywalker was in when he encountered the fake Darth Vader. Yoda had managed to turn the cave into a testing ground for testing Luke. When Luke beheaded the fake Darth and the helmet burst open revealing Luke's face, it meant that Luke was not yet ready to face Darth Vader.

@Russ007 said:

*The reason they've canonically got Maul back alive is probably for the potential Obi Wan spin off they're considering. Imagine a rematch between the two. People have been saying that there's nothing for Obi Wan to do in his own film, but now there certainly is. Make Maul the lead villain who returns to Tatooine because he knows of Luke's/Obi's location and wants to regain the Emperor's respect. *

As BlackMarketBeagle has already stated, this very situation has already been dealt with (and quite satisfactorily IMO) in the TV series Rebels. Reusing it in a Kenobi movie would be redundant and pretty cheap.

@revengine said:

@Russ007 said:

*The reason they've canonically got Maul back alive is probably for the potential Obi Wan spin off they're considering. Imagine a rematch between the two. People have been saying that there's nothing for Obi Wan to do in his own film, but now there certainly is. Make Maul the lead villain who returns to Tatooine because he knows of Luke's/Obi's location and wants to regain the Emperor's respect. *

As BlackMarketBeagle has already stated, this very situation has already been dealt with (and quite satisfactorily IMO) in the TV series Rebels. Reusing it in a Kenobi movie would be redundant and pretty cheap.

I did hear about that actually, but general movie-goers wouldn't care.

Wasn’t that just another Sith from the same species as Maul? Maul was long dead by this time. Considering he was killed when Anakin was a young child.

Maul still alive is just... moronic. Disney shitcanned so many other good stories but yet they kept this? Unbelievable.

They couldn't even conceive of, never mind sense that Obi Wan was on Tatooine along with Vader's son, or that Yoda was still around.

BTW. It is Maul. Not just another of his species. Otherwise, why does he have mechanical replacement legs?

@Tector_lives said:

They couldn't even conceive of, never mind sense that Obi Wan was on Tatooine along with Vader's son, or that Yoda was still around.

BTW. It is Maul. Not just another of his species. Otherwise, why does he have mechanical replacement legs?

This aspect is pretty much what turned me off to The Clone Wars cartoon. I was enjoying it here and there and then the Maul episodes with Mechanical legs was just too much for me. I get it, he was an underused cool character but gimme a break.

@Tector_lives said:

They couldn't even conceive of, never mind sense that Obi Wan was on Tatooine along with Vader's son, or that Yoda was still around.

BTW. It is Maul. Not just another of his species. Otherwise, why does he have mechanical replacement legs?

I see your point with Obi Wan and Yoda, however they were Jedi Masters and most likely had training in higher levels of the Force to where he could hide themselves, Maul on the other hand was Palpatine's apprentice, under the Rule of Two, he should have sensed another Sith Lord besides Vader, maybe he just didn't care as he was no threat, after all he was a Force novice and had no lower torso. I guess in one of the Cartoon series Palpatine confronts him after his return, not sure which one it was or what it was about.

@Drew007 said:

@Tector_lives said:

They couldn't even conceive of, never mind sense that Obi Wan was on Tatooine along with Vader's son, or that Yoda was still around.

BTW. It is Maul. Not just another of his species. Otherwise, why does he have mechanical replacement legs?

I see your point with Obi Wan and Yoda, however they were Jedi Masters and most likely had training in higher levels of the Force to where he could hide themselves, Maul on the other hand was Palpatine's apprentice, under the Rule of Two, he should have sensed another Sith Lord besides Vader, maybe he just didn't care as he was no threat, after all he was a Force novice and had no lower torso. I guess in one of the Cartoon series Palpatine confronts him after his return, not sure which one it was or what it was about.

That's one way to look at it.

But you'd better not tell anyone who HATES (GRRRRRRRRR!!!!!) how they desrtroyed Luke's character in the new trilogy by having him not continuing to be a pro-active hero, part of the resistance, a coward etc. Because, the reason they do not apply the same standards to Obi Wan and Yoda in the OT is because the Emperor and Vader would be able to track down and destroy the Rebel bases if Yoda and Obi Wan ever went near them and they therefore absolutely HAD to do nothing and go nowhere. Ever.

(I haven't watched any Clone Wars so I'm only vaguely aware that half of Maul is a returning character)