I got all sorts of heat yesterday for my opinion about the duel between Mace Windu and Darth Sidious, but today I'll continue my discussion of the duel by asking for it big-time. Today I'll discuss the effects of Sith lightning on Palpatine's face, the question of who really won the duel, and what was really going on during that fateful moment on the window-sill. I feel like I should stress the fact that this is just my opinion, and welcome questions, comments, and attacks.

So yesterday I explained my opinion about the speed of the deaths of Agen Kolar, Saesee Tiin, and Kit Fisto. But I don't want to reopen that particular can of worms today, so I'll move on to the battle between Mace Windu and Darth Sidious. Two powerful Force-users with two distinctive styles of lightsaber combat, Windu and Sidious engage in a fast and furious duel in the Supreme Chancellor's office. Sidious has Windu on the defensive for most of the duel. The slight, thin, aged Chancellor is backed by the power of the dark side, giving him superhuman strength and stamina to counter the mighty Jedi Master. As the battle rages on we catch glimpses of the Emperor we know and despise bubbling to the surface, supporting the theory that his "scarred and deformed" features were really his true form bubbling to the surface. But I'll get into that a bit later.

As the duel takes them to the enormous window of the office, a lightning-fast deathblow from the Sith Lord goes wide, shattering the window. Mace Windu manages to destroy Sidious' lightsaber, forcing the unarmed Sith Lord into a corner.

Here's the thing: I think Mace Windu won. I don't think Sidious was just playing with him, holding out for Anakin's arrival. He cut it pretty darn close and - here me out - he may have expected Anakin to come, but I don't think he knew he would come. The Emperor has mastered the art of using the Force to see far into the future, however he doesn't seem to be able to see events like Luke refusing to turn to the dark side (notice the anger and shock on Palpatine's face) or Mace cornering him (he gave quite a show for someone who was just faking it, scrambling like a rat) or Anakin's arrival (like I said, he needn't have seemed so defeated if he knew Anakin would come.)

I think it's safe to say that Darth Sidious was genuinely defeated by Mace Windu, cornered, and fearing for his life. I don't think he foresaw Anakin's arrival, but I think he was certainly pleased to see him. So put yourself in Anakin's shoes: You arrive to see a friend and mentor cornered by a man who has always been stern with you, who you have always resented. Surely it looked to Anakin like his friend, Chancellor Palpatine, was helplessly cornered by an aggressive Jedi Master, a traitor to the Republic.

Now put yourself in Mace's shoes: You realise that the last thirteen years of your life have been wasted in the grand scheme of a man you thought you knew, and shortly after realising this, you see three friends cut down in cold blood by the embodiment of evil in the galaxy. You know that if you arrest him, as you originally intended, he will simply manipulate the courts and worm his way out of the situation. So, for the good of the Republic, you decide to end this demon's life. "You are under arrest, my lord! You have lost!"

"No... no, no, no! YOU HAVE LOST!" screams the Dark Lord of the Sith, unleashing a torrent of Sith energy. Mace Windu bends the lightning back at its origin, searing the body and mind of the Sith Lord.

This brings me to an important topic: What really happened to Palpatine? Some say he was scarred by the reflected Sith lightning, and others believe it was his true form bubbling to the surface, from the strain of maintaining the lightning and holding off the Jedi. I agree with most people that it was a combination of both. This theory, supported by the fact that we caught glimpses of the Emperor's mannerisms throughout the film, suggests that the face of Supreme Chancellor Palpatine was little more than a mask, which was destroyed by the concentrated stream of lightning, revealing his true, feline-eyed Sith appearance. But Sidious was weakened by simultaneously conjuring and being hit by the powerful, nonstop Sith lightning. Remember: When he used the lightning on Luke in Return of the Jedi, he was using short bursts to torture and slowly kill the boy. Later in Revenge of the Sith, he used blasts of lightning on Yoda, for a swift and deadly attack. Count Dooku only used a short burst to incapacitate Anakin in Attack of the Clones. Here, however, Sidious was using a long, powerful torrent of lightning, to kill his attacker.

"I can't hold him any longer..." gasps the Sith Lord, when his attack ends. Throughout the scene he has been pleading with Anakin to protect him from Mace's attack. Now, Anakin sees the shrunken and shrivelled form of his friend and mentor and panics, knowing that if he dies, Padme is lost. Anakin begs Mace to capture him so that the Senate can decide his fate. But Mace won't budge. "He's too dangerous to live." Anakin remembers Palpatine saying this to him on the Invisible Hand, and recalls how he obeyed the Chancellor, but the Chosen One has no such trust in Mace Windu. Mace raises his saber to deliver the deathblow and destroy the disease corrupting the Republic, and Anakin makes a split-second decision. He severs Windu's saber-arm, and Sidious calls on the last of his strength to blow the Jedi away with a surge of Sith lightning.

And that's where I'll stop, because this leads into something I've discussed twice before: Anakin.

Again, this is different from my past entries in that it explores my opinions, as they relate to the facts. As always, I welcome your opinions, your criticisms, and your whatever-else.