@palpatine005: Lol don't you get the reference?
Darth Tenebrous runs the Palpatine's apprentices gauntlet
@redguard1an:Not all force users are able to cope with physical debilitations even though some have. Luke went from being the most powerful Jedi to getting stalemated by Lady Rhea because he was starved. If Maul being starved is a negligible hinderance then prove that his rage amp isn't.
Disingenuous comparison. First, Luke was winning. He wasn't "stalemated":
They realized their mistake the instant their faceplates darkened and leapt into a series of evasive tumbles. But even that tiny slip was too much in such a vicious combat, and Luke was in no condition to be merciful. He followed the older Sith out into the hangar, taking advantage of her momentary blindness to lop off pieces-first a leg, then a sword arm, and finally her helmet.
Expecting the ferocious girl to be on him the instant her faceplate cleared, Luke spun to meet her with a clearing sweep of his blade-and found her a full thirty meters away, floating above a dusty old Soro-Suub StarTripper that looked like it could have been the prototype for Lando's famous Lady Luck. Her partially darkened faceplate was turned toward the lift area, perhaps because she was searching for something she could use to continue her attack from a safe distance.
But she seemed to feel Luke's gaze and realize the odds had turned against her, and she slowly looked back toward him. It was impossible to see inside her faceplate from that distance, but Luke had the sense that she was watching him carefully, either adjusting a previous appraisal of him-or simply awaiting his next attack. When Luke remained motionless, the girl ignited her lightsaber and raised it in salute. He acknowledged the gesture with a dip of his head. She held the salute for a moment longer, then deactivated her blade and did a backward Force flip, vanishing from sight behind the dusty StarTripper.
Luke turned toward the hangar exit. Seeing no sign of any active vessel except the Shadow, he chinned the microphone toggle inside his helmet. "Hey, Ben?"
Second, Rheya only managed that in a 2v1:
The exit panel opened. Luke found himself standing faceplate-to-faceplate with four surprised enemies. Two were small and female, and two were large and male. He put a trio of blaster bolts through the largest male's chest and ignited his lightsaber in the faceplate of the other male, then retreated to the rear of the lift and used the Force to depress the activation lever. Luke had expected the female survivors to be so shocked by his attack that they would leap for cover and take a moment to regroup before coming after him. He should have known better. These were Sith, and they reacted with all the killing instinct that implied. Even before the exit panel had begun to drop back into place, they were diving into the lift with him, each going to a different corner so they could attack from two different directions.
Third, Luke's situation was completely different, having been weakened both physically and mentally to the point that he was at a fraction of his former strength, which is outright stated:
‘He was good; Luke gave him that. He might have been a match for an expert swordsmaster such as Kyp or Kyle Katarn. He would have been too much for a comparatively diffident duelist such as Cilghal, or even Luke as he had been back at Sinkhole Station, at low ebb in physical and mental strength.’
You're making a completely false equivalence between a Luke weakened under completely different circumstances and a Maul who was only physically weakened.
Pre-poost Palpatine >~ TPM Maul > RotJ Vader >> ANH Vader > Maw > Plagueis > Tenebrous.
This is inaccurate. Immensely so. TPM Maul is certainly not > ROTJ Vader, nor is he > Plagueis.
I'm not sure what mental gymnastics you're trying to pull off because it seems clear to me that if Maul hurt Palps in battle then they're close.
Did he bite Sidious in the middle of the fight, or when Sidious was standing still and raising his lightsaber? If you take the latter as a sign of parity, then a tactical droid tagging S6 Anakin means that the tactical droid must be ~ S6 Anakin.
Fortunately I have even more evidence to support my initial claim.
This should be interesting.
.
"Equally as formidable" is laughably meaningless. Vader has the exact same quote:
Once Supreme Chancellor Palpatine, the black-cloaked Darth Sidious has fulfilled his masterful plan and taken control of the entire galaxy, with the equally formidable Dark Lord of the Sith by his side.
So you've contradicted yourself: 19 BBY Vader is "equal" to post-ROTS Sidious, who is >> pre-boost Sidious. So by your logic:
ROTJ Sidious >>> ROTS Sidious ~ 19 BBY Vader >> pre-boost Sidious ~ TPM Maul.
He parries my next blow. Sweat stings my eyes as I move across the rough cave floor. I do not stumble. I am nothing but the pulse of my anger, pure energy, pure darkness. I streak across the cave floor and come at him again, somersaulting through the air. My lightsaber whirls in the darkness. When he parries the blow, he staggers.
I am going to kill him. Every beat of my blood exults in my power. Every blow I deliver is meant to be the killing blow. I use reserves of strength I did not know I had. My blows are sure and precise, my footwork flawless. I gather in the power of the dark side. I feel my power clash with his. The air is thick, charged with our dark, titanic powers.
He parries every blow. But I see that he has to work hard to keep me at bay. Triumph roars through me at my Master's weakness. He is not as powerful as he appears.
-Star Wars Episode I Journal: Darth Maul
You did read where I said, "rage amped", correct? Sidious didn't expect the rage amp, and was toying with him:
He then becomes enraged and throws himself at Sidious, surprising him with the sudden aggression:
Even as Sidious is "working hard" - which is from Maul's perspective, who at this point is overconfident and high on rage, believing that he can kill Sidious - Sheev taunts him and within seconds has him up against the wall:
Maul is not - and never has been - a trustworthy narrator. At no point does he break through Sheev's defences, even when the latter is surprised and forced to defend against his sudden rage amp.
And because you chose to omit it - either intentionally or unknowingly - Sheev was barely tapping into his reserves, having barely spent any of his energy to hold Maul at bay whereas a rage amped Maul was giving it everything he had:
My relationship with my Master is complex. He rules me. He orders me and directs me. Yet we are both Sith Lords, and though I am his apprentice I share some of his power. As I have grown, so has his confidence in me. I stand by his side, but slightly behind, in his shadow.
I am content there. I still have much to learn. Not in battle, but in larger strategies. He sees weakness and exploits it. He senses anger and inflames it. His vision takes in a galaxy, with its multitude of planets and governments. The complexity doesn't intimidate him. He can hold it in his mind and know that someday, he will control it all.
Key word: "some" of his power. Maul knows that he is weaker. He is referring to his position as Sidious' eventual successor and fellow Sith Lord.
Alone in his secret chambers, Darth Sidious meditated on this latest set of circumstances.
In many ways Darth Maul was an exemplary acolyte. His loyalty was unquestionable and unshakable; Sidious knew that, if he were to command it, Maul would sacrifice his life without a second's hesitation. And his skills as a warrior were nonpareil.
Nevertheless, Maul had his flaws, and by far the largest of these was hubris. Though he had said nothing when given the assignment, Sidious knew Maul felt that such a job was beneath his skills. There were times-many times-when Sidious could see Maul's aura pulsing with the dark stain of impatience. He wondered sometimes if he had inculcated too much hatred of the Jedi and their ways in his apprentice. Maul did tend to focus on their destruction at the expense of the larger picture.
Even so, Sidious had every confidence that Maul would accomplish the task he had been set. Complications and setbacks were to be expected, and would be dealt with. All that mattered was the grand design, and it was proceeding apace. Soon the Jedi would be put to the slaughter. That should make his impetuous subordinate happy. Soon. Very soon.
And yet he was defeated by TPM Sidious, strained by a refreshed and focused Qui-Gon, and is below Yoda, Mace and arguably other members of the Jedi Council. If you need proof, here is what Sidious also had to say in response to Maul thinking he could take out most of the Council in 1v1s via stealth:
The abandoned LiMerge Building had become the assassin’s home and training center; The Works and the fringes of the nearby Fobosi district, his nocturnal haunts. Circling him with the cowl of his robe raised over his head, Sidious asked, “The Jedi gained your respect?”
“They might have, had the infiltrators showed any skill. Had I been leading them …”
Sidious stopped. “The mission would have been successful? Jedi Knights and Padawans killed; younglings slaughtered.”
“I’m certain of it, Master.”
“Just you, against the Masters who make up the High Council.”
“By hiding and striking I could have killed many.”
Plagueis was right, Sidious thought. I have made him prideful
Maul is skilled, no doubt. He is, however, not a Sidious, or a Yoda, or a Mace, or an Anakin, or even a Kenobi.
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