Team Debate: Mace Windu vs. Darth Sidious

At this time, we’ll rebut Con’s case. FORCE ABILITIESForce LightningDespite however intense the power of Darth Sidious’ lightning was, it could rather easily be rendered ineffective by Mace Windu, who was able to use his lightsaber to not only absorb lightning - but deflect it back at Sidious with Vaapad: “Calling once again on his Vaapad mastery, Windu just barely managed to catch the lightning on his lightsaber and began deflecting it back at Sidious. ” [1]. This would make the force lighting not only useless, but something that could contribute to the defeat of Sidious, rather than victory: as his own lightning could be used as a tool against him. Dun MöchDun Möch (abbreviated DM) “commonly involved spoken taunts, jeers, and jests that exposed the opponent's hidden, inner weaknesses and/or doubts, which had the end result of eroding the opponent's will. ” [2] Based on an analysis of the article on DM [2], all DM techniques have some physical manifestation. For instance, “taunting Yoda verbally and displaying his mastery of telekinesis in an ‘unnecessary’ flashy fashion,” “Darth Maul also used this in his second duel against Obi-Wan Kenobi, by cruelly reminding the Jedi Master how Maul killed Qui-Gon Jinn in front of him,” and “Jacen Solo applied Dun Möch when he used the Force to hurl dislodged bricks at Mara Jade Skywalker during their brawl on Kavan. ” In fact, every single example of DM listed in the “notable example” segment of that page involves taunting, jeering, or some physically provocative move designed to unbalance the opponent. Therefore, but “mental” attacks, it seems as if the article means using physical actions to surprise, unsettle, confuse, or enrage an adversary. It is clear that Sidious did not use verbal taunts while in combat with Windu; it also does not appear as if he did anything to deliberately unbalance Windu. [3] So, DM was not being used, which make it unlikely that it would’ve been a factor in the conflict. Even if DM were being used, the fact that Windu was strong enough to fully master Juyo without falling to the dark side (which other accomplished Jedi like Sora Bulq and Depa Bilaba did [4]), it is clear that Windu had a mastery of himself and his emotions that few others truly had. Also, Con says “Unlike mind tricks, Dun Möch was also effective against strong-willed beings, as shown when he used this technique to confuse and kill three Jedi Council members within a short period of time. ” But the Con team has shown NO evidence that DM was being used against those 3 Jedi, and so this claim is wholly unwarranted. Finally, DM has a key flaw: “If not carefully applied, Dun Möch could backfire upon the user, spurring the intended target to anger instead of overwhelming him/her with fear. ” [2] Vaapad, Windu’s preferred fighting style, allowed him to utilize that anger more effectively in combat. By allowing DM to spark anger in him, Windu could thus make himself even stronger. “Vaapad was explained as being a state of mind rather than just a fighting style, allowing the wielder to channel his own inner darkness into the duel, and accept the fury of the opponent. ” [4]LIGHTSABER SKILLSCon states that Sidious is a master of all seven forms and Jar’Kai. However, he does not make a case for why Sidious is greater in his performance of these forms. Windu also mastered all seven forms - including the Vaapad variant of the VII form, whereas Sidious is not a known practitioner of Vaapad [4]. Vaapad gave Windu an inherent advantage, as a master of it would be able to use the darkness of their opponent as an amplifier to their combative ability 4]. Windu was said to have used this ability of Vaapad in his battle with Sidious, where he “was able to draw on the torrents of dark side energy emanating from his opponent like a heat sink” [1]. Moreover, Windu's ability to strike with amazing alacrity would've allowed him to respond to multiple blades effectively. "Skywalker considered Windu's Vaapad bladework to be "an oblate sphere of purple fire" which contained dozens of blades attacking from every angle. " [4]Finally, Sidious's mastery of dual blade fighting is almost totally irrelevant, as it is evident that Sidious only had a single blade on him to wield at the time. [3]COMPARISONSDM vs. WinduThe article [5] specifically mentions that shatterpoint requires talent “or” concentration, not both. There is also an image in that article, the caption of which notes that shatterpoint can be used in lightsaber combat. Also, we have already proved that Vaapad was used by Windu to deform Sidious [1]. If Windu had the concentration to use Vaapad, which he clearly did, either Sidious was not using DM, or DM failed. LightningDespite the sheer amounts of power in Sidious’ lightning, Vaapad allowed Windu to render it utterly useless, as Vaapad allows its user to use the dark energy from their opponent [4], and Windu was shown to be able to use the energy from Palpatine to deflect the lightning back, rather than simply absorbing it. Palpatine was indeed putting himself in a position of weakness - but that was only because Anakin intervened. Had he not, this point would be irrelevant. Simply because he most likely threw the fight does not point towards him being able to win it if he did not - especially since Windu was able to match Sidious’ ability, as well as using his energy against him [4]. The idea that Sidious put himself in a position of weakness is irrelevant, since this debate is about Windu and Sidious fighting without such intervention. Finally, there is no reason to believe that Sidious could both block and deploy lightning simultaneously. ANALYSISThe question of this debate is not whether the battle Windu fought with Sidious was fair or whether or not Sidious threw the fight. The question is whether, if it had been fair, Windu would’ve won. The answer to that is a resounding yes. Even if Sidious could have continued using the lightning, anytime he used it, Windu would’ve reflected it back. Furthermore, there is no evidence to suggest that Sidious specifically planned to turn Anakin in that particular way, but even if he had, just because Sidious planned to lose does not mean he would’ve won had he tried. When Windu’s force abilities are compared to Sidious’s abilities, Windu’s abilities are far superior, and directly counter those Sidious could deploy. Windu would have won. Thus, we affirm. SOURCES[1] . http://starwars.wikia.com...[2] . http://starwars.wikia.com...[3] See Video (all) . http://www.youtube.com...[4] . http://starwars.wikia.com...[5] . http://starwars.wikia.com...Thank you! Please Vote Pro! Chris and I now turn things over to Con. ..