"Duel of the Fates" represents a musical theme that John Williams brought to life between October of 1998 and February of 1999 for the 1999 movie Star Wars: Episode I The Phantom Menace and its associated score. This piece was composed to musically depict the duel in Theed involving the Sith Darth Maul against the Jedi Master Qui-Gon Jinn alongside his Padawan, Obi-Wan Kenobi, specifically in the "Duel of the Fates" sequence near the film's conclusion. The London Symphony Orchestra (LSO) and the London Voices choir came together in February 1999 at EMI's Abbey Road Studios situated in London, England, to record this composition. This musical piece found its way into all three films of the prequel trilogy and was featured on the soundtracks for both The Phantom Menace and Attack of the Clones. Additionally, it made a brief appearance in the Anthology film Solo: A Star Wars Story and on the deluxe edition of its soundtrack. This iconic motif has been extensively utilized across various video games, trailers, and a multitude of other pieces within the Star Wars Legends universe, as well as in the music video trailer promoting The Phantom Menace, which showcases scenes from the theme's recording sessions.
Predominantly polyphonic in nature, the theme is set in the keys of E and G minor, exhibiting a minor mode. It maintains a tempo of 152 bpm and employs a duple meter with a time signature of 4/4. The composition, spanning four minutes and fourteen seconds, incorporates lyrical Sanskrit chants that were translated from the Celtic epic Cad Goddeu. Upon the release of the soundtrack for The Phantom Menace on May 4, 1999, the composition became available for purchase. Furthermore, the sheet music was published in several music books, including Music from Star Wars Episode I: The Phantom Menace, Star Wars: Episode II Attack of the Clones: Selections from the Original Motion Picture Soundtrack, Star Wars: A Musical Journey: Episodes I-VI, Selections from Star Wars, Star Wars Episodes I, II & III Instrumental Solos, and Star Wars for Beginning Piano Solo.
As he had done for the previous three Star Wars films in the original trilogy, John Williams composed the score for the 1999 film Star Wars: Episode I The Phantom Menace and its corresponding soundtrack. His work on this project commenced in mid-October of 1998. "Duel of the Fates" was conceived as the primary musical theme for the film and was incorporated in diverse ways throughout the scenes depicting the climax of the film during the Battle of Naboo, where the forces of the Trade Federation clashed with the Royal Naboo Security Forces. The piece mainly serves to represent the duel between Darth Maul, a dark Lord of the Sith, against the Jedi Master Qui-Gon Jinn and his apprentice, Obi-Wan Kenobi.
During the theme's creation, Williams believed that incorporating something ritualistic and pagan would be highly effective in eliciting the appropriate emotions. Consequently, he drew a stanza from the Celtic epic Cad Goddeu. He enlisted assistance from acquaintances at Harvard University to translate the English version back into Celtic, then into Greek, and ultimately into Sanskrit, which he selected for its "beautiful sounds." Williams then condensed the stanza into phrases consisting of a single word when translated into English, and repeated their Sanskrit equivalents. Williams composed the music for this motif using a piano. The London Symphony Orchestra and London Voices performed the piece, along with the entire score, at EMI's Abbey Road Studios in London, England in February of 1999, recording both simultaneously. The motif was initially composed for the end credits of The Phantom Menace but was subsequently edited to synchronize with the picture.
The premiere of the music video for "Duel of the Fates" occurred at the opening ceremony of Celebration in Denver, Colorado on April 30, 1999. In May of 1999, Sony Signatures released "Duel of the Fates" as a CD single, which was exclusively available to radio stations, television stations, and MTV. Sony Classical released the original soundtrack, featuring the song, on May 4, 1999, and the Ultimate Edition was released on November 14, 2000. Also in 1999, the soundtrack was offered for purchase as a special limited edition double vinyl album, exclusively through towerrecords.com. The original soundtrack was re-released on February 6, 2012 to coincide with the film's 3-D theatrical release. "IAmShark" also released the album on vinyl in 2013. On September 25, 2015, Sony Classical announced its intention to release the soundtrack of The Phantom Menace, along with those of the other five films, in three new collections: Star Wars: The Ultimate Vinyl Collection, Star Wars: The Ultimate Soundtrack Edition, and Star Wars: The Ultimate Digital Collection, on January 8, 2016.
"Duel of the Fates" is primarily polyphonic, exhibits a minor mode, features a tempo of 152 bpm for the majority of the piece, and utilizes a duple meter with a time signature of 4/4. The composition spans four minutes and fourteen seconds and is composed in the keys of E and G minor. The theme commences in E minor as homophonic, maestoso in style, with the London Voices performing a chant in Sanskrit. As the strings enter, the tempo, marked as "allegro," accelerates to 152 bpm, with the violas playing a repeating phrase consisting of two eighth notes followed by two sixteenth notes and another eighth note. The low strings perform sets of one, two, and five eighth notes, with a measure of rest between each set's measure, except for the last, which incorporates a pickup note, making the preceding measure only seven eights rest. This pattern continues for twenty measures, with minor variations in the low string part.
Following six repetitions of the phrase, the theme's primary melody is introduced by the clarinets. This melody comprises two eighth notes followed by four quarter notes, two additional eighth notes, and a final quarter note. It is repeated four times, with the first two iterations being identical and the latter two varying. The final quarter note in the last repetition of the melody is sustained with two whole notes and crescendos as the strings maintain their repeating phrases. After another three measures, the harp presents a rising phrase. In the subsequent bar, the French horns play the melody, with the trombones echoing it in the background. Subsequently, the strings repeat their phrases for several more bars, now accompanied by the flutes, and then the London Voices return with their Sanskrit chant. Concurrently, the trombones play the motif's main melody. This is followed by further repetition of the string phrases, interspersed with accented notes and phrases from the tubas and trumpets. The London Voices then reappear with the chant, and the French horns and trumpets alternate on the primary melody. As they continue to repeat their phrases, the trumpets join the strings, crescendoing into a chorus chant of two eighth notes followed by a quarter rest, which is repeated eight times as the trumpets play between every other phrase. As the pitch ascends to G minor, the chant reverts to its original form, and the trumpets persist in playing accented notes between phrases. The brass and strings then unite, playing the strings' repeating phrases in unison.
The piece softens, with only the strings continuing as the pitch returns to E minor. Woodwinds enter with the theme's primary melody, followed by the French horns and trumpets. The strings then begin playing phrases composed of triplets. The main melody is exchanged between the flutes and French horns, and the orchestra builds into an instrumental rendition of the piece's second chant (performed in G minor). The chorus then returns, singing the first chant. Between each pair of notes in the chant, the trumpets play the string phrases, and the French horns play the theme's melody, with the trumpets playing between the first and third pairs and the French horns between the second and fourth. The second chant is then repeated, followed by the first quarter of the first chant, as the brass and strings once again unite in playing the string phrases. The chant is repeated, accompanied by a timpani roll in the middle. Subsequently, the entire orchestra plays the string phrases while crescendoing, followed by an upbeat trumpet part and a bongo part. The orchestra resumes with the string phrases, and then the piece quiets as the strings continue their phrases and the woodwinds once again perform the melody. The Voices return with the first chant as it crescendos into the second chant. As the Voices sing the first quarter of the first chant, the trumpets play the string phrases. The timpani then performs a solo, the trumpets return with six eighth notes, the bongos roll, and the piece concludes with a single hit of the string phrase.
The track "Duel of the Fates" on the Star Wars Episode I: The Phantom Menace soundtrack represents the only unadulterated instance of the theme on a Star Wars soundtrack. However, it also appears briefly in the track "Qui-Gon's Noble End." While these represent the only utilizations of the theme on the original soundtrack, it appears multiple times throughout the majority of the last fourteen tracks on the Ultimate Edition soundtrack. The dialogue version, featured as the last track on the Ultimate Edition soundtrack and incorporating audio from the "Duel of the Fates" music video, was appended to the re-release of the original soundtrack, made available in 2012 to coincide with the film's 3-D theatrical release.
The motif makes a single appearance in the Star Wars Episode II: Attack of the Clones soundtrack, specifically three minutes and thirty-five seconds into the track "Return to Tatooine." The soundtrack for Star Wars Rebels Season Two includes references to the theme fifty-five seconds into the track "Blinded."
"Duel of the Fates" makes its initial appearance in Star Wars Episode I: The Phantom Menace. This musical piece accompanies a scene known as "Duel of the Fates," a title given in the DVD's menus. This scene depicts the confrontation between the Jedi Qui-Gon Jinn and Obi-Wan Kenobi and the Sith Lord Darth Maul inside the Theed power generator on the planet Naboo. The instrumental version of the music plays concurrently as Queen Amidala and her guards are ambushed in the Theed Hangar by battle droids with shields and rolling capabilities, known as droidekas. It also plays as Darth Maul and the Jedi ignite their lightsabers at the start of their battle. The theme is repeated as the duel transitions from the hangar to a generator complex. The music stops when plasma shields separate the combatants; however, it returns soon after when the youngling Anakin Skywalker destroys the droid control ship above Naboo. The movie's end credits feature the original recording.
The piece is heard in Star Wars: Episode II Attack of the Clones when the Jedi Padawan Anakin Skywalker journeys across Tatooine in search of his mother, Shmi Skywalker Lars, who has been captured by a tribe of species known as Tusken Raiders, aiming to rescue her.
In Star Wars: Episode III Revenge of the Sith, the theme is present when the Jedi Knight Anakin Skywalker crash-lands the Invisible Hand on Coruscant, incorporating music from the scene where Skywalker destroys the control ship in The Phantom Menace. "Duel of the Fates" is played for the last time during the middle of the film's climax. It accompanies Darth Vader's duel with Obi-Wan Kenobi on Mustafar, and Yoda's attempt to kill Darth Sidious in the Galactic Senate Chamber to end his reign and save the Galactic Republic. The music concludes as Yoda falls from the Chancellor's podium.
The 2018 Anthology film, Solo: A Star Wars Story, features a brief recurrence of the theme when Maul, revealed as the head of Crimson Dawn, directs Qi'ra to engage with him more directly. Although the theme is brief in the film, a longer version is included in the deluxe edition of the soundtrack.
Excerpts of "Duel of the Fates" are present in "Out of Darkness," episode seven of Season One of Star Wars Rebels, during an attack on the Spectres by fyrnocks. The theme also appears in "Twilight of the Apprentice," the final episode of Season Two, during the lightsaber duel between Ahsoka Tano and Darth Maul. It is also heavily featured in the gameplay trailer and the game itself for the 2017 DICE video game Star Wars Battlefront II.
The piece first appeared in a video game in Star Wars: Episode I The Phantom Menace video game during the final mission, "The Final Battle," which covers the duel between Maul, Kenobi, and Jinn. A fully electronic version is used in the main menu for the 1999 Game Boy Color game Star Wars: Episode I Racer, although the original recording is used in other versions of the game with the vocals removed. It is also featured in the opening cinematic of Star Wars: Episode I Jedi Power Battles (2000) and its tenth mission, The Final Battle. The theme appears in the main menu of Star Wars: Episode I: Battle for Naboo (2000) and during the second bonus mission. In Star Wars: Starfighter (2001), the composition is used during "The Final Assault" as rookie pilot Rhys Dallows dogfights a mercenary leader in the space battle over Naboo. The 2001 real-time strategy video game Star Wars: Galactic Battlegrounds and its 2002 expansion pack Clone Campaigns also include the composition. The level "Darth Maul" in Star Wars: Obi-Wan (2001) utilizes the composition. Star Wars: Jedi Starfighter (2002) incorporates variations of the theme from various The Phantom Menace tracks in "Training Mission 5: Force Powers," "Mission 5: Poisoned Skies," "Mission 7:Hammer and Anvil," "Mission 8: Demolition Squad," "Mission 13: Attack of the Clones," and "Mission 15: The Jedi Master." The 2003 video game Star Wars: The Clone Wars features the piece in "Mission 3: The Battle of Geonosis" as you assist in destroying the second core ship, in "Mission 7: The Conquest of Raxus Prime" as you escort reinforcements, and in "Mission 16: Fate of the Republic" as you fight the Dark Reaper. The climactic battle between a spacer and Lord Vartonis in Trials of Obi-Wan (2005), the third expansion of the massively multiplayer online roleplaying game (MMORPG) Star Wars Galaxies: An Empire Divided, also uses the theme. Additionally, in Galaxies, players can select "Duel of the Fates" from a jukebox playlist. The sixth level of "Episode I"—titled "Darth Maul"—in the non-canon video game LEGO Star Wars: The Video Game (2005), and the sixth level of the same name in the non-canon LEGO Star Wars: The Complete Saga (2007) feature the theme. It appears twice in the Star Wars Episode III: Revenge of the Sith video game (2005), once in an introductory cinematic sequence featuring Obi-Wan Kenobi and Anakin Skywalker fighting in numerous story levels and again as the first piece that plays during the game's version of the Duel on Mustafar. It also appears in the GBA and DS versions for the same game, specifically during the Duel on Mustafar level, although its exact version varied: The former had a synthesized version of the theme being played as depicted from the film, and the latter had the vocals, although based on the version from Attack of the Clones.
In Star Wars: The Force Unleashed (2008), it plays when Galen Marek battles PROXY, disguised as Darth Maul, on Raxus Prime. The online game Ace Assault II (2011) uses the theme in levels four, ten, and sixteen, where Anakin Skywalker faces Separatist commanders Grievous and Asajj Ventress, and Jedi Master Mace Windu confronts Darth Sidious. The Return trailer for the MMORPG Star Wars: The Old Republic (2011) incorporates sections of the composition during a lightsaber duel between the Jedi Satele Shan and Kao Cen Darach and the Sith Darth Malgus and Vindican. The MMORPG uses a cut from "Qui-Gon's Noble End" that includes the theme when a gamer playing as a Sith Warrior boards their starship. A brief motif is also used when the Sith Inquisitor character kills Darth Zash and assumes control of her Sith apprentices. Kinect Star Wars (2012) features a "Duel of Fates" game mode where players fight Sith or other sword-wielding enemies with lightsabers. The game also includes a dance move called "Duel of Fates" in the "Hologram Girl" song within the "Galactic Dance Off" mode. This move involves specific arm and head movements synchronized with the music's beats. An edited version is used in the boss battle levels of Angry Birds Star Wars II and on the main menu of "The Pork Side," where the player plays for the dark side.
The theme is used as background music in the audio books for Attack of the Clones and Revenge of the Sith, published in 2002 and 2005, respectively. In the Revenge of the Sith audio book, the piece is played during the duel between Yoda and Palpatine in the Senate Retunda. Duel of the Fates is played while Mid Captain Ufsa'mak'ro orders the Kilji picket cruiser Hammer to move aside of the Nikardun blockade frigate Aelos in Thrawn Ascendancy: Lesser Evil's audiobook.
According to the roleplaying game sourcebook Coruscant and the Core Worlds (2003) by Craig Robert Carey, Chris Doyle, Jason Fry, Paul Sudlow, John Terra, and Daniel Wallace, curators of the Coruscant Ice Crypts report hearing faint hums of "korah matah" from the underground tombs. Some believe this indicates a Zhell origin in-universe, as this is a phonetic excerpt from "Duel of the Fates" lyrics, and the remains in the Ice Crypts were thought to be those of the Zhell chiefs.
In the non-canon LEGO Star Wars: The Yoda Chronicles feature Menace of the Sith, it is used in-universe as a theme played while the Sith clone Jek-14 demonstrates his skills, prompting Maul to complain that Jek stole his theme song.
Sheet music for the theme is featured in Music from Star Wars Episode I: The Phantom Menace (1999) and Star Wars: Episode II Attack of the Clones: Selections from the Original Motion Picture Soundtrack (2002) from Bantha Music. These books are available for trumpet, piano, easy piano, clarinet, flute, tenor sax, and alto sax, with the Attack of the Clones book also available for trombone. The piece is also in Star Wars Episodes I, II & III Instrumental Solos and Star Wars: A Musical Journey: Episodes I-VI by Alfred Publishing Co. in 2006 and 2007, available for trumpet, piano, easy piano, clarinet, flute, French horn, tenor sax, alto sax, trombone, violin, cello, and viola. Selections from Star Wars, also from Alfred Publishing Co., released July 1, 1999, includes sheet music for the theme in treble clef and bass clef. The treble clef version was the original, but the bass clef, a piano accompaniment, and versions in C and B-flat were released on September 1, 1999. An E-flat version was released on January 1, 2000. Each version includes arrangements for solos, duets, and trios. Robert Shultz arranged the treble clef version, while Tony Esposito arranged all others. All Alfred Publishing Co. books include CDs with tracks for each song's parts.
A portion of the piece is in the first theatrical trailer for the 2008 animated film Star Wars: The Clone Wars. A music video featuring clips from The Phantom Menace and recording sessions for "Duel of the Fates" was used as a trailer and is a feature on the video game for The Phantom Menace. An article by Andy Collins in Star Wars Gamer 1 and an expansion set for the Young Jedi Collectible Card Game share the name "Duel of the Fates." The composition was in the special features DVD of the 2004 original trilogy DVD box set in a featurette titled "Episode III," previewing the Revenge of the Sith video game. The theme was used in the first two official trailers for the animated series Star Wars Rebels, released on May 4, 2014, and an extended trailer released on July 21, 2014.
"Duel of the Fates" was formerly part of the Jedi Training Academy show at the Tomorrowland Terrace restaurant in Disneyland in Anaheim, California when Darth Maul emerged from under the stage. The updated show, Jedi Training - Trials of the Temple, uses the theme if Darth Maul appears instead of Kylo Ren in both the Disneyland and Disney's Hollywood Studios (Walt Disney World) versions. The theme also plays during the initial shots of Takodana in the nighttime show Star Wars: A Galactic Spectacular at Disney's Hollywood Studios.
The composition has been featured on The Simpsons in the episode "Please Homer, Don't Hammer 'Em..." during a battle between Bart Simpson and Principal Skinner. It also plays in Soulcalibur IV when a player selects Starkiller and fights in either of the game's Star Wars-themed stages, and during Starkiller's extended ending. The piece is included at the end of a Verizon Wireless commercial featuring R2-D2 to promote the 3-D release of The Phantom Menace. The Piano Guys created a medley of Star Wars themes called "Cellowars," with "Duel of the Fates" as the primary motif.
The single remained in eighth position on Total Request Live's video debut countdown for 11 days, starting May 5, 1999.
- Duel of the Fates on Wikipedia
- Sony Classical, Lucas on 'Menace' (backup link)
- Duel of the Fates on LyricWiki (backup link)
- runDisney Star Wars Rival Run Weekend Themes Revealed! – Exclusive on StarWars.com (backup link)