I think that Kivar lead a revolution against Xan or whoever the king was, perhaps his own twin brother. He said that he'd be a better leader or was jealous of Xan. Then after he killed Xan Kivar found out that being king was harder than he thought and that he couldn't keep everything going and the whole empire or kingdom or whatever fell apart. So Kivar went to his best scientists and had them create a clone of himself and/or Xan so that he could have the kid rule in his stead and order him around from the shadows. Isobel's mom and Max's mom may have been follower's of Kivar's before turning against him, believing perhaps that little Max should not be Kivar's puppet but free to live his own life...

They tried to take him and run away from Kivar but he followed them and caused the crash, think of it like people trying to get out of a cult...

Max I don't think has a mother or father, as he came from something not someone...