Star Wars: The 10 Best Prequel Trilogy Battles, Ranked

Throughout the Skywalker saga, a constant source of entertainment and brilliance for the audience has been the epic battles that occur, whether they be contained lightsaber duels, expansive space battles, or massive ground assaults. For all the criticisms it has had in the past, the prequels deliver on a lot of this action.

It has more lightsaber battles than any other trilogy but also has arguably the very best of the saga. It also has some unique fights between Force users and those wielding blasters, as well as the epic dogfights you would expect from a franchise named Star Wars.

10 Anakin & Obi-Wan Vs. Count Dooku II

Anakin and Obi-Wan faced off against Count Dooku numerous times, battling throughout The Clone Wars on top of their two prequel trilogy duels. Out of all of those battles, though, this one is near the bottom of the bunch quality-wise.

It is not bad (there are some good moments, like Anakin killing Dooku), but there really is not too much going on or too much to the battle. It serves more as a way of highlighting Anakin’s power, as well as Palpatine’s puppeteering of Dooku, rather than the saga’s most thrilling battle.

9 Obi-Wan Vs. Jango Fett

Undoubtedly a unique duel of the trilogy comes on Kamino in Attack of the Clones as Obi-Wan Kenobi faces off with notorious bounty hunter Jango Fett in what is known as ‘The Rumble In The Rain.’

Seeing Jango with all his Mandalorian/bounty hunting toys, trying to fend off Obi-Wan and escape as rain pours down is undoubtedly a highlight of the widely criticized movie. What takes away from it is the true lack of history and emotion behind it, something that hurts a handful of battles across the saga.

8 The Battle Of Geonosis

Understandably, people were left a bit disappointed by the Battle of Geonosis’s action, but there is no denying how cool the event is in the Petranaki arena.

Seeing so many Jedi wielding their sabers in one place was the stuff of dreams before 2002. So many of the Jedi seen in the battle, such as Luminara Unduli, Kit Fisto, and Shakk Ti, ended up playing vital roles in The Clone Wars. Seeing them here and then seeing the clone army come to the rescue was pretty epic.

7 Obi-Wan Vs. General Grievous

It is arguably not a good sign when a lightsaber battle is remembered more for the iconic exchange that preempted it rather than the duel itself. Still, Obi-Wan taking on Grievous was a fun duel.

Grievous was always a well-designed character who did induce a lot of fear, especially for younger audiences; seeing his four arms in action, wielding and spinning lightsabers was pretty great for first-time viewers. It lacks a lot of emotional resonance, fans know Obi-Wan is not in real danger and so do not care too much, but it is still good fun.

6 Anakin & Obi-Wan/Yoda Vs. Count Dooku

Going back to the Count Dooku prequel battles, the initial fight between Dooku and the Master/Apprentice duo of Anakin and Obi-Wan was arguably not as good as their second battle on its own.

All-in-all, the two are pretty even; what edges the Attack Of The Clones version ahead is Grandmaster Yoda. Fans had waited for years to see Yoda in action, and it finally came here. Some may have been disappointed, but it was still insanely cool seeing Yoda like this and to see him unleashing just a sliver of his Force power.

5 Mace Windu (& The Jedi) Vs. Darth Sidious

Darth Sidious is a mastermind unlike any other in Star Wars, and the final steps in his long plan of getting rid of the Jedi came when this lightsaber battle occurred.

Sidious easily takes out three Jedi Masters, including the wildly skilled Kit Fisto, with Mace Windu proving to be much more challenging. The two have a pretty great duel, but what perhaps puts it above and beyond others is its finale as Anakin arrives and helps Sidious, becoming his apprentice. This duel, like most in Revenge Of The Sith, is made better and more powerful by The Clone Wars‘ depiction of Anakin’s fall and Palpatine’s manipulation, as well as how unlikable Windu can be.

4 The Battle Of Coruscant

Undoubtedly the best large-scale battle/assault in the prequel trilogy comes in the opening of Revenge Of The Sith, as Anakin and Obi-Wan take part in and navigate the Battle of Coruscant on their way to rescue the Chancellor.

Closely competing with the Battle of Endor and Hoth, the Battle of Coruscant was arguably the best large-scale battle to this point since the Battle of Yavin. Tense, full of Republic and Separatist forces going at it, with Anakin showing off his piloting skills. It is disorienting but great, thrusting audiences into the action following the point of view of the two Jedi, with some fantastic effects that have held up excellently.

3 Yoda Vs. Darth Sidious

Sticking with Revenge Of the Sith and going back to Sidious’s fight against the Jedi, Windu was not the only Jedi to give him a challenge that day as Yoda came, desperate to stop Sidious from ruling the Galaxy.

The fight is pretty great and is a much better outing for Yoda than it was against Dooku. The fight still does not answer the question outright over who is more powerful, as even though Yoda lost, Sidious did not kill him, and Sidious had the better standing, having higher ground and better positioning than Yoda. Ian McDiarmid is great as he taunts Yoda, and it is another great, entertaining fight, even if it is undermined by the other battle happening simultaneously.

2 Duel Of The Fates

There will always be a fierce debate over which is the best of the prequel trilogy battles, is it the Duel of the Fates or the Battle of the Heroes, two that are considered by some the two very best in the franchise as a whole.

The Duel of the Fates’ legacy has only been helped over the years as audiences get to witness the journey of Obi-Wan and Maul through to Rebels. There is nothing to say about the score that has not been mentioned before, but the choreography in this duel is fantastic, Maul is totally badass, and Qui-Gon’s death had implications that changed the course of the Galaxy. One simply needs to watch Dave Filoni’s impassioned talk on the battle on Disney Gallery: The Mandalorian to know how important this duel is.

1 Battle Of The Heroes

The Battle of the Heroes is another epic prequel battle, with some of John Williams’ best work and a whole ton of emotion behind it, with the entire prequel trilogy pretty much building to the consequences of this duel.

It is perhaps the highlight of the prequel trilogy’s best movie and is genuinely heartbreaking to watch for those emotionally invested in Anakin and Obi-Wan friendship. It is a thrilling battle, especially with the uncertainty of Padmé’s state and the Mustafar backdrop. When Obi-Wan strikes down Anakin and gives him a passionate speech, it is some of the most iconic and emotional stuff to come out of the prequels.