Originally posted by DarthDuelist9
You are basing yourself on Qui-Gon's comment, someone who has barely any knowledge on Maul? Your point is actually contradicted by Shadow Conspiracy which litteraly claims that Maul's become more powerful over the course of TCW. I do like how you perphrase it though, enjoyable to read.
Why shouldn't we take Qui Gon's statement into literal regard? Through the Force, he rightfully served as a device who first discovered the chosen one. He was deeply attuned to the Living Force which enabled him to correctly guess sequences Maul would use in battle - Darth Maul Journals, and he managed to summarise Maul's life very well in a few moments of their fight. Likewise, Sidious also commented that the cadence of Maul's tutelage came before his final send off on Naboo.
Again, Shadow Conspiracy supports the evidence that he's become more powerful by everything he did in TCW, without a master.
Shadow Conspiracy is written in the perspective of characters mentioned in the book, in this case, it would be Darth Maul. It should not be treated as an omniscient source indiscriminative to the limitations of it's writing, more to the point that each passage is characterized from the person commenting. In this case, Maul having grandeur self perceptions of how languishing on Lothor Minor affected his abilties, doesn't have to be taken with literal regard. We know that Maul also thought he would be the eventual successor to Palpatine, which was very far away from Palaptine's true intentions.
Obi-Wan's growth between S5 and RotS would come from him fighting in the war but Maul himself also fought in this war to the very end (The Siege of Mandalore is at the same time as RotS)
As I said before, Obi Wan would experience much higher rates of growth than Maul under these circumstances. The Clone Wars doesn't offer alternative action to the types of adventures Maul faced in his teens. He's already fought through hordes of thugs, anomalies such as the Vong, as well as Jedi and their apprentices - Anoon Bondara and Darhsa Assant. He doesn't have much to gain, if at all. The difference between their lifestyles could be compared to an Israelis combat trainee faced with an aristocrat swilling wine from five star hotel rooms. Kenobi had to adapt to the circumstances, and the finished product is someone who can drive Maul's cowardice packing with his dismembered brother in arm. It simply means that Kenobi is the more resourceful fighter and isn't as incompetent as someone who gets parred by multiple Padawans... is that so hard to believe?
Sure, Anakin is better as Maul but the former was also in a hindered state when fighting (and statlemating) Obi-Wan.
Then you have to prove to me that Maul can fight on par with a hindered Anakin, and eventually beat him. So far his track record of battles hasn't allowed him to defeat anyone near that level.
- When was he amplified by rage? Not to mention that he's a Sith (and Dark Side user) who obviously draws power from his darker emotions like rage. There is nothing circumstantial about him choking out Obi-Wan in the comic.
- He actually choked him but I don't use that as a base of my argumentation.
- He wasn't distracted by Savage, he just kicked him and turned to face Maul. Maul then gripped him and threw him against the wall, doesn't mean that he couldn't keep it up for much longer.
1) There are times when that rage takes precedent and Sith find themselves performing extraordinarily outside of their capacities. Yes, I'm suggesting that this was one of those times where Maul was extra specially angry at the person he blames for turning his life upside down. If he could just Force choke Kenobi on any occasion, the the former should have been killed on Florumm, it wouldn't have taken more than a minute to crush his capillaries.
2) As I said before, on that occasion, Obi Wan couldn't even muster then energy to stand up correctly, much less project a reliable Force defence
3) It absolutely does. Why drag out the battle when you can maintain a prolonged grip over your adversary? Giving you enough time to simply draw him to your blade or let your murderous brother slay him in the moment. He has nothing to gain by releasing that grip, other than it relieving him from strain, which suggests he could not maintain it. This is simply a case of Kenobi being caught off guard and his opponent not powerful enough to keep him there.
I don't make this up, the novel lists it as arguments why Obi-Wan is holding his own against the brothers. IIRC it even says that Obi-Wan would be outmached on open field.
The Novel as characterised from the perspective of Maul gives rationalisations to why they couldn't win. Their inability to adapt to Kenobi fighting aggressively is just that, and the environment restricts the vantage and positioning of everyone involved. One can just day that Obi Wan prevailed under negative circumstances, using a form he doesn't favor.
Because Savage was obviously in pain? He collapses to the ground and later on in the ship almost faints.
Your point? The pain and shock clearly wasn't enough to send him under. In fact, it didn't seem to affect him at all when they where running away from Hondo's reclaimed group of misfits. That doesn't excuse Maul's decision to personally retreat, meaning that there must be another - he doesn't want to be cut in half again perhaps?