Hey Maulblr! I want to monologue at you about something I miss from the better old EU.
In the restraint short story (but also present, albeit less so in The Wrath of Darth Maul.) It's implied that something sexual/romantic* in nature between him, Kilindi and Daleen is promised as a reward for him surviving his Gora (rite of passage.) At Orisis.
I found this part of wrath/restraint to be sweet, amusing, surprisingly realistic, and earthy for a Star Wars piece. I know a lot of people get their underthings in a twist about young people fooling around with each other, but it's something a lot of us did. I was seventeen when wrath was published, and it felt like something I'd have wanted to be doing. It's something current texts miss in the Disney canon. The messy, groundedness of people bumping into each other. It doesn't need to be overt. It can be interpreted differently, but attraction and implicit sexuality (think Rincewind and his weird thing for potatoes) made Maul feel like more of a person. Sexuality being addressed and discussed is a good thing. Glossing over it to appear as family-friendly as possible is like removing a bandwidth of light from the colour spectrum because some people find red objectionable. I also made other works feel more organic, especially his interactions with Komari Vosa bitter-sweet and more amusing in their awkwardness.
I think Wrath and Restraint handled the budding sexuality and chemistry quite well while leaving much to interpretation. Addressing sexuality, or even lack of attraction (ace rights), as a fun aside, is a great way to flesh out a character.
Much of Star Wars, especially Villains and PARTUCULARLY post-buyout has become dry and lifeless in a rather sad and saleable way that doesn't offend anyone's sensibilities.
*(Let's be real, maul and romance in canon text go together like chalk and cheese-based bicycles.)
