In "Brothers" (The Clone Wars 4.21), the snakelike creature Morley acts as a guide for Savage Opress, who is searching the desolate and hostile wasteland of the junk planet Lotho Minor for his brother, Darth Maul. Morley proves to be an untrustworthy guide: he brings Savage to Maul's lair, but ultimately tricks and betrays him. This sequence recalls a series of events in The Two Towers, the second part of J.R.R. Tolkien's novel The Lord of the Rings.
In The Two Towers, the hobbits Frodo Baggins and Samwise Gamgee are trying to find a secret way into the hostile wasteland of Mordor as part of their quest to destroy the One Ring. They catch the shifty creature Gollum, who covets the Ring for himself, and compel him to lead them into Mordor. However, the servile Gollum proves to be a deceitful guide: he tricks and betrays his "master," leading Frodo into the lair of the monstrous spider Shelob. Gollum has an understanding with Shelob and intends to retrieve his Ring by picking over Frodo and Sam's remains after she is finished with them.
Similarly, Savage grabs Morley and forces him to take him to Maul – free of charge, despite Morley's servile attempts to bargain. The deceitful Morley – who has an understanding with Maul, referring to him as "my master" – tricks Savage into Maul's lair, expecting to get "the leftovers" after Maul is finished with him. Like Shelob, Maul is a legendary monster who eats people and lives in a dark cave. More specifically, during his time on Lotho Minor, Maul has accumulated mechanical parts to become a horrific spider-like cyborg.
After betraying the hobbits, Gollum attempts to strangle Samwise, but the enraged Samwise gets the better of him and defeats him. Gollum manages to escape from his intended victim, but Morley is not so lucky; when it turns out that Morley's "master" is in fact Savage's long-lost brother, Savage strangles the treacherous Morley in a fit of rage.
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…