Qui-Gon vs Darth Maul on Tatooine | A Source Analysis

INTRODUCTION

This is a small analysis of the Tatooine duel to get a feel for what formatting I want to pursue for a Qui-Gon blog further down the track. It'll also be useful to get some feedback on the arguments and the readability of the format.

Glossary

These are terms that are shorthanded in citations or in general text to improve overall readability.

Script - The Phantom Menace script, sourced from https://www.imsdb.com/scripts/Star-Wars-The-Phantom-Menace.html

Novel - The Phantom Menace novelisation.

WoDM - The Wrath of Darth Maul novel.

EG - End Game novel.

FF - Fact Files

DMJ - Episode I Journal: Darth Maul

MAIN ANALYSIS

Qui-Gon turned and saw Maul approaching him on his speeder, and proceeded to order Anakin to drop. This sequence of events is only contradicted by EG in slight detail, and so can be safely dismissed on those grounds. Qui-Gon is stated as only "barely" deflecting Maul's flying attack in the Script, Novel, and FF, whereas in EG and DMJ, both from Maul's perspective, Qui-Gon's "shrewd readiness had almost taken Maul off his guard." (EG). These opposing descriptions are not mutually exclusive, however, as has been suggested in the past. Maul's viewpoint can coincide with the objective description of Jinn's response. Qui-Gon barely blocks the attack, which is absolute fact, since this comes from the script itself. The definition of "barely" from the online Oxford dictionary is "Only just; almost not." Thus, Qui-Gon "only just" blocked Maul's overhead attack. From Maul's POV, Jinn's "readiness" is emphasised, "The Jedi meets my first blow, blocking it. He has expected my flying maneuver." (DMJ) and "Qui-Gon’s shrewd readiness had almost taken Maul off his guard." (EG). Thus the apparent dilemma is two opposing descriptions, however these do not contradict. The definition of "shrewd" from the online Oxford dictionary is "Having or showing sharp powers of judgement; astute." In a similar vein, the definition of "expected" from the online Oxford dictionary is "Regard (something) as likely to happen." Thus, Maul isn't saying that Qui-Gon necessarily easily deflected the blow, rather he showed astute judgement (shrewd) and predicted Maul's attack as likely to happen (expected) and responded accordingly. Of course, the Jedi Master only just blocked the attack, but this isn't necessarily bad for Jinn. His surprise of being attacked by a figure with a lightsaber is made evident in the source material, "Qui-Gon, surprised by the other's quickness and ferocity, barely blocked the blow with his own weapon" (Novel), and "But the first ferocious clash of their blades had told him that the Jedi was equally surprised ... Regardless, Qui-Gon had quieted his mind and brought his imposing might to bear against Maul’s agility." (EG), and "And I feel his surprise at this. Yet he does not let his puzzlement slow him down." (DMJ) Qui-Gon was surprised at the attack, and thus wasn't ready for such an attack to happen. Furthermore, the immediate aftermath of the attack shows Jinn predicting Maul's moves before Maul knows them, thus reinforcing the idea that once Qui-Gon knew what situation he was in, he was perfectly capable of predicting Maul's attacks in ample time (as will be demonstrated shortly).

After the first blow, Qui-Gon is put on the defensive. This is seen in the movie, and described in the novelisation. However, off-screen, Jinn counterattacks, "The combatants surged back and forth across the flats" (Novel), indicating that Qui-Gon was putting Maul on the defensive regularly. Jinn was predicting Maul's moves before Maul even knew them, "Maul lashed out at the Jedi again and again, but the Jedi blocked each blow. Maul was suddenly aware that the Jedi seemed to anticipate each lunge and jab, as if he knew how Maul would move before Maul himself knew." (WoDM) and "This Jedi seems to know how I will move before I do." (DMJ). This is an impressive feat, as it goes beyond simple augmentation and being able to react to each move, he's predicting the moves. It's no question that Qui-Gon is slower than Maul, or even Obi-Wan, but his experience is an edge (Novel), "His edge now, to the extent that he had one, came from his long experience and intuitive grasp of how an adversary might employ a lightsaber against him.") that allows him, along with augmentation, to know Maul's randomised Juyo movements before Maul knows them, despite being slower and significantly less powerful in the Force.

In fact, the two combatants were fighting equally for most of the duel. The most powerful evidence for this is that the duel only tipped in Maul's favor just as Qui-Gon escaped, "Then, just when Qui-Gon’s stamina was beginning to flag and the fight was tipping in Maul’s favor, the incomprehensible had occurred: Qui-Gon had fled." (EG) No other statements in the source material contradict that Maul only gained the advantage shortly before Qui-Gon jumped onto the ship. Qui-Gon was matching Maul, "He had matched Maul’s furious strokes with a disciplined intensity all his own." (EG) And "He meets my ferocity with his own." (DMJ) As well as putting Maul on the defensive regularly "The combatants surged back and forth across the flats" (Novel) Per the movie, the duel goes for 38 seconds, most of it happening off screen. Being generous, Qui-Gon was fighting evenly for about half a minute before the duel started tipping in Maul's favor, or when Jinn started to burn out.

I will leave Maul attempting to board the ship out for the time being, but it's important to note that by the end of the duel, Maul was bleeding, "I feel something trickle into my mouth: blood." (DMJ) And "Maul tasted sand in his mouth. And blood." (WoDM) This appears to indicate Qui-Gon landed at least one physical hit on Maul that incurred bleeding, which is significant and makes sense considering he fought equally with Maul for the majority of the duel.

STRENGTH FEAT

Jinn matches (or at least comes relatively close to) Maul's augmented strength across the length of the duel, "Our blows send shudders through my body. He meets my strength.” (DMJ) During the short period when Qui-Gon's stamina began to flag and just before he leaped onto the ship, Maul notes "Even through his fatigue, his blows still have power. He is a large man with impressive strength." (DMJ)

MAUL'S LEG INJURY

A common defense for Maul is noting the effects of his leg injury. There's no real grounds for the injury significantly affecting the events of the duel, especially since any drawbacks from the injury were at least partly made up for by Maul directly drawing from the pain to fuel the dark side and therefore amp himself, "It is because of my wound. It has slowed me down somewhat. It is almost imperceptible, but it is there [...] This realization sends more rage pumping into my body. I am angry at myself, but I use the anger to fuel the dark side." (DMJ), and "Maul felt the pain in his leg become more intense. He became angry at himself for being wounded, used the anger to fuel the dark side, and directed his rage at the Jedi." (WoDM) Furthermore, despite the wound, Maul notes his footwork being the best it had ever been, "I accelerate my pace, calling on my anger to increase my power. My footwork has never been so brilliant. I use the shifting sand as resistance." (DMJ) Overall, there doesn't appear to be compelling evidence that any overall decrease in combative ability was significant enough to seriously affect the sequence of events as they happened.

CONCLUSION

Darth Maul is stronger, quicker and younger than Qui-Gon, but the Jedi Master can bridge the gap via a combination of his own augmentation, skill and experience in lightsaber dueling. Due to his more advanced age, a lot of his augmentation has to be lavishly spent on preventing onset of fatigue, and as he's weaker in the Force than his adversary, he burns out relatively quickly. However, he fights evenly, "back and forth" with his opponent for half a minute, and taking into account the duel on Naboo (see my Qui-Gon blog to be released in the future for analysis) one could reasonably infer that Jinn could duel Maul for about a minute before being cut down. This is a direct feat that propels Qui-Gon to the top of the level 7 duelists. No other level 7 can match this feat. There are exceptions like AOTC Kenobi, where scaling from the Naboo duel and Qui-Gon is a potentially arguable issue (though in my view, AOTC Kenobi is inferior to Jinn).[/i]