Were the Jedi Masters who accompanied Mace Windu in Chancellor Palpatine's arrest really that weak?
By ShootingNova 24 Comments
This is something I have seen circulating on the boards quite a bit, and I'm honestly tired of refuting it so I'll just make this so that, in the future, it will be easier to form a rebuttal.
The Jedi Masters who accompanied Windu in Chancellor Palpatine's arrest are often seen as weak by the general public, as they all got creamed by the Dark Lord while Windu lasted a much longer period of time. Comparing that, of course, Windu would seem vastly superior to them. However, at a much closer examination, it becomes evident that individually, each of these Jedi Masters - Agen Kolar, Saesee Tiin and Kit Fisto - are all close to Windu in respects to skill and power and the likes. The reason Windu lasted so long was because he received a monumental amp - and I'll let Silver2467's blog do the explanations on that:
Regarding this topic, I will dissect each Master's individual feats and accolades and compare them to Mace Windu to discredit the idea that they were simply weaklings and fodder sent to die just to make Sidious look powerful.
1. Agen Kolar
Agen Kolar is hardly what I would call the most explored character - his feats in general are relatively lacking in quantity. Qualitatively, however, his feats are certainly not far behind from Windu's. While he is a bit too lacking in Force feats to claimed to be close to Windu in that regard, in respects to combative proficiency, I can say with confidence that he would be approachable to Windu.
For one, Kolar has received an accolade as one of the most skilled bladesbeings the Jedi Order had ever produced, like Windu. In fact, based off the wording alone, it's hardly implausible to suggest that the sentence implies them to be peers in combative adroitness.
Which would leave Mace and Agen Kolar—both among the greatest bladesbeings the Jedi Order had ever produced—here on Coruscant in case Sidious did indeed take this opportunity to make a dramatic move.
Source: Revenge of the Sith
Accolade-wise, he is just about on par with Windu. The only thing separating Windu from Kolar is that Windu was listed as the second most skilled swordsman by AotC, which means he should be somewhat ahead of Kolar, even if it's only by a marginal degree.
And what feats does Kolar have to support this? How about wrecking Quinlan Vos with laughable ease?
Kolar repeatedly wrecked Vos, within the parameters of a single page. As a showing, this is more than comparable to Windu's own feats, considering the only person who has walked past Vos with such casualness is Dooku, who is Mace Windu's equal. Do I contend that Kolar is equal with Mace Windu? No, but he doesn't have to be. Being approachable to Windu is more than sufficient evidence to supplement his accolade - and more than sufficient evidence to disclaim the notion that he is simply fodder.
2. Saesee Tiin
Saesee Tiin has merit as well. He is more explored than Agen Kolar and this allows us to see into not only his skill, but his Force abilities, both of which are on Windu's caliber.
Dueling wise, Saesee may not be as pronounced as Kolar, but he is still one of the best in the Order, recognized by both Mace Windu and Shaak Ti:
"I have chosen four of our best. Master Tiin, Master Kolar, and Master Fisto are all here, in the Temple. They are preparing already."
"What about Skywalker? The chosen one."
"Too much of a risk," Mace replied. "I am the fourth."
...
"Anakin, why? The Masters are the best of the Order. What can you possibly do?"
Source: Revenge of the Sith
In fact, Obi-Wan Kenobi suggested that Tiin as among the most skilled swordsmen the Order had ever produced, which would be on par with Agen Kolar's accolade:
Now Obi-Wan did face him. "Palpatine faced Mace and Agen and Kit and Saesee - four of the greatest swordsmen our Order has ever produced. By himself. Even both of us together wouldn't have a chance."
Source: Revenge of the Sith
Now, whether this is the case is somewhat unknown since Saesee's accolades are subjective, rather than objective, but considering that these subjective opinions are unanimous among three other characters, none of which are known for overly inflating others with unnecessary flattering, I see no reason to not trust these opinions, and we know by objective sources that he is a celebrated swordsman anyways:
Most of the Jedi are deployed on distant worlds, but Mace manages to assemble a trio of celebrated swordmasters to assist him in arresting Palpatine: Agen Kolar, a Zabrak known among the Jedi to strike first and ask questions later; Saesee Tiin, a solitary Iktotchi who has never chosen a Padawan learner; and Kit Fisto, Nautolan master of Form 1 lightsaber technique, who distinguished himself on Geonosis and Mon Calamari, and who partnered Mace in battling Grievous on Coruscant.
Source: The Complete Visual Dictionary
I would consider Saesee's accolades as credible and reliable, and he, like Kolar, has feats to suggest them to be true.
Here, we see him sparring evenly with Mace Windu:
Obviously, this should speak for itself. This is a clear indication that he is a peer of Windu in saber combat. Again, I would not portend that he is exactly as skilled as Windu, because of Windu's accolade as the second most skilled swordsman in the Order, and because of his more pronounced and varied feats. But then, Windu's preponderance in this regard is only marginal, not gaping, so I will say that Saesee is most certainly capable of contending with Windu in a real fight, based off both feats and accolades.
Power wise, Saesee is just superior. Tiin has had his Force abilities noted as one of the best in the Order, an accolade I don't recall Mace ever having:
Saesee's flying practise also helped to hone his Force abilities. By the time he arrived at the Jedi Temple, he was already adept at channeling his Force connection. As he progressed in the Order, he was acknowledged as having one of the strongest Force abilities of all the Jedi.
Source: The Official Star Wars Fact File #114
That, and he threw a droid four kilometers when Mace only threw one nearly three kilometers (to be fair, Mace Windu's droid landed on an advancing squadron, but that doesn't make the feat on par with Saesee's):
Tiin should be even less likely than Kolar to be deemed as weak, by any circumstances. Tiin is almost as skilled as Windu, and is more powerful in regards to the Force.
3. Kit Fisto
Kit Fisto is more well-known to the general public, has more general showings under his belt, and is probably a more likeable character in general. He is simply the most explored character out of all of these three. However, to be fair, it is harder to compare his showings against Windu's, but I'll get to that in a moment.
Regarding dueling skill, I already posted accolades for Saesee Tiin, all of which also applied to Fisto, but in case you need to see them again:
"I have chosen four of our best. Master Tiin, Master Kolar, and Master Fisto are all here, in the Temple. They are preparing already."
"What about Skywalker? The chosen one."
"Too much of a risk," Mace replied. "I am the fourth."
...
"Anakin, why? The Masters are the best of the Order. What can you possibly do?"
...
Now Obi-Wan did face him. "Palpatine faced Mace and Agen and Kit and Saesee - four of the greatest swordsmen our Order has ever produced. By himself. Even both of us together wouldn't have a chance."
Source: Revenge of the Sith
I think, that at this point, it should already be clear that Fisto is comparable to Windu in fighting skill, but in case this needs to be driven home, and in case these are simply accolades that are completely unsupported, there will have to be mention of a few showings.
To the rear of the car, where Grievous's pair of MagnaGuards had made the mistake of pitting themselves against Kit Fisto, the Nautolan's blade was a cyclone of blazing blue light. Resistant to the energy outpourings of a lightsaber, the phrik alloy staffs were potent weapons, but like any weapon they needed to find their target, and Kit simply wasn't allowing that. In moves a Twi'lek dancer might envy, he spun around the guards, claiming a limb from both with each rotation: left legs, right arms, right legs…
The speed of the train saw to the rest, ultimately whisking the droids into the canyon like insects blown from the windscreen of a speeder bike.
Source: Labyrinth of Evil
(For the record, this is not the only time Fisto has outperformed Magnaguards, but I wanted to use this instance).
As a combative showing, this is definitely worth noting. Fisto moving his lightsaber fast enough to form cyclones of blazing light, as a speed feat, exceeds anything Mace Windu has ever accomplished. Combat-wise, not so much, but then, outfighting a pair of Magnaguards this casually is nothing to scoff at. Magnaguards are relatively inconsistent as characters - sometimes, they don't do much and are just fodder, but that's rarely the case. Most of the time, they can present challenges to Jedi, and the reason I specifically chose this feat for Fisto is because it occurred within the Dark Lord trilogy, where three of these Magnaguards were a challenge to Obi-Wan:
The remaining three pressed the attack, but more cautiously; their weapons were longer than his, and they struck from beyond the reach of his blade. He gave way before them, his defensive velocities barely keeping their crackling discharge blades at bay.
Three MagnaGuards, each with a double-ended weapon that generated an energy field impervious to lightsabers, each with reflexes that operated near light-speed, each with hypersophisticated heuristic combat algorithms that enabled it to learn from experience and adapt its tactics instantly to any situation, were certainly beyond Obi-Wan's ability to defeat, but it was not Obi-Wan who would defeat them; Obi-Wan wasn't even fighting. He was only a vessel, emptied of self. The Force, shaped by his skill and guided by his clarity of mind, fought through him.
Source: Revenge of the Sith
Kenobi was barely able to defend himself from them, and it was assessed that their lightsaber-immune weapons, near-relativistic reflexes and hypersophisticated combat algorithms made them beyond Kenobi's ability to defeat them. Now, to be fair, Fisto was only facing two of them, and he had the advantage of Shii-Cho, but he was still casually outperforming them, which speaks well for his skill.
Again, I am not going to consider Fisto as on par with Windu, but I think that as a showing, the ease with which he outperformed a pair of Magnaguards in a trilogy where three of them were a legitimate challenge to Obi-Wan Kenobi, is particularly telling. He, like the other two, should definitely be approachable to Windu as a combatant.
With respects to his Force abilities, Fisto effortlessly manipulating multiple underwater vessels as well as their droid pilots and equally effortlessly redirecting missiles (https://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=L0dwpcP4n1w) should put him within range of Windu as far as telekinesis goes, and his other showings like generating Force Orbs that can shatter a number of legs of a huge underwater vessel (the vessel being probably 30m or so) only reinforces the idea his own Force abilities being anything but average.
Conclusions
Honestly, I don't think there's much of a need to conclude this, but I think that the showings and accolades of all of these three Jedi are more than enough to indicate that they are in Mace Windu's own league, and are not just average or fodder Jedi, as some people like to claim. So, to answer the question in the title, no, the Jedi Masters who accompanied Mace Windu in Palpatine's arrest were not weak at all. They were exceptional Jedi and among the best within the Order, just as Windu said they were, hence why he chose them to accompany him in the first place.