My initial view when I first watched the movie (before learning anything about the EU): They were basically evenly matched throughout the fight, including during the lightning attack. If anything, Sidious was the one struggling more when attacking Yoda with lightning (given that Yoda's face turned to one of determination and was no longer showing signs of being overwhelmed that he initially showed, while Sidious's face turned into one of desperation and complete loss of control). Then the only reason Yoda "lost" was because he is lighter and smaller, therefore the explosion that occurred obviously knocked him farther backwards than it did to Sidious. This is still my opinion of the fight.
Now, what is the official interpretation of this fight in canon and legends? If it is that Sidious was superior, how is this defended (given that it seemingly contradicts what was shown in the film)? Anybody know how the script described the fight?
Equals with sidious taking the slimmest of edges in both categories.
Though looking at the movie and most primary sources the fight did end with an explosive stalemate though doesn't preclude sids from having a slim edge
In Legends, sources tell us both that Sidious outmatched him and that it was a draw/Yoda lost due to positioning/weight etc.
In Canon, the website (4 times), the new junior novel, Ultimate Star Wars etc. tell us that Palpatine was simply the stronger of the two. It's a much clearer consensus and might even be too generous to the Emperor.
Also, Yoda being thrown further might be a product of being lighter, but could also be construed as Palpatine being more powerful and thus able to defend himself better. Especially since the Legends junior novel claims that Yoda was partially stunned by the explosion, which is arguable in the film as well, whereas Palpatine was clearly not stunned since he managed to grab hold of the railing pretty much instantly.
sids being stronger doesn't mean the fight wasn't effectively a stalemate, near equals can tie which is what happened. SIDS maintaining an edge doesn't have to contradict that the fight ends as a tie which it does
Sidious won that fight and was the better fighter; not by much though... id have liked to see a rematch in the Geonosian Arena or somewhere that hold no advantage for either
Maybe not, but the sources tell us that Yoda lost and that Sidious overwhelmed/overpowered him. No source declares it a stalemate, even in Legends. They either attribute his loss to Sidious' greater power, or attribute it to his lesser weight and positioning.
I guess technically the fall constitutes a loss but the actual force battle was basically a tie. As I recall sources either say yoda couldn't defeat palps or that Yoda was outmatched, neither of which at all precludes the fight from ending in a stalemate(albeit them not being on perfectly even ground as new canon is redundantly reenforcing).
Regardless this is just semantics.
SIDS>=yoda as a duelist and force user.
Though interestingly enough two sources that Indiacate palps superiority(gillard for canon, the complete encyclopedia for legends) seem to also indicate that sidious's edge came from having use of the darksidenrather than the light which has ramifications outside this fight though the dark being more combatively powerful was reversed with kenobi va maul given the reasons given for kenobisurpasing maul
To elaborate, the website says in three different instances that "Yoda ultimately lost", that "Darth Sidious overwhelmed Master Yoda with the destructive energy of the dark side" and that "Yoda is eventually outmatched by Sidious". Ultimate Star Wars joins in by proclaiming that "ultimately the battle proves too much for Yoda". So even the Force battle was a loss.
And in Legends, TCSWE calls Yoda "defeated" following the conclusion of the duel. The RotS novelization and comic have Palpatine outright overpowering Yoda with Lightning. Only the junior novel follows the film and has the explosion of Lightning at the end, but again, Yoda was half-stunned and Palpatine wasn't, so even there you can construe it as Palpatine's win/Palpatine was more powerful.
It was not a stalemate by any means, nor do any sources state it as such, to my knowledge.
Last edited by SunRazer on Apr 14th, 2017 at 09:58 AM
1) Yoda disarmed him in Sabers and
2) Palpatine never overpowered Yoda in the Force (except for that first FL shot which Yoda returned with his own TK blast).
Apr 14th, 2017 12:12 AM
