I don't care what some shitty cartoon says. In the movie Sidious was obviously not holding a lightsaber and was trying to keep his distance from Yoda. Why would he do that if he was capable of defeating him in a duel?
Not that I disagree with Mace being the strongest in sabers, I like him a lot. But tbh I would take these out of universe statements too seriously. For instance, I remember that in the dark disciple’s announcement by Disney Dooku was described as “The dark side most powerful warrior” or something like that. But I’m pretty sure we all consider Sidious>Dooku. It’s hype to say they’re very strong
Registered: Jan 2020
Location: Chiss Defense Fleet
But it isn't just some random quote meant to hype an upcoming book or whatever. It's a canon statement that cites Mace as the greatest swordsmen of the Jedi.
So as far as saber skill goes, he is above all the other Jedi. Which I dont have a problem with when you consider his saber battle with Sidious. If he legitimately beat Sidious he honestly SHOULD be #1, so this book just cements that.
What about the script? I'd certainly favor that over a cartoon that, shall we say, is a very liberal version of the events that happen in the films. Not that it necessarily contradicts the script either way.
Obviously not. Sidious can't "clown" Yoda with the force as he could Maul. But more importantly, he did so to Maul because he wanted him alive so that he could use him as bait to draw out Talzin as we see in SoD. On the other hand, he wanted Yoda dead.
I honestly doubt that the unseen moments of the original script still qualify as canon these days. Just like any comments Lucas made when he was in charge can be (and have been) overridden by Disney. Anything released before the 2014 reboot is dubious.
Regardless GOA is still the most recent telling of the events, so it should still outweigh anything else that didn't happen on screen. and since Sidious was never disarmed on screen, GOA is not contradicted in this case.
I'm just saying there's precedence for Sidious putting his saber away during an active saber battle and using his force powers instead.
So just because he is clashing sabers with Yoda in one scene, and then throwing pods at him after the next cutscene, it doesn't mean he was disarmed. Especially when GOA still shows him with his saber right before he chucks the pods at Yoda, and also says that Sidious is powerful enough to beat Yoda in a lightsaber duel.
And the script was written by Lucas himself. Personally, I'd certainly still consider it canon and I wouldn't consider GOA capable of overwriting it. But, like I said, it doesn't matter because it doesn't contradict the script. Sidious can still be wielding his saber in that scene and disarmed afterwards.
Lucas's word isn't God anymore. If new canon contradicts his word, then new canon is what we go by.
In GOA Sidious still has his saber as he begins lifting the pods to throw at Yoda. In the movie we see Sidious begin to actually throw the pods at Yoda before ultimately defeating him in the same scene. Yoda never had a chance to disarm Sidious once the pod throwing began.
We don't see him throw the pods only lift them. At which point we see Yoda jump directly to Sidious. The events of the script can easily follow from there. There is no contradiction.
These days I do think Palpatine is intended to be a better swordsman than Yoda, if only by a very narrow margin. However, I also understand the reluctance to accept the canonicity of GoA... To a certain point.
That said, I do not believe that Palpatine randomly decided to start hurling Senate pods at Yoda for the lulz -- I think that once he got some breathing room, he wanted to try and keep it that way. Palpatine may have been a [marginally] better swordsman, but the cramped quarters of a damn Senate pod would have undoubtedly favored Yoda's size and style.
Registered: Dec 2019
Location: Imperial Throne Room
It's not even whether Yoda is a superior duelist or not, who would want to risk getting into a saber duel with him..? It's way too dangerous and far safer to make space and abuse the force especially when your nature of the force is far more offensive and destructive.