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Who is the deadlier Hand?

I'd go with Darth Nihl, just like everyone else.

Darth Nihl is more experienced and is strongly implied to have beaten her in sparing. When Cade managed to take them both down- one after another- in Claws of the Dragon after hitting them both with a bunch of shrapnel, Nihl took more effort. Talon is very talented and agile and has shown more force powers, but while it's a fairly good fight, Nihl.

Nihl should take this based on implied skill, while Talon may have a few more standout force feats.

Nihl takes this in a good fight

Analysis time!

First off is their martial skill. Darth Talon's fighting style is something akin to Ataru, demonstrating fast paced offensive sequences and frequently employing acrobatics. She demonstrated her skill when she defeated Shado Vao, and when she defeated Wolf Sazen. She did however lose to Cade Skywalker in both of their lightsaber duels, being disarmed in the first and being stabbed through the abdomen and heavily wounded in the second.

Darth Nihl was known to have applied his own personalized fighting style in combat, likely a result of his time as a Nagi warlord prior to becoming a sith. He demonstrated some power blows, agility, seemed to be adaptable in his footwork, and demonstrated skill in unarmed combat, landing several blows on Cade Skywalker in their fight. His skill as a duelist was demonstrated when he defeated and cut off the arm of Wolf Sazen. He did hold his own against Cade for a little while, but ultimately lost and suffered the loss of his arm. He also wielded a unique weapon being a long handled lightsaber. This weapon granted Nihl greater leverage, precision, reach, and unpredictability though it was unwieldy.

Nihl and Talon have shown themselves to be on a similar level of dueling ability from their respective defeats of Wolf Sazen and their respective losses to Cade Skywalker, as well as their ability to duel eachother on Korriban. From the feats above however, Nihl looks to be the superior of the two. Both were defeated by Skywalker, however Nihl lasted longer against Skywalker and came out of it in better shape then Talon, who was critically injured. The logistics of Nihl's style are also more impressive, demonstrating skill in unarmed combat, as well as unpredictability from the uniqueness of his fighting style and weapon. Additionally, in their fights with eachother, Nihl has been shown having an edge. Nihl was implied to have injured Talon in a sparring match, and appeared to be the aggressor in their duel on Korriban despite Talon's own aggressive style of combat. For these reasons, I give Darth Nihl the edge as a duelist.

Next is their respective force abilities. Darth Talon showed proficiency with force lightning when she subdued Wolf Sazen and when she executed an imperial knight with it. She also demonstrated great power in telekinesis when she subdued Shado Vao with a force push.

Darth Nihl also demonstrated proficiency with lightning when he used it to kill Kol Skywalker in the midst of combat. His power with telekinesis was also demonstrated when he used it to subdue Cade Skywalker with a force choke.

Both have demonstrated proficiency with telekinesis and lightning, however Nihl has utilized both successfully against more powerful people than Talon has. For this reason, I give Nihl the edge as a force wielder.

Last of all is their tactical ingenuity and personality traits. Darth Talon was a very aggressive fighter to say the least. She did however demonstrate quite a bit of recklessness however. This stemmed from two factors. The first factor being her own overconfidence. She believed she did not require Nihl's assistance to capture Cade even after Cade had disarmed her and was about to beat her. The other factor in this was the value she placed her own life at. Talon is so devoted to Krayt it's almost disturbing, and this leads to her placing her master's orders above her own life, meaning she will die before she fails to complete a task for him. Nihl on the otherhand, is far more calculating, waiting to take advantage of openings, and knowing when to fall back and play things cautiously. Nihl also held his own value at a higher value, having not grown up with a fanatical devotion to Krayt, meaning he is more likely to practice self preservation in combat then Talon. As another result of Talon's devotion to Krayt, she was not meant to rule as well and lacked independent thought to the extent Nihl had it. For these reasons I give Darth Nihl the edge in tactics and personality traits.

In conclusion. Nihl edges out Talon in every category, and his unpredictability is a good tool to have against Talon's recklessness. Further more it is worth noting that Talon didn't say shit when Nihl stepped in as Dark Lord. As such, I declare Darth Nihl the winner!

I'll also mention the time she delivered Draco to him, and was simply able to escape him clean, even after engaging him at close range, plus in their sith training she managed to score a clean shoulder hit on him.

Like you mention, she's a bit reckless, and I think she'd actually be better off if she fought with a more defensive style. When on the defensive and being evasive she's very hard to hit, and similarly in the sparring she was playing it more defensively as well and it brought her the edge, but her aggression goes against her own talents ironically. Her lesser experience coming into play compared to the more seasoned Nihl who knows when to wait for an opening. I think you've got their tactical differences pegged.

For force, I'll highlight this feat which you didn't mention, a telekinetic feat that impressed me quite a lot!



All that said, very good analysis post!

Thank you.

bump. Nihl, btw.

Nihl.