I’m not certain what there is to respond to; the point remains the same: all of Luke Skywalker’s purported “uber feats!” during the Unifying Force are the product of a battle meld with Jaina and Jacen Solo. Battle meld enhances coordination to an unprecedented level and allows for each of the Jedi involved to draw on the reserves and strengths of the others; given that the three have Skywalker genetics within them, which is noted by multiple sources to be a high tier of Force energy, it’s no wonder how casually they were able to accost Shimrra’s soldiers on their way to the Overlord himself.
You point out that Jaina was rendered unconscious. She was the weakest of the three, and a battle meld can still be applied with two (as you have acknowledged and provided evidence for). As far as the Vong’s coordination is concerned, you haven’t the slightest possible means to quantify it and compare it to the high level of the Jedi battle meld, which relies on both the Force and the three Skywalkers’ extremely impressive reserves.
The ultimate point of this was to show that nothing Luke demonstrates throughout this fight—and I mean nothing—remotely suggests he could defeat someone of Palpatine’s caliber.
I have just consulted the guide and it states the following:
“Indeed, the battle-meld was an advantage the enemy [the Yuuzhan Vong] couldn’t match.”
I think we can safely say then, that not only does it provide a colossal advantage to the combatants involved, but the coordination between the Slayers and Shimrra isn’t favorably comparable.
And, some good news for you…
“[…]but if the individuals [in the battle-meld] aren’t in complete agreement, the meld can swiftly fall apart.”
You could argue that the meld did fall apart, but ‘complete agreement’ is rather vague; it doesn’t have to necessarily be physical agreement. The fact that Jacen was able to feel Luke’s pain suggests the meld, however damaged, was still intact. Alas, with good news, there is always bad news…
“[…]Luke Skywalker noted that the strength of the battle-meld with Jaina and Jacen solo was such that the three might have been sharing the same mind, and that mind was the Force itself.”
The inference clearly being that the battle-meld between them was one of particular strength. Once again, the ultimate point being that none of this remotely suggests that Luke would be anything other than a taxing battle for Palpatine; there is nothing to say, with any confidence, from his fight on Coruscant that he could defeat the Emperor.
Originally posted by Eminence
... You see DS up there and you call him out on Valerian? Seriously?
Spoiler:
Seriously.
Darth Sexy appears to be the vastly more learned of the two of them in information relating to that which Gideon's essay was covering; he has displayed extensive knowledge relating to the SW mythologies on multiple events throughout the timeline; has been at the forum for far longer and by extension been picking up information for a far longer amount of time; has demonstrated a vast familiarity with multiple sources, and outside of the SW related topics, has demonstrated a solid level of knowledge and understanding relating to subjects such as politics, religion and economics, regardless of how flawed it may be in some cases. So yes, I would say Valerian's name was easily more out of place there.
Originally posted by Edge MaverickSpoiler:
Seriously.Darth Sexy appears to be the vastly more learned of the two of them in information relating to that which Gideon's essay was covering; he has displayed extensive knowledge relating to the SW mythologies on multiple events throughout the timeline; has been at the forum for far longer and by extension been picking up information for a far longer amount of time; has demonstrated a vast familiarity with multiple sources, and outside of the SW related topics, has demonstrated a solid level of knowledge and understanding relating to subjects such as politics, religion and economics, regardless of how flawed it may be in some cases. So yes, I would say Valerian's name was easily more out of place there.
I find that Valerian is an intelligent person, through conversations that extend outside this forum, and is of quiet, calm, objectivity.
Don't fret; you were mentioned, too.
Originally posted by Dr McBeefington
But that's obvious. It appeared that you were using that as a way to state that Luke's abilities are somehow exaggerated. we know he struggled but we don't know the specific details, nor the power level of the Hidden One. All that would be useful knowledge to determine if Luke's skills are decreasing.
You're missing the point, DS. If you and I happened to be in a fight, and I preferred to leave you relatively unharmed, I would logically not employ a ruthless offense. If you shove me into a wall and I am trying to overpower the force you're applying, however, I would have no reason to not try as hard as I could to keep you from killing me; Luke's defense struggled immensely with the Hidden One's offense; he was forced to exert himself and rely heavily on the Force, which suggests that he was not leagues above the Hidden One, who, again, is a random monk.
Originally posted by Edge Maverick
This is why I don't like arguing for characters like Luke; with so many authors with different visions of what the character's supposed to be like, you get some ridiculous inconsistencies like the one above.
Thus is LFL (and Lucas's) inherent stupidity. There is no cogent plan; there never, ever was.
I'd like to, as a part time job, prune the EU.