Sorry for my interference here, but I simple have to participate in this:
Originally posted by PencilInEyelulz
I'm not necessarily contesting this; it's perfectly believable that Yoda is powerful enough to overcome the platform's antigrav systems in order to keep it somewhat immobile. {After all, Sidious would have had to overwhelm the systems in order to throw it down at Yoda to begin with.}My point, though, is that when the time comes to hurl the pod back, the sound you identify as the functioning antigrav systems is audible and therefore assisting Yoda in his endeavor. Unless I misread you, you're suggesting that he somehow shut them off; why would he do that? That would only make the task harder and he's not exactly in a position to recklessly expend vital energy {Sidious is already in a position to press his advantage with Yoda occupied with the pod}. Additionally, I see no reason for the antigrav systems to not lend significant assistance when their explicit function is to make the platforms levitate.
I'm rather certain, you are both not getting the point of antigravity devices. As the name "antigravity" already suggests, those things are designed to counter gravity - nothing more. So why should they work against or for either Sidious or Yoda?
Technically, they just have to prevent, that the pods are affected by gravity (hence "antigravity"😉, but force pushs or pulls, regardless in which direction they are aimed, would not benefit from this, since the pods wouldn't provide any force to aid / counter those force powers utilized against them, as those forces are not gravity.
That being said, I completely disagree with the theory of the sounds being generated by the antigrav devices (holy shit...imagine that annoyingly humming sound when all damn Senate pods would be floating through the air), which doesn't mean that they weren't active. I see this as a general indicator of the pods moving through the air - the faster they move, the louder the sound becomes. I haven't noticed any similar sound (in volume) during the various other Senate scene we saw in the Trilogy. But maybe somebody wants to check that.
We know based on Dooku's EU and television feats that he is an incredibly powerful telekinetic; telekinesis is arguably the most central ability of Force users. Lucas, Filoni, and Dooku himself have made it emphatically clear that Sidious is more powerful than the Count. If Dooku is able to casually lift a plethora of massive stone monoliths simultaneously during the Savage Opress arc, and Sidious is more powerful than him, why would we assume that he would be incapable of stopping a Senate platform?
Since when does "more powerful" as a general statement mean "superior in every single aspect of force use"? It is very well possible, that Dooku - either through a special talent or extensive training - has developed power in the field of telekinesis that topple those of his Sith master. I'm not saying that this is or must be the case...just saying that it could be possible.
If Dooku is able to casually lift a plethora of massive stone monoliths simultaneously during the Savage Opress arc, and Sidious is more powerful than him, why would we assume that he would be incapable of stopping a Senate platform? It seems unreasonable to me that you would suggest him to be incapable of such a feat, when the evidence {through feats and quotes} indicates that he is more than capable of it.
I think, Sidious was unable to stop that pod in that selected situation. Why?
The answer is rather simple: In addition to the momentum of the pod thrown at him, Sidious had to consider the possibility, that Yoda would keep pushing that pod. So stopping it would have meant to risk a direct test of powers with the Jedi Master who could have benefited from the fact, that he had already thrown an object in Sidious direction and just would have needed to add some more power to it to speed it up an - as final result - crush the Sith Lord with it.
My point is that these various authors and writers employed by LucasFilm have interpreted the scene from the film to depict Palpatine's superiority, even six years after its release. Why should what you or I interpret supercede what they do?
Do you seriously believe this?
I'm rather sure you're giving those authors far too much credit. They had an authorized interpretation of the scene in form of the RotS novel - so why do the already done work once again? Any statement refering to that particular scene, uses the same wording that is utilized in the RotS novel. Coincidence? Hardly. I can site several examples, which demonstrate clearly, that SW authors are rather good with the C&P.
Just for example: The description of Ragnos having "tremendous physical strength and a frightening grasp on the Dark Side" made it from Kreia's mouth right into the New Essential Chronology and can also be found in The Essential Guide through the Force. I don't think that three authors examined the source material on Ragnos and then came to the exact same conclusion with the exact same wording...
And the same is probably the case for the "interpretations" of the scene in RotS, which are all based on a early version of the script that doesn't necessarily represent what happens in the final version of the (movie) canon.