Showdown on Coruscant

"It's treason, then."

- Supreme Chancellor Palpatine

The Duel in the Chancellor's Office began when Jedi Masters Mace Windu, Kit Fisto, Agen Kolar, and Saesee Tiin attempted to arrest Supreme Chancellor Palpatine after learning of his true identity as Darth Sidious, the Dark Lord of the Sith. However, the cause of this confrontation began a short time earlier, following the Battle of Coruscant. The duel would lead to the deaths of the four masters and the initiation of the Great Jedi Purge.

Background
"He won't give up his power. I've just learned a terrible truth. I think Chancellor Palpatine is a Sith Lord."

- Anakin Skywalker to Mace Windu



This confrontation was a key element of Palpatine's plot to destroy the Jedi Order, in which he manipulated Anakin Skywalker to do his bidding. Knowing Skywalker was plagued with prophetic visions of his wife dying in childbirth, Palpatine told Anakin a Sith legend: The tragedy of Darth Plagueis the Wise, informing him that Plagueis had learned the ability to save others from death, but his apprentice, having been taught this power, killed the Dark Lord in his sleep. Skywalker realized he could use this power to save Padmé, so when Palpatine finally revealed himself to be Darth Sidious&mdash;Plagueis's apprentice&mdash;Anakin was torn between his desire to learn Sidious's power and to do his duty as a Jedi Knight.

After giving up on killing Palpatine on sight, Anakin informed Mace Windu of Palpatine's true identity, though he was greatly conflicted about his actions. Sensing this internal conflict, Mace sent Skywalker to the High Council Chamber and took a squad of Jedi&mdash;Kit Fisto, Agen Kolar, and Saesee Tiin&mdash;to arrest Palpatine. (This same "dream team" had previously been responsible for the fall of the Crimson Nova bounty hunters organization).

Palpatine expected a showdown, and he was well prepared for it; through the dark side the Supreme Chancellor sensed both the conflict of Anakin in the Council chamber and the approach of the Jedi Masters onboard a gunship. Palpatine recovered his lightsaber from its resting place within a neuranium sculpture, hiding the hilt in the sleeve of his robe. When the Jedi Masters used the Force to scatter the Red Guards beyond the office's outer doors, the Chancellor triggered a concealed recording device&mdash;audio only.

The Duel
"In the name of the Galactic Senate of the Republic, you're under arrest, Chancellor." "Are you threatening me, Master Jedi?" "The Senate will decide your fate." "I am the Senate." "Not yet." "It's treason, then."

- Mace Windu and Palpatine

The Jedi burst into Palpatine's private office, where Mace Windu stated that the Chancellor was under arrest. However, the shrewd Sith Lord ensured the audio recording would show him as the victim, with the Jedi appearing unduly aggressive towards the seemingly innocent Chancellor. Palpatine activated his lightsaber and launched himself at the Jedi. Agen Kolar was distracted, and Palpatine effortlessly stabbed him. Saesee Tiin attempted to strike the Sith Lord in the back, but Palpatine swung round and cut the Iktotchi down. After two kills, Palpatine immediately engaged Fisto and Windu. Fisto was able to defend himself from three blows before his demise, leaving only Mace Windu to contend against the unleashed fury of Darth Sidious.



Windu and Palpatine's duel led them into the public office as Anakin Skywalker landed at the Republic Executive Building in a Jedi airspeeder&mdash;for the young Jedi could not bear to let Palpatine meet his death at the hands of the Jedi; at least, not without first learning the secrets of Darth Plagueis. Palpatine tried everything to get past Mace's defenses, shattering the window with a back swing of his lightsaber. Windu and Palpatine moved out onto the wind-blown ledge, where a swift kick to the Chancellor's face sent Palpatine reeling and his lightsaber irretrievably out the window. Palpatine fell to the ground, backing up against the window frame, the Jedi Master's blade centimeters from his throat&mdash;and at that moment, Anakin Skywalker arrived on the scene.

"Anakin. I told you it would come to this. I was right. The Jedi are taking over!!"

- Palpatine to Anakin Skywalker

With the Dark Lord disarmed, Mace again declared Palpatine was under Jedi custody. However, having arrived too late to see Palpatine's intent, Anakin saw only a helpless Chancellor cowering before Mace Windu. Palpatine claimed the Jedi were in rebellion, while Mace declared the ultimate defeat of the Sith.



In response, Sidious hurled Force lightning at the Jedi Master, only for it to be deflected back by his lightsaber. The bolts flowed through Sidious, seemingly injuring him and deforming his body. The Chancellor begged for mercy in a raspy and tired voice, claiming that he was too weak, while his face literally melted away. He called out to Anakin for help while Windu pleaded with him not to trust the Sith Lord. Anakin's conflict reached its boiling point as he watched Palpatine suffer. Eventually, the lightning subsided, leaving an "exhausted" and "frail" Palpatine lying on the floor.



After witnessing the "disarmed" Palpatine's incredible power, Mace decided he had to terminate the Dark Lord once and for all. Skywalker pleaded with Mace to spare Palpatine, saying he must go before the Courts. Mace said that he could not do that, the Palpatine could sway the decision of the Courts. His face contorted with the enormity of his decision, Windu raised his blade to deliver the killing blow, and Anakin made his fateful decision. In an impulsive act of desperation, the young Jedi panicked and cut off Windu's sword hand. Sidious seemed to shift from weakness to superiority in an instant, sending a barrage of Force lightning to shatter the Jedi Master's body and hurl him out of the window.

Though horrified at what he had done, Skywalker knew there was no turning back from his dark path now. Anakin pledged himself to Sidious' teachings in order to learn the power to cheat death. Darth Sidious named his new apprentice Darth Vader and tasked him with the sterilization of the Jedi Temple.

The Great Jedi Purge had begun.

Differences between versions


Throughout the battle, the lightsaber hilt Palpatine uses alternates between his lightsaber's and Anakin's due to the fact that he was originally going to use Anakin's lightsaber against the Jedi. Anakin was scripted to be present throughout the duel at first, but the battle was re-choreographed at the last minute and Anakin was scripted to arrive at the exact moment Palpatine lost his weapon. Anakin's lightsaber hilt remains visible in some shots of the finished film though, making this one of many lightsaber bloopers found throughout the movie.

In the novelization of Revenge of the Sith, there were a few differences from the film's interpretation. Mace contacted Yoda before and after receiving the truth from Anakin: the members of the arrest team and their action were both approved by the Grand Master. During the engagement, Mace sent Saesee Tiin and Agen Kolar to the Chancellor's desk to block the way to the door. Firstly, Sidious tricked Saesee by asking him to read his mind (to establish if the Chancellor was truly a Sith Lord), then used the distraction as a chance to behead the unexpecting Iktotchi. Agen barely had time to absorb the scene before Palpatine pierced the lightsaber blade through his head, who dropped his lightsaber and collapsed. After that, the remaining two Jedi fought Sidious. Kit Fisto was beheaded from a sudden strike of Sidious's blade. Kit's death was not described firsthand&mdash;instead Anakin found Fisto's head on the Chancellor's table with the Nautolan's typical smile on it. The movie scene was originally scripted that way as well, but George Lucas decided it was too violent, and thus changed it.

In the novelization, there was a thunderstorm outside during the duel. Also, Anakin Skywalker arrived much earlier, and was able to watch almost half of the epic lightsaber duel between Mace and Palpatine, instead of just in time when the Jedi Master knocked down Sidious in the movie. He also arrives differently. Instead of landing his speeder on the landing deck, he brings it to hover outside the window of Palpatine's private office, smashes the window with his lightsaber and jumps through. During the deadly fight Anakin could sense the Force darken within the Chancellor's Office. There was no Jedi restraint there&mdash;Mace Windu was cutting loose.



The comic kept the idea of Palpatine slamming Mace on a wall with a powerful Force push, which was stated in the Screenplay but absent from the movie, while the novel altered it as Palpatine attempted to push Mace out of the office after the Jedi Master broke the window. In the comic version, Anakin arrived right at the moment the office window was broken. Instead of Palpatine's jaw, Mace kicked the right palm of the Sith Lord and knocked away the Sith lightsaber himself. Anakin ignited his blade right after Palpatine applied Force lightning. After Anakin attacked Mace, it showed Palpatine throwing Mace out of the office window with another Force push, instead of hurling him out with Force lightning.

In both the novelization and the comic, the whole duel took place in the Chancellor's public office only, unlike beginning in the Chancellor's private office as seen in the movie. Thus Palpatine could activate the recording device hidden within his office desk in the book&mdash;his private chamber has a holoprojector instead of a desk.

In the video game adaptation, instead of severing Mace's arm, Anakin has an actual duel with Windu that ends with the Jedi Master stabbed to death and thrown out of the window.

The junior novelization omitted the whole fighting between Palpatine and the Jedi. Instead, it portrayed Anakin Skywalker's point of view, when the young Jedi left the High Council Chamber for his speeder and arrived at the Office, seeing Mace Windu holding an unarmed Palpatine at blade point.

In the movie, Mace had an violet blade, Kit and Saesee green, and Agen blue. In the novelization, Agen also had a green blade, while in the comic Agen had a green blade but Saesee wielded a blue lightsaber.

Debates on the scene
There is constant debate about whether Palpatine threw the fight. One of the arguments is around Palpatine's ability to sense the approach of Anakin, which would allow the Sith Lord to stage his defeat timely. The novelization confirmed that Mace Windu could sense the approach of Anakin through the Force before he broke the office window, even in the heat of the deadliest lightsaber duel. Thus it was reasonable for Palpatine to have the same experience. However, one should note that the novel also implied that Mace sensed the approach of Anakin only because he was tracing Darth Sidious's shatterpoints through the Force, and the fault lines led Mace to Anakin.

Whether it is an intentional trick from the part of Palpatine or Windu truly outsparred the Sith Lord is confirmed in neither the movie nor the novel. However, in the novelization, Mace confessed Vaapad could not overpower the Sith Lord, that Vaapad could only form a superconducting loop of energy which flowed between Mace and Palpatine, making the duel an even match for infinite time. Mace claimed that it was his shatterpoint ability which allowed him to gain the upper hand. After Mace broke the office window, the Jedi Master claimed he sensed Palpatine became a pulsar of fear. When the fight moved to the ledge, the novel described Mace sensing Palpatine hesitated for a moment and the Sith decreased his speed. Mace did not kick the jaw of Palpatine, and he sliced the Sith lightsaber in half instead of Palpatine dropping his own weapon. When Mace held Sidious at blade point, the Jedi Master explained the reason of his victory as: "You lost for the same reason the Sith always lose: defeated by your own fear." Sidious countered by screaming an interesting line, "Fool! Do you think the fear you feel is mine?" and blasted Mace with Force lightning.

Another focus of the debates is the struggle of Force lightning between Mace Windu and Palpatine. In the movie, apparently Mace won the lightning struggle by forcefully pushing his blade down to overpower Palpatine with more reflected bolts. In the novel, however, Mace could sense clearly that Palpatine did not fear Anakin, while the Jedi Master openly asked Skywalker to help him take down the Dark Lord during the struggle. The novel stated that Palpatine's bolts pushed the amethyst blade back towards Mace's face, and the Jedi Master felt the struggle was beyond Vaapad, Mace had no strength left to fight against his own blade while handling the bolts with the "superconducting loop" feature of Vaapad. At the final moments in the novel, the blade bent so close to Mace's face that the Jedi was choking on ozone, and Mace admitted to Anakin that Palpatine was too strong for him. At that moment, the attack ceased, explained as "the lightning swallowed itself." In the comic, Mace did not deflect the lightning bolts back to the Dark Lord, and Palpatine's face deformed on its own. Subsequently, Palpatine ceased his attack and laid down quietly, while Mace was overpowered and fell on the ledge.

The Homing Beacon, the official StarWars.com newsletter, dedicated its one hundred and thirty-ninth issue to discuss this duel. The newsletter explained the evolution of the scene and analyzed the possibility of Palpatine throwing the fight. The author personally believed that the original "Anakin present from the beginning" version had Palpatine throw the entire fight; once the scene changed to its final version, the author doubted Palpatine's timing and the necessity to suffer a kick in the face from Mace. The author concluded that Palpatine faked when he claimed his weakness, but only George Lucas had the answer of whether the Sith Lord threw the whole lightsaber duel.

On the other hand, the Databank leaves little room for debates. In Mace Windu's entry, it simply stated the Jedi Master "had disarmed Sidious and cornered the treacherous Sith Lord" without even mentioning the subsequent lightning struggle. In Palpatine's entry, again it simply stated Mace "overpowered Palpatine the instant Anakin Skywalker came running into the offices." It described the subsequent Palpatine as "seemingly too weak to continue the lightning assault." Darth Sidious's entry is much shorter, merely stating the Dark Lord was able to defeat Mace with Anakin Skywalker's help.

Also, in the movie, there is a part where Sidious seems to have an open shot at Windu's chest with his lightsaber. He does not take it, however, it is not known why. It simply might have been because his is out of position, or this was merely a feint by Windu, or because he feels the need to have Windu there in order to turn Anakin.

Trivia


Palpatine's comment: "I am the Senate" is very similar to King Louis XIV's comment: "I am the state."

This is the first lightsaber duel for both Palpatine and Mace Windu in the movies, and the first scene showing Palpatine's lightsaber. It also explains how Anakin Skywalker joined the Sith, and why Palpatine's face became deformed. This is also the first and only time all four colors of lightsaber blades shown in the movies have been in the same scene together (red, blue, green and violet).

This is the only lightsaber duel out of the entire saga in which minor Jedi are involved in a duel: Kit Fisto, Agen Kolar, and Saesee Tiin.

In the novelization, Obi-Wan Kenobi, Mace Windu, and Shaak Ti all claimed that the arrest team consisted of "four of the greatest swordsmen the Jedi Order has ever produced"&mdash;a fact less obvious in the movie for Agen, Saesee, and Kit. Obi-Wan further proposed that if Palpatine could take down the four Jedi Masters all by himself, then even Yoda and Kenobi together would not be enough to defeat the Dark Lord. Responding to the question of "Mace brought the B team to arrest Palpatine" in The Making of Star Wars Revenge of the Sith, George Lucas replied that one would have to be either Mace or Yoda to compete with Palpatine, and that if Anakin had suffered none of his injuries, he could have beaten the Emperor. The same book implies that actor Samuel L. Jackson sincerely believed Mace had overpowered Palpatine, even during the lightning struggle.

In an interview, actor Ian McDiarmid said he felt Palpatine's swordplay was "A hundred times as fast as anyone else." The novelization backed this up by describing Palpatine fighting in a blur of speed.

According to the screenplay of Episode III, Dar Wac, the Chancellor's Rodian aide, originally had a cameo appearance before the Jedi entered Palpatine's office. This was either dropped or never filmed. However, the screenplay stated it was Mace who was being forced onto the ledge after the window was broken, which contradicts the novelization. The screenplay also indicates Mace attempted to defend himself with his only hand after he was betrayed by Anakin.

In the novel, a debate between Palpatine and Mace before the duel reflected that although the audience knew Palpatine the Sith Lord was behind everything and was ultimately responsible for the war, the Jedi never had any hard evidence of Palpatine's crime to legitimize their arrest attempt. Even the knowledge of Palpatine's true identity depended solely on the words of an emotionally unstable Anakin Skywalker. Mace failed to explain why the "philosophical difference" between the Jedi and the Sith would lead to the arrest of Palpatine, which played to the Sith Lord's plan in the secret audio recording, thus undermining the support of the Jedi in the Senate.

Star Wars: The Ultimate Visual Guide named this conflict as Showdown on Coruscant in one of its captions.

The activation of the Jedi Masters' lightsabers was digitally confirmed by Imperial agents in the audio recording presented in the novelization. However, the activation of Palpatine's lightsaber was neither recorded nor analyzed. Whether Palpatine's subordinates altered the recording, his lightsaber had a special modification, or he applied a trick with the Force was unclear. Unlike the movie, Palpatine did not "demonstrate" his lightsaber right in front of the Jedi in the novel.

Appearances

 * Star Wars Episode III: Revenge of the Sith
 * Star Wars Episode III: Revenge of the Sith novel
 * Star Wars Episode III: Revenge of the Sith comic
 * Star Wars Episode III: Revenge of the Sith junior novel
 * Star Wars Episode III: Revenge of the Sith game
 * Dark Lord: The Rise of Darth Vader
 * Star Wars: The Rise and Fall of Darth Vader
 * Star Wars: Purge
 * The Last of the Jedi: A Tangled Web