9 Star Wars Questions Not Even Fans Know The Answer To
3. Did Mace Windu Really Defeat Palpatine?
Moments before he was blasted out of a Coruscant window and seemingly killed by Darth Sidious - with a big ol' assist from Anakin Skywalker - it did appear that Mace Windu had genuinely gotten the better of the Sith Lord in Episode III - Revenge of the Sith.
Or did Sheev Palpatine actually purposely lose this duel between two powerful Force-users to bring Skywalker one step closer to the dark side?
Many understandably believe the latter to be true, with Skywalker's emotional reaction to Windu threatening to kill Sidious there and then - chopping his arm off - finally cementing his fall. With Sidious pulling the strings so masterfully throughout the prequel trilogy, you wouldn't put it past him planning all of the events that ultimately unfolded in that office.
According to George Lucas in the movie's DVD commentary, Windu did actually very much overpower Sidious, meaning he won the duel. However, when the Sith Lord was claiming to be "weak" after having his Force lightning shot back at him, he was "pretending."
Despite Windu apparently being the clear winner of the duel in Lucas' mind, though, Sidious actor Ian McDiarmid has actually suggested that he indeed lost on purpose, telling Star Wars Celebration 2023 (via GamesRant), "He wanted to compromise Anakin in another way, which he did, and destroy Mace at the same time.”
Put simply, it's still not completely clear what the truth is here. It's just an iconic scene Star Wars fans will seemingly forever be debating.