Star Wars: Why It’s So Tough For Jedi To Beat Sith With Lightsabers

In the Star Wars galaxy, Jedi can’t easily beat Sith in lightsaber combat despite the iconic weapon being a symbol of the Jedi Order. Lightsabers are unique in Star Wars, as Obi-Wan Kenobi explained to Luke Skywalker in A New Hope; they’re an elegant weapon for a more “civilized age,” as he so eloquently put it, emphasizing how debased the galaxy had become during the reign of the Galactic Empire.

The thing about lightsabers is that they’re not entirely consistent. So far, every trilogy has introduced its own take on the weapons. Lightsabers were initially heavy and required two hands to wield (with the exception of Darth Vader’s lightsaber), but that changed in the Star Wars prequels when George Lucas gravitated towards flurry. Then the sequel trilogy expanded with more erratic plasma blades as well as Kylo Ren’s signature crossguard lightsaber. But despite how lightsabers were created or wielded in any of the trilogies, one thing stood out: In all of the lightsaber fights in Star Wars, the Sith (or dark side users in general) fared far better than the Jedi. Now there’s a specific reason for that.

According to Palpatine in the new Star Wars book, Secrets of the Sith, the Jedi used lightsabers with caution and practiced restraint, as was customary with the ways of the Jedi Order. The Sith, on the other hand, understood the “weapon’s inherent lethal capabilities” and weren’t limited by their order’s beliefs, so they put all of their power and rage into a duel. Palpatine says that Sith “embrace the full function of the lightsaber,” thus suggesting that Jedi are naturally at a disadvantage because of how they’ve been trained.

What’s most interesting about this suggestion is that it provides somewhat of a logical reasoning behind why one Sith can often fight against two or more Jedi. Darth Maul dueled Obi-Wan Kenobi and Qui-Gon Jinn on Naboo and even killed the latter, thereby making it the first time a Jedi had died to a Sith in a thousand years. Later, Count Dooku fought Obi-Wan and Anakin Skywalker twice – once on Geonosis and then aboard General Grievous’ ship. Count Dooku defeated Obi-Wan both times, but lost to Anakin the second time. Even Palpatine himself fought multiple Jedi Masters in Star Wars: Episode III – Revenge of the Sith.

It’s widely know that Sith and dark side users in general give into their hatred and rage, feeding themselves immediate power. It’s almost like a hunger that can’t easily be satiated. But just because it’s difficult for Jedi to defeat Sith with lightsabers, particularly since they hadn’t fought Sith for over a thousand years, that doesn’t mean Jedi can’t win those duels. Luke Skywalker defeated Darth Vader, Rey beat Kylo Ren (though he wasn’t a Sith), and Obi-Wan killed Maul twice.

About The Author

Mansoor Mithaiwala
(1888 Articles Published)

See also  Mayim Bialik Details Her Anxiety Filming The Big Bang Theory

Mansoor Mithaiwala is Screen Rant’s TV Lead Editor. He originally joined the site as a freelance writer on the Lists team before moving over to News and Features, eventually becoming an editor in 2018. Over time he’s done quite a few different things, including helping launch gaming on the site, often handling news, features, and guides simultaneously. Now he sticks primarily to movies and TV, and spends way too much time looking at analytics. It sure seems like he’s put his Political Science degree to good use, huh?

More From Mansoor Mithaiwala