RANDOM QUESTION SUNDAY 013
“Who would win a fight between Yoda and Mace Windu?”
Hello there! The Corellian Korean here with the thirteenth RANDOM QUESTION SUNDAY! And the question is:
Who would win a fight between Yoda and Mace Windu?
This question was posed to me by my son, Trooper #37 himself. He often poses lore questions related to power levels of prominent characters in the Star Wars universe. For example, he might ask "Who would win a fight between Palpatine and Vader?" I would declare the winner and explain why. But some match-ups are more difficult to call than others.
So when #37 asked me if Yoda or Mace Windu would win a fight, I honestly wasn't sure as there are conflicting arguments that make the winner unclear unless you absorbed EU content from the Prequels era. I read a very limited amount of expanded universe content of the Prequels which was the time when Windu's exploits were most concentrated. Also this would be the era you would want to pit them against each other as they were both present at the time. From my understanding, the Prequels EU comics and novels expanded the lore of the Jedi and Sith abilities to a great degree. Thankfully I completed all of Dave Filoni's and Genndy Tartakovsky's Clone Wars animated series. So I will try my best to tackle this question.
As I stated before, it's not clear to see who will win in a fight between the two highest ranking Jedi Masters in the Order unless you have absorbed much lore from the Prequels era. In REVENGE OF THE SITH, Windu fought Palpatine aka Darth Sidious and won. However, Yoda had a crack at Palpatine and lost. Based on the movies alone you might think Windu would win against Yoda. But as I said before, the EU goes deeper into why Yoda would win a fight between Yoda and Windu.
Windu is considered the second greatest Jedi Master in the Order next to Yoda in terms of lightsaber combat. One of Master Windu's trump cards in combat was his mastery of the Vaapad style of fighting. This form of fighting channels the darkside energy from both the user and the darkside opponent. Due to Vaapad practitioners skirting on the edge of darkside of the Force, very few Jedi could use this style of fighting. If used improperly the user can fall to the darkside of the Force, something Jedi avoided at all cost. Mace Windu is one of the few who could master the form and not fall to the dark side. It is said that Master Windu defeated Darth Sidious with Vaapad by redirecting Palpatine's darkside energy back at the Sith Lord. Some believe that Palpatine intentionally threw the fight to feed Anakin's anxiety and fear of losing Palpatine's Sith knowledge to save Padme from death. That it was all an act to make Anakain fall to the darkside.
Master Yoda on the other hand has been credited by Master Windu himself as being the greatest Jedi combatant and Force practitioner in and out of peace times. Simply put Yoda can beat Windu in a fight.
Then why did Yoda flee from Palpatine in REVENGE OF THE SITH? This is not made clear but their are fan theories to explain this.
It is believed that Yoda was equal or above Palpatine in terms of Force power and lightsaber skill. When pitted against each other, there are moments that demonstrate their stalemate in power. For example, Yoda and Palpatine repelled each other when using the full might of the Force against each other at point blank range. The resulting burst of power sent them flying back. They also went toe-to-toe in lightsaber combat without a clear winner.
Some believe that due to time constraints Yoda had to retreat. That Yoda had a window of opportunity to defeat Darth Sidious in one-on-one combat but ran out of time. He had to retreat once Palpatine's Clone Trooper reinforcements arrived at the scene of the duel. If the Clones did not interfere, perhaps Yoda could've finished the duel with Sidious. You can say that Yoda made a calculated retreat.
Another theory states that their fight ended in a stalemate, resulting in no clear victor. So Yoda fled implying that he was not powerful enough to defeat Palpatine. Yoda logically accepted the futility of their duel and fled before Palpatine's reinforcements arrived.
There are other potential reasons as to why Yoda fled from Palpatine but those of the ones I will highlight. The final verdict is Yoda can best Windu in one-on-one combat but not all match ups are equal. There are many variables to consider when you pit two combatants against each other. For example, I believe Plo Koon is the only Jedi to defeat Yoda in lightsaber combat due to a unique skill Master Koon possesses. I guess you can not simply determine a fight just by power levels alone. It's more like a sophisticated game of rock-scissor-paper similar to Pocket Monsters.
That's all the time I for this RANDOM QUESTION SUNDAY. I hope you enjoyed #13. If you did enjoy this post then please consider subscribing to receive notifications for future content. Also leave a like and comment. All of your support and viewership is greatly appreciated. Until next time, may the Force be with you. Always!
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