Today I will finish my discussion of one of the most memorable battles in the Star Wars saga: Yoda Vs. the Emperor. Today I will try to cover who really won the battle and why. As with my entries about Mace Windu, I feel I should make it clear that these are merely my opinions, and not necessarily the only answers. I will try to support my opinions with valid facts, but I strongly encourage your views and ideas.

Yesterday I suggested that the Emperor, repulsed by Yoda's Forceful counterattack, attempted to flee before recognizing the arrogance in his Jedi foe. Darth Sidious felt that Yoda's arrogance would make him an easy foe, and so the duel between the Sith Lord and his little green friend began.

From what the movie shows us, the two combatants appeared very evenly matched, neither managing to break the other's defenses. But as the duel moved into the Senate arena - a fitting battlefield indeed - Yoda began to have the upper hand. The Emperor certainly seemed to be on the defensive, at any rate.

Unable to defeat Yoda, Palpatine resorts to a different style of combat: hurling large objects. The fact that the Emperor was so anxious to fight Yoda from a distance suggests that Palpatine too thought he was outmatched against Yoda.

It's here that the tide of battle begins to turn. Yoda can barely keep up with Palpatine's furious assault, as evidenced by his desperate leaps and dodges. As long as Sidious keeps up his pod barrage, Yoda can't touch him.

And now, Yoda comes to a revelation: He cannot defeat Darth Sidious. Why? Because the Sith have changed. For a millennium, the Sith had waited in the shadows, teaching themselves to destroy the Jedi that they had fought in the Sith War. The Jedi did not change. They had won the war, they believed the Sith eradicated, and they believed that if the Sith Lords were ever to rise again, the Jedi could defeat them just as they had before. Meanwhile, the Sith had become the ultimate counter to the Jedi.

Sidious could not match Yoda in lightsaber combat. He didn't need to. Yoda couldn't possibly win against the Emperor, lightsabers aside. The old Jedi could never defeat the new Sith, and Yoda and Palpatine both knew it.

So Yoda decides to fight fire with fire.

A Senate pod whirls through the air toward Palpatine, who only barely escapes the attack. But the pod did what it was supposed to. The Emperor was knocked off balance, and Yoda recieved a chance to finish the battle.

Unable to defeat Yoda with lightsaber or projectiles, Sidious reverts to the Sith standby: an all-out Force lightning assault.

This is the last stand-off between Yoda and the Emperor. Once again, Palpatine is outmatched against arguably the greatest Force user the galaxy has ever known. Palpatine can barely maintain his lightning, and Yoda is forcing him back. But the Sith Lord is not about to play fair.

Even if he can't defeat Yoda, Sidious will not let him win. Palpatine ends the battle in a draw. The combatants are blasted away from each other, but Darth Sidious doesn't fall.

That is the only thing that makes Palpatine the "victor." He didn't fall. And Yoda did.

The battle was a draw. Neither side won, but both sides lost. That is what I meant when I said that Yoda could never win. The Emperor would never go down with dignity. As far as Sidious is concerned, either he wins, or Yoda loses. Even if Sidious loses too. It doesn't matter to Emperor Palpatine, as long as Yoda doesn't win.

There's one more thing worth mentioning. Even though neither side won, even though Palpatine didn't fall, it was Yoda who came out on top.

Because, of course, Yoda is one step ahead of the Empire...