Ordered Sidious on Amazon for $3.05 (excluding shipping) and got Maul instead (already have him). Decided to keep him as mint carded for display. Don't know why I found this relevant to post, but these days I seem to buy figures only once a month now for a multitude of reasons.  

And then for next season it seems that there may be a running plotline of the Jedi searching for Darth Sidious.

I agree with this 100%... this is where I think the series could potentially end; the last part of the Clone Wars was the Jedis' effort to find out who Sidious was. Yeah, the battles kept going on, but that was the primary motivation for the last few months of the war/Outer Rim Sieges... maybe write a story about Maul leading the Jedi on a wild goose chase through the Outer Rim, on the hunt for Sidious, and have the Season 5/series finale be Anakin and Ahsoka vs. Maul; Maul kill Ahsoka and Anakin kill Maul, and BOOM, you have ROTS right up.

Hoping though that we see Dooku vs. Maul vs. Sidious. Fat chance, though.

I was getting extremely impatient with the episode - it wasn't until the last 10 minutes that we actually saw Maul. I wish they took Anakin and Ahsoka out of the episode - it was irritating to see them appear with no actual relevance to the episode other than for Anakin to have a "Yoda" moment and say "sinister" for what I'm sure was the second time in the episode. I thought it was overplayed when Dooku said that in the beginning.

Also kinda irked that here we have Savage, this giant fearsome-looking dude, and he acts like a tall, awkward dude that no one can take seriously. The cargo pilot and the annoying snake dude both seemed not to be able to take him seriously... and I'm still trying to figure out why the TCW crew would be unoriginal enough than to put a talking snake in Star Wars.

Witwer's take as Darth Maul, though, was amazing. The whole mentally insane was very suiting and it really makes you feel pity for the guy - he was this badass Sith Lord in EpI, and now he's living in his own scum and only half the person he was.

I love how he's ranting, half-crying and giggling in insanity and Savage asks him who cut him in half - for a second Maul stops the whining and looks right at him and says "REVENGE"... a total "oh, sh**'s going down" moment.   

Finally got Maul. Great figure all around, 9/10 score. The head sculpt I really didn't mind at first, but now I'm starting to get slightly irked by it. I can't tell if that's a slight smile on the head sculpt, but I think he's supposed to have some evil grin, which I would have been fine without. The horns are slightly too chunky - I didn't think I'd care, but I guess I do now.

Holy. Freakin'. Damn.

I've always hated the theory of zombies running around in other sci-fi/fantasy stories, but boy, is it appropriate here, on Dathomir. Star Wars rocks zombies, big time.

I've always loved the character of Asajj Ventress and I really haven't liked how this series has portrayed her, but damn, you just feel for here. She's been betrayed by Dooku. Her life is ruined, so she goes home to live with her "family" - and even that is ruined for her when Talzin abandons her. I especially loved that last scene, where Asajj tries reaching for Talzin, who just disappears. And you feel for her because the Dathomir landscape is just so hopeless, there's nothing out there for her.

Some behind the scene video with Sam Witwer recording as Darth Maul.  WARNING: It  might spoil the episode(s) a little if you watch it though.

I'm actually surprised by how well Witwer's performance is, I initially rolled my eyes when I heard he was going to voice Maul. The direction they're going with for Maul's character makes sense in light of everything he's been through for the last decade or so.

And the way they're setting things up in the series I really question if it'll be here much longer.  I agree, they really are setting up the ROTS lead-in... a lot.  I just hope they don't completely dump on Tartakovsky's version in the process, but I'm sure they will ultimately.

The old cartoon was a hit: none of that political trash; each episode was 5-12 minutes of pure, sweet action that hooked the viewer. This new series is totally wrecking EVERYTHING. At this point I've just come to pick and choose what I think is canon and what isn't.

As crappy as this show can be, it has created hundreds of awesome Hasbro figures. Hasbro was just beginning to get collectors warmed up to the TCW line. I don't think we'll ever really see it revive. The line's being put on the backburner for the next 6 years, and I certainly don't think the show will last that long. What happens after the show ends is up in the air, but, like we've seen with the films, Hasbro can potentially find stuff to make even once the show has had its run.   

I'm just starting to warm up to the Maul packaging. I can't really say that Yoda is too representative of AOTC, but it's whatever at this point, I guess. All said and done.

Here's my take on what's coming next...

ROTS - "Sith eyes" hooded Anakin
ANH - Darth Vader
ESB - Boba Fett
ROTJ - Jedi Luke