We can't fill in the missing piece!

GL and his other clones cut most of that scene due to it being extremely long.

he can't jump up there with a lit saber

Wasn't that the part when Palpy started hurling Senate pods at Yoda? If memory serves me right, I think it is....he probably was just freeing up his hands to be able to do that....?

....and the scene WAS too long....

oops.....please delete that duplicate (and this one...I HATE it when I do that....sorry!!!! )

If memory serves me right, I think it is....he probably was just freeing up his hands to be able to do that....?

Si! He was!

During the fight that takes place while we're watching Obi and Anakin, somethin' must have happened that caused Yoda to fall and Palpy saber to cut off.

May the Force be with us all! God bless!

I never noticed that but I guess my theory would be that he thought he had a better chance with his lightening.

It seems to me that after a brief lightsaber duel with Yoda that Palpatine could easily defend against, it would really be a greater show of power to defeat Yoda without using it. Remember back to the duel between Dooku and Yoda on Geonosis - Dooku at first said that their contest could not be decided by their (respective knowledge fo the force...but by their skills with a lightsaber.

Maybe Sidious could really defeat Yoda psychologically by rendering him impotent without the use of his lightsaber at all. Just a thought.

My guess is that Palpatine decided that it would be difficult to win a staight on duel, so he tried other forms of attack, such as lightning, and hurling the pods. Shutting of the saber allowed him more concentration to do these things more effectively.

I agree with DH, I think Sidious wanted to free up the use of hands in order to deliver the Sith lightening. ANGEL

I think that's just palps fight style, he's a saber minimalist, rather just use lightning or mess with your head, he's a manipulator not a fighter. His character in battle front 2 does the same
when not attaking his saber is off

I'd say Palpy was being cheap. I mean, what kinda threat is a jedi master when he's being kept further than arms length by throwing senate pods at him? Remember that he tried to run away at the begining of the battle and what he did when Anakin showed up in the fight against Mace. I agree with redhawk23 that Palpetine is just a manipulator. It's what he's best at, and so that's what he's most likely to do in any situation. Also remember Dooku and Darth Maul and Anakin (again) and...

I think Yoda was defeating Palpatine and disarmed him. This forced Palpatine to resort to lightning and telekinesis as a last resort. You'll notice that Palpatine tried to hang on to his lightsaber as long as he could against Mace Windu. He didn't bring the lightning out against Windu until after he had been disarmed. Yoda just wasn't able to fend off the Sith powers as well as Mace did.

Palpatine could have killed Windu just as fast as the other masters, Palp. just needed to keep him alive so that he could use Windu to manipulate Anakin. I believe that in one of the Web Docs, Ian McDiarmid said that Palpatine could "...wield a saber 500 times as fast as anyone else." He didn't just make that up, it might be an exaggeration, but it's true. Palp is the best saber fighter and Force user in the Galaxy.

I agree with Darth Lector, Palpatine just wanted to show that he could beat Yoda without having to use his lightsaber.

i think sith lords don't need to use their lightsabers b/c they are obviously far greater in strength than weak jedi. so palpy pocketed (or rather sleeved) his lightsaber to show off and intimidate poor, puny yoda.

It was stated in a documentary, or Star Wars Insider that Yoda disarmed the Emperor.

In the animated Clone Wars volume 2 Master Luminara tells her padawan Barriss Offee,

" The crystal is the heart of the blade. The heart is the crystal of the Jedi. The Jedi is the crystal of the Force. The Force is the blade of the heart."

If this is true then Palpatine was using the force as his blade rather than a lightsaber. His heart was set on power and use of the dark side is based on the use of power. Lightsaber use is defensive in nature. At the very least it is a compensation for the wielder not being enough of a weapon to win without the saber. This is weakness. Sith are not weak!

masterjay_em_kay, that was insightful.

And I'd respond to your "Sith Are Not Weak" statement, but I don't want another fanwar.

The scene of Yoda and Palpy fighting stops after they clash sabers for the second time on the rising podium and switches to Anakin and Obi-Wan fighting. This is when they both use force push at the same time and go flying to oposing sides of the room (I love that part!). After the "Duel of the fates" song starts, Yoda lands on one of the senate pods and looks up, only to see Palpy using the force to raise the senate pods and hurl them at him. This would be difficult to do if he only used 1 hand (the saber is in the other). Also, he would not have his Lightsaber out if he was not in striking range of Yoda. He was like 50 feet away from him. I hope this answers your question.

Note to robjamysan

No way Palpatine could beat Windu...Hes the best saber duelist in the galaxy

George himself said he wanted Mace to go out in a blaze of glory before he even wrote episode III. What would be better than beating the Sith Master!!!!

Also remember the wise words of Yoda about the dark side not being stronger...just the easier kwicker path....Yoda and Windu could both out saber him

I can't remember where I read this from, but I remember it saying that the only reason Sith use lightsabers is to mock the Jedi or something like that, and they have gotten past the point of physical weapons and could just rely on the force. Also I think Palpatine put it away to concentrate with the force throws, because didn't Yoda do the same thing? Right before he caught one of the platforms thrown at him he put his saber on his belt.

Well, i think Palpatine put his saber away to focus more on the throwing of the Senate pods, and less on sword play.

I do wish that most of the battle was lightsaber battling though.

Palpatine wasn't even fighting with Yoda, he was playing with Yoda. Perhaps he could have chopped his little green head off, perhaps he couldn't have. Either way, he would have done the same thing, show off. What's the fun in ending something so enjoying that fast? He said so himself; "I have waited a long time for this moment, my little, green friend."

CONT

This was like Christmas for old Palps. He had gotten rid of every last jedi (or so he thought), he had the soon to be most powerful apprentice in the universe and he was finally able to come out of hiding and finish off his decade long plot and bask in the glory of his new empire. To Palps, this was as good as life got, and he was enjoying every moment of it. Same goes for his little "playtime" with Yoda. Of all the masters, Yoda was considered the wisest, most powerful in the order. Palps was laughing his wrinkled old head off as he tossed the most respected figure in the jedi order around like a rag doll. He was basically saying "You're the best in the jedi order, but you're nothing but a toy to me!"

Perhaps he lost it fighting Master Yoda! Remember the one that Master Windu kicked out of his hands in the office? As wise and powerful as Master Yoda was, Palpatine would have been stupid to take such a chance. Remeber, he has already been surpised once by Yoda when he was thrown across his office.

Tim

Concerning Master Windu.

I have heard it form heaps of people, sidious could have beat him, he just wanted to trick Anakin, but Palpatine (Sidious) is not an idiot. If his entire plan included Maces attack, then why did he sound like he believed that they were just there to announce general Greivous' death? Anyway, If you study "the seven forms of lightsaber combat" (check wikipedia.com) and you will see that Maces form (Vaapad (which he created)) is used as a mirror of his opponents strength and hate and power. That is why he beat Palpatine.

Palpatine was a Sith Lord he used the Force more often then his Lightsaber. Besides he could not defet Yoda in a duel, but he could using the Force.

Sith really don't use lightsabers. I think it's Dark Lord that touches on this. Sith usually rely more on the dark side than lightsabers for two reasons: they are opposite of Jedi who rely on lightsabers, and they are on a quest to be strongest in the galaxy at using the force.

He is using force powers so he can't do both!

Palpatine's an old man, he'd get tired eventually fighting Yoda.

Yoda was old too....hehe.

This theory about Sith not needing lightsabers is not supported by Darth Maul's actions or Count Dooku's. Both of them were excellent swordsmen who relied on their lightsabers as much as any of the Jedi.

Okay, first, Sidious didn't kick Yoda's butt, when the Force explosion knocked them both off the pod they were on, Yoda couldn't grab anything, and Palpatine was able to grab a bar to hold on to...sorry, that seems like a draw that was decided by a little luck.

Mace beat Palps in the lightsaber duel. Enuf said. Quit debating it.

You guys read the novelizations too much. WATCH THE FREAKIN' MOVIES! Sometimes you can actually take it at first glance, you know...

I thought I had read somewhere that Yoda had disarmed Palps. I also don't think the Sith are more into using the Force than their lightsabers. The only reason to think this is because Sidious uses Force lightning in Ep. VI. But when Mace comes to arrest him, what's the first thing he does? He doesn't zap all 4 Jedi with lightning, he takes out his lightsaber. So I also don't think he is that much stronger than Yoda in the Force. Watch when Yoda deflects his lightning on the pod. You can tell by Palp's expressions that Yoda has kicked it up a notch and Palps gets scared.

Without reading all the comments....I am reading Dark Lord right now, and there is part that says that the sith really don't need to use lightsabers, they just have them to mock the Jedi. I think basically it was included to show how the sith continued to evolve and the Jedi remained stagnate over the last 1000 years.


James

Yes, I agree with Angel. He needed his hands to free up.

Well, i think palpy just wanted to have a little fun with it, so he made it go slower both vs. Mace, and Yoda. He could've just blasted all 4 jedi masters with lighting when they walked in, 'cause he could sense their intentions.

--Palpy sucks though
--Darth Garagoth shall reign!!!

I think it's pretty simple: imagine you are in one-on-one combat, using swords, with your mortal enemy. For whatever reason (which is really a moot point) you have gained the "high ground." You are surrounded by large heavy rocks that will definitely injure, perhaps kill your opponent. You are also strong enough to hurl them at with great "force." I know I would put away my sword, which is useless at that range anyway, and begin the bombardment.

Once Yoda leaped up to the Palpatine's level again, why not use force lightning again, since it had already worked quite well the first time in his office. I believe this issue is possibly being over analyzed a little bit.

As seen in the novelization Sidious was the stronger off the two. It was about the Sith following the new ways, new techniques. They had grown, the Jedi had stagnated. Perhaps Palpy was not using his saber just to prove that point or he wanted to be sure and used his specialty, force techniques. (he's more a force user and less a duelist).

Or it's much simpler and like Sith Lord Eight said and others it just came down to using your surrounding and adapting to your next move, employing the 'force throw technique'. In such a thing using your hands clearly aids gaining focus.
(think about grip, mind manipulation etc) you can perform it without ones hands but it aids in 'focussing' so to speak.

Sith Lord Eight has a good point. Holding the so called "high ground" would allow someone to defend better with less effort.

I never really noticed but i think it WAS wen he was hurrling senate pods and didnt want to loose his blade.

Well, I read in the Insider that analyzed the Senate battle that Yoda did indeed dominate the beginning of the fight. However, he began losing after Palpatine began throwing the Senate pods, as was evident when he attempted to dodge one and collapsed on the pod he was jumping to.

Man some of you can debate!

Ohhh... Here goes...

Master Yoda overwhelms Sidious, causing him to lose his lighsaber... As to Sidious suddenly appearing on a senator's pod higher and further from the chancellor's rotunda, I'm supposing he most probably 'hovered' there to escape from Yoda's onslaught after losing his lightsaber... Just like his ability in Battlefront II...

Then Master Yoda uses Force Jump to leap on the side where Sidious was, but lands a distance from Sidious probably because 'Force Jump' isn't as powerful as 'Force Hover'...

Simple as that...

....Man some of you can debate!.....

Great Emperor5, it's all for a deeper understanding of an already terrific mythology. Of course it's really good fun too! Dude, you're only 14; you're not even old enough for the Jedi trials. Just wait until you're 36, with a boat-load of experience behind you. Then you'll see that even idiots like me can pull a couple chains of thought together once in a while!

No, that's not what I meant. I am a fierce debater myself. It just that I choose my battles most of the time. I am mearly commenting on how well you can turn a simple question into something much larger.

By the way, Yoda was kicking the Emperor's butt. And I'm sure he would have sliced Palpatine in half if he hadn't fallen.

The Emperor is not as tough as you all think. Why? He even got scared, dangling off the edge of that pod..."AAAAAHHHHHH". And Sith are not supposed to have fear according to Count Dooku.

Want proof? Here's a quote from Clone Wars "Hahahahah...A bold claim blah blah blah...Sith have no fear blah blah blah... I rest my case, "AAAAAAHHHHHHHH I'm going to fall!"

Another theory of mine is that they were evenly matched, and of course Anakin had to destroy the Emperor, otherwise no OT.

"Destroy the Sith we must!

Go to Wikipedia and search for "Duel in the Senate" It describes the full battle, including those pesky missing pieces and the metaphysical aspect. Hope that helps!

Hmmmmm......you folk do bring up some strong points. I am not going to even argue with the presented and supported facts from the Insider and George Lucas. Yoda is a better duelist who most likely (IMHO) sliced Sidious' saber hilt. (Insider) Yoda was most likely equal in the Force. (Shown as he caught the lightening and held his own. The surprise of the strength of Yoda threw Sidious off.)

Mace Windu and Sidious both have similar styles. Sidious was aggressive at first and pushed Mace back. Then (as we all know what anger and aggressiveness do to us, Sidious tires) Mace uses the Vaapad to throw Sidious's strikes against him. AND, Sidious does make the mistake of trying to hack down at Mace, but Mace pins it and delivers the Brooklyn Boot to the face.

Being caught off guard and defenseless, he forced to the corner. He knows that Mace will most likely not kill him and know that one of two things. Anakin is coming and is easliy manipulated. Or, may be able to manipulate the Senate in releasing him.*remember, he does have cameras and microphones in his office that could be manipulated by Mas Amedda* But this is my own perspective.

They really gotta make these response spots more than 750 characters.