Solo release thread (spoilers)

[Rhadamantus]

I just watched it, and it is honestly my favorite of the Disney Era. Way grittier than I was expecting, but still very good.

[Ziggy Stardust]

I'm honestly surprised to see how much praise people here are giving it. I thought this movie was an unqualified disaster pretty much from start to finish, with visible seams left behind by all the infamous production chaos that occurred during the making of the film. While I do agree with everyone that all of the Legends callbacks/Easter Eggs were generally well executed and satisfying, my general feelings were:

1) The characterization was all over the place, with little regard for creating a coherent arc for anyone. This bled over into the plot at numerous times. The most egregious of which was the bizarre reveal before the climax that the marauders were really the fledgling Rebellion, a plot point which makes little sense given the previous observed and implied behavior of those characters (why were they deciding to reveal their true nature now, as opposed to the last time they interacted with the characters in the movie, or for that matter at any time during any of the implied numerous occasions that Woody Harrelson's character interacted with them, etc.). Lando in particular felt more like cosplay than a real attempt at depicting and developing an interesting character; they gave Donald Glover nothing to do other than stand around and look dashing. Paul Bettany was as uninteresting to watch as his character was pointless. And so on for pretty much every major character.
2) The tone was uneven. At times the movie tried to be more dark and brooding, at other times tried to be light and self-referential, sometimes within the same scene. It felt like two different movies mashed together, trying to be "Guardians of the Galaxy". There were times where the clash of tones and styles worked, but most often it did not. Especially in the first act, the movie tried to smash so many different story-telling cliches together that it was difficult to tell whether it was hack writing or intentionally campy. You could see the seams in production at times; there were about a dozen times during the movie that they used a character voice-over as a lazy transition between scenes taking place days (and/or light-years) apart.
3) The action set pieces were pretty underwhelming. Any dramatic tension was undercut by a combination of bad decisions (and/or bad acting, on the part of Alden and Emilia). The final fight scene between Han and Paul Bettany especially was clumsily choreographed. As was the prison break.
4) By god, some of that dialogue was horrible. And yes, I realize dialogue from the OT could also be stilted and awkward at times, I don't pretend that those were perfect movies by any means. But the dialogue in this movie stands out as being poorly written, exaggerated by the fact that the acting was generally too terrible to cover up the bad lines. Half of the dialogue in the first act of the movie was ripped from a book of screenwriting cliches. Another good example is, again, in the final confrontation, when Han reveals he double-bluffed the villains. Alden's delivery of Han revealing the plot to the villains was so awkward and flat that it sapped the emotional energy out of the scene.
5) Alden just lacked any sort of charisma or charm, which made it in general really hard to care what he had to say. I'm not asking that he be Harrison Ford, that's a silly expectation to have; but pretty much the entire point of the character (and how they clearly intended him to come off in this movie) is that he is a dashing rogue. It's an archetype that can be played in numerous ways, not just by Harrison Ford, but Alden just doesn't have any of the charisma or physicality you need to really sell that archetype.

Obviously, that's just my opinion, and everyone is free to have their own, and I expect some people to disagree with me. If you enjoyed it, more power to you. I'm usually not interested in debating whether or not a movie is "good" or "bad", considering how subjective that can be. I'm mostly just surprised to hear such unadulterated praise here, considering how terrible I thought the movie was (as did the other people I went to see it with, covering a range of different levels of Star Wars fandom, from die-hard to casual).

[Imperial528]

I agree, despite having enjoyed watching it.

I think a lot of these problems come from the very evident brain bug that Solo needed to set up everything we know about Han's background in the OT. Throw in all of the other ways they tied in things that really don't need to be there and the film throws away its focus.

I think if they had gone for just the story of how Han became a smuggler, or how Han met Chewie, or how Han got the Falcon, there could've been a great story. Just focusing primarily on one and throwing in hints of the others would work too. Instead they went for the total setup and you really can't make a good story about all of these things in a two hour run time. Or to put it metaphorically, they tried to have a single bandmember play for the entire orchestra, instead of allowing a solo performance. Even if the end result is entertaining, it will never be great.

Relating to that, my biggest gripe about the movie is that it also seems to try to tell the story of how Han became the dashing rogue he is, which means the story noticeably gets in the way of giving Ehrenreich the chance to portray the Han we know, sometimes even playing it for laughs.

Part of the reason I enjoyed it despite all this is that I took it less as an actual history of Han and more as a tribute story. EU on the big screen, so to speak.

[Elfdart]

I just saw it earlier today and while it was nothing special, it was much better than 7 or 8. A few thoughts:

• Chewie stole the show.

• Disney Star Wars can't come up with a decent villain. Four movies and the best bad guy has been Krennic, who had potential but was pushed aside for the ghost of Tarkin and Chest Cold Vader.

• Emilia Clarke wears the exact same haircut (complete with bangs) in the opening scene that my girlfriend wears. One of the kids in the theater thought she was doing cosplay.

• Just as David Coverdale is a much better singer when he's NOT trying to sound like Robert Plant, Alder Ehrenreich is much better when he's not trying to imitate Harrison Ford.

• I know they're going to a mid-1970s look, but the mustard yellow furnishings inside the Falcon looked awful.

Overall, I think of Solo the same way I think about Force 10 From Navarone: both are watchable adventure movies that suffer when they're compared to the classics that spawned them. Just as there was nothing wrong with Robert Shaw and Edward Fox playing the two leads in the spin-off, there's nothing wrong with Ehrenreich, Glover, Clarke and the others -except that some people simply won't accept anyone other than Gregory Peck and David Niven, or Harrison Ford and Billy Dee Williams in those roles. If this were a Star Wars movie that didn't have Han, Chewie, Lando in it, I think people would be more forgiving.

My big worry is that I was Star Warsed out before this movie. They used to be three years apart but now it's two in six months with eight more planned. Star Wars is being treated by Disney like the newest, prettiest girl in the brothel: They're going to hump her death trying to wring every last bit of cash out of her.

[Avrjoe]

I liked it. I don't agree that the acting was bad. I do agree that it was released too close to The Last Jedi. I do think they could have held a few things for another film. The rematch with lando for example.

[Patroklos]

I agree, despite having enjoyed watching it.

I think a lot of these problems come from the very evident brain bug that Solo needed to set up everything we know about Han's background in the OT. Throw in all of the other ways they tied in things that really don't need to be there and the film throws away its focus.

I think if they had gone for just the story of how Han became a smuggler, or how Han met Chewie, or how Han got the Falcon, there could've been a great story. Just focusing primarily on one and throwing in hints of the others would work too. Instead they went for the total setup and you really can't make a good story about all of these things in a two hour run time. Or to put it metaphorically, they tried to have a single bandmember play for the entire orchestra, instead of allowing a solo performance. Even if the end result is entertaining, it will never be great.

Relating to that, my biggest gripe about the movie is that it also seems to try to tell the story of how Han became the dashing rogue he is, which means the story noticeably gets in the way of giving Ehrenreich the chance to portray the Han we know, sometimes even playing it for laughs.

Part of the reason I enjoyed it despite all this is that I took it less as an actual history of Han and more as a tribute story. EU on the big screen, so to speak.

This was my primary criticism of nuTrek's first entry. They bent over backwards not only to get Kirk in the captains chair, but also to get all the other characters in the the exact same positions and relationships they are apparently going to occupy forever. The effect is not just shallow characters, but pigeonholed characters for the rest of the new entries. Did we really have to have Sulu and Checkov and Uhura and Scotty and McCoy all be on the bridge of the first movie? Can't their introductions be interesting anticipated plot points of follow on movies? Do we even need to see how they get to the bridge specifically? Couldn't the second film just have Kirk giving Chekov an order and he just be there now, and the movie includes that character becoming important because of what they do vice how they got there (they sort of did that with Chekov anyway, but the ruined it with the super genius wank)? The worst part about the movies is we know there is no unknown history, past adventures that can be hinted and teased for plot purposes, because most of the characters just met and even those who have some history like Kirk/McCoy and Uhura/Spock couldn't have know each other for more than a few years tops. Think of Picard and his hinted at a career over multiple ships, with a long relationship with Crusher. Or Riker and Troi. Both of them had hole careers we really know only a little bit about.

This is of course a problem with most origin movies, especially retroactive origin movies. They seem to feel the need to leave zero space between the the original entry and the follow up (or follow before?), which in my opinion leaves zero room for imaginations to fill in between the lines. The prequels had this problem too with all that RotS ending montage shoehorning completely unneeded "wrapping up" scenes about the Death Star and what not. There was zero need to bring up the DS at all, in RotS or in AOTCs.

In a certain respect I like origin movies that leave more questions than they answer as long as the new questions are interesting. This is also helpful in easing continuity problems, because once you explain everything precisely it has to match the earlier iterations exactly or its jarring. And when they do avoid this they usually do so through a far to blatantly convenient contrivance (or being completely ignorant of the context of the original details, like the "Bones" name for McCoy).

[Vympel]

My big worry is that I was Star Warsed out before this movie. They used to be three years apart but now it's two in six months with eight more planned. Star Wars is being treated by Disney like the newest, prettiest girl in the brothel: They're going to hump her death trying to wring every last bit of cash out of her.

That Solo came out a mere 5 months after Last Jedi is a factor that has been commonly cited in analysis for its poor box office performance (together with the Memorial Day weekend not being great for huge openings since 2007, ok-but-not-great reviews, not particularly appealing concept and heavy competition / people being generally 'movied out' from Infinity War and Deadpool 2) - it's highly unlikely they're going to ever repeat 'two in six months', or a summer release again. For now, nothing else is coming out until Episode IX in December 2019.

[houser2112]

I had low expectations, but I really liked the movie. A few thoughts:

- I really liked that the "Han shot first" scene at the end was a "show, don't tell" thing in this movie. I was expecting a "I've always been a shoot first kind of guy" cheesy line.
- I don't know much about Maul outside of TPM, but the thought that he somehow survived bisection to become a crime lord is exceedingly lame.
- I'm torn on Lando. For the most part, I liked Glover's performance, but I didn't care for how Lando was written. "Loving" the MF I can totally understand (I mean, how can you not?). Being in love with a droid seems out of character. Lando is a ladies' man, not a droid-ladies' man. I also didn't like that Lando cheats at cards, I would have preferred him to be just lucky.
- Does this movie really take place in 11 BBY? 11 years seems like a long time to be working for one guy in the chaotic underworld of SW without something going wrong.

I agree with the "prettiest whore" analogy someone made up thread. Disney is releasing movies too fast. I'm glad that they are able to make nearly-perfect one-off movies like Rogue One and Solo, because they're screwing the pooch with the Skywalker Saga sequels.

[Elheru Aran]

11 BBY also seemed a little too long ago (in-universe) for Han to be getting involved with Jabba. It's been a loooong time since I watched ANH, but it always felt like Han's misadventure with Jabba was a fairly recent thing, perhaps a year or so ago.

Definitely a fun movie though. Loved the little references, particularly the Lando Calrissian Adventures bits like the Sharu, Oseon, and so forth. Lando doing a video-diary in character seemed to fit well. Didn't have much issue with Donald Glover's portrayal, he seemed to be having fun. Really everybody seemed to be enjoying themselves in this movie even if they weren't keeping character very well, which was mostly Ehrenreich and Clarke; the others were better.

Overall a 3.5/4 out of 5 film. Certainly better than TLJ.

[Vympel]

11 BBY also seemed a little too long ago (in-universe) for Han to be getting involved with Jabba. It's been a loooong time since I watched ANH, but it always felt like Han's misadventure with Jabba was a fairly recent thing, perhaps a year or so ago.

In ANH, Jabba calls Han his favorite smuggler -i.e. Han's been working for Jabba for years, he didn't just get the one job and then immediately fuck it up.

[Captain Seafort]

- I don't know much about Maul outside of TPM, but the thought that he somehow survived bisection to become a crime lord is exceedingly lame.

We don't know enough about what Maul's up to to draw the conclusion that he's "become a crime lord" based on the fact that he's giving Crimson Dawn orders, any more than Vader was a crime lord in ESB because he was giving Fett orders, or Sidious was a businessman in TPM because he was giving the Trade Fed orders.

11 BBY also seemed a little too long ago (in-universe) for Han to be getting involved with Jabba. It's been a loooong time since I watched ANH, but it always felt like Han's misadventure with Jabba was a fairly recent thing, perhaps a year or so ago.

The impression I got from ANH was that the aggro with the dumped shipment was recent (more recent than a year), but that Han had been working for Jabba for a long time.

[KraytKing]

11 BBY also seemed a little too long ago (in-universe) for Han to be getting involved with Jabba. It's been a loooong time since I watched ANH, but it always felt like Han's misadventure with Jabba was a fairly recent thing, perhaps a year or so ago.

It was a year or so ago that Han dumped a shipment, not became involved. In some of the WEG stuff, and maybe in a couple lines of the OT, Jabba is revealed to have known Han for a long time, and the two have done business for a while. Han dumping a shipment was the end to a long, profitable relationship. Also, he was probably too independent for someone like Jabba, so he made a mountain out of a mole hill to justify using Han as an example.

Edit -- two others beat me to it. Not trying to dogpile.


I generally liked the movie. It was ridiculous how many ideas we'd had in our WEG Star Wars campaign that were repeated here.

I was very glad that Han didn't try to take on the Star Destroyer, or that no more TIE fighters were dispatched after the initial few. It was a movie about a scuffle between crime lords, not Han Solo being a total rebel ten years before his change of heart over the Death Star.

I wish Han had made up the name "Solo" rather than the customs officer; why would he keep a nickname from a low-level Imperial bureaucrat?

I wish the swoop gang hadn't turned out to be the foundation of the Rebellion. I choose to interpret it as "we're fighting back on a world, not trying to topple the galactic government." Perhaps this was just one cell, and probably destroyed before Yavin, rather than something huge.

Lando cheating at sabacc made sense. I think it was mentioned in some Legends material a while ago. Regardless, it seems to me that that's the only way you win at sabacc, at least outside of the fancy casinos: you cheat better than the other guy. These Rimmer games, it isn't about your poker face, your hand, your bluff: it's about light fingers and sharp eyes.

[Elheru Aran]

11 BBY also seemed a little too long ago (in-universe) for Han to be getting involved with Jabba. It's been a loooong time since I watched ANH, but it always felt like Han's misadventure with Jabba was a fairly recent thing, perhaps a year or so ago.

In ANH, Jabba calls Han his favorite smuggler -i.e. Han's been working for Jabba for years, he didn't just get the one job and then immediately fuck it up.

a.) Jabba isn't necessarily being literal here, the whole exchange always came off as two gangsters bouncing off each other-- Solo trying to buy time with a bit of bravado, Jabba knows this and is playing along while trying to hint that Bad Things will happen if he doesn't come up with the goods.

b.) not quite what I'm saying. I guess my read was that the 'big job' or whatever that they were talking about at the end of the Solo movie is what results in him owing money to Jabba. It can obviously be interpreted vaguely as 'Han and Chewie start a relationship with Jabba'. And that obviously works a little better.

I wish the swoop gang hadn't turned out to be the foundation of the Rebellion. I choose to interpret it as "we're fighting back on a world, not trying to topple the galactic government." Perhaps this was just one cell, and probably destroyed before Yavin, rather than something huge.

The way I saw that was 'this is part of how the Rebel Alliance starts' rather than 'this is the actual start of the whole Rebellion'. It's an *Alliance* after all, a consolidation of disparate bands coming together to project an unified force. Similar to Saw Gerrara's band in Clone Wars/R1. Deleted scenes aren't canon unfortunately (or are they?), or that bit from RotS where we saw young Mon Mothma meeting with Bail Organa and a few other early leaders of the Rebellion would contribute to that-- the early years of the Alliance were always IIRC a bunch of hodgepodge cells and disparate movements spread across the galaxy that finally only came together after the Death Star was destroyed.

[houser2112]

- I don't know much about Maul outside of TPM, but the thought that he somehow survived bisection to become a crime lord is exceedingly lame.

We don't know enough about what Maul's up to to draw the conclusion that he's "become a crime lord" based on the fact that he's giving Crimson Dawn orders, any more than Vader was a crime lord in ESB because he was giving Fett orders, or Sidious was a businessman in TPM because he was giving the Trade Fed orders.

Ok, whatever. It wasn't the "became a crime lord" that bothered me nearly as much as the "survived bisection", but thanks for the insight.

[Elheru Aran]

- I don't know much about Maul outside of TPM, but the thought that he somehow survived bisection to become a crime lord is exceedingly lame.

We don't know enough about what Maul's up to to draw the conclusion that he's "become a crime lord" based on the fact that he's giving Crimson Dawn orders, any more than Vader was a crime lord in ESB because he was giving Fett orders, or Sidious was a businessman in TPM because he was giving the Trade Fed orders.

Ok, whatever. It wasn't the "became a crime lord" that bothered me nearly as much as the "survived bisection", but thanks for the insight.

If you watch the Clone Wars series it goes into more detail about that. Though admittedly it never really says exactly how he survived, just that he did. It's actually a pretty decent plotline.

[Juubi Karakuchi]

We don't know enough about what Maul's up to to draw the conclusion that he's "become a crime lord" based on the fact that he's giving Crimson Dawn orders, any more than Vader was a crime lord in ESB because he was giving Fett orders, or Sidious was a businessman in TPM because he was giving the Trade Fed orders.

Ok, whatever. It wasn't the "became a crime lord" that bothered me nearly as much as the "survived bisection", but thanks for the insight.

If you watch the Clone Wars series it goes into more detail about that. Though admittedly it never really says exactly how he survived, just that he did. It's actually a pretty decent plotline.

I looked this up out of (morbid) curiosity, and it is technically possible to survive being cut in half at the waist (or thereabouts). The only named example I have is Truman Duncan (https://metro.co.uk/2008/09/23/miraculo ... in-524642/).

The most immediate problem would be massive bleeding and shock (which should kill a normal person within minutes), followed by how to keep his urinary and digestive systems working (depending on precisely what got removed). Truman Duncan needed repeated surgery over four months, but survived despite losing both legs, his pelvis, and one kidney. Between lightsaber-cauterization, sheer willpower, and the Force therefore, that Maul survived is quite believable in-universe.

The big question being, what happened to him in the meantime? My preferred explanation is that someone found and augmented him for some reason; possibly as a gladiator or an amusement. Otherwise I got nothing.

[Captain Seafort]

The big question being, what happened to him in the meantime? My preferred explanation is that someone found and augmented him for some reason; possibly as a gladiator or an amusement. Otherwise I got nothing.

Or he managed to reach his ship, and it's got sufficiently capable medical facilities on board to patch him back together.

[Juubi Karakuchi]

The big question being, what happened to him in the meantime? My preferred explanation is that someone found and augmented him for some reason; possibly as a gladiator or an amusement. Otherwise I got nothing.

Or he managed to reach his ship, and it's got sufficiently capable medical facilities on board to patch him back together.

That's quite plausible; probably more plausible than him surviving without assistance for an extended period. Unfortunately, the part about him escaping via the trash disposal system was apparently listed in 'Star Wars: Absolutely Everything You Need to Know'; and the Databank adds that Maul augmented himself while on Lotho Minor; where Savage Oppress found him ten years later.

As for the Scimitar, Wookiepedia claims that Sidious took possession of it on Naboo during the events of TPM. That said, it offers no citation except TPM, and the next time we see Sidious using it is during the events of 'Darth Maul - Son of Dathomir' during the Clone Wars many years later.

Going on that, it's not inconcievable that Maul got dumped out with the trash, but managed to summon the Scimitar and escape before Sidious arrived. Then he loses the Scimitar and gets stuck on Lotho Minor somewhere along the way.

[Rogue 9]

Canonically, this was Maul's end.



But I'm kind of shocked they brought him back into the movies rather than keeping that plotline confined to the cartoons. I know it threw a lot of people in the theater I was in, including my brother who stormed out decrying it as the worst Star Wars movie since the prequels over it.

[KraytKing]

That was..truly awful. I'm glad I quit that show after episode two.

I'm only marginally pissed off by Maul's appearance. It was stupid that he survived at all, but at least it tied the whole Crimson Dawn thing and gave a recognizable bad guy at the top.

[Rogue 9]

Oh? Why was it awful? Rebels had some stinkers, but for my money that wasn't one of them.

Is it because they didn't have a big, flashy acrobatic duel that went on for twenty minutes? Because that rarely actually happens, and they did pay attention to what they were doing; Maul died trying the same attack that killed Qui-Gon, and Obi-Wan recognized and countered it. If it was Maul's characterization, I don't see a problem, but I also know his character development through the Clone Wars and Rebels shows and it makes perfect sense in that context.

As for his survival being stupid, yeah, it kind of is, but that's been water under the bridge for nearly a decade at this point.

[Esquire]

Rogue 9, how do you figure 'nearly a decade?' Per Wookie, Maul's first appearance on The Clone Wars was in 2016. Unless you meant that... damn it, what were they called, the AU comic-things in Legends? Legacy, maybe? Something like that? That was never canon at all, even under the better old system, as far as I know.

Real curiosity; I haven't seen Rebels or Solo and have no particular dog in this fight.

2nd EDIT: Oh, right, I'm an idiot; Rebels and The Clone Wars aren't the same show. He was on TCW much earlier than 2016, obviously.

[KraytKing]

The lightsaber duel being short was the best part: it ended sooner. Their faces move too much. The voice acting is terrible, along with the dialogue. Why did Maul let them talk for so long? He should have attacked while they were talking, to get the drop on an old man. Why did the droid have a rocket engine? How did a lightsaber put out a fire? And for God's sake, why do they spend so much time staring at each other? It's worse than Luke at the end of TFA.

I could go on, but I think you get the picture.

[PREDATOR490]

0 / 10 - Watched it and Loathed it from start to finish.

The only characters that were remotely interesting was Woody and Chewie. The movies have always sidelined Chewie and this film finally lets him have some attention including showing how strong Wookies can actually be.

Pointless Love Interest - The stupid blind love cliche - Fuck it, I can deal with it but the ongoing bullshit of drama that spews from this was so pointless. Anyone with a modicum of sense KNOWS she is NEVER going to end up with Han so this entire drama is dead on arrival before it starts. Instead, they want to try and play the suspicion of betrayal that she is constantly under which results in the predictable fake outs.
This woman has no character and the only thing compelling with her is that insanely stupid cameo ending. It is bad enough when the character is getting scenes which telegraph to the audience " Han is an important part of the future movies so he really needs to fuck off and leave me alone now".

Darth Maul - Why ? This is one of the most pointless scenes I have seen in Star Wars. Darth Maul adds nothing to this story and turns the entire film into a colossal WTF. This just feels like the people behind this KNEW Solo was shit and someone decided to pull a stunt that would generate some buzz. What creates more Buzz than pulling the reveal that a character that has been dead for a decade even though it makes no sense and really undermines the entire film.

Pointless Love Interest is going off to train under Darth Maul and be an apprentice... ?
Fuck knows because its a film about Han and Chewie

Evil vision was barely characterised at all, what was the deal with the red veins when he gets angry ?
Fuck knows because it is a film about Han and Chewie.

As it stands, Solo was a done deal. We know how it is going to end. Chewie, Lando and Han are completely covered in a franchise shield so all they have left to play with is the supporting characters. All of which are sidelined because... its a film about HAN AND CHEWIE. Even with that basic fact they somehow turned the last moments of the film into a buzz around Kira and Darth Maul.

Frankly, this felt very much like the most insane attempt to create a Marvel / Avengers cliffhanger. If they want to do that stuff with Star Wars with a running continuity between ALL of their films then this was the worst way to start at the worst possible place to put it in the Star Wars franchise.
The period between PT and OT is completely saturated with content which makes it an absolute nightmare of a minefield to tell any stories in it leading to this sort of mess.

I am willing to make a good bet that this plot point is going to come up in the Fett film. Darth Maul and Kira will show up and she gets killed, hopefully BY Fett. I loathe the idea of Fett because of the complete wank it is going to generate for an already over-wanked character but at least if he kills this worthless character it will be bringing some closure to a lame character with the arc of a lead balloon.

The EU for Star Wars produced a fantastic amount of shit but I really wish they had just gone with the three book trilogy that Han Solo got as his origin / prequel setup.

Kira is effectively Bria ANYWAY and if they want to go for the criminal side of Star Wars. The books had Han working for the Hutts and getting involved in that world really quickly. This even allows for a decent ability to face off against the Empire for a space battle with the battle of Nar Shaddaa.

The only thing scary now is that they are going to try and play out this more by doing Solo 2 or some insanely stupid shit to cover Han's tour of duty with the Hutts. Given where this left off and where these random Star Wars stories are going. It is abundantly clear any attempt to get away from the period between the PT and OT is never going to happen resulting in a mess the EU ended up with.
How many heroes or random concurrent variations of events are going to end up happening in this period to establish the Rebellion and / or lead to the acquisition of the Death Star plans like the old EU ?

Next in Star Wars bullshit stories - Fett killed someone that lead to the Rebellion forming.

[Patroklos]

That's quite plausible; probably more plausible than him surviving without assistance for an extended period. Unfortunately, the part about him escaping via the trash disposal system was apparently listed in 'Star Wars: Absolutely Everything You Need to Know'; and the Databank adds that Maul augmented himself while on Lotho Minor; where Savage Oppress found him ten years later.

Plausible? Hardly. Its not just that he survives bisection, he falls down a bottomless pit into got knows where. We have seen this happen before to a far more powerful and completely uninjured Sith. It didn't work out the same way. We saw it yet again with Luke, who needed multiple named protagonists to get him out of a similar situation. Granted he was not a Jedi by that time but he also wasn't nearly as badly injured either.

Also, are we supposed to believe Obi Wan is like "This crazy Sith Lord that is not supposed to exist, that is obviously related to whatever nefariousness is motivating the Trade Federation (the investigation of which is my entire motivation in this movie), who just killed my master and almost just killed me again? Eh, good enough. No need to go look into his body right away, I'm going to go have punch with the celebrating Naboosians. I'll get to this Jedi/Sith Lord stuff next week."

So Maul is just dragging himself with his arms through trash shoots, dragging his lifeless lower half behind him?