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Location: The Senate Rotunda.

Parameters:

1. Lightsabers
2. Force
3. All out

No holds barred, but Skywalker must still stay reasonably within character.

Why:

Because I felt like it, stupid.

http://images2.wikia.nocookie.net/__cb20080217152160/starwars/images/6/68/ZS-convocation.jpg

http://images.wikia.com/starwars/images/b/b2/Palps_Reborn-TEA.jpg

Luke.

Originally posted by Master Han
Location: The Senate Rotunda.

Parameters:

1. Lightsabers
2. Force
3. All out

No holds barred, but Skywalker must still stay reasonably within character.

Is it reasonably in character for Luke to try to win? Cuz if he tries to win then he wins.

OK...any, like reasoning?

Luke at his peak wins a majority.

So that SWL and I don't veer every thread off topic with Luke vs Palps discussions...

let's have it away here.

Here is why I feel Luke will emerge the victor in lightsabers, all-out, and possibly the Force.

1. Luke has been suggested, claimed and this close to outright confirmed, by a multitude of sources, to have greater potential in the Force than Palpatine. I think it's safe to say that he's realized most, if not all, of this potential by his 60th birthday.

2. Luke defeats Palpatine in their second duel in DE, with Leia's battle meditation's unlocking an unstated quantity of his latent potential. It can be fairly assumed that Luke would have unlocked this potential, and more, with another 30 years of training and experience.

3. Even if one argues that Sidious at this point still wields greater command in the Force than Skywalker, the latter has demonstrated significantly superior combat prowess and tactical acumen. He has far more experience getting rough and dirty than Palpatine's evil mastermind persona, with the sith lord's admitting that he doesn't like using his lightsaber in RoDV. Skywalker's technical mastery with the blade is frequently underestimated; not only does he match his father after only a few years of highly sporadic training, he helps develop an entire new system of combat, teaches himself jar'kai, and frequently learns random fighting styles just by observing them. Luceno even suggested OOU that Luke may have been using a variant of vaapad in TUF. Because of this, Skywalker has consistently defeated opponents that were actually far stronger in the Force than himself, such as UnuThul and Abeloth.

4. Palp's greatest weapon, his force storms, don't really work in a 1 vs. 1 duel.

5. Specific to the OP, Luke's greater demonstrated agility and combat experience will give him the edge when it comes to dodging senate pods.

The rotunda would make it tricky for Luke to engage Sidious in a lightsaber duel, since the pods and high chancellors chair are a bit too small for two human-sized combatants to have a lightsaber fight on + are filled with chairs. So I think it might come down to a Force battle with some lightsabers mixed in.

I can't exactly fault someone for evincing skepticism in Luke's abilities. As Neph has pointed out, his feats are radically inconsistent and unreliable. That said, I think Luke's struggles owe much to his idiosyncratic use of the Force; Specter of the Past and The Unifying Force detail Luke's fear of abusing the Force since his apprenticeship to the reborn Emperor. But when circumstances absolutely demand it and the fate of the galaxy hangs in the balance, he can mow through Vong security and Shimrra's elite, overwhelm UnuThul with artless ease, crush Caedus with effortless power, and slug it out with Abeloth while taking on members of the Lost Tribe.

As far as these two are concerned, it comes down to unparalleled skill versus unparalleled instinct. Palpatine has the edge in formal training and knowledge; Luke possesses greater power and prodigious instinct.

I'd say Palpatine's mastery is still greater, but it won't matter I think: if Luke's on his A-game, he has this in the bag after a damn good fight.

1) Luke
2) I'm leaning towards DE Sidious, but tbh it's too close to call. Draw.
3) No doubt, Luke

Luke wins. He achieved the potential his father had during NJO, and his father is supposed to be 2 times greater than Sidious.

Originally posted by The Merchant
He achieved the potential his father had during NJO

Already by NJO?