Star Wars Officially Debuts Mace Windu's Nemesis, The Shroud

Warning! This post contains SPOILERS for Star Wars: Mace Windu #4

Summary Mace Windu faces a new nemesis dedicated to plunging the galaxy into darkness by destroying all technology. The new foe is also powerful in the Force.

The Shroud, Mace's new antagonist, is a former Jedi creating chaos between light and dark. He's inexplicably influenced by the Force to the point of implied insanity, believing his mission supersedes both the Jedi and the Sith.

The Jedi ultimately defeats The Shroud, but the villain's teased survival hints at a potential return in the Star Wars timeline.

Mace Windu's new Star Wars series debuts a brand-new nemesis for the popular Jedi Master. An intriguing new villain dedicated to throwing the entire galaxy back into darkness, Mace's new arch-foe is quite powerful in the Force. However, that doesn't mean that they're a Dark Lord of the Sith as one might expect.

As seen in Marvel's Mace Windu #4 by Marc Bernardin and Georges Jeanty set before the events of The Phantom Menace, Mace Windu's mission to secure a new hyperspace fuel formula known as coaxium ultra culminates with a major confrontation with a Devaronian known to his followers as The Shroud. Leading his own cult seeking to destroy all technology and return the galaxy to a more natural state of darkness, Mace realizes that The Shroud is quite powerful in the Force as the foe promises the Jedi will never be rid of him.

Believing that both the light and dark aspects of the Force are his to claim, The Shroud claims to be guided by visions from the Force itself that apparently supersede the will of both the Jedi Order and Sith Lords.

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Mace Windu's New Foe Is A Rogue Jedi

But The Shroud Isn't A Sith Lord

As Mace and the Shroud duel each other thanks to the Devaronian's impressive metal staff capable of blocking Windu's lightsaber strikes, the Jedi Knight gleans more about The Shroud's origins. Claiming that he himself was once a Jedi rejected for asking too many questions and pushing boundaries, The Shroud reveals that neither the light nor dark provided him with sufficient answers, hence his creation of the Had'Le Path with a mass of followers, believing that power was the real truth.

While Mace Windu believes that The Shroud could very well be insane rather than receiving actual enlightenment from the Force, it ultimately doesn't matter considering the danger this new villain poses to the entire galaxy either way. He still wants to destroy the coaxium ultra on his path to restoring the galaxy and freeing it from all technology. As such, Mace chooses to defeat The Shroud before he can endanger anyone else.

Will The Shroud Even Return In The Star Wars Canon?

He's Incredibly Strong and Powerful

By the end of this final issue of Mace Windu, the titular Jedi Knight defeated The Shroud, using his lightsaber and the Force to bring an entire freighter on top of the villain. The coaxium formula's owner Azita Cruuz then used Windu's fighter to blow up the ship with its fuel samples, resulting in a massive explosion. In the aftermath, Azita hands the formula over to Mace Windu, his mission to keep the formula out of the wrong hands complete.

However, the issue does end with the tease that The Shroud somehow survived the explosion. After all, Windu's new nemesis did promise that Mace would never be free of him. It's quite likely that the powerful Devaronian will be seen again at some point in Star Wars' future.

Star Wars: Mace Windu #4 is available now from Marvel Comics.