Morley
In "Brothers" (The Clone Wars 4.21), the snakelike creature Morley helps Savage Opress search for his brother, Darth Maul. The name "Morley" could be meant to evoke the name "Marley" from Charles Dickens' A Christmas Carol.
In A Christmas Carol, Jacob Marley is Ebenezer Scrooge's deceased business partner. In life, Marley was as greedy and selfish as Scrooge. The story opens when he returns as a ghost to warn Scrooge of the torments he will endure in the afterlife if he does not repent of his greed. Morley, like Marley, is defined by selfish greed. When he first appears, he immediately attaches himself to Savage like a parasite, telling him: "I can get you what you want. For the right amount, of course." Later, Morley betrays Savage to be consumed by his master, expecting to fill his own belly with the leftovers.
Savage's descent into the underworld to find his long-lost brother is like a journey into the land of the dead. He finds Maul hiding in torment on the junk planet Lotho Minor: a distinctly hellish locale, where Morley wanders a fiery wasteland beneath yellow skies that rain acid. As a planet covered in trash – a wasteful excess of material goods – it is a fitting place of punishment for greedy souls. Moreover, the foundries of Lotho Minor, perpetually belching out pillars of billowing black smoke, visually recall the smokestacks of the Victorian Era London that Marley is cursed to wander as a ghost in A Christmas Carol. Just as Marley returns from the dead to offer Scrooge a chance at redemption, so Savage Opress – with the aid of Morley – comes to bring Maul out of the hell of Lotho Minor. When he does so, Yoda senses it and says: "From the dead an old enemy has awakened."
The character of Jacob Marley is perhaps best remembered for the heavy chains that he is cursed to carry as punishment for his all-consuming greed. In "Brothers," Maul makes reference to "chains" in the course of his insane ravings: "The chains... the chains are the easy part. It's what goes on in here [in his head] that's hard." Although Savage rescues Maul from his physical torment on Lotho Minor, he does not help him find redemption. His mind remains warped, consumed by the greed of the dark side.
EXPLORE FURTHER…
Characters: Darth Maul / Morley / Savage Opress
Shows: The Clone Wars
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Concepts: greed / junk / names / underworld
Influences: Dickens
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