TK Arm Wrestle: RotJ Luke vs. RotJ Sidious

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Underachiever59
I had a thought earlier today, and want to see what the rest of you think. A telekinetic tug-of-war between Sidious and Luke during RotJ. This isn't a full on fight with the Force between the two, as we all know who would win. This is purely a measure of each character's raw power, tested against one another.

Let's set the scene. Let's say most of Return of the Jedi plays out as usual, except this time around, Sidious is confident he doesn't need Vader's help to turn Luke, so he orders Vader to return to the Executor once Luke has been brought before the Emperor. After that, things play out almost beat-for-beat how they did in the movie, with Sidious taunting Luke until Luke finally snaps and tries to draw his lightsaber. This time, Vader isn't there to block the weapon, so Sidious attempts to do to Luke what Snoke did to Rey in TLJ.

The question becomes, could Sidious effortlessly rip the lightsaber from Luke's TK grasp, like Snoke did to Rey? Or would they stalemate and end up ripping the weapon apart, like what happened to Rey and Kylo? Or perhaps Luke would be able to overcome the Emperor's grip, like Rey did to Kylo in TFA? Which of these three outcomes would you say is most likely?

Again, this is not asking which character would win in a fight. The answer there is blatantly obvious. This is a contest of raw strength in the Force. Think of it as an arm wrestle instead of a fist fight. Is the Skywalker lineage enough to allow Luke to edge out the Emperor in sheer strength, or is Sidious simply leagues beyond Luke's raw power?

The Ellimist
Palpatine would win easily. Actualized Force power, whether you want to call it "raw strength", is not identical to potential unless if you think TPM Anakin can ragdoll Palpatine too.

Rebel95
Unless Luke is enraged, Palpatine wins.

Azronger
It'll basically be a retread of this scene, with Luke taking Sedriss' place:

The Emperor made a bargain with Sedriss: They would duel, and if Sedriss won, he could take the Emperor's life. But if Sedriss lost, he would serve the Emperor with unquestioning loyalty, or suffer the most terrible, lingering, ignominious death he could imagine. Confident of his chances against the frail old man, Sedriss agreed - and was promptly crushed to the ground by the Emperor's power. Sedriss admitted that the Emperor had defeated him and promised to honor their agreement. The Emperor didn't desist. Sedriss felt his ribs collapsing, and swore that he would serve the Emperor. Still the Emperor did not stop, until Sedriss felt his heartbeat slowly coming to a stop and begged to serve the Emperor. When he was finally able to stand, he instead knelt - convinced that this was a superior who was truly superior to him.

The Dark Side Sourcebook

Azronger
Originally posted by Rebel95
Unless Luke is enraged, Palpatine wins.

Even rage Luke has no chance.

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