One of the most pivotal scenes in all of Star Wars is the fight scene between Mace Windu and Darth Sidious in Revenge of the Sith. During this scene, Anakin Skywalker turns to the Dark Side and becomes Darth Vader. In doing so, he seemingly saves Sidious’ life while taking away Windu’s.
Prior to this moment, Windu had bested Sidious in a one-on-one duel after the Sith Lord had swiftly removed the other three Jedi Masters from the battle. Many people speculate that Sidious had allowed Windu to ‘beat’ him as he could sense Anakin coming and wanted to manipulate him further into believing the Jedi were genuinely trying to take over the Republic.
Today, we’re going to be looking at the arguments for and against this and what George Lucas has had to say on the matter.
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Yes, Sidious did let Windu beat him
Here are some arguments that support Sidious allowing Windu to beat him:
#1 It was the final step in manipulating Anakin Skywalker
The number one reason why many Star Wars fans believe that Darth Sidious did let Mace Windu defeat him is that it was the perfect way to finalise Anakin’s turn to the Dark Side.
There were two ways in which Sidious was nudging Anakin towards the Dark Side throughout Revenge of the Sith:
- Promising Anakin that through the Dark Side, he could save Padmé from dying during childbirth.
- Convincing him that the Jedi were evil and the Sith weren’t.
The sight of Sidious cowering in the corner as Mace Windu stood over him with his purple blade shoved in his face paints the perfect picture to push both of these agendas.
- This makes it appear like Sidious is on the verge of death. In Anakin’s mind, if Sidious dies then so does the only chance of saving Padme.
- Jedi profess that they are keepers of the peace. It is against their code to attack and kill a defenceless opponent and in this instance, Sidious was backed into a corner without a weapon and Windu was standing over him. In Anakin’s mind, this was a sign that the Jedi were hypocrites and perhaps trying to overthrow the Republic.
You can find out why Padmé is confused with Queen Amidala here.
As it transpired, this scene was the turning point in Anakin’s life so it’s easy to see why many people do believe it was an intentional move by Sidious to appear defeated.
#2 Yoda couldn’t beat Sidious, so how could Mace Windu?
Another reason why some people don’t believe that Mace Windu actually defeated Darth Sidious is because Sidious is widely regarded as one of the most powerful Force Users in the Galaxy.
Prior to the duel with Windu, he took out three Jedi Masters in a matter of seconds due to his force powers and lightsaber skills.
Sure, Windu was deemed to be more powerful than the other three Jedi Masters but if Sidious is capable of taking three Masters out in a flash then surely he’s strong enough to at least not lose to Mace Windu.
On top of that, Mace Windu was second in rank on the Jedi Council to Yoda. Later on in the same movie, Yoda struggled in a lightsaber duel with Darth Sidious and has to flee because he knew he couldn’t defeat him. If Yoda can’t beat Sidious then surely Mace Windu can’t either!
You can find out more about why Mace Windu didn’t wait for Yoda to return before confronting Palpatine here.
No, Windu beat him fair and square
Here are some arguments that support Mace Windu being able to overcome Sidious:
#1 Sidious was the perfect opponent for Mace Windu
The main reason that Star Wars fans point to when looking to prove that Mace Windu did actually defeat Darth Sidious fair and square is Mace’s lightsaber technique. Windu is the creator and master of the unique ‘vaapad’ style of fighting which channels an opponent’s Dark Side powers and redirects them back at the opponent.
As Sidious was the most powerful Dark Side Force user in the Galaxy when duelling with Windu, the Jedi Master had a lot of Dark Side powers to channel and use as fuel to fight back against the Sith Lord. In theory, this essentially meant that they were both on a level playing field during the battle.
As such, it’s very possible that Mace Windu could come out on top. In the end, he did overcome Sidious, and perhaps even finished the job had Anakin not shown up!
Sidious underestimated him
Another reason why people believe that Palpatine lost to Mace Windu fairly is that there is a belief that Sidious actually underestimated Mace Windu and the Jedi in general. This belief stems from the Sith Lord’s actions throughout the Prequel trilogy where he repeatedly seems to dismiss the Jedi.
In a conversation with Anakin, he says that the Jedi have a ‘narrow-minded’ view of the Force, suggesting that they aren’t as open as the Sith when it comes to developing and learning new abilities.
On a similar note, he also tells him that he wouldn’t be able to learn life-saving Force abilities through a Jedi, suggesting that they aren’t powerful enough to hone such a skill.
Finally, he told Obi-Wan Kenobi that he would be no match for Count Dooku because the latter is a Sith Lord.
This underestimation of the Jedi may well have led to his downfall in this particular duel. Ironically, the fact that he managed to cut down three Jedi Masters in an instant at the start of the fight probably made him even more dismissive of Mace’s potential abilities which may have contributed to the fight going the way it did.
Final verdict – with help from George Lucas
After weighing up both sides of the argument, it’s easy to see why there has been much debate about this duel since the film’s release in 2005.
The only person who can really settle the debate is George Lucas, the man who created this wonderful universe. During a Directors’ Commentary edition of Revenge of the Sith, Lucas confirmed that Mace Windu did in fact defeat Darth Sidious fair and square!
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