Duel in Palpatine ' s office With the Clone Wars reaching its end and the revelation that Supreme Chancellor Sheev Palpatine was secretly Darth Sidious , the Dark Lord of the Sith , Mace Windu and fellow members of the Jedi Council engaged Palpatine in a lightsaber duel in the Chancellor ' s office on Coruscant . Palpatine quickly killed Jedi Master s Agen Kolar , Saesee Tiin and Kit Fisto , but had an extended confrontation with Windu . The duel lasted until Windu disarmed the Chancellor and knocked him to the floor . As Windu held the Chancellor at bladepoint , he was interrupted by the arrival of Jedi Knight Anakin Skywalker ; although Windu had told Skywalker to remain at the Jedi Temple , he was seduced to the Chancellor ' s office by the promise that Palpatine could use the dark side of the Force to save his wife , Padmé Amidala , from dying in childbirth , an event Skywalker saw in a vision . Ignoring Skywalker , Windu declared Palpatine and the Sith as a whole defeated , to which Palpatine responded by firing Force lightning at the Jedi Master . Windu managed to block the streams of electricity and deflected most it back into Palpatine ' s body , disfiguring the Sith Lord in the process . Skywalker attempted to convince Windu to arrest the Sith Lord , as he at first intended , but Windu had realized that Palpatine controlled the Senate and the judicial system , and would most likely be acquitted no matter what . Stating that Palpatine was just too dangerous to be left alive , Windu prepared to kill him , while Skywalker desperately claimed that doing so was not the Jedi way and finally blurting out " " I need him ! " " When Windu tried to make the killing blow , Skywalker lashed out at him , severing his lightsaber holding hand and allowing Palpatine , who was feigning helplessness , to kill the Jedi Master . In the aftermath of the duel , Skywalker pledged his loyalty to Palpatine and became a Sith Lord called Darth Vader . The Jedi attempt on his life allowed Palpatine to execute his plan to seize full control over the galaxy . He branded the Jedi as traitors and issued Order 66 to the Grand Army of the Republic , leading to the destruction of the Jedi Order . Shortly thereafter , he declared himself Galactic Emperor and transformed the Galactic Republic into the Galactic Empire , which ruled the galaxy for over two decades . Prelude . Not long after the Battle of Coruscant , Jedi Knight Anakin Skywalker began experiencing visions of his wife , Padmé Amidala , dying in childbirth . Disturbed , Skywalker sought the advice of Master Yoda ; however , Yoda advised him to " let go of everything he feared to lose " which simply served to frustrate Skywalker , as he did not understand what Yoda was trying to say . Palpatine invited Skywalker to a show at the Galaxies Opera House under the pretense of providing him with intelligence on the location of General Grievous . While they sat in Palpatine ' s private box , he told Skywalker of a Sith " legend " , " The Tragedy of Darth Plagueis the Wise , " emphasizing that Plagueis had discovered way to use the dark side to influence midi - chlorian s , an ability which could be used to both create life and cheat death . Aware of Anakin ' s plight , Palpatine planned to use this revelation as bait to draw Anakin to the dark side . Anakin , desperate for a way to prevent his prophetic visions from coming to pass , questioned Palpatine on how one might learn Plagueis ' s technique , but Palpatine simply told him that it was impossible to learn it from a Jedi . Later , in the Supreme Chancellor ' s office , after Skywalker told the Supreme Chancellor about Obi - Wan Kenobi currently fighting Grievous , Palpatine finally revealed himself to be Darth Sidious , a Dark Lord of the Sith . Skywalker was torn between his desire to learn Sidious ' s power and his duty as a Jedi to turn him in . Skywalker initially thought to kill Sidious on sight , as another part of his duty to the Jedi was to eliminate the Sith , but as Palpatine was his friend , and had implied killing him would turn Skywalker to the dark side , he did not . After leaving the Chancellor ' s office , he went to the Jedi Temple and informed Mace Windu of Palpatine ' s true identity as a Sith Lord . In response , Windu took a squad of fellow Jedi Master s , Kit Fisto , Agen Kolar , and Saesee Tiin to arrest Palpatine , leaving Skywalker behind . The Jedi arrived into Sidious ' s private office , where the Chancellor feigned surprise at their abrupt visit and asked if this meant General Grievous was dead . Igniting his purple - bladed weapon , Windu declared Palpatine under arrest in the name of the Galactic Senate ; Fisto , Tiin and Kolar ignited their own weapons to back him up . When Windu declared the Senate will decide his fate , Palpatine snarled that he was the Senate , to which Windu was quick to object by reminding him that he wasn ' t yet . The duel . Accusing the Jedi of treason , Sidious deployed his lightsaber from his sleeve and ignited it . With a ferocious snarl that was more animal than human and with a speed that belied his age , Sidious leapt over his desk to land in front of the Jedi . In a moment , Kolar was impaled by Palpatine through the abdomen and fell with a scream . Tiin attempted to strike the Dark Lord from behind as Kolar fell , but was cut down as Sidious swung around to slash him across the torso . With half his opponents dead , Sidious immediately engaged Fisto and Windu . Fisto managed to fend off Sidious ' s initial strikes , but he was cut down mere second s after the fall of his two compatriots . His entire strike force destroyed , Windu was left alone to contend with the Dark Lord . Sidious drove Windu back along the corridor to his public office , where Windu managed to pull Sidious into a bladelock . As their battle took them towards the center of the room , Anakin ' s airspeeder touched down outside . He had meditated on his thoughts in the Council Chambers , and the young Jedi felt as though he could not bear to let Sidious meet his death at the hands of the Jedi ; at least , not before teaching Skywalker the secrets of Darth Plagueis to save Amidala from death . As Skywalker sped through the halls of the Senate Office Building , Sidious unleashed a rapid series of fruitless attacks against Windu , and was driven back into the office by Windu ' s steady offensive strikes . Windu guided the battle across the office towards the bay window , which was quickly shattered by their missed strikes . As they moved out onto the wind - blown ledge , the duelists engaged in a brief flurry of bladework , but Windu managed to end the bout with a swift kick to the Sith Lord ' s jaw . Sidious was thrown off balance , staggering back and dropping his lightsaber as he flailed for balance before retreating against the window frame . Sidious was at Windu ' s mercy , who held his blade to the Sith Lord ' s throat . At that moment , Skywalker appeared , convinced that only the power of the Dark side could save his wife ' s from the end seen in his visions . Intervention . With Sidious disarmed , Windu declared again that the Dark Lord was in Jedi custody . However , having arrived too late to see the Sith Lord ' s intent , Skywalker saw only a helpless Chancellor cowering before Windu . Sidious claimed the Jedi were in rebellion , while Windu countered , declaring the ultimate defeat of the Sith . In response , Sidious hurled Force lightning at the Jedi Master , forcing him to deflect it back at the Dark Lord . The redirected current hit Sidious , deforming his face hideously yet he continued to uphold the barrage . He called out to Skywalker for help while Windu told him not to listen to the Sith Lord . The electrical current continued to ravage the Chancellor ' s body , and Skywalker ' s conflict reached its peak as he watched his friend suffer . Eventually , the lightning subsided to leave Palpatine pretending to be exhausted , lying on the floor . The Chancellor began begging for mercy , saying he was too weak to continue fighting . After the Sith Lord stopped his barrage of lightning , Windu announced that he had no choice but to kill Sidious , as he saw him as too great a threat to keep alive . Skywalker pleaded with him to spare Sidious , saying that the best course of action was for Sidious to stand trial , but Windu refused , believing that Sidious ' s influence would sway the Court ' s ruling in his favor . Skywalker further pressed by saying that killing Sidious in cold blood was not the Jedi way . But , ignoring Skywalker , Windu raised his blade to deliver the killing blow . Skywalker , reacting in a moment of despair , cut off the unsuspecting Windu ' s sword hand . Seizing the opportunity , Sidious immediately ceased feigning weakness and unleashed a withering barrage of Force lightning at the helpless Jedi Master . After torturing him for a few moments , Sidious used the Force to blast Windu out of the broken window , plummeting to his death . Skywalker , after witnessing Sidious kill Windu , fell to his knees in shock at his unwitting participation in the Jedi Master ' s murder . Sidious congratulated him , telling Skywalker that he was fulfilling his destiny and that he would help him find the secrets to saving Amidala ' s life . The Dark Lord then admitted in a round - about way that cheating death was a power only his Master had achieved , revealing he did not actually know the secret to stopping death . However , Skywalker , blinded by his need to save his wife , did not realize this . Though his loyalty to the Jedi lingered somewhat , he believed that his role in Windu ' s death precluded any chance of his returning to them . He resigned himself to his fate and knelt before Sidious , swearing to be his Sith apprentice . Aftermath . Though horrified at what he had done , and what he was becoming , Skywalker knew there was no turning back from his dark path , so he pledged to Sidious that he would do whatever Sidious asked in return for his assistance in saving Amidala . Sidious named his new apprentice Darth Vader and tasked him with the storming of the Jedi temple . Furthermore , Sidious issued Order 66 to every clone trooper in the Grand Army of the Republic ; the clones were ordered to eliminate their Jedi Commander s and Generals , and marked all Jedi as enemies of the Republic , beginning the Jedi Purge . Vader stormed the Temple , leading the 501st Legion and proceeded to kill nearly every Jedi within its walls . The Temple was set ablaze while all of Galactic City watched . Shortly thereafter , Sidious traveled to the Senate Rotunda and told the Senate of the " Jedi Rebellion " and his actions against it . Furthermore , under the false pretense of better security , Palpatine delivered a speech that declared that the Republic was no more , and in its place was a new Galactic Empire . Behind the scenes . This lightsaber duel appeared in the film version of . This duel explains some — until then — unknown aspects of the " Star Wars " Universe . It explains how Darth Vader , an antagonist from the original trilogy , joined the Sith and why Palpatine ' s face is deformed in . Ian McDiarmid , the actor who portrayed Palpatine , did not enjoy filming these scenes . As a Shakespearean actor , filming high - speed sword fighting did not appeal to him . He had only about five days to learn the choreography his stunt double would not perform from the stunt coordinator , Nick Gillard . As an older man , he was not as dexterous as his opponents and , occasionally , he would be hit over the day ' s filming . McDiarmid did , however , have some respect towards Samuel L . Jackson ' s abilities . The film ' s producer , Rick McCallum , was worried about how the scene would turn out because of this , but was very happy with the final result . On the other hand , Windu ' s actor , Samuel L . Jackson , had been waiting for this scene since he was hired . One of the requests he made during negotiations for the part was for his character to die spectacularly at the end . According to the screenplay of Episode III , the Chancellor ' s Rodian aide Dar Wac and two members of the Senate Guard originally had a cameo appearance before the Jedi entered Palpatine ' s office , in which they would have tried to stop the Jedi only to be Force push ed into the walls by them . This was either dropped or never filmed . Furthermore , the screenplay stated it was Windu who was being forced onto the ledge after the window was broken , which contradicts the novelization . The screenplay also indicates Windu attempted to defend himself with his remaining hand after he was betrayed by Skywalker . In Popular Culture . The showdown was parodied in , in which Palpatine rants about his deformed face .