woke up with mauldin on the brain. because. listen. maul has essentially never experienced true, unconditional loyalty to or from anyone before, except maybe savage and feral, but with savage he imposed conditions because that’s what he was used to. but then he starts traveling with din — din, the guy who followed boba into an unwinnable battle against insurmountable odds who, when offered the chance to save himself, refused and said “if i die, it’s with you.” because he’d promised to fight and he refused to go back on his word. now imagine maul experiencing that. first of all, he thinks din is a fucking idiot, because maul would definitely skedaddle without a second thought. “loyalty is overrated.” but over time, he begins seeing its value; sees that loyalty feels different than forced submission, feels good, that he does not need to manipulate grogu and din into staying around if gives them reasons worth staying. that the only way to get this thing he’s subconsciously craved his entire life is to give it, first, and… that’s hard for maul. he is not the giving type. but he has to learn to be. to give back. to rise out of the muck closer and closer to din’s level. he will never be a knight in shining armor rushing off to do good deeds out of the kindness of his heart, but he can be a ghost. his loyalty, so rarely sought after and more rarely given, is a haunting: he will be there lurking in dark corners whether you want him or not, your furious poltergeist, ready to destroy anyone and anything unwise enough to enter his home and touch his things, of which din and grogu are now counted.
