As for Maul, I see him as about as fast and skilled as both Vader and Luke, in their ballpark of strength but not quite matching them, and then more durable (than Luke), better martial artist ect.
Maul is succinctly superior to ANH Vader. During the duel between Vader and the clone, the latter had the advantage throughout, pretty comfortably. He was taunting him at every point and being complacent with his successes. It was only when Vader actually made any ground that the clone began taking the fight seriously - and the fight was then ended in a single page. In terms of speed and dueling skill Maul is comfortably ahead of ANH Vader.
Luke was definitely amped when he defeated Vader during RotJ.
'Give yourself to the dark side, Luke,' he entreated. 'It is the only way you can save your friends. Yes, your thoughts betray you, son. Your feelings for them are strong, especially for-'
Vader stopped. He sensed something.
Luke withdrew further into shadow. He tried to hide, but there was no way to hide what was in his mind - Leia was in pain. Her agony cried to him now, and his spirit cried with her. He tried to shut it out, to shut it up, but the cry was loud, and he couldn't stifle it, couldn't leave it alone, had to cradle it openly, to give it solace.
Vader's consciousness invaded that private place.
'No!' screamed Luke.
Vader was incredulous. 'Sister? Sister!' he bellowed. 'Your feelings have now betrayed her, too ... Twins!' he roared triumphantly. 'Obi-Wan was wise to hide her, but now his failure is complete.' His smile was clear to Luke, through the mask, through the shadows, through all the realms of Darkness. 'If you will not turn to the Dark Side, perhaps she will.'
This, then, was Luke's breaking point. For Leia was everyone's last unflagging hope. If Vader turned his twisted, misguided cravings on her ...'Never!' he screamed. His lightsaber flew off Vader's belt into his own hand, igniting as it came to him.
He rushed to his father with a frenzy he'd never known. Nor had Vader. The gladiators battled fiercely, sparks flying from the clash of their radiant weapons, but it was soon evident that the advantage was all Luke's. And he was pressing it. They locked swords, body to body. When Luke pushed Vader back to break the clinch, the Dark Lord hit his head on an over-hanging beam in the cramped space. He stumbled backward even farther, out of the low-hanging area. Luke pursued him relentlessly.
Blow upon blow, Luke forced Vader to retreat - back, onto the bridge that crossed the vast, seemingly bottomless shaft to the power core. Each stroke of Luke's saber pummeled Vader, like accusations, like screams, like shards of hate.
The Dark Lord was driven to his knees. He raised his blade to block yet another onslaught - and Luke slashed Vader's right hand off at the wrist.
Clear usage of Force Rage right there. Never before has he shown himself capable of pummelling Darth Vader to his knees through sheer strength. It was a special circumstance.
Log in to comment