Maul being alive!!!

It would be interesting to see some sort of miniature Sith Civil War, and see firsthand why there are only two at a time.

I'm not convinced it is Maul. And we already know why there are only two at a time. Bane rules because a whole bunch of Sith didn't work out in his time.

The SW.com episode guide strongly suggests it's Maul. See the last note at the bottom: http://www.starwars.com/theclonewars/guide/episode314.html

I know why Bane made the rule, I'm saying we'll see Lucas' version of why it exists. Also it will be interesting to see two competing master-apprentice pairs, if that is what happens. Though I doubt Maul is much a match for either Tyranus or Sidious.

I am pretty sure it's supposed to be Maul, but I'm wondering if he's actually alive or if it's some sort of trick. I think it's interesting that we're getting Maul and Qui-Gon in TCW.

Before I say anything about the ending, I will say that I did greatly enjoy the episode, although I did find a few places where I went "Well... that's unbelievable" or just silly. Besides that I thought it was probably the strongest episode of TCW to-date; action, suspense, and even feeling for characters. Now, as far Maul: Yes, I believe it's Maul. I only hope they actually USE this instead of having this be the end. I find it slightly cheesy, but if they wrap a nice story around those two than I'm willing to overlook that and enjoy the story itself.

If it is Maul, then I don't like the feel of it at all. It's a bit like Alema Rar coming back. She had a great exit, and it was a great notch on Leia's belt, and my mind protested violently when she came back.
I guess they're pulling a Fett in bringing him back and, when I saw him in Jedi Outcast I didn't like it then, either. But seriously, Maul? I hope the episode gives a good reason for this, and that it's not done just so they can say 'we brought Maul back! You can start loving us again'.

I enjoyed the episode and have 2 complaints:
After all the plotting it barely felt like they threatened Dooku. I thought it was just too easy for him to deal with Ventress and Oppress. Darth Maul. Really?! I can imagine people will compare this to the return of Boba Fett after RotJ. Still Maul was cut in half and whether he ends up being a cyborg or whatever it feels - unnecessary. Please let it be a Darth Maul holocron he is going to find, Please?

-The rain at the beginning set a good tone, but it looked really fake.
-I almost laughed when Obi-Wan said, "I was under the impression that Darth Maul was from Irdonia." *snort* Yeah, me too! I'm glad they cleared that up. This episode was surprisingly innocuous to the Expanded Universe.
-All three Sith characters were handled really well in this episode.
-I didn't understand why Talzin told Ventress that she couldn't stay in hiding. Why the heck not?! Clearly she wasn't ready to take on Dooku. Waiting is what Sith do. They skulk in the shadows, planning and growing stronger and when the time is right, they strike. What';s the bloody rush?
-Toydaria has been neat in this show and I was sad to see Katuunko go.
-The droid humour was better in this episode. "You're not supposed to be here." It actually makes sense that a Battle Droid would say that, but it was still funny.
-The duel(s) were epic. Really, all the battle scenes in this arc are a nice step up.
-Darth. Maul.... As soon as he showed up, I was like, "what the heck?!", paused it, Googled a picture of Darth Maul and compared them. It is definatley Darth Maul. I don't have any opinion on this right now, we'll see what happens. Although I'm pretty sure he'll look very similar to Darth Maul in Visions.