After 20 years, Star Wars has finally explained why Master Yoda never had a chance against Palpatine. The duel between Darth Sidious and Master Yoda was one of the highlights of the entire prequel trilogy; although Yoda was one of the most powerful Jedi, he found himself overwhelmed.

Matt Stover’s novelization of Star Wars: Episode III – Revenge of the Sith puts it wonderfully. It sees Yoda realize a shocking truth; “that he, the avatar of light, Supreme Master of the Jedi Order, the fiercest, most impeccable, most devastatingly powerful foe the darkness had ever known… just- didn’t- have it.“

While it’s true Yoda had the second-highest midi-chlorian account among the Jedi (after Anakin), the comments perhaps betray a little more of his ego than anything else. Star Wars: The Clone Wars proved that Yoda had merely repressed his dark side, and that he was no avatar of light – but rather a complex person on his own right.

Still, as powerful as Yoda was, why didn’t he even stand a chance against Palpatine?

Palpatine Was So Much More Than Just A Sith Lord

Yoda wasn’t the only one who considered himself an avatar of one aspect of the Force. Palpatine thought the same with the dark side; “There is no power in the Force that is not mine,” he taught Darth Vader in an excerpt from Adam Christopher’s Master of Evil, “for I am the dark side.“

Yoda was lying to himself when he considered himself an avatar of light, for even he had his own inner darkness. He faced it at one point during the Clone Wars, confronting a shadow version of himself that represented everything he’d repressed, and barely defeated it. But there’s no evidence Palpatine was lying.

Palpatine was dark side through and through, utterly irredeemable. He has never shown any hint of love, compᴀssion, hope, or any of those impulses that flow from the light side. He was surely once a mere mortal, but he had embraced his inner darkness and allowed it to destroy any trace of light.

Palpatine Benefited From The Dark Side’s Dominance

The shroud of the dark side had long since fallen over the galaxy by the time of Revenge of the Sith. We know, from recent stories set during the High Republic Era, that the dark side’s dominance reduces the ability of Jedi to draw on the Force; pain, anger, grief and rage echo through the Force, diminishing any Jedi.

The opposite is surely true for the Sith. As the galaxy tilts towards the dark side, any Sith – especially one who is truly an avatar of the dark side – will inevitably find it ever easier to draw upon the Force. The Clone Wars saw the galaxy consumed by violence and bloodshed, grief and loss, meaning Palpatine will have been at his strongest.

It’s so easy to reduce “power” in the Force to midi-chlorians counts and so on. But Palpatine was strong because the dark side was strong, because Yoda was not the avatar he thought he was, and because Darth Sidious had turned the entire galaxy into the fuel he drew upon. Little wonder Yoda couldn’t stop him in the Star Wars prequels.