Duel at the Sundari Royal Palace

"You have become...a rival!"

- Darth Sidious to Darth Maul

This Duel at the palace in Sundari was a lightsaber battle in which Darth Sidious destroyed the threat of former Sith Lord Darth Maul and his apprentice Savage Oppress, during the Battle of Sundari in 20 BBY. Sensing Maul's desire to take over the galaxy and replace him as ruling Sith Lord, Sidious rejected Maul and proceeded to defeat both Maul and Oppress in the ensuing fight. While Sidious killed Oppress, he did not destroy Maul, instead electrocuting him into submission with Force lightning and declaring that he can still use him as a tool.

Prelude
"I sense a presense...a presence I haven't felt since...Master!"

- Darth Maul As Maul meditates in the throne room during the ongoing Battle of Sundari, he suddenly feels a familiar presence and recognizes it as that of his former master. As if in confirmation of his recognization, the two Death Watch soldiers guarding the door are suddenly Force choked to death and the door opens to reveal Sidious standing behind it. Bowing before his former master, who voices his surprise that Maul survived the duel on Naboo, Maul claims that he used his training as a Sith to bring the network he has built to his master. However, Sidious, turning away, states that he sees through Maul's deception and, suddenly turning back again, Force pushes Maul and Oppress onto the windows as he snarls that Maul has become a rival.

First duel
Once Sidious releases Maul and Oppress, they cast off all pretenses and prepare to engage the Sith Lord. In response, he ignites not one, but two lightsabers and readies them. Maul and Oppress attack from both sides, but Sidious easily defends against both, even finding the time to laugh evilly during a double bladelock. The duel progresses out into the palace balcony, where Maul manages to distract Sidious temporarily from Oppress' charge. However, as Sidious falls, he Force pulls both of the Sith from the balcony, and together they fall to the courtyard below. There, they continue to battle until Sidious, in a display of Force-enhanced acrobatics, disengages from both opponents and kicks Maul into the stairs, where he suffers a blow to the head and temporarily blacks out. At this point, Sidious is free to focus on defeating Oppress, eventually paralyzing the Zabrak's arms with a well-placed kick before impaling him with both lightsabers, while smirking at the just-revived Maul.

Oppress' death
"Brother, I am an unworthy apprentice. I'm not like you...I never was."

- Savage Oppress to Darth Maul

After mortally wounding Oppress, Sidious Force throws him off the courtyard into the street below. In a spectacular display of Dun Möch, he allows Maul to run past him to the fallen Oppress. As the wounded Zabrak dies, the enhancements provided by Mother Talzin begin to dissipate in a greent mist that swirls around the brothers. With his last breaths, he communicates his regret that he was never worthy to be an apprentice to Maul, due to their differing personalities. As Maul kneels over the body of his fallen brother, Sidious speaks, reminding him of Darth Bane's Rule of Two: there can only ever be two Sith Lords at a time. He reveals that Maul has been replaced before jumping down to continue the duel, knowing that Maul has no choice now but to attack.

Second duel
"Don't worry. I'm not going to kill you. I have...other uses for you."

- Darth Sidious to Darth Maul

Enraged and grieving, Maul ignites the Darksaber and, reverting to the dual wielding he was trained in, engages Sidious once again. For a while, his use of Jar'Kai and rage-fueled Juyo allows him to hold his own, until the two enter into bladelock. At this point, Sidious forces his blades down towards the hilts of Maul's sabers before violently forcing them apart and away. He then finishes the duel by flinging Maul against a gruesomely carved wall and against the ground. Despite Maul's pleas for mercy, he states that among the Sith there is no mercy, then begins to electrocute Maul with Force lightning. As Maul screams in pain, Sidious informs him that he has other plans for him, before laughing sadistically...

Behind the scenes
This duel, which appears in Episode 16 of Season 5 of the Star Wars: The Clone Wars, while not the first to feature multiple blade use by more than one participant in a lightsaber fight, is in fact the first in season to involve two characters each dual-wielding with at least one demonstrating Jar'Kai techniques. The only other similar fight in Season 5 appears in Episode 20, the season finale, in which Jedi Padawan Barriss Offee and Jedi Anakin Skywalker both dual wield.

The episode does not show whether the Darksaber and Maul's lightsaber were destroyed during the fight or whether they were simply thrown out of view by Sidious' maneuver.