Arguably the biggest surprise comes in Season 1, Episodes 7 and 8, during a confrontation between Maul and a pair of Inquisitors. Their ensuing lightsaber duel is not just visually stunning, but it also shows us something we've never seen before: Maul in fear and pain. When interviewed prior to the show's premiere, Witwer told /Film that he was interested in seeing Maul's fighting skills "with the understanding that this guy is actually wounded."
"He can't generate the kind of striking power that he used to," Witwer explained. "So, he has to rely on finesse, he has to rely on the Force, he has to rely on a lot of different things."
We've seen Maul suffer physical pain before -- namely, when he got chopped in half in "Star Wars: Episode I -- The Phantom Menace." Here, however, "Maul -- Shadow Lord" focuses on the lingering toll that this injury has taken on him and how it hinders his abilities. Indeed, throughout the show's first season, Maul complains about his robotic legs, limps, and even has his henchmen fix his limbs. As supervising director Brad Rau explained to /Film, the series' creatives approached this notion as a recurring theme in the story.
"What happens if his leg is injured? He doesn't get surgery, he gets mechanical repair. So, we wanted to slowly show some of those weird vulnerabilities head on in the show," Rau noted. This comes to a head during Maul's aforementioned battle with some Inquisitors, which he loses, big time. "His leg is extremely badly wounded, and the fear on his face, we wanted it to be genuine and real, like this is not going the way he wanted," Rau added.
It's an unprecedented moment of vulnerability for Maul. What's more, this franchise doesn't really do vulnerable villains in general (unless it's whiny Ben Solo, aka Kylo Ren), so getting to see this onetime Sith Lord be truly humiliated is quite refreshing and fascinating. There's even a mix of anger and fear in Sam Witwer's performance, with Maul realizing he may very well die here after having already lost everything.
https://www.slashfilm.com/2160422/star-wars-maul-shadow-lord-sith-position-never-seen-before-leg/
https://youtu.be/rFu9p9LLdxM?t=4237
Maul does not have the kinetic chain that he used to have in TPM because "it is all interrupted" and is "constantly compensating".