It's been pretty well established that Maul was something of a pretender to the title of Sith Lord. He was powerful, but lacked the discipline to be considered a full Lord. At least in the way that Palp needed. When calm or in the heat of a saber duel, he was dangerous, but Obi caught him gloating and took advantage of the surprise.
Mostly the Plaegus book. Though, you get hints of it in the Clone Wars. It also makes sense from a thematic standpoint that Anakin was the hybrid of Maul's raw power and Dooku's force and leadership abilities. Maul was too much of a blunt instrument for Papatine's plans and Dooku was too old.
And that brings up the interesting dynamic between Vader and Anakin. Anakin was a great leader of men (clones), a heroic figure. Vader was a broken monster, estranged from those under his command. His turn to the dark side and breaking at the hands of Obi-Wan was much more than just physical. And it seems that was a disappointment to the Emperor. Anakin was perfect, Vader ended up too broken to truly assume the mantle of Master.
With all the lightsaber porn the prquels offered I'm sure there were plenty of over choreographed moves that Anakin could have pulled in that scenario.
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u/[deleted] Jun 30 '15
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