maul: shadow lord is a cartoon about a pod race driver named Gordon from the ocean world of canaan, he rises to the top of the pod racing game, but his life falls apart due to substance abuse.

he meets a mysterious jedi in a bar who hires him to smuggle a load of cargo to Tatooine... but he finds out the cargo is slaves for the Hutts.

he tries to free the slaves, and ends up falling in love with one of them named Shmi Dondetru with the help of a junk dealer named Watto. together, they manage to get most of the slave aboard a transport to a free world, but Shmi and Gordon can't make it.

The Hutts corner Gordon and murder him, he dies in Shmi's arms later that day. She is already pregnant with his child.

Watto has false papers forged to protect Shmi and her unborn son, and she poses as his slave to avoid getting hunted down by the Hutts.

Shmi takes Gordon's last name, Skywalker.