Showdown on Coruscant

Jedi Grand Master Yoda had a premonition of a version of this confrontation during his experience in the Dark Side Cave on Dagobah near the end of the Clone Wars. Among other visions, Yoda witnessed a hooded figure swiftly killing Jedi Masters Agen Kolar, Saesee Tiin, and Kit Fisto. Shortly after, he saw the same hooded figure attacking Mace Windu with a surge of Force lightning.

Not long after the Battle of Coruscant, Jedi Knight Anakin Skywalker began to experience prophetic visions of his wife, Padmé Amidala, dying painfully during childbirth. Deeply troubled by these dreams, he sought advice from Grand Master Yoda, who, in typical Jedi fashion, simply advised Anakin to "let go of everything he feared to lose." Frustrated by what he perceived as an inadequate response, Anakin confided his fears to his friend, Supreme Chancellor Palpatine. Soon after, Palpatine invited Skywalker to a performance at the Galaxies Opera House, ostensibly to provide him with information on the whereabouts of General Grievous. While in Palpatine's private box, he shared a Sith legend with Skywalker, "The Tragedy of Darth Plagueis the Wise." Specifically, he told Anakin that Plagueis had discovered a way to use the dark side to influence midi-chlorians, an ability that could be used to both create life and prevent death.

The Jedi were somewhat aware of Palpatine's increasing influence over Skywalker, leading them to attempt to have Skywalker spy on Palpatine, both to determine if he was being influenced by Darth Sidious and to undermine their friendship. However, Palpatine had already anticipated this. Around the time Obi-Wan and Grievous dueled on Utapau, the Jedi also sent Skywalker to assess Palpatine's motives based on his reaction, secretly suspecting that Palpatine was involved in a plot to destroy the Jedi due to the Dark Side surrounding him. They also considered removing Palpatine from office if it was proven that he had ties to Sidious, although Windu cautioned that this would require them to undertake the questionable task of directly controlling the Senate to ensure a peaceful transition, with Yoda realizing that such a move would pose a significant risk to their adherence to the Jedi Code.

Knowing Anakin's predicament, Palpatine planned to use this revelation as bait to lure Anakin to the dark side. Desperate to prevent his prophetic visions from coming true, Anakin questioned Palpatine about how one might learn Plagueis's technique, but Palpatine simply stated that it was impossible to learn it from a Jedi. Later, in the Supreme Chancellor's office, after Skywalker informed the Supreme Chancellor about Obi-Wan currently fighting General Grievous, Palpatine finally revealed himself as Darth Sidious, Plagueis's former apprentice and the current Dark Lord of the Sith. Skywalker was conflicted between his desire to learn Sidious's power and his duty as a Jedi to turn him in.

Skywalker considered killing Sidious immediately, as it was his duty as a Jedi to eliminate the Sith, but he couldn't bring himself to kill his friend, who had implied that killing him would drive Skywalker to the dark side. Leaving Palpatine's office, Skywalker quickly went to the Jedi Temple and informed Jedi Master Mace Windu of Palpatine's true identity, though he was deeply conflicted about doing so. Sensing his internal turmoil, Windu sent Skywalker to the High Council Chamber and advised him to meditate on his conflicting emotions. Windu then assembled a team of Masters—the nervous Nautolan Kit Fisto, Zabrak Agen Kolar, and the Iktotchi Saesee Tiin—to arrest Palpatine in his own office.

Sidious had foreseen the confrontation and was well-prepared; he sensed Skywalker's conflict in the Council chamber as well as the approach of the Jedi Masters aboard a gunship. Sidious retrieved his lightsaber from its hiding place within a neuranium sculpture, concealing the hilt in his robe's sleeve. When the Masters scattered the Chancellor's private guards beyond the office's outer doors, the Sith Lord activated a hidden recording device—audio only. The Jedi entered Sidious's private office, where the chancellor informed them that their presence likely meant General Grievous had been killed, though he admitted their arrival was sooner than he anticipated. Master Windu then declared the Chancellor under arrest in the name of the Galactic Senate. Sidious feigned surprise and pleaded for help, attempting to make it appear on the audio recording as though the Jedi were committing an act of unwarranted aggression against the innocent Chancellor. He angrily reminded Windu, when the latter mentioned the Senate would decide his fate, that he was the Senate, to which Windu quickly retorted that he wasn't yet.

Accusing the Jedi of treason, Sidious activated his lightsaber and attacked the group. In a moment of distraction, Palpatine impaled Agen Kolar through the abdomen. Despite his surprise, Saesee Tiin attempted to strike the Dark Lord from behind as Kolar fell, but Sidious swiftly turned and slashed him across the torso. With two Jedi Masters dead, Sidious immediately engaged Fisto and Windu. Fisto managed to deflect Sidious's initial strikes due to his mastery of a more defensive style of lightsaber combat, but he was killed mere seconds after the fall of his two comrades. With his entire strike force eliminated, Windu was left to face the dark lord alone.

Sidious drove Windu back along the corridor to his public office, where Windu rallied and engaged Sidious in a bladelock. Sensing Sidious's immense power, Windu realized he had to fully embrace Vaapad, his personal Juyo variant, to survive. As their battle moved towards the center of the room, Anakin Skywalker's Jedi airspeeder landed outside. He had meditated on his turbulent thoughts in the Council Chambers as Windu had advised, and the young Jedi felt he couldn't allow Sidious to die at the hands of the Jedi, at least not before learning the secrets of Darth Plagueis to save Amidala from death.

As Skywalker sped through the halls of the Republic Executive Building, Sidious launched a rapid series of unsuccessful attacks against Windu, and was driven back into the Ceremonial Office by Windu's steady offensive. Having fully embraced Vaapad, Windu was able to draw on the torrents of dark side energy emanating from his furious opponent like a heat sink. Using Sidious's own power against him, Windu matched the Dark Lord blow for blow, but realized that even his mastery of Vaapad would only result in a stalemate. Windu guided the battle across the office towards the bay window, which was quickly shattered by their missed attacks. As they moved onto the wind-blown ledge, Sidious reallocated some of his energy from Force-powered speed to a Force-powered grip on the permacrete. The duelists engaged in a brief flurry of bladework, but Palpatine's slight decrease in speed provided an opening, allowing Windu to end the bout with a swift kick to the Sith Lord's jaw. Sidious was thrown off balance, staggering back and dropping his weapon as he flailed for balance before retreating against the window frame. Darth Sidious appeared defeated and at Master Windu's mercy, who held his blade to the Sith Lord's throat. Windu also sensed fear emanating from Sidious and believed it was the reason for his defeat. However, Sidious revealed that the fear Windu was sensing was not his own, but Skywalker's.

At that moment, Skywalker appeared, convinced that only the powers of the Sith could save his wife's life from the events of his visions.

With the Dark Lord disarmed, Windu reiterated that Sidious was under Jedi custody. However, arriving too late to witness the Sith Lord's intentions, Skywalker only saw a "helpless" Chancellor cowering before Mace Windu. Sidious claimed the Jedi were in rebellion, while Windu countered, declaring the ultimate defeat of the Sith.

In response, Sidious unleashed a barrage of Force lightning at the Jedi Master. Once again calling on his Vaapad mastery, Windu barely managed to catch the lightning on his lightsaber and began deflecting it back at Sidious. Sidious and Windu then accused each other of being traitors to Skywalker as he watched. The redirected current flowed through Sidious, injuring him and hideously deforming his face—though it may have been his true form all along, withered by a lifetime of using the dark side of the Force. He cried out to Skywalker for help while Windu pleaded with him not to trust the Sith Lord. The electrical current continued to ravage the Chancellor's body, and Skywalker's conflict reached its peak as he watched his friend suffer. Eventually, the lightning subsided, leaving Palpatine pretending to be exhausted and frail, lying on the floor. The Chancellor began begging for mercy, claiming he was too weak to continue fighting.

After Sidious ceased his attack, Windu announced that he had no choice but to eliminate the Dark Lord once and for all. Having just experienced firsthand the true, terrifying depth of Sidious's power, Windu now saw him as too great a threat to the Republic to be kept alive. Skywalker pleaded with him to spare Sidious, stating that the best course of action was for Sidious to stand trial, but Windu refused, believing that Sidious's influence would sway the Court's decision in the Sith Lord's favor. Ironically, in explaining this, Mace used the exact same argument for killing Sidious that Sidious himself had given to Anakin for why Dooku needed to be killed earlier—that Sidious was far too great a threat to be kept alive. Skywalker further pressed that killing Sidious in cold blood was not the Jedi way. But Windu raised his blade to deliver the killing blow, and Skywalker, reacting in a moment of despair, cut off the unsuspecting Windu's sword hand. Seeing this, Sidious immediately ceased feigning weakness and unleashed a withering barrage of Force lightning at the helpless Jedi Master, also gloating about his unlimited power. After torturing him for a few moments, Sidious used the Force lightning to blast Windu out of the broken window, where he met his death upon impact with the streets below.

Skywalker hadn't realized that Sidious was going to kill Windu and fell to his knees in shock at his unwitting participation in the Jedi Master's murder. Sidious congratulated him, telling Skywalker that he was fulfilling his destiny and that he would help him find the secrets to saving Amidala's life. The Dark Lord then admitted, indirectly, that cheating death was a power only his Master had achieved, revealing that he didn't actually know the secret to stopping death. Inwardly, Skywalker was surprised and enraged by the deception. He then realized that his new master had been manipulating him and the Clone Wars—the galaxy-wide conflict that had been raging for more than three years between the Separatists and the Galactic Republic—since the beginning. However, though his loyalty to the Jedi lingered somewhat, he believed that his role in Windu's death precluded any chance of his returning to them. Furthermore, though Sidious had admitted to not knowing how to cheat death, he believed that joining the Dark Lord was still his best chance to save Amidala. He resigned himself to his fate and knelt before Sidious, swearing an oath to be his Sith apprentice. While he hoped that he and Sidious could discover the secret of immortality together, Skywalker no longer saw his new master as a friend worth defending. Now, the man was merely a necessary evil worth tolerating until the time was right to take his place. This may not have been strictly true, as Sidious had used midichlorians to re-invigorate the gravely injured or dying in the past.

Though horrified by what he had done and what he was becoming, Skywalker knew there was no turning back from his dark path, so he pledged to Sidious that he would do whatever Sidious asked in return for his assistance in saving Amidala. Sidious named his new apprentice Darth Vader and tasked him with the sterilization of the Jedi Temple. Furthermore, to every clone trooper in the Grand Army of the Republic, Sidious issued Order 66; the clones were ordered to eliminate their Jedi Commanders and Generals, and marked all Jedi as enemies of the Republic. The Great Jedi Purge had begun.

Vader stormed the Temple, leading the 501st Legion, and proceeded to kill nearly every Jedi within its walls before he was sent to Mustafar to kill the Separatist leaders. The Temple was set ablaze and reduced to ruins while all of Galactic City watched. Shortly thereafter, Sidious traveled to the Senate Rotunda and presented the audio recording of Windu's assault on his life as evidence of what he called the "Jedi Rebellion" or the "Jedi Revolt," an attempt by the Order to overthrow the Republic. The activation of the Jedi Masters' lightsabers was digitally confirmed by Republic agents in the audio recording, while the activation of Palpatine's lightsaber was neither recorded nor analyzed. After making his case to the Senate that they needed to take action, Sidious delivered a speech that declared that the Republic was no more, and in its place was a new Galactic Empire.

Sidious would later discover Yoda's survival when the latter arrived at his office in the senate, resulting in a climactic duel between the Sith Master and the Jedi Grandmaster, concurrently to similar duel between Obi-Wan Kenobi and the newly-christened Darth Vader.

With Windu's death, some, such as the Jedi Jaina Solo, believed the shatterpoint Force technique was lost. This was untrue, however. Its reputation as a lost art stemmed from the rarity of individuals able to perform it, but some, like her brother, Jacen Solo, and uncle, Luke Skywalker, learned it by 41 ABY. Her uncle later taught it to her.

This lightsaber duel was featured in the film version of Star Wars: Episode III Revenge of the Sith and remained unnamed until Star Wars: The Ultimate Visual Guide identified it as the "Showdown on Coruscant" in a caption. In the Revenge of the Sith novel, Palpatine framed the duel to prove that the Jedi were rebelling against the Republic, which was further elaborated upon in the 2008 reference book The Complete Star Wars Encyclopedia, where Palpatine called this duel the "Jedi Rebellion." This duel clarifies previously unknown aspects of the Star Wars Universe, explaining how Darth Vader, an antagonist from the original trilogy, joined the Sith and why Palpatine's face is deformed in Star Wars: Episode VI Return of the Jedi. Ian McDiarmid, the actor who portrayed Palpatine, did not enjoy filming these scenes. As a Shakespearean actor, high-speed sword fighting did not appeal to him. He had only about five days to learn the choreography that his stunt double would not perform, according to stunt coordinator Nick Gillard. As an older man, he was not as agile as his opponents and was occasionally hit during filming. McDiarmid did, however, have respect for Samuel L. Jackson's abilities. The film's producer, Rick McCallum, was concerned 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 anticipating this scene since he was cast. One of his requests during contract negotiations was for his character to have a spectacular death scene.

In the novelization of Episode III, Obi-Wan Kenobi, Mace Windu, and Shaak Ti all claimed that the arrest team consisted of "four of the greatest swordsmen the Jedi Order has ever produced"—a fact less obvious in the movie since Kolar, Tiin, and Fisto all died within seconds of the duel's start. Kenobi further suggested that if Palpatine could eliminate the four Jedi Masters alone, then even Yoda and Kenobi together would not be enough to defeat the Dark Lord. In The Making of Star Wars Revenge of the Sith, George Lucas, the creator of the Star Wars universe, responded to the question of whether Mace Windu brought a weak group of Jedi with him for the confrontation with Palpatine by replying that "one would have to be either Windu or Yoda to compete with Palpatine," and that if Anakin had suffered none of his injuries, he could have beaten the Emperor. The same book implies that Samuel L. Jackson sincerely believed that Windu, his character, had overpowered Palpatine, even during the lightning struggle.

According to the script for Episode III, Dar Wac, the Chancellor's Rodian assistant, was originally slated to make a brief appearance before the Jedi entered Palpatine's office. This scene was either cut or never actually filmed. Furthermore, the script indicated that Windu, not someone else, was the one being forced out onto the ledge after the window shattered, which is contrary to what is presented in the novelization. The script also suggests that Windu attempted to defend himself with his remaining hand after Skywalker's betrayal.

Due to the fact that different individuals interpreted the events, several differences exist between the various depictions of this confrontation. The film version is considered the only completely canon rendition of the sequence.

Throughout the battle, the lightsaber hilt that Palpatine wields alternates between his own and Skywalker's. This is because the original plan was for him to use Anakin Skywalker's lightsaber against the Jedi. Initially, Skywalker was written to be present for the entire duel, but the fight choreography was changed at the last minute, and Skywalker was instead written to arrive just as Palpatine lost his weapon. However, Skywalker's lightsaber hilt remains visible in certain shots of the finished film, making it one of many lightsaber errors found in Revenge of the Sith.

The Episode III novelization contains several divergences from the film's depiction. Windu contacted Grand Master Yoda both before and after learning the truth from Skywalker; the Grand Master approved of both the members of the arrest team and their actions. During the confrontation, Windu dispatched Saesee Tiin and Agen Kolar to the Chancellor's desk to block the doorway. Sidious first deceived Tiin by requesting him to read his mind to determine if the Chancellor was truly a Sith Lord, then used this distraction as an opportunity to decapitate the unsuspecting Iktotchi. Kolar scarcely had time to process what had happened before Palpatine ran his lightsaber blade through his head, causing Kolar to drop his weapon and fall. Following this, the remaining two Jedi engaged Sidious. Kit Fisto was beheaded by a swift strike from Sidious's blade. Fisto's death was not described from his perspective; instead, Skywalker discovered Fisto's head on the Chancellor's table, bearing the Nautolan's characteristic smile. The movie scene was initially scripted in this manner as well, but George Lucas deemed it too graphic and altered it. In the novelization, a thunderstorm raged outside during the duel. Furthermore, Anakin Skywalker arrived much earlier and witnessed nearly half of the intense lightsaber battle between Windu and Palpatine, rather than just after the Jedi Master knocked down Sidious, as portrayed in the film. Skywalker's arrival also differs; instead of landing his speeder on the landing platform, he hovers it outside the window of Palpatine's private office, shatters the window with his lightsaber, and jumps through. During the deadly fight, Skywalker could sense the Force darken within the Chancellor's Office. Windu was not holding back, as the Jedi usually did; instead, he channeled all his power and rage into his Vaapad combat style, a form of lightsaber combat requiring the user to relish the fight and use their will to win, in order to enhance their abilities. Also, in the novel, Sidious "demonstrates" his lightsaber before they begin battle, while this does not occur in the movie.

The comic book adaptation of Episode III retained the idea of Palpatine slamming Windu into a wall with a powerful Force push, which was mentioned in the script but absent from the film. The novel changed the scene to Palpatine attempting to push Windu out of the office after the Jedi Master had broken the window. In the comic version, Skywalker arrived precisely when the office window was broken. Instead of Palpatine's jaw, Windu kicked the right palm of the Sith Lord and knocked away the Sith's lightsaber himself, and Skywalker ignited his blade right after Palpatine applied Force lightning. After Skywalker attacked Windu, it showed Palpatine throwing Windu out of the office window with another Force push, instead of hurling him out with Force lightning. Also, in the movie, Windu had a violet blade, Fisto green, and Kolar blue, but in the novelization and comic, Kolar had a green blade. Tiin wielded a green lightsaber in the movie, but a blue lightsaber in the comic.

In both the novelization and the comic, the entire duel was confined to the Chancellor's public office, rather than beginning in the Chancellor's private office as depicted in the film. The novel indicated that Palpatine could activate the recording device concealed within his office book on his desk. In the comic version, his private chamber contained a holoprojector rather than a desk.

In the video game adaptation of Revenge of the Sith, Skywalker does not sever Windu's arm. Instead, he accuses Windu of being a traitor to the Republic and engages him in a duel that spills out of the office and onto an outside platform. As they fight, Windu tries to dissuade Skywalker from his chosen path, but the enraged Jedi refuses to listen to the Jedi Master, who was holding back, giving him an advantage and resulted in Anakin knocking him out of the window and to his death. In the Game Boy Advance and Nintendo DS versions of the game, upon arriving to stop Windu from killing Palpatine, Anakin first battled some Separatist droids that were present inside the Chancellor's suite before dueling Windu as in the other versions.

The junior novelization omitted the entire fighting sequence between Palpatine and the Jedi. Instead, it presented that period of time exclusively from Anakin Skywalker's perspective; Skywalker departed from the High Council Chamber to retrieve his speeder, then entered the Chancellor's office and witnessed Mace Windu holding an unarmed Palpatine at lightsaber point.

This entire scene was cut from LEGO Star Wars: The Video Game, although there were plans to include it as a level.

The showdown was spoofed in Robot Chicken: Star Wars Episode III, where Palpatine complains extensively about his disfigured face.