A serious discussion on Vaapad and Mace Windu

Vaapad, the seventh form of lightsaber combat, is known as the deadliest form of blade combat ever known. It is named after the predator Vaapad, which kills it's prey before it even sees the predator coming. We know it was invented by Mace Windu, in order to take away a weakness of his...fear (ROTS NOVELIZATION). Masters Depa Billaba and Sora Bulq tried to learn the form, but only Mace Windu mastered it.

We see a lot of Vaapad being used in Shatterpoint, and also in Revenge of the Sith.

From the novel ROTSg. 330:
Mace was deep in it now: submerged in Vaapad, swallowed by it, he no longer truly existed as an independent being.

Vaapad is a channel for darkness, and that darkness flowed both ways. He accepted the furious speed of the Sith Lord, drew the shadow's rage and power into his inmost center-

And let it fountain out again

He reflected the fury upon its source as a lightsaber redirects a blaster bolt.

There was a time when Mace Windu had feared the power of the dark; there was a time when he had feared the darkness in himself. But the Clone WArs had given him a gift of understanding: on a world called Haruun Kal, he had faced his darkness and had learned that the power of darkness is not to be feared.

He had learned that it is fear that gives the darkness power.

He was not afraid. The darkness had no power over him. But-

Neither did he have power over it.
Vaapad made him an open channel, half of a superconducting loop comleted by the shadow; they became a standign wave of battle that expanded into every cubic centimeter of the Chancellor's office. There was no scrap of carpet nor shred of chair that might not at any second disintegrate in flares of red or purple; lampstands became brief shilds, sliced into segments that whriled through the air; couches became terrain to be climbed for advantage or overleapt in retreat. But there was still only the cycle of power, the endless loop, no wound taken on either side, not even the possiblity of fatigue.

It's important to note here that Mace is feeding off of the power and darkness of Sidious. He cannot tire, he cannot lose. He feeds off the dark and channels it into his power so he can combat the Sith Lord. We all know that he takes Sidious and disarms him, ready to kill him and end the Sith....until Anakin steps in. Mace realized that he focused on Sidious' shatterpoint, and that it was Anakin...he never looked to see where Anakin's shatterpoint was, and that was what ended up being Mace's undoing.

Later in the battle, we read:

"For all your power, you are no Jedi. All you are, my lord," Mace said evenly, staring past his blade, "is under arrest."

"Do you see Anakin? Do you?" Palpatine's voice once again had the broken cadence of a frightened old man's. "Didn't I warn you o fthe Jedi and their treason?"

"SAve your twisted words, my lord. There are no politicians here. The Sith will never regain control of the Republic. It's over. You've lost." Mace leveled his blade. "you lost for the same reason the Sith always lose: defeated by your own fear."

Palpatine lifted his head.

His eyes smoked with hate.

"Fool," he said.

He lifted his arms, his robes of office spreading wide into raptor's wings, his hands hooking into talons.

"Fool!" His voice was a shout of thunder. "Do you think the fear you feel in mine?"

Lightning blasted teh clouds above, and lightning blasted from Palpatine's hand, and Mace didn't have time to comprehend what Palpatine was talking about; he had time only to slip back into Vaapad and angle his blade to catch the forking arcs of pure, dazzling hatred that clawed toward him.

Because Vaapad is more than a fighting style. It is a state of mind; a channel for drakness. Power passed into him and out again without touching him.

And the circuit completed itself: the lightining reflected back to its source.

Palpatine staggered, snarling, but the blistering energy that poured from his hands only intensified.

He fed the power with his pain...

[later]

 

mmm, So can we say Vader used Vaapad against the Emperor in ROTJ?

He did absurbed the lightning and channeled it back to the emperor

 

I don't know.

I tend to think that Vader was more of a battery himself, and that he channeled the energy through his electronic suit more than anything.

 

This is a very interesting point. Mace created an opportunity for Anakin to bring balance to the Force, but Anakin did not seize it. I think he regretted it immediately, judging by the anguish on his face and the way he said, "What have I done?" He knew that Palpatine was dangerous and needed to be destroyed -- that's why he revealed the fact the Palpatine was a Sith Lord in the first place. But when it came down to losing Padme or possibly saving her through Palpatine's power, Palpatine's influence on him was just too strong.

(BTW, you might get more responses in the Lit forum. I'm not trying to be rude or anything, I just frequent the Lit forum and know that folks there would jump all over this with opinions and analysis. )

 

So, if you channel evil instead of creating it yourself, are you still evil? Shatterpoint always shows how close Mace is to the Dark Side... and Episode III had another good philosophical line: " I createed Vaapad to answer my weakness: it channels my own darkness into a weapon of the light.... I am called a great swordsman because I invented a lethal style; but who is greater, the creator of a killing form--or the master of the classic form?" I get the feeling Mace fell because he was indeed feeding on Darkness, and that he wasn't transforming it into light.

I dunno, I just think if it were Luke or Obi-wan in that chamber those last few seconds, he would stop electricuting the Chancellor and hear what Anakin had to say, which might have worked.