relentless1
Dark Overlord of KMC
Two misconceptions I feel I should address is Lucas' remarks on the fight, one comment from the Revenge of the Sith commentary and another from The Making of Star Wars Episode III: Revenge of the Sith. Here is Lucas' first statement:
"Okay, well, this sequence always started out with Mace overpowering Palpatine, and then Palpatine using his powers to try to destroy Mace, and Mace deflecting his rays with his lightsaber. And it always was that Anakin cut the lightsaber out of his hand. But this part where he pretends to lose his power and be weak was something that I added later, 'cause this is, it moved the point where Anakin turns down to this moment right here, and you can see now, that it's very clear that he's, he, he wants him to go on trial so he can pump him for information about how to get these powers."
--Taken from the Revenge of the Sith commentary
If you fail to pay attention to context, this sounds like Lucas said that Mace in fact did defeat Palpatine. However, you need to notice the comment as a whole. Lucas starts off by offering a description on a certain scene, but then he moves on to tell how he fitted details in with one another. But this is the distinction: He describes a sequence of events as the viewer sees them at first, giving a brief background on what sequence in particular he is talking about, but then his focus shifts from what the audience sees to what the characters' intentions are and what they experience and think. The initial comment about Mace overpowering Palpatine only addresses what we as the audience see on-screen; it does not disclose character mindsets, intentions, or motivations. Only the second half of Lucas' statement deals with those character-driven factors by pointing out that he intended for Palpatine to feign weakness as he fired Lightning at Mace to force Anakin into a decision, which also overwrites Lucas' initial explication that Palpatine intended to kill Mace with Lightning; instead, this quote actually confirms that Sidious did in fact feign weakness during his Lightning assault because Lucas revised his original outline for the scene from "tries to destroy Mace" to "pretends to be weak." So from the context of simply a perceivable sequence, no, this does not constitute proof that Lucas stated that Mace did really defeat Palpatine, and from the context of a sequence that was changed, no, this does not constitute proof that Lucas stated that Palpatine meant to kill Mace with Lightning.
The other input from Lucas I should cover is the following:
The actors rehearse their dressing gowns and then adjourn for final costume adjustments, while Lucas and Knoll continue to examine the footage. When Palpatine easily strikes down Mace's three associate Jedi at the outset of the scene, Knoll says, "Look at this—Mace brought the B-team!"
"You have to be either Mace or Yoda to compete with the Emperor," Lucas says. "If Anakin hadn't got all beat-up, he could've beat the Emperor."
--Taken from The Making of Star Wars Episode III: Revenge of the Sith
Typically, what is surmised from this quote is that Mace can, under his own power, contend with Sidious with no contextual details or circumstantial factors influencing the duel. I disagree with this translation. All Lucas says is that either Yoda or Mace are required to oppose Sidious on anything resembling even terms. He does not say anything else than that. The novelization of RotS very plainly explicated that Mace's fighting abilities were demonstrably upgraded on account of the very specific circumstances preceding and during the duel. With that said, let me ask this question: Does Lucas' statement refute what the novel narrates? Not at all. You do have to be either Mace or Yoda to compete with the Emperor, because only Yoda possesses the intrinsic power to match him and only Mace possesses a mastery of Vaapad that could weaponize a trauma of the kind that Windu was subjected to.
