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Okay... so we all know that Grievous's performance seems very inconsistent and maybe a little bit unimpressive. Then with Grievous's performance against Maul in Son's of Dathomir, he suddenly has a great feat that seems beyond his grasp to some.
I'm going to go with the theory that Grievous improved considerably as the clone wars progressed. So I'm going to try an analyze his various feats to determine his improvement and factors that may have led to his at times underwhelming performance.
Grievous's first and seemingly most impressive feat is his performance during the battle of Hypori. Of the five Jedi that he engaged, one of them was not a master, and one if the masters didn't have any impressive feats prior. Aside from this, all five of them were exhausted and being the Jedi's first encounter with Grievous, they were completely unused to and unfamiliar with Grievous's unorthodox fighting style. This battle may have also led to some of his future cockiness when dealing with Jedi.
Grievous forced Ahsoka to a retreat and she cut off one of his hands before running away. Grievous was almost certainly being cocky here and clearly wasn't trying very hard, and so she caught him by surprise and was still forced to run to avoid being sliced to ribbons.
At the beginning of the Clone Wars he lost to Fisto, though admittedly he wasn't in the best physical condition as he was coughing more than usual, and his doctor droid said that he needed his rest. Factor in Fisto's stlye's effectiveness on Grievous and his defeat becomes plausible.
Then we have Grievous's encounter with Eeth Koth, another member of the Jedi High Council. Grievous was initially driving Koth into a retreat using only two of his arms and lightsabers, until Koth got a temporary edge with a force push then was subdued by Magnaguards. So Grievousheld the edge for most of that fight only fighting with half of his arms and weapons until the force was used for Koth to gain a temporary advantage. The fact that the Magnaguards intervened is not indicative of the fact that Grievous would've lost the fight when he was clearly the superior melee combatant of the two.
Now I will be addressing what is perhaps his worst showing of all time... losing to Gungans. My personal viewpoint here is that he got too cocky. He was easily dispatching the Gungans prior to Captain Tarpals sacrificing himself, and even managed to make short work of the Captain before his dying act, which caught him seriously off guard, as he wouldn't expect a guy he just plunged a spear into to be capable of stabbing him back. After he was seriously wounded by that he was at the same time severely outnumbered, so the Gungans brought him down. Tarpals also evidently may be a greater warrior than given credit for. He's not a stupid Gungan like Jar Jar, so I wouldn't negatively associate how impressive he is with Jar Jar's personal stupidity. Tarpals did a cool little kick weapon up from the ground with foot and catch it thing before actually landing a good hit on the General, dodging a few strikes, and managing to stab Grievous after being mortally wounded. He is evidently made out to be a quite a badass despite the negative Jar Jar related connotations of being a Gungan. And aside from this, Grievous having a low showing does not mean that he sucks. Dooku got captured by drunken pirates, and he's still a badass.
Next we have Grievous's defeat at the hands of Asajj Ventress. I also attribute this loss to the good General being cocky. At the beginning he was initially holding the edge in their duel by kicking Ventress back, and this becomes more relevant if you count the deleted scene where he kicks her onto the ground for a few seconds and a Nightsister intervenes to save her before getting mercilessly cut down. Basically Grievous was beating her, he got cocky, and Ventress caught him off guard while pushing herself to the limit of her capabilities. Ventress may also have been fueled by the connection the Nightsisters have to Dathomir.
Now we have Grievous's performance against Kenobi various times during the Clone Wars. While his performance against Kenobi is very consistent amongst everything else, I will also assert the idea that Kenobi improved a lot as well throughout the Clone Wars, from losing to Fisto to being able to hold off Maul and Savage at once. So I will assert that their performances against eachother are so consistent because both improved quite a bit during the Clone Wars.
Next we have Grievous being held off by Ahsoka on Florrum. I'm going to say that Grievous got cocky and wasn't trying too much. This is evident by the laughing, and most importantly the fact that he floors her in twenty seconds, deliberately passing up an easy opportunity to kill her for his own amusement. Ahsoka then fights a bit longer and runs away.
Most recently, we have been exposed to Grievous's performance against Maul in Son of Dathomir. They clashed quickly, Grievous kicked him away, and Maul retreated because of the defeat of his own forces. Grievous's prior performance against Kenobi, and his soon after performances against Dooku, Windu, and Kenobi again suggest that he is in fact capable of competing with Maul in a duel. The kick he landed on Maul does not definitively indicate his superiority over Maul however. Maul was arguably not in the best condition so soon after his release from prison and after Grievous's Magnaguards fought him to "soften him up." The kick does not also indicate assured victory for Grievous, as opponents with lesser physical feats have continued to fight him even after the General landed a good kick on them. And aside from that it was too short a fight to properly determine the superior of the two in melee combat.
Then we have Grievous pressing Dooku in a duel only using two of his arms and lightsabers, though Dooku was clearly in control of the fight.
What is perhaps his most impressive feat is keeping up with Windu in a duel, with the two matching eachother's combat speed of 20 strikes a second on board the train thing.
Grievous was also initially overwhelming Kenobi's defense with his full offensive capabilities, forcing Kenobi to reduce his arm count to continue the fight, and even did Grievous did well in a duel.
So basically, Grievous's more impressive feats are closer to the end, and his seemingly most inconsistent feats are not entirely what they seem. Grievous's various performances actually make a lot of sense when you consider various factors in his fights as well as his almost overwhelming hubris at times.
I'm going to go with the theory that Grievous improved considerably as the clone wars progressed. So I'm going to try an analyze his various feats to determine his improvement and factors that may have led to his at times underwhelming performance.
Grievous's first and seemingly most impressive feat is his performance during the battle of Hypori. Of the five Jedi that he engaged, one of them was not a master, and one if the masters didn't have any impressive feats prior. Aside from this, all five of them were exhausted and being the Jedi's first encounter with Grievous, they were completely unused to and unfamiliar with Grievous's unorthodox fighting style. This battle may have also led to some of his future cockiness when dealing with Jedi.
Grievous forced Ahsoka to a retreat and she cut off one of his hands before running away. Grievous was almost certainly being cocky here and clearly wasn't trying very hard, and so she caught him by surprise and was still forced to run to avoid being sliced to ribbons.
At the beginning of the Clone Wars he lost to Fisto, though admittedly he wasn't in the best physical condition as he was coughing more than usual, and his doctor droid said that he needed his rest. Factor in Fisto's stlye's effectiveness on Grievous and his defeat becomes plausible.
Then we have Grievous's encounter with Eeth Koth, another member of the Jedi High Council. Grievous was initially driving Koth into a retreat using only two of his arms and lightsabers, until Koth got a temporary edge with a force push then was subdued by Magnaguards. So Grievousheld the edge for most of that fight only fighting with half of his arms and weapons until the force was used for Koth to gain a temporary advantage. The fact that the Magnaguards intervened is not indicative of the fact that Grievous would've lost the fight when he was clearly the superior melee combatant of the two.
Now I will be addressing what is perhaps his worst showing of all time... losing to Gungans. My personal viewpoint here is that he got too cocky. He was easily dispatching the Gungans prior to Captain Tarpals sacrificing himself, and even managed to make short work of the Captain before his dying act, which caught him seriously off guard, as he wouldn't expect a guy he just plunged a spear into to be capable of stabbing him back. After he was seriously wounded by that he was at the same time severely outnumbered, so the Gungans brought him down. Tarpals also evidently may be a greater warrior than given credit for. He's not a stupid Gungan like Jar Jar, so I wouldn't negatively associate how impressive he is with Jar Jar's personal stupidity. Tarpals did a cool little kick weapon up from the ground with foot and catch it thing before actually landing a good hit on the General, dodging a few strikes, and managing to stab Grievous after being mortally wounded. He is evidently made out to be a quite a badass despite the negative Jar Jar related connotations of being a Gungan. And aside from this, Grievous having a low showing does not mean that he sucks. Dooku got captured by drunken pirates, and he's still a badass.
Next we have Grievous's defeat at the hands of Asajj Ventress. I also attribute this loss to the good General being cocky. At the beginning he was initially holding the edge in their duel by kicking Ventress back, and this becomes more relevant if you count the deleted scene where he kicks her onto the ground for a few seconds and a Nightsister intervenes to save her before getting mercilessly cut down. Basically Grievous was beating her, he got cocky, and Ventress caught him off guard while pushing herself to the limit of her capabilities. Ventress may also have been fueled by the connection the Nightsisters have to Dathomir.
Now we have Grievous's performance against Kenobi various times during the Clone Wars. While his performance against Kenobi is very consistent amongst everything else, I will also assert the idea that Kenobi improved a lot as well throughout the Clone Wars, from losing to Fisto to being able to hold off Maul and Savage at once. So I will assert that their performances against eachother are so consistent because both improved quite a bit during the Clone Wars.
Next we have Grievous being held off by Ahsoka on Florrum. I'm going to say that Grievous got cocky and wasn't trying too much. This is evident by the laughing, and most importantly the fact that he floors her in twenty seconds, deliberately passing up an easy opportunity to kill her for his own amusement. Ahsoka then fights a bit longer and runs away.
Most recently, we have been exposed to Grievous's performance against Maul in Son of Dathomir. They clashed quickly, Grievous kicked him away, and Maul retreated because of the defeat of his own forces. Grievous's prior performance against Kenobi, and his soon after performances against Dooku, Windu, and Kenobi again suggest that he is in fact capable of competing with Maul in a duel. The kick he landed on Maul does not definitively indicate his superiority over Maul however. Maul was arguably not in the best condition so soon after his release from prison and after Grievous's Magnaguards fought him to "soften him up." The kick does not also indicate assured victory for Grievous, as opponents with lesser physical feats have continued to fight him even after the General landed a good kick on them. And aside from that it was too short a fight to properly determine the superior of the two in melee combat.
Then we have Grievous pressing Dooku in a duel only using two of his arms and lightsabers, though Dooku was clearly in control of the fight.
What is perhaps his most impressive feat is keeping up with Windu in a duel, with the two matching eachother's combat speed of 20 strikes a second on board the train thing.
Grievous was also initially overwhelming Kenobi's defense with his full offensive capabilities, forcing Kenobi to reduce his arm count to continue the fight, and even did Grievous did well in a duel.
So basically, Grievous's more impressive feats are closer to the end, and his seemingly most inconsistent feats are not entirely what they seem. Grievous's various performances actually make a lot of sense when you consider various factors in his fights as well as his almost overwhelming hubris at times.