Emperor Palpatine -vs- Emperor Vitiate

Nai
The difference here is, that the, while the Jedi accomplishing Mace had some renown concering their skill with a lightsaber [wherever that came from in the first place], they weren't known as power houses in the force.

Nai
And here, the situation that Vitiate found himself in, when confronting Revan, the Exile and Scourge was different.
Revan was a living legend. That he was capable of overpowering Darth Nyriss with relative ease is testament to his own abilities with the Force (especially considering he had just gone through years of medical intoxication and a sever mental trauma, when his memories returned). Yet, he doesn't even register in comparison to Vitiate, once the letter decides to throw "everything he had" at Revan. Likewise the Exile, who has - after all - rid the Galaxy of Darth Nihilus and was a Wound in the Force, wasn't registered as a threat by Vitiate (and viewed herself as far below Revan in terms of force mastery). Add Scourge, who, despite lacking in the Force mastery department, had a gift of feeding of his opponents powers in combat. Even confronting that trio - where Revan alone would pose a threat to most Sith / Jedi in the mythos, Vitiate seems certain that he will walk away from that fight alive.

Nai
Scourge thought, that there was no way to determine the more likely outcome of the fight.

Nai
The same could be said about Sidious, aside from the fact, that he had 1200 years less time to explore the Dark Side.

Nai
Again, I can just repeat my question: What would happen to the feats of the Emperor, if you would analyze them following the same questions, you want people apply to Vitiate's feats. I doubt there would be much left to put Sidious on a pedestal, starting with the fact that, apparently, Plagueis and Sidious have managed to generate an Galaxy spanning condition favoring the actions of Sith, while in turn deminishing the abilities of the Jedi to touch the Force [via month long meditation / rituals]. Applying the questions above, all of Sidious feats did benefit from that circumstance [at least until his death in RotJ, bringing balance to the Force], while later feats would always be performed with additional power drawn from the people on Byss [e.g. the Force storms conjured in orbit of that planet].

Nai
while later feats would always be performed with additional power drawn from the people on Byss [e.g. the Force storms conjured in orbit of that planet].

The life energy drawn from Byss's population was used to fuel "vile experiments within the fell Imperial Citadel" (The Essential Atlas, pg. 49). The Emperor incited a Force storm in orbit of Da Soocha V, located in Hutt Space and countless lightyears away from both Byss and its citadel.

Originally posted by Eminence
This would hold more weight if Palpatine had strangled, battered or seared them all to death. This incident is relevant to me precisely because he kills them on what should've been their turf. That his speed or ferocity or reflexes were heightened beyond theirs because of his power does not preclude the fact that speed, ferocity and reflexes are critical aspects of a lightsaber duel, and therefore by necessity talents that (per their stations) those three had to have in abundance. It stands to reason that an ace pilot is exceptionally quick, and his own duel with General Grievous aside others have testified to the effect that Kit Fisto is all of the above. Considering both physiological boons (as Plagueis so often does) and sensitivity to the Force, there has to be a convergent threshold. Theirs has to be high; Palpatine's is almost excessive.

Tinn's piloting skills obviously didn't prove to be useful against a formidable duelist either.

Ferocity isn't a critical aspect of a Lightsaber duel. It is important for those duelists who adopt aggressive posture such as practitioners of Shien, Ataru and Juyo.

Precognition and reaction-rate (speed) are very important aspects of a Lightsaber duel, as per my understanding. Precognition helps in anticipating the offensive moves of the opponent in advance and reaction-rate should be fast enough to complement the precognitive abilities for epic results.

Originally posted by Eminence
With respect to Vitiate I'd give Revan more credit than you do. They're certainly not equals, but even all said and done I doubt flooring the Emperor twice doesn't "register." Given the circumstances of their duel I'm hesitant to give the Exile much credit for Nihilus' death, and that she and Scourge together were no match for Lady Nyriss gives me no reason to reconsider. That said, it's important to keep in mind that he didn't actually beat them.

Originally posted by Eminence
Because he had conflicting premonitions showing him one outcome and then another. He was standing alongside the Jedi when struck by these visions, if you recall.

Originally posted by Eminence
I agree. The difference is that Sidious has demonstrated appropriately impressive martial prowess; Vitiate has not. And it isn't that he hasn't demonstrated any martial prowess, it's that the height of what he seems to be capable of in a fight does not scale congruently with the extent or purported depth of his scholarship at all.

Heck, Sidious for all his martial abilites, lost to Mace, Yoda and even Luke in martial confrontations.

I think that Sidious's dueling prowess is highly overrated; much like that of Anakin's. It is mistakenly assumed that these two will demolish anyone with a Lightsaber. Both Sidious and Anakin are remarkable duelists but they aren't the best.

Originally posted by Eminence
To my recollection no novel in this period that explores the subject (Plagueis, Labyrinth of Evil, and Revenge of the Sith being the ones I'm familiar with) supports the idea that the shift has made the Sith individually stronger, or the Jedi weaker. It is known that to Jedi the "currents" are murkier and their "use" of the Force is diminished, but in context the imbalance operates on a more macrocosmic scale (will of the dark side, the Force striking back, etc.) than we deal with here.

Originally posted by Eminence
To my recollection no novel in this period that explores the subject (Plagueis, Labyrinth of Evil, and Revenge of the Sith being the ones I'm familiar with) supports the idea that the shift has made the Sith individually stronger, or the Jedi weaker. It is known that to Jedi the "currents" are murkier and their "use" of the Force is diminished, but in context the imbalance operates on a more macrocosmic scale (will of the dark side, the Force striking back, etc.) than we deal with here.

I don't know Em, Windu flat-out saying that the Jedi's ability to use the Force has diminished doesn't seem that ambiguous. Coupled with what it says in Plagueis, there seems to be no doubt imo:

'All that mattered was that, almost a decade earlier, they had succeeded in willing the Force to shift and tip irrevocably to the dark side. Not a mere paradigm shift, but a tangible alteration that could be felt by anyone strong in the Force, and whether or not trained in the Sith or Jedi arts.

The shift had been the outcome of months of intense meditation, during which Plagueis and Sidious had sought to challenge the Force for sovereignty and suffuse the galaxy with the power of the dark side. Brazen and shameless, and at their own mortal peril, they had waged etheric war, anticipating that their own midi-chlorians, the Force’s proxy army, might marshal to boil their blood or stop the beating of their hearts. Risen out of themselves, discorporate and as a single entity, they had brought the power of their will to bear, asserting their sovereignty over the Force. No counterforce had risen against them. In what amounted to a state of rapture they knew that the Force had yielded, as if some deity had been tipped from its throne. On the fulcrum they had fashioned, the light side had dipped and the dark side had ascended.'

Originally posted by Nephthys
I don't know Em, Windu flat-out saying that the Jedi's ability to use the Force has diminished doesn't seem that ambiguous.

As alluded to by Eminence, every available EU source that I'm familiar with (Labyrinth of Evil, Shatterpoint, Revenge of the Sith) has interpreted a single effect: clouding the Jedi's clairvoyance and large-scale precognition. He does not dispute this, but questions where it enhanced the Sith individually and with respect to combat prowess. Likewise, I don't see any proof of the Jedi's fighting capabilities being undermined.

Darth Plagueis
Brazen and shameless, and at their own mortal peril, they had waged etheric war, anticipating that their own midi-chlorians, the Force’s proxy army, might marshal to boil their blood or stop the beating of their hearts. Risen out of themselves, discorporate and as a single entity, they had brought the power of their will to bear, asserting their sovereignty over the Force. No counterforce had risen against them. In what amounted to a state of rapture they knew that the Force had yielded, as if some deity had been tipped from its throne. On the fulcrum they had fashioned, the light side had dipped and the dark side had ascended.

Originally posted by The_Tempest
As alluded to by Eminence, every available EU source that I'm familiar with (Labyrinth of Evil, Shatterpoint, Revenge of the Sith) has interpreted a single effect: clouding the Jedi's clairvoyance and large-scale precognition. He does not dispute this, but questions where it enhanced the Sith individually and with respect to combat prowess. Likewise, I don't see any proof of the Jedi's fighting capabilities being undermined.

The whole Force tangibly shifts towards the dark side. Jedi do not just draw on the Force for precognition, it makes no sense that such a complete change would only affect those abilities.

Luceno ftw.

Originally posted by Nephthys
The whole Force tangibly shifts towards the dark side. Jedi do not just draw on the Force for precognition, it makes no sense that such a complete change would only affect those abilities.

As you posed to me quite recently, when has Star Wars been consistently logical?
There has been no evidence, to my knowledge, presented by the various EU works (comics, novels, sourcebooks, and television series) that the Jedi are somehow handicapped in combat by the shroud of the dark side. What has been consistently mentioned, across various sources by a multitude of authors and by numerous characters, is that the Jedi's clairvoyant and precognitive abilities have diminished:

In the Attack of the Clones graphic novel, Yoda tries to meditate in the Force during the Council's meeting in the Chancellor's office (right after the attempt on Padme's life) but his vision "blocked" by an apparition of Darth Sidious; Dooku mentions later that "the dark side of the Force" has clouded the Jedi's vision to the Sith's infiltration of the government. In Shatterpoint, Mace Windu tries to use the Force to sense Depa Billaba's status and whereabouts, but is frustrated by the "veil of the dark side"; later, in Revenge of the Sith, he muses that even his shatterpoint charism has been affected by this: though he perceives the lattice connecting Anakin, Obi-Wan, and Palpatine, he is unable to discern its outcome—but that same novel has him perceiving and exploiting shatterpoints in Palpatine's defense without issue.

There are others, but I think a vivid picture has been painted. Is there any reason to believe it would mitigate their combat abilities and enhance those of the Sith?

Originally posted by Eminence
This would hold more weight if Palpatine had strangled, battered or seared them all to death. This incident is relevant to me precisely because he kills them on what should've been their turf. That his speed or ferocity or reflexes were heightened beyond theirs because of his power does not preclude the fact that speed, ferocity and reflexes are critical aspects of a lightsaber duel, and therefore by necessity talents that (per their stations) those three had to have in abundance. It stands to reason that an ace pilot is exceptionally quick, and his own duel with General Grievous aside others have testified to the effect that Kit Fisto is all of the above. Considering both physiological boons (as Plagueis so often does) and sensitivity to the Force, there has to be a convergent threshold. Theirs has to be high; Palpatine's is almost excessive.

Eminence. I understand your reasoning, but I can't agree with it, because it is - ultimately - flawed. Why?

I. The status of the trio
I'm willing to accept the idea, that the three Jedi accompanying Mace were - for whatever reason - "celebrated swordsman". But I'm not going to accept the idea - which seems to be implied by your reasoning - that the trio consisted of experienced lightsaber duelists. Most of the opponents they faced throughout their careers as "warriors" were blaster wielding humans or droids. There is, to my knowledge, one recorded lightsaber duel for Kolar - against Quinlan Vos, who was posing at a double-agent not willing to injure/kill his opponent. Tiin has no actual lightsaber confrontation on his field record, just one training match against Kenobi, that he lost. Fisto went up against Asajj Ventress, which ended with his defeat and an injury. He did well against Grievous, but also not solely because of his lightsaber abilities. He did utilize the Force to overcome the non-force-sensitive.

So that trio, when it comes to lightsaber duels under combat conditions is almost inexperienced, with their skill level - apparently - below that of Master Kenobi, who, in turn, seems to be firmly below the likes of Yoda, Sidious, Mace and Dooku.

II. Jumping to conclusions
While I agree that "speed, ferocity and reflexes" are pretty nice to have as a lightsaber combatant, I don't see any reason to suggest that the trio had those "in abundance" based on their station as "celebrated swordsman". Nor do I see a reason why the "convergent threshold" you've mentioned "has to be high" with them. Or what "station" were you referring to? And even that claim to fame is mostly based upon Mace Windu's musings regarding their lightsaber abilities. The same Mace Windu, that - in the same source - calls Obi-Wan "the master of lightsaber combat" and mentions that the bladework of his Padawan Depa Billaba does surpass his own. Pretty generous judgements regarding the actual abilities of his fellow Jedi.

But even assuming, that there was some reason behind Mace's judgement, we're right back at the fact, that the actual combat showings of the trio lead to the suggestion, that they are below Obi-Wan Kenobi in skill. That's certainly nothing to scoff at, but it's still nowhere close to the likes of Mace himself.

III. Ignoring the facts
Rather than "facts" one could say, that you're ignoring one fact: that Sidious force aided speed was his key to victory. I don't want to start of the circumstances of that little fight, the bad choreography or anything else linked to it, but one has to accept that neither Tiin nor Kolar shows any reaction before getting cut down by Sidious. So before even starting to think about their lightsaber abilities or reflexes, you should accept the fact that all of that was completely negated by the sheer speed and ferocity of Sidious initial assault.

An assault fueled by the dark side of the force, that gives people an advantage in combat, which is why Mace fighting style is so very efficient. We know, that the initial attack of a Sith Lord fueled by his rage can elevate his performance beyond the boundries of his "normal" skills. After all, Sidious himself almost fell victim to a similar attack, when Maul launched at him in a similar ferrocious assault. But unlike Sidious in his confrontation with the Jedi, Maul was at the edge of his physical abilities already, having spent several weeks on a planet, without food, unable to sleep and constantly hunted by droids programmed to kill him (which resulted in an injury). But even under that adverse conditions, Maul was capable of launching an attack on his Master that Sidious just "barely" deflected.

Could it be that Sidious himself made use of a similar, albeit more controlled, manouver in order to get rid of the two weakest links in the team Mace brought? Would the same work against a rather powerful force user, given the idea, that a better connection to the force ensures a more accurate prediction of the moves an opponent might conduct in a lightsaber fight?

With respect to Vitiate I'd give Revan more credit than you do. They're certainly not equals, but even all said and done I doubt flooring the Emperor twice doesn't "register."

Where does he floor the Emperor twice?
He does it once, in a situation were Vitiate does completely focus on attempting to mindrape Revan, leaving himself open to an attack. That might seem odd or be seen as weakness on Vitiate's side. But then one has to keep the fact in mind, that not only has he - apparently with ease - turned Revan into a puppet before. That ability to dominate other beings is one that he has used from the early days of his career and that has, seemingly, never failed him before that confrontation with Revan.
The second time Revan "hits" him, with a bolt of dark side energy reflected back, Vitiate is pushed backwards but not "floored" and, in turn, unleashes the attack that totally overpowers Revans defenses. Do you think that Revan would have stood a chance had Vitiate done all he could to kill his adversary with the first attack? I don't. And seeing that Vitiate in guise of his voice (so at a time, where his essence - and hence power - was devided to his original body, his voice and "hundreds" of his "children) able to utterly destroy an entire strike team of Jedi (Masters), I don't think that the Exile and Scourge would have made much of a difference there.

Given the circumstances of their duel I'm hesitant to give the Exile much credit for Nihilus' death, and that she and Scourge together were no match for Lady Nyriss gives me no reason to reconsider. That said, it's important to keep in mind that he didn't actually beat them.

How can you not give the Exile much credit for the death of Nihilus? She had support when fighting him, true. But somebody did weaken and kill him, right? And there is still that little fact, that Meetra did fight her way through the Sith Academy on Malachor V to confront Sion / Traya on her own. And Nyriss is one of the 12 most powerful Dark Side adepts within an Empire filled with Sith and dark acolytes. I think that does require some ability regarding the use of the Force. A field of study that, given the description of both Nyriss herself and her study room, she has dedicated some nice amount of time (and resources) to. After all, reducing two soldiers to "charred husks" in split seconds using Force lightning isn't a too shabby display of power, is it?

Because he had conflicting premonitions showing him one outcome and then another. He was standing alongside the Jedi when struck by these visions, if you recall.

What I recall is, that he was never certain, whether the trio - even in a combined effort - would be capable of taking out Vitiate. Even before the trio sets out for the final confrontation Revan and Scourge are discussing the possibility, that they will die at the hands of the Sith Emperor. So that uncertainty was present before the visions came. Without reason? I don't think so.

After all, Vitiate is the guy that once executed eleven members of his Dark Council with a single "sudden flash" on the steps of his citadel. It was the same Vitiate that, just before Scourge and the two Jedi confronted him, personally executed nine members of the Dark Council on his own - again, apparently, with one single demonstration of his abilities.

I agree. The difference is that Sidious has demonstrated appropriately impressive martial prowess; Vitiate has not. And it isn't that he hasn't demonstrated any martial prowess, it's that the height of what he seems to be capable of in a fight does not scale congruently with the extent or purported depth of his scholarship at all.

"Approbiate impressive martial prowess"? How so, Eminence? Because he managed to decimating three Jedi Masters of relatively unknown skill in seconds? Vitiate apparently doesn't even need to ignite a lightsaber to do the same. Your point?

And it strikes me as odd to proclaim, that Vitiate hasn't demonstrated any kind of "impressive" martial prowess. Does the term "martial" now exclusively refer to the use of a lightsaber? Can't we file "anything a character can do in a confration" under that headline? Shouldn't we take everything Vitiate can do in a direct confrontation into consideration, rather than sticking to lightsaber abilities, that Vitiate simple doesn't care about, because - for more than 1,300 years - he still hasn't met a single being capable of withstanding his force powers [before meeting the Hero of Tython]?

Surely, Vitiate does rely on his force abilities, rather than utilizing a lightsaber. Perhabs he has good reason to do so, given the demonstrations of his force powers. Put the Sith Emperor in Palpatines situation in RotS. Would Vitiate have ignited a lightsaber to charge the four Jedi? Possible not. Would they have stood a chance if Vitiate had decided to unleash his force powers agains them? I seriously doubt it. Now try it the other way around. Put Sidious up against Revan, the Exile and Lord Scourge. Do you honestly think there is a even a 50/50 chance for him winning?

And even if Vitiate lacks constant lightsaber training, who is to say, that he can't wield the weapon with the same force aided, deadly efficiency, that Sidious utilized in his lightsaber fights? I don't see much evidence contradicting that idea.

To my recollection no novel in this period that explores the subject (Plagueis, Labyrinth of Evil, and Revenge of the Sith being the ones I'm familiar with) supports the idea that the shift has made the Sith individually stronger, or the Jedi weaker. It is known that to Jedi the "currents" are murkier and their "use" of the Force is diminished, but in context the imbalance operates on a more macrocosmic scale (will of the dark side, the Force striking back, etc.) than we deal with here.

How, pray tell, could those novels - save for "Darth Plagueis" - describe the effects of the shift, that has just been introduced by the aforementioned novel? Before that, the EU was operating under the premise of a certain amount of unbalancing of the Force, that has occured 200 years in the past, meaning that most of the Jedi active in the PT era would never have experienced any other condition during their lifetime.

The shift towards the Dark Side must have had tremendous effect, given how Plagueis discribes it twice in a fashion, that leaves no doubt about the idea, that at least every force user, if not every living being, must have noted the change happening. And what does happen?

For the Jedi, Mace Windu makes it pretty clear in AotC: "[...]our ability to use the Force has diminished." Is there any particular field mentioned or even a single ability? No. It's a general statement for the Jedi's weakening control in regards to using the force. And for the Sith? Well. When we assume, that the Force did shift towards the Dark Side, than Plagueis delivers the basic idea himself:

"But had Sith like Naga Sadow and Exar Kun genuinely been more powerful, or had they benefited from the fact that the dark side had been more prominent in those bygone eras?" - Darth Plagueis, iBook, Chapter 5, p.65

And after the shift occured, the first thing Plagueis does is demonstrating his - apparently new - ability to bring beings back from the other side of the wall of death unaided.

So we have Mace claiming that the Jedi did become weaker, with Plagueis hinting at the idea, that the Sith would have become stronger.

Nai
What I recall is, that he was never certain, whether the trio - even in a combined effort - would be capable of taking out Vitiate. Even before the trio sets out for the final confrontation Revan and Scourge are discussing the possibility, that they will die at the hands of the Sith Emperor. So that uncertainty was present before the visions came. Without reason? I don't think so.

The trio weren't the only ones in that fight who were uncertain of the outcome.

Nai
After all, Vitiate is the guy that once executed eleven members of his Dark Council with a single "sudden flash" on the steps of his citadel. It was the same Vitiate that, just before Scourge and the two Jedi confronted him, personally executed nine members of the Dark Council on his own - again, apparently, with one single demonstration of his abilities.

Under unknown circumstances. Given Vitiate's predilection for rituals, it could have very well been the result of one such.

Originally posted by The_Tempest
The trio weren't the only ones in that fight who were uncertain of the outcome.

Which you base on one sentence of Vitiate, which he uttered seconds after proclaiming how they will all die? Or, rather than that, from the fact, that he wasn't certain about the power-level of the Exile?

Under unknown circumstances. Given Vitiate's predilection for rituals, it could have very well been the result of one such.

Why would he prepare a more or less complex ritual, just in order to execute some underlings, when he has an army at his disposal, more than eager to do the job? And why should we assume he even needs a ritual for it, if he is "infinitely more powerful" than Nyriss, one of the Dark Council members?

Originally posted by Nai
Which you base on one sentence of Vitiate, which he uttered seconds after proclaiming how they will all die?

It could very easily have been false bravado.

Originally posted by Nai
Or, rather than that, from the fact, that he wasn't certain about the power-level of the Exile?

Why would he need to be worried about Surik? She was fodder for Nyriss who, in turn, was "infinitely" less powerful than Vitiate as you explain.

Originally posted by Nai
Why would he prepare a more or less complex ritual, just in order to execute some underlings, when he has an army at his disposal, more than eager to do the job?

Personal gratification?

Originally posted by Nai
And why should we assume he even needs a ritual for it, if he is "infinitely more powerful" than Nyriss, one of the Dark Council members?

Because the statement is hyperbolic? Because we never see him wave his hand and his opponent drop dead?

I'd like to start by saying Vitiate obliterates Sidious' corrupted body with a maelstrom of dark techniques not practiced by the latter.

Then I'd like to say Sidious was more dangerous, because he was far more clever and creative in overthrowing the Republic and destroying the Jedi. When he started relying more on the Dark Side than his natural talent as a mastermind, he was brought down...drunk on power.

Originally posted by The_Tempest
It could very easily have been false bravado.

Or his true opinion.

Why would he need to be worried about Surik? She was fodder for Nyriss who, in turn, was "infinitely" less powerful than Vitiate as you explain.

And Vitiate was irritated, because she stopped him from killing Revan, when he, apparently, didn't even care about her presence in his throne room.

Personal gratification?

He could have told people to have done it himself, while leaving the dirty job for his Royal Guard. Who would ever learn the truth, outside the Citadel?

Because the statement is hyperbolic? Because we never see him wave his hand and his opponent drop dead?

Of course it is hyperbolic. It still does deliver a very clear impression, doesn't it. And I've yet to see somebody Vitiate attacked with his full power and in order to kill.

Originally posted by Nai
Or his true opinion.

Which is contradicted by the "hesitation" and "uncertainty" that is attributed to him a moment later.

Originally posted by Nai
And Vitiate was irritated, because she stopped him from killing Revan, when he, apparently, didn't even care about her presence in his throne room.

How does his irritation lend itself to hesitation and uncertainty?

Originally posted by Nai
He could have told people to have done it himself, while leaving the dirty job for his Royal Guard. Who would ever learn the truth, outside the Citadel?

I meant that it could have been "personally gratifying" for him to kill them personally rather than assign the task to the Guard.

Originally posted by Nai
Of course it is hyperbolic. It still does deliver a very clear impression, doesn't it. And I've yet to see somebody Vitiate attacked with his full power and in order to kill.

The text notes that Vitiate was enraged when he attacked Revan after being floored by him the second time; you observe he intended to kill Revan then and there. We see Vitiate inform the Jedi Knight in The Old Republic that he intends to kill him before their battle begins. A potentially-exhausted Knight, depending on the circumstance, in the midst of a dark side nexus which in addition to bolstering the powers of dark siders, reduce the abilities of light siders (The Jedi Academy Training Manual).

The attack is completely incongruent with what we know of Vitiate. If it happened (The Old Republic Encyclopedia was written entirely in-universe per its introduction), it was very probably the result of a ritual.

Originally posted by The_Tempest
Which is contradicted by the "hesitation" and "uncertainty" that is attributed to him a moment later.

Attributed to him by another character, that might very well be wrong.

How does his irritation lend itself to hesitation and uncertainty?

First: See above. Then: He was completely focused on Revan, when, from his point of view, suddenly other opponents entered the arena, that he didn't pay any attention to before. Of course he is hesitating, because its a new situation and of course he is uncertain, because one of that new opponents is not just an unknown to him but, if I may remind you, a walking wound in the Force. Confronted with the same situation, other people might act out of panic. Vitiate simple waits. Because he felt treatened? Then why not deliver another force attack at the Exile (and Scourge) instead of doing, well, nothing?

I meant that it could have been "personally gratifying" for him to kill them personally rather than assign the task to the Guard.

Vitiate doesn't seem to care enough about his Dark Council (or anybody else) to gain anything from executing them on his own. And even if he wanted to do that, he could have just killed them one by one if he lacked the power to kill them all at once.

The text notes that Vitiate was enraged when he attacked Revan after being floored by him the second time; you observe he intended to kill Revan then and there.

That doesn't mean he wanted to kill him fast and painless, does it? If I remember correctly, Sidious also wants to kill Luke Skywalker in "Return of the Jedi", yet keeps electrocuting him without reducing him to ashes, before Vader suplexes his master into the reactor core of the second Death Star.

We see Vitiate inform the Jedi Knight in The Old Republic that he intends to kill him before their battle begins. A potentially-exhausted Knight, depending on the circumstance, in the midst of a dark side nexus which in addition to bolstering the powers of dark siders, reduce the abilities of light siders (The Jedi Academy Training Manual).

You do realize, that Vitiate is never wielding all his power in The Old Republic, right? The Jedi Knight confronts the Voice of the Emperor, which is a part of Vitiate's essence (and power) contained within another being. But at that point in time, Vitiate has kind of split his essence (and power) into rather many parts. One part resides in his original body, one big part in his Voice and smaller parts in his "children", which, according to The Old Republic Encyclopedia (p.163) numbered in the "hundreds".

The attack is completely incongruent with what we know of Vitiate. If it happened (The Old Republic Encyclopedia was written entirely in-universe per its introduction), it was very probably the result of a ritual.

How is that attack completely incongruent with what we know of Vitiate? He has been seen to take out entire groups of opponents on his own, when not wielding all his power during ToR, as explained above.
And it's nice to question the content of a source (to the point of questioning whether or not something proclaimed within has happened), just because its written from an in-universe perspective, which - surprise - is true for every single SW source.
That aside, your personal wish of the attack being the result of a ritual does not increase the probability for that being the case.

I'm tempted to address Nai's failed attempts to undermine Sidious's saber feats, and his suggestion that Vitiate can repilicate them, but I have a feeling he has me on ignore from our last debate. It would probably be a waste of time anyway considering he has a history of being persisted even when he is wrong. Still tempted though.

If youdo it I will quote you so he can see it.