I wasn’t particularly thrilled with Darth Maul’s return at first, but now I’ll concede it was all but inevitable. The more so since him getting cut in half and surviving eerily parallels the character Maw from LucasArts’ 1997 Jedi Knight game.
Heck, half-machine TCW Maul would’ve made a more sensible minor antagonist for Episode III than General Grievous. I wonder if there’s some sort of Ur-Maul character in this vein mentioned in GL’s 1980s prequel notes, or if he just cribbed the idea from his game company?
(…and if so, is GL to blame for Darth Mycroft Darth Megagoth Darth Maul’s Even More Stupidly Named Older Brother?)