Originally posted by Stealth Moose
I suspected he was to blame for our only Japanese girl disappearing.Now give me a URL to this monstrosity before I invade your country and annex it.
Now, you could always go to KMC search and type in: "DS Bastila Shan vs. ROTS Obi-Wan Kenobi" and you'll get exactly that one thread.
Originally posted by Slash_KMC
LinkNow, you could always go to KMC search and type in: "DS Bastila Shan vs. ROTS Obi-Wan Kenobi" and you'll get exactly that one thread.
Actually, I got this thread. Fail.
This is a very rough draft I've been working on here and there. Enjoy, rant, or ignore at your pleasure.
I. Introduction
Forged in the fires of ancient literature, Star Wars tells a story of good versus evil. Fittingly, its mythos introduces the audience to a vast ensemble of heroes and villains in all eras. From noble Jedi Knights and courageous rebels to ruthless Sith Lords and relentless bounty hunters, these characters engender admiration and revulsion in our hearts and minds.
According to the Ultimate Visual Guide (pg. 12), “the history of the galaxy is intertwined with the story of the Jedi and their struggle against the forces of evil.” The same page identifies “the most crucial period in the history of the Jedi Order” as between 32 BBY and 4 ABY—the timeline covered by the six films—“when the rise of the Sith and creation of the Galactic Empire threatened to extinguish the Jedi for all time,” establishing the events of the Star Wars films as the most important in history. Though there can be no question that the films focus on the personal tragedy of Anakin Skywalker, an examination of that era would conclude that the most influential individual during that time was none other than Darth Sidious, the Lord of the Sith.
In addition to being the leader and dominating figure of the “forces of evil” against which the Jedi fight, it was Sidious, as his political alter ego Palpatine of Naboo, who was responsible for “the rise of the Sith and creation of the Galactic Empire” that so threatened the future of the Jedi. Indeed, it was Palpatine’s manipulations that directly resulted in the macro events of the films: From the invasion of Naboo by the Trade Federation to Anakin Skywalker’s discovery by Qui-Gon Jinn; from the rise of the Separatist Alliance and the creation of the Old Republic’s clone armies; from the beginning of the Clone Wars to the bitter end, which “pitted history’s two largest armies against each other” (The New Essential Guide to Weapons and Technology, pg. XIII); from the destruction of the Jedi order, Separatists, and Republic to the creation of the Empire—all was his doing. A further look reveals that Sidious was also responsible for many of the pivotal micro occurrences: The elevation of Nute Gunray to the undisputed leader of the Trade Federation (Cloak of Deception); the seduction of Dooku, the Count of Serenno, and Anakin Skywalker to the dark side of the Force; and the eventual marriage of Skywalker and Padmé Amidala and, consequently, the birth of Luke Skywalker and Leia Organa Solo. With this in mind, Darth Sidious is the only character without whom the events of the films would not be possible—if Anakin is indeed the protagonist, Sidious is uniquely both character and author. As his life devastates the galaxy and his death brings balance to the Force, Darth Sidious is the greatest monster in a saga brimming with them.
Palpatine’s importance in both political and narrative arenas is almost self-evident and, as such, is not the focus of this piece. Instead, it will endeavor to explore the wealth of source material on the Sith Master and examine his abilities as a Force-user and combatant for the purposes of concluding that he is, without question, the most powerful Sith in the totality of Star Wars canon.
II. Strength in [the dark side] of the Force
For purposes of this piece and for clarification, one must understand the distinction between Force strength and Force mastery. As a rule, Force strength (also referred to as “potential”, “attunement”, “connection”, or “raw power”) refers to how strongly a Force-user is connected to the energy field and, where accessible, his or her midichlorian count. Force mastery refers to the degree by which a Force-user learns Force-wielding techniques (be it Jedi, Sith, or other) and develops new abilities within the Force. The Complete Star Wars Encyclopedia, Volume I (pg. 285) has this to say:
The Jedi Knights discovered that the Force was accessible to all living beings through the presence of midichlorians in their cells. The more midichlorians inhabiting a being’s cells, the more the being was able to connect to the Force. However, a high concentration of midichlorians did not guarantee a being control of the Force. Only through intense study and dedicated training could one become more proficient in harnessing the power of the Force.
An accurate example to illustrate the distinction can be found within the films, in the characters of Anakin Skywalker and Master Yoda. Obi-Wan Kenobi, during the events of the Phantom Menace, exclaims that Anakin’s midichlorian count of over 20,000 per cell was higher than Master Yoda’s, indicating that he was more connected to the Force than the ancient Jedi leader. However, the Encyclopedia Volume III (pg. 357) refers to Yoda and Darth Sidious during the events of Revenge of the Sith as “the most powerful practitioners of the Force’s light and dark sides” respectively, concluding that Yoda’s centuries of training and experience afforded him powers and abilities that were unavailable to or beyond those of Skywalker.
The Encyclopedia Volume III (pg. 9) states that “so powerful in the Force was [Palpatine] that the very essence of the dark side ravaged his form,” which reaffirms the claim made by Darth Sidious in the Telos Holocron that “the more successful the dark sider, the more quickly that dark sider’s body decays” (The Essential Guide to the Force, pg. 177).
Though of lesser notoriety than the prophecies of the Chosen One (Anakin Skywalker) and Sith’ari (Darth Bane), Darth Sidious was the subject of a prophecy foretold a millennium before the events of the films, according to the Encyclopedia Volume III (pg. 150):
The Sith Order, in hiding for a millennium, had awaited the birth of one who was powerful enough to return the Order to prominence. Darth Sidious was the fulfillment of that prophecy, capable of exacting the Sith’s revenge on the Jedi for having nearly eradicated the practitioners of the dark side of the Force.
Some might (and have [and perhaps will continue to]) argue that this quote, and a near identical one from the Complete Visual Dictionary refer to political power or Force mastery rather than natural Force strength. Examining the context of the term “powerful” in the sentence seems to indicate otherwise: The subject, the one whom the Sith were waiting for, would be born with such power. But we know that Darth Sidious wasn’t born Galactic Emperor; nor was he born Supreme Chancellor of the Republic or de-facto leader of the Separatists. He wasn’t even born Senator of the Chommell Sector. There is, in fact, no indication that Palpatine was born into an extraordinarily politically significant household. Likewise, Darth Sidious wasn’t born a Master of the Force—but achieved his skills through decades of training and research. The only logical conclusion is that this refers to Force strength.
Confronted with this, some might ask “where is this strength attested?” Where does Palpatine’s natural power in the Force help him achieve his goals? The answer is found primarily within a phrase referenced first in Attack of the Clones: The appropriately titled “shroud of the dark side.”
The shroud of the dark side
For the purposes of this essay, the shroud of the dark side refers to the phenomenon within the Force that clouded the perception of the Jedi order during the final years of the Old Republic. It was first mentioned in Attack of the Clones, where Mace Windu suggests to Yoda that the time has come to inform the Senate that the Jedi’s “ability to use the Force has diminished”; it is then named at the end of the film, where Yoda intones that “the shroud of the dark side has fallen—begun the Clone War has.” The shroud is hardly ever mentioned within the films again, but references can be found within the Expanded Universe and novelizations. The official Star Wars website’s databank offers two separate insights into the shroud’s affects, first from Mace Windu’s entry:
Something was clouding the future, and the order's very connection to the Force was weakening. That a Sith Lord existed somewhere in the galaxy, was not in doubt but could this shadowy villain really bring this much imbalance to the Force?
And then from the Jedi order’s entry:
The Clone Wars were a trying time for the Jedi. They transformed from an order of peacekeepers to military commanders, serving as battlefield generals for the Republic's new clone army. With their perception so focused on the war and so clouded by the pall of the dark side, the Jedi failed to see the truth: that the Sith were the masterminds behind the conflict.
The shroud of the dark side was extraordinary in its scope and scale. The Complete Visual Dictionary (pg. 12) states that “Jedi numbers dwindled to a mere ten thousand,” during the time of the films and the Clone Wars saw Jedi Knights assume active military service and undertake tours of duty across the galaxy. In addition, George Lucas proclaims the prequel trilogy as “the heyday, the golden age of Jedi,” referring to the expansive nature of their fights and battling as “a large group” in the behind the scenes featurette (7:01) of Attack of the Clones. Similarly, the Star Wars Saga Edition Core Rulebook (pg. 259) states that the Rise of the Empire Era sees the Jedi Knights at “their peak of power and influence.” These facts illustrate that the shroud was weakening the Force connections of ten thousand Jedi Knights across a galaxy, smothering their vision.
Equally impressive is the shroud’s potency—the degree to which it affected Jedi perception. Mace Windu, senior member of the Jedi High Council, is a warrior of spectacular gifts. Perhaps his greatest skill was his ability to detect shatterpoints: (From the Revenge of the Sith novelization, pg. 146, hardback edition)
To Mace's Force perception, the world crystallized around them, becoming a gem of reality shot through with flaws and fault lines of possibility. This was Mace's particular gift: to see how people and situations fit together in the Force, to find the shear planes that can cause them to break in useful ways, and to intuit what sort of strike would best make the cut. Though he could not consistently determine the significance of the structures he perceived—the darkening cloud upon the Force that had risen with the rebirth of the Sith made that harder and harder with each passing day—the presence of shatterpoints was always clear.
The ability to detect shatterpoints so casually testifies to the fact that, even among Jedi Masters, Windu’s insight was uncommonly keen. But as the above excerpt indicates, even this was being affected by the dark side. The Revenge of the Sith novelization (ROTS 146): “Anakin was somehow a pivot point, the fulcrum of a lever with Obi-Wan on one side, Palpatine on the other, and the galaxy in the balance, but the dark cloud on the Force prevented his perception from reaching into the future for so much as a hint of where this might lead.”
Given the malevolent, pervasive affect of the shroud on the Jedi, it might seem almost assumed that such a phenomenon would be a tool of the Sith; but not only does canon evidence support that assumption, it also makes explicitly clear that the shroud was, in fact, inextricably linked to the existence of Darth Sidious himself:
[list]
[*]The Attack of the Clones graphic novel depicts a moment in which Master Yoda attempts to meditate within the Force, but his vision is clouded by the apparition of a mysterious hooded figure.
[*]The second installment of a two-part article by Abel G. Peña entitled “Aliens in the Empire” mentions that the dark side adept and future Imperial Procurator of Justice Hethrir “possessed Darth Sidious’ rare talent to cast a dark side shadow over Force users, dulling their abilities.”
[*]The Revenge of the Sith novelization (pg. 321, hardback edition) makes the following claim with respect to Darth Sidious: “the darkness in the Force was no hindrance to the shadow [Palpatine]; it was the darkness.”[/list]
Section conclusion: Darth Sidious’s strength in the dark side of the Force not only devastates his physical form with its lethal intensity, but also has an incredible external affect on the galaxy—he is singlehandedly capable of smothering the perceptions of ten thousand Jedi Knights during the era in which they are at the peak of their power across the countless light-years that span the galaxy. It is a feat the size and scale of which have yet to be equaled.
