Originally posted by The_Tempest
Since one or two particularly intractable posters intermittently reintroduce this topic as though there's more to discuss, this is a quick read for one's edification.
The "conflict" technically begins at 1:45 when Sidious attacks the brothers with the Force. Both Zabraks are pinned to the throne room windows and visibly squirm and struggle to release themselves, releasing stress fractures along the glass. Sidious, on the other hand, is smiling and snickering, visibly effortless. He releases them of his own accord and allows them to arm themselves. At 2:09, the brothers cage Sidious each with a two-armed blade lock. He holds them at bay with one hand each, pushing both their blades back, still smiling and cackling.
No stress, fear, concern, anxiety, or effort visibly demonstrated to convey that he's having a hard time or requiring full demand of his abilities, unlike his duels with Yoda and Mace
At 2:20, Savage knocks Sidious off a balcony
At 2:21, Sidious Force grips both brothers and drags them with him
At 2:30, Sidious kicks Maul in the chest
At 2:32, Sidious elbows Savage in the face
At 2:42, Sidious back-kicks Savage off the ramp
At 2:45, Sidious Force slams Maul unconscious
At 2:55, Sidious deactivates his lightsabers and casually dances around two of Savage's strikes
At 2:58, Sidious kicks Savage in the chest
At 3:06, Sidious roundhouse kicks Savage in the face, stunning him
At 3:08, Sidious impales Savage with both blades from behind
At 3:13, Sidious Force pushes Savage off a balcony
At 4:07, Sidious kicks Maul in the chest
At 4:14, Maul kicks Sidious in the chest
At 4:18, Sidious and Maul engage in blade lock with Maul beginning from a position of leverage. Sidious overpowers him and disarms him at 4:22
At 4:25, Sidious Force grips Maul and throws him on the ground
At 4:29, Sidious throws Maul into a wall
At 4:31, Sidious slams Maul on the ground again
At 4:41, Sidious inundates Maul with Force lightning and does so again at 4:55
In this play-by-play, the times that each brother lands a hit of any sort blow against Sidious via physical dominance or the Force is encoded in red. Everything else in standard black is the reverse for Sidious. As you can see, it's hilariously lopsided. This isn't a contest of peers.
So if the patently obvious isn't enough, what else is there?
How about director commentary:
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I even posted actual scans rather than putting the burden on any of you heretics to click links. Here it is.
So, to recap: the entire point of the duel was a love letter to Sidious's epic mastery and why he's the biggest BAMF around. Filoni describes it as an ass kicking, confirms that he's enjoying himself the entire time, and that his opponents can't even "compete" with him. He even implies that lightsabers were superfluous by "deciding" to deactivate them and "maul Maul."
That's how lopsided this fight is. Sidious is beyond them by miles and miles and miles. It's all there on-screen and Filoni went to exhausting lengths to repeatedly confirm one of the most ridiculously straightforward battles in Star Wars history.
Any moronic pursuit of this further as though the matter is open to debate can simply be directed to this thread.
tl;dr: Sheev's a god, that's all. This debate is officially closed by decree of Tempest.
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Jul 20th, 2015 04:59 AM
