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 Sidious in a lightsaber duel in the Chancellor's office on Coruscant. Sidious quickly murdered Jedi Masters Agen Kolar, and Saesee Tiin almost immediately, while Kit Fisto was murdered only a few seconds after, but Sidious had an extended confrontation with Windu. The lightsaber duel lasted until Windu disarmed the Sith Lord and knocked him to the floor.
As Windu held Sidious at bladepoint ready to kill him and end his madness once and for all, 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 Sidious responded by firing Force lightning at the Jedi Master. Windu managed to block the streams of electricity and deflected most it back into Sidious'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 Sidious, who was feigning helplessness, to kill the Jedi Master.
In the aftermath of the duel, Skywalker pledged his loyalty to Sidious and became a Sith Lord called Darth Vader. The Jedi attempt on his life allowed Sidious 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.
Anakin Skywalker had long considered Sheev Palpatine his mentor and friend, unaware that the Supreme Chancellor was the Dark Lord of the Sith.
Not long after Sidious betrayed and orchestrated the death of Count Dooku in 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-chlorians, an ability which could be used to both create life and cheat death. Aware of Anakin's plight, Sidious 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.
Jedi Masters Mace Windu, Kit Fisto, Saesee Tiin, and Agen Kolar confronted Chancellor Palpatine upon learning of his secret identity as a Sith Lord.
Skywalker initially thought to kill Palpatine 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. Aware that the Jedi Order could be destroyed, Windu sought to prevent this outcome by leading a team of fellow Jedi Masters, Kit Fisto, Saesee Tiin, and Agen Kolar, who were among the finest warriors in the Order, to arrest Palpatine, leaving Skywalker behind. The quartet was fully aware of the enormity of the burden ahead of them. The Jedi strode into Palpatine's private office, where the Chancellor feigned surprise at their abrupt entry and asked if General Grievous had been killed. As the four Jedi ignited their lightsabers, Windu declared Palpatine under arrest, saying that the Senate would decide his fate.
The Sith Lord who masterminded the Clone Wars, Darth Sidious, accused the Jedi Masters of treason.
Accusing the Jedi of treason, Sidious deployed his lightsaber from his sleeve and ignited it. With a ferocious snarl, Sidious leapt over his desk and landed in front of the Jedi. Kolar and Tiin were cut down in seconds; Fisto managed to fend off Sidious's initial strikes, but he too was killed. With 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.
With his fellow masters slain by Sidious, Windu alone fought to save the Jedi Order from destruction.
As Skywalker ran 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, shattering the transparisteel with 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 and precise kick to the Sith Lord's jaw. Sidious was thrown off balance, staggering back and dropping his lightsaber which flew out the window, 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.
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.
Windu and Sidious continued to fight, forcing Skywalker to choose between the Jedi and the Sith.
In response, Sidious hurled Force lightning at the Jedi Master, only for him to deflect it back at the Dark Lord. The redirected current hit Sidious, deforming his face, yet he continued to uphold the barrage. Eventually, the lightning subsided, and Sidious lay on the floor, feigning weakness and begging for mercy.
Driven by the fear of losing Padmé Amidala, Skywalker chose Sidious, leading to Windu's death.
Windu announced that he had no choice but to kill Sidious, as he saw him as too great a threat to keep alive. Skywalker implored Windu to spare Sidious, reasoning that the best course of action was for Sidious to stand trial, but Windu refused, believing that Sidious's influence would sway the Supreme Court's ruling in his favor. Windu raised his blade to deliver the killing blow. Skywalker unexpectedly intervened, severing the his master's sword hand. Windu could only howl in pain as his lightsaber plummeted out of the window, leaving him defenseless. Seizing the opportunity, Sidious ceased his weakened ruse and unleashed a barrage of Force lightning at Windu before using the Force to blast the Jedi Master out of the broken window to his death.
Skywalker fell to his knees, horrified at his contribution to Windu's defeat. Seizing upon Skywalker's emotional turmoil, Sidious congratulated him for taking steps to fulfill his destiny and invited the Jedi to become his Sith apprentice. Skywalker, blinded by his desire to save his wife's life, begged Sidious to help him. The Sith Lord claimed that together, they could discover the secret to controlling death and saving Amidala's life. Skywalker knelt before Sidious and swore his allegiance to the Sith, thereby betraying the Jedi order.
Sidious named his new apprentice Darth Vader, replacing Tyranus, and tasked Vader 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 Commanders and Generals, as the Jedi was marked as enemies of the Republic. The Clones hidden biochips that Tyranus had implanted in their brains, in order for Sidious to force them to obey him at the right moment, then activated and brainwashed them into believing that the Jedi were traitors to the Republic that needed to be executed, thus beginning the Great Jedi Purge. Skywalker's decision to betray Windu and his subsequent anguish were felt by his former Padawan Ahsoka Tano aboard the Tribunal, but she was soon distracted by the execution of Order 66.
After accusing the Jedi Order of treason, Sidious declared himself Emperor of the First Galactic Empire.
Vader and the 501st Legion stormed the Temple and proceeded to slaughter nearly every Jedi within its walls, murdering both esteemed Masters and defenseless younglings. 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, Sidious delivered a speech that declared that the Republic was no more, and in its place was a new Galactic Empire, receiving thunderous applause as Vader killed Viceroy Gunray.
After becoming Emperor of the galaxy, Sidious essentially disappeared from public life and left most of the Imperial day-to-day affairs to the Imperial Ruling Council. The citizenry of the Empire, as such, began to circulate rumors on his absence that the Jedi assassination attempt not only resulted in Sidious's disfigurement but also in the death of the sanguine politician that he had once been, having shredded his benevolent persona. The matter of how precisely Windu and his team were killed as well how Sidious's face was deformed, however, were never settled to everyone's satisfaction, leading Wilhuff Tarkin to correctly guess while not confirm that Sidious and Vader were Sith Lords.
Luke Skywalker was saved by his father, Darth Vader, who sacrificed his life by destroying the Emperor.
In 4 ABY, Vader's son Luke Skywalker defeated him in the Battle of Endor, but refused to obey the Emperor's order to kill him. The furious Emperor then proceeded to torture Luke for his defiance, leaving Vader confronted with the same choice he'd been faced with in regards to Sidious and Windu. Vader's love for Luke and fear of losing him caused him to do the opposite this time, as he saved his son and overthrew his master. The ensuing struggle between master and apprentice ended with Sidious' (temporary) destruction but Vader was critically damaged in the process. Having destroyed the Sith and sacrificed his life for his son, the redeemed Anakin Skywalker fulfilled his role as the Chosen one and made peace with Luke before passing into the Force.
In the years following Anakin Skywalker's redemption and death, Luke embarked on a search for Jedi knowledge and learned about Windu's life, including his failed attempt to arrest Palpatine. Holding Windu in high esteem, Skywalker concluded that had it not been for his father's intervention, Windu would have likely succeeded in defeating Palpatine.
The earlier version of the scene had Skywalker present from the start.
The Duel in Palpatine's office appears in the 2005 film Star Wars: Episode III Revenge of the Sith, the third installment of the Star Wars prequel trilogy. 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 Darth Sidious's face is deformed in the 1983 film Star Wars: Episode VI Return of the Jedi.
Ian McDiarmid, the actor who portrayed Darth Sidious, didn't 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 wasn't as dexterous as his opponents and, occasionally, he would be hit over the day's filming. McDiarmid did, however, have some respect for 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 and not die "like some punk." While promoting the movie on Late Night with Conan O'Brien, Jackson revealed his request to Conan O'Brien, who joked that perhaps Mace Windu would meet his death by slipping on some soap in the shower. During shooting, Jackson and the crew joked about having Windu surviving the duel and returning for a post-credit scene.
The duel went through several changes during production. One of the earlier versions of the scene had Anakin Skywalker present in Palpatine's office from the beginning, witnessing the fight between Sidious and the Jedi until entering to succor Sidious from Windu's will. This version of the scene was filmed on July 15, 2003 at Fox Studios in Sydney, Australia on Stage 7. However, the shoot was difficult as the gloves worn by the Jedi Knights made it difficult to grab the lightsaber hilts, leading to the scene's reshoot on August 27, 2004. Another version of the duel had Windu coming and fighting alone with Sidious, as both Saesee Tiin and Kit Fisto were meant to be killed on Mygeeto and Saleucami during Order 66. Rather than being thrown out the window, Windu just fell the ground dead after receiving Sidious's lightning in this version.
George Lucas watching the earlier version of the scene
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 pushed into the walls by them. The screenplay also indicates Windu attempted to defend himself with his remaining hand after he was betrayed by Skywalker.
The duel was parodied in Robot Chicken: Star Wars Episode III, in which Sidious rants about his deformed face.
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