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A lot of people die in the season finale of\u00a0Maul: Shadow Lord<\/em>. Most of those deaths are, indeed, pretty brutal. But it turns out one largely left unseen is actually meant to be one of the wildest in recent\u00a0Star Wars<\/em> memory.<\/p>\n Darth Vader makes his grim presence in\u00a0Shadow Lord<\/em>\u2018s narrative known after taking out what is arguably the closest Maul had to a confidant up to this point: Rook Kast, the last of Maul\u2019s dwindling Mandalorian loyalists left by the season finale. It\u2019s a fun little moment\u2014Kast and the sole other Mando left on Team Maul scout ahead in a foggy jungle, Kast runs back alone almost immediately petrified that \u201csomething\u201d is out there, only for her to be swept off her feet and magically dragged back into the mist. One scream and some heavy breathing later, it\u2019s Vader time.<\/p>\n It\u2019s all well and good, and an effective way of establishing Vader\u2019s threat before he proceeds to spend much of the last episode just wailing down on his opponents. But what was meant to be happening off-screen wasn\u2019t just a simply slash of a lightsaber or a Force choke: Darth Vader was yanking her lungs out of her throat<\/em>.<\/p>\n That was, according to a behind-the-scenes story shared by the official\u00a0Star Wars<\/em> website, voice actress Vanessa Marshall\u2019s intent in performing her final, blood-curdling scream as Kast, recalled by\u00a0Shadow Lord<\/em>\u2018s supervising director Brad Rau. To support Marshall\u2019s wishes, the sound design team for the show added an iconic Ben Burtt sound effect from\u00a0A New Hope<\/em>, the throat crush we hear when Darth Vader chokes out Captain Antilles aboard the\u00a0Tantive IV<\/em>.<\/p>\n You could argue a throat being crushed sounds very different from someone having their lungs magically pulled out of their throat (is it through the mouth? Is it literally through the walls of the throat\u2019s muscles? So many horrifying questions!)\u2014Burtt\u2019s throat crush was apparently made from walnuts being crushed, and you\u2019d perhaps expect more\u2026 wetness<\/em> out of such a gruesome kill.<\/p>\n At the end of the day, Shadow Lord<\/em> is a show that\u2019s still aimed at family audiences, although one that\u2019s perhaps older than Clone Wars<\/em> or\u00a0Rebels<\/em> was aimed at. Maybe some wetter sounds could\u2019ve been a bit too far! But still, it\u2019s a hell of a way to go, even if it\u2019s done off-screen.<\/p>\n Want more io9 news? Check out when to expect the latest Marvel, Star Wars, and Star Trek releases, what\u2019s next for the DC Universe on film and TV, and everything you need to know about the future of Doctor Who.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote><\/div>\n\n