We all know the story of Darth Plagieus the Wise. He said Darth Bane's Rule of Two was no longer necessary, he became insanely powerful in the dark side, only to have Sidious kill him in his sleep. If Plagieus and Sidious were to have a full battle in the way the Rule of Two dictates, who truly comes out on top as the most powerful Sith Lord ever?
I got the impression they were pretty close, but Plagieus'd have the edge on experience at the time they did fight. Palps likely surpassed him at some point, but when is hard to tell.
The Sidious I am referring to is the one who was still Plagieus's apprentice. I want to know if Sids truly deserved to become the Dark Lord of the Sith when he actually did.
If by "deserve" you mean in a contest of strength, then probably not. Luceno implied that the fight would be close but that Plagueis would have an advantage. Palpatine's showings in the book are impressive, but not on Plagueis's level.
Overall, Sidious has far better feats by virtue of greater exposure.
In the book, very little attention is given to strict swordsmanship. The most that is said if Plagueis's abilities is an offhand remark that Tenebrous proclaimed him "a master" of the weapon; his chosen form or extent of mastery is never clearly defined. He duels with only one other Force user in the novel, Venamis, Tenebrous's secret Shadow Hand who nearly beats Plagueis.
Ok. Seemed like I had seen some mention of Sidious being even better than his master in terms of saber prowess but I think it was only something in passing.
If this is Sidious as he is in the Plagueis novel, then I'd say Plagueis takes it. As Tempest said, Plagueis has the better feats in the novel (combat-wise). If it's Sidious as he is in ROTS, then I'd say Sidious takes it.
__________________ "The power of the dark side is an illness no true Sith would wish to be cured of" -Darth Plagueis
Sidious. Any Sidious after episode 3 will win without a doubt. In the novel probably plagieus but if its Sidious at his best then Sidious takes it without a doubt.
I agree with the above. Plagueis had the better feats while dying from the surprise attack. Luceno himself felt that Plagueis would have "undermined" his apprentice in a fair fight.