In "Brothers" (The Clone Wars 4.21), Savage Opress finds his brother Darth Maul – thought dead since his defeat at the hands of Obi-Wan Kenobi in The Phantom Menace – on the junk planet Lotho Minor. Both parts of the name "Lotho Minor" reveal something about Maul's state.
"Lotho" evokes "Lotho Sackville-Baggins," a minor character in J.R.R. Tolkien's The Lord of the Rings. Lotho is the greedy cousin of the heroic hobbit Frodo Baggins. He covets the home and fortune of Frodo's Uncle Bilbo and takes them over when Frodo leaves on his quest. While Frodo is away, Lotho is manipulated by the evil wizard Saruman to take over the Shire and turn the hobbits' idyllic natural home into an ugly, industrialized wasteland covered by a cloud of smoke. Ultimately, Lotho is killed by Saruman's servant Gríma Wormtongue, and it is implied that Gríma eats him.
Lotho Minor is an industrialized wasteland with a sky full of smoke, much like the ruined Shire. Like Gríma, Maul was the servant of an "evil wizard," Palpatine – and he also eats people. Just as, in the Shire, Saruman betrays Lotho and Gríma betrays Saruman, Lotho Minor is home to a triangle of betrayals: Maul was betrayed by Palpatine, his master, and Morley (a servile worm with an active tongue) betrays Savage.
The second part of the name, "Minor," is indicative of Maul's status. To be "minor" is to be "lesser" – to be unimportant, little known. Maul is on Lotho Minor because he has fallen from greatness. In "Revenge" (The Clone Wars 4.22), he laments to Savage: "I was lost and became a rabid animal, and such is how you found me, brother: discarded, forgotten... I was apprentice to the most powerful being in the galaxy once. I was destined to become so much more." Lotho Minor is a fitting place for Maul because he has become diminished and insignificant, just like the rest of the garbage.
EXPLORE FURTHER…
Characters: Darth Maul / Morley / Savage Opress
Shows: The Clone Wars
GO DEEPER INTO THE ARCHIVES…
READ MORE ABOUT…
Follow The Jedi Archives on…