Is the Palpatine we saw in "The Lawless" the best lightsaber performance we have ever seen?

This sort of thing has always struck me as an over-simplistic view. It shouldn't be a certainty, there are plenty of different variables. Someone's rank isn't the be-all and end-all of what they can and can't do. Obi-Wan "killed" Maul as a Padawan, and it's not as if as soon as a Jedi passes the Trials and becomes a fully qualified Knight that they "level up" in abilities.

 

Maul was clearly stronger than the padawan Obi Wan in EP I, he mostly focused on deal with Qui Gon and caught by surprise in the end.

 

Indeed, overconfidence was his downfall. Something that I think fits the Sith nicely.

 

Red, black, and white all over. Doubled opponents fight a mirrored battle to control symmetry ending in front of a Picasso/Goya war mural the size of a movie screen. Visual storytelling doesn't get much better than those three minutes of kinetic mayhem.

 

Palpatine's performance in The Lawless was impressive, most impressive.

Hope Yoda gets to duel someone before the show ends so we can see his brilliance.

 

I can honestly say that, in my opinion, Sidious v. Maul / Opress was the best lightsaber duel that TCW has produced.

I can also say, with equal conviction, that it doesn't top the best of the duels seen in the six Star Wars features.

 

I don't think it tops micro-Grievous, but it was oh so awesome. Palpatine was like a dark side drunkard, just dripping with evil.

 

Yeah, I feel like TPM Obi-Wan is already pretty much a knight in all but name.

 

Exactly. In the real world, many, many martial arts masters (aka black belt levels and above) are often surpassed by a superior and more talented student. Heck, in some types of Karate the requirement for attaining First Dan (First degree Black Belt) the student has to defeat another veteran black belt in a sparring match.

Ofcourse, Force Users in SW operate under a different logic. In SW, at least in the PT, it is assumed that the older the force user, the stronger he or she is in both the force and combat. But there can always be exceptions. It doesn't help ofcourse that Luasfilms is remarkably inconsistent, such as the ridiculous 'duel' between Sidious and the Posse in ROTS, wherein Lucas was once more caving into fanservice at the expense of story and quality. Each of those Jedi Master Council Members should have been a match for Sidious.

 

I want to see more Matrix style fighting in those who fight. I wish Sidious could pick on somebody his own size.

 

Sidious defeating the four Jedi in Ep. III doesn't bother me on principle, but I hate how two of them go down literally with no resistance at all, and Kit Fisto goes down with almost no resistance.

 

It's more a matter of bad choreography and filming IMO. It's supposed to convey the idea that Palpatine unleashes such power and fury that the only Jedi able to withstand it is Mace, but it just looks clumsy.

 

Agreed. Badass, to me, means seeing Palpatine take on four Jedi Masters in a serious fight that tests him, and still emerge victorious. Something that shows why the Jedi are so powerful, but that he is more powerful still. The comical curbstomp we got in ROTS was just that. Comical. It didn't make Palpatine look particularly strong, it just made one quarter of the Jedi Council look seriously weak.

 

They should have just made it so Palpatine pulls out his lightsaber and immediately kills Kit Fisto. At least that way there would be the sense that the Jedi were completely caught off-guard.

 

Exactly. Heck, a 4 on 1 swordfight in such close quarters will always look ridiculous no matter how well it is choreographed IMO, unless if the 4 go at Sidious one at a time, which too would be stupid.

If they wanted to convey Sidious's power with dignity and have it be kickass and actually elevate Sidious's status, then invent a cool Dark Side power that Sidious uses. It destroy's 3 of the Jedi; only Mace is able to block it by conjuring a Light Side Force Shield or watever. Then they switch to sabers. Or heck, if they are out of creative juices just have Sidious spam lightning. Only Mace can withstand it, the other Jedi Masters get fried.

But whatever the case, it bothers me that 3 Jedi Masters who were council members and veterans of battle and countless missions across the galaxy were killed off so easily. Sure Sidious is a Darth, but he isn't Galactus for crying out loud. Yoda is his light side equivalent, but even he could not immediately kill Dooku and failed to stop him getting away.

They really should not have shown the Jedi as so weak. Makes you wonder why the Emperor was so worried about Luke in ESB during the holo convo with Vader. If 3 Masters of the Order who were also council members were easily crushed, what could a boy with mere weeks of training accomplish? So what if he was the son of the chosen one, the chosen one himself got defeated and nearly destroyed by a single jedi.

In the PT Qui Gon was such a badass...it all went downhill for the Jedi starting from AOTC

 

Curious - what makes you say "Qui-Gon was such a badass"?

 

I think it was his future potential that was more worrisome.

 

If he had duel wielded as planned and had been confronted in a larger room then it could have worked. But yeah, as shown in the movie, it's embarrassing.

 

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Whoever uploaded the video just merged the clips.

The Jedi battle is the end of the first series and the second begins with the clones infiltrating the crashed republic cruiser and coming to the rescue.

 

The way he and Obi Wan mowed down those battle droids. Yes I understand those droids were supposed to be crap esp against Jedi, but then why did so many (hundred+) Jedi fall to those same droids in Geonosis in the arena? (this was before the separatists brought in the super heavy weaponry)

Plus Qui Gon was so confident, and always seemed to know what to do without any hesitation. In AOTC and ROTS the Jedi appear totally confused and clueless. Why portray them as such? Sidious brainwashed Anakin right under their noses. They did not even uncover Padme + Anakin's marriage. (Obi Wan knew ofcourse but no one else)

Anyhow, the basic principle of the Clone Wars was for Sidious to eliminate the Jedi. Apart from weakening the galaxy and making sure he had enough clones available to maintain control over everyone, Sidious wanted the Jedi to bond so close to the clones they would not sense any danger when they executed order 66. At least, this used to be the plan back when. But in the movies themselves the Jedi are not shown to be so aware or dangerous. Makes you wonder why Sidious did not execute Order 66 right there and then on Geonosis in AOTC.

 

I believe the initial intention was the exact opposite of this, that the clones would be so detached as to feel absolutely no malice or pre-meditated emotions towards the Jedi when given the order, and so the Jedi would not detect any danger. There are no emotional ripples between "Shooting droids, just my job." and "Shooting Jedi, just my job." to ring any alarm bells.

With the greater humanisation of the clones in TCW however, this is likely up for change.

 

The Clone Wars does humanize the clones far more than the films.

 

sidious wanted luke to be his new apprentice but wanted vader to not know this

 

AGREED!
btw, i really loved the Palpatine duel, but i was expecting Maul to force pull the Savage´s double saber to use it against Palpatine