I’m of two minds on the Maul thing. I think bringing him back was a dumb idea and I’d never have done it if I was a showrunner, but once they’d done it they did go on to do some genuinely interesting things with him.
Wasn’t it Geroge’s idea?
Most of that show came from George’s ideas.
But that’s the key: they’re just his ideas. Not his writing or direction.
And? It was asked if it was his idea and the answer is “yes, most of that show came from George’s ideas”. Let’s not bash someone for the sake of bashing. And I don’t even think he’s a bad director.
Really?
Working with actors is one of the most (if not the most) important jobs for a director, and he can’t do it. He hates doing it and it shows on screen. He can’t make bad actors better, he makes marginal actors bad, and he makes great actors average.
I don’t think he makes actors’ performances worse. He just allows the actors to have their own interpretations. Naturally that works sometimes and doesn’t work lots of times.
I don’t know why you think Jake’s and Natalie’s performances in TPM, just to pick two, are their faults due to their interpretations, rather than his failings as a director. He doesn’t like actors. He likes computers. And he’s spent most of his career trying to work less with the actors and more with the computers.
Lloyd was 8 or 7 and Portman was like 16. If you leave them acting by themselves with little to no guidance with an awful script you’ll most certainly get bad acting in response. Lucas’ script didn’t suit Lucas’ style as director.
In short, yes, it’s his fault that they acted poorly, but that’s always been his style, his way of directing. It definitely doesn’t suit child actors. Fisher was pretty far from good in ANH, to be honest, to show that it’s always been like this.