Why was Windu going to kill Sidious?

Question

Killing wasn't a Jedi way, no matter how much big the threat is. Sidious was unarmed and weak, too. Windu could have arrested Sidious easily. But, still he didn't care. He even ignored Anakin's words. Why? He said that a Sith was too dangerous to be kept alive. But, still killing wasn't a Jedi way and proper way of doing this was to discuss this with Jedi council first.

Assuming Windu was a Jedi without darkness, why did he choose this way?

I doubt Sidious was as weak as he wanted Anakin to think he was. What I always wonder when I see that scene is: Why does Windu raise his arm to swing his lightsaber in a huge arch, when just thrusting it forward 2 inches would have sufficed? — TLP, Mar 15 '12 at 13:44
"armless" or "unarmed"? I think you mean the latter, but I like the visual of the former. :) — BennyMcBenBen, Mar 15 '12 at 14:18
@BennyMcBenBen :) edited the question for better clarification... — user931, Mar 15 '12 at 14:34
Master Windu did not "underestimate the power of the Dark Side". — TGnat, Mar 15 '12 at 14:40
@TLP - he didn't watch "Kill Bill 2" the and thus didn't know about Pai Mei's (or rather Bruce Lee's) One-inch Punch — DVK-on-Ahch-To, Mar 15 '12 at 14:43
cause Sidious stole his wallet, you know the one that has badd *** mutha written on it. — Jared, Mar 17 '12 at 00:49
Killing isn't the Jedi way? I don't think light sabers have a stun setting. — Schwern, Apr 04 '15 at 05:27

score 26 · Accepted Answer · edited Mar 15 '12 at 17:44

There were 3 reasons:

First, Windu was NOT initially trying to kill Palpatine but to arrest him
Then, Windu saw a grave danger as Anakin - whom he already didn't trust around the Sith earlier - was seemingly teetering on being convinced by Palpatine to join him against Windu
At which point Windu realized that killing Palpatine is the only feasible option - either Anakin will join him, or even he gets arrested, he will win in courts etc..

More specifically, according to the script, the following dialog took place (block quotes from the script):

First, Windu was NOT initially trying to kill Palpatine but to arrest him:

They stop as MACE forces PALPATINE to drop his sword. 
PALPATINE and MACE start yelling at each other. 

MACE WINDU: You are under arrest, My Lord.

Then, Windu saw a grave danger as Anakin - whom he already didn't trust around the Sith earlier - was seemingly tethering on being convinced by Palpatine to join him against Windu:

PALPATINE: Anakin! I told you it would come to this. I was right. 
The Jedi are taking over.

MACE WINDU: You old fool. The oppression of the Sith will never return. 
Your plot to regain control of the Republic is over . . . you have lost . . .

PALPATINE: No! No! You will die!

PALPATINE raises his hands, and lightning bolts shoot out. 
They are blocked by MACE's lightsaber. 
PALPATINE is pushed back against the window sill.

PALPATINE: He is a traitor, Anakin.

MACE WINDU: He's the traitor. Stop him!

PALPATINE: Come to your senses, boy. The Jedi are in revolt. 
They will betray you, just as they betrayed me.

PALPATINE: You are not one of them, Anakin. Don't let him kill me.

PALPATINE: I am your pathway to power. 
I have the power to save the one you love. You must choose. You must stop him.

MACE WINDU: Don't listen to him, Anakin.

At which point Windu realized that killing Palpatine is the only feasible option - either Anakin will join him, or even he gets arrested, he will win in courts etc..

MACE WINDU: You Sith disease. I am going to end this once and for all.

ANAKIN: You can't kill him, Master. He must stand trial.

MACE WINDU: He has too much control of the Senate and the Courts. 
He is too dangerous to be kept alive.

Initially, I don't get your points, but you've proved it effectively using scripts... Impressive! — user931, Mar 15 '12 at 15:54
This isn’t an answer, just the lines in the movie. At #1 Palpatine has the same amount of control of the Senate and the courts as #3, so that isn’t a logical reason for Mace to change his mind. “Anakin’s here and wants me to arrest him, therefore I must kill him” isn’t logical either. Therefore, it must be the Force-lightning that made Mace decide to kill him. But Anakin wasn’t supposed to execute Dooku, who also used Force-lightning, so… Maybe Mace was just going to cut off Palp’s hands when Anakin cut off his? No hands, no Force-lightning? Or maybe Lucas just sucks at these details. — ash, May 16 '20 at 21:14

score 4 · Answer 2 · edited Jul 19 '17 at 20:46

4

You unfortunately make several mistakes in your assumptions:

Palpatine is neither weak nor unarmed. A Force user is never unarmed.

Windu could not have arrested Palpatine easily.

Windu was aware of these so he was ready for the conflict.

Also, Windu practices and mastered a lightsaber technique call Vaapad, that channels your rage into your strikes in a controlled manner. If anything there is/was a lot of darkness within him, which it fought to control.

All of these things Windu was ready to kill Palpatine if the need arose which to him it clearly did.

edited Jul 19 '17 at 20:46

Valorum

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answered Mar 15 '12 at 15:24

AncientSwordRage

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Sidious was unarmed relative to Windu. Otherwise, you could say the same thing about a normal human who has fist always ready for punching. Same thing applies to weakness. If I've really mistaken, Sidious would never started to use words to beat Windu.. – user931 Mar 15 '12 at 16:01
He has force lightning, a common dark force technique, as well as the ability to through someone about the room. I don't think it's unreasonable to think Windu was aware of this. Those 'weapons' in his arsenal made him anything but weak. Also, Palpatine knew he could (and did) use words to convince Windu and Annie he isn't evil. – AncientSwordRage Mar 15 '12 at 16:17
His force lightening was useless in front of lightsaber. In fact, he was unable to beat Windu using force. That's why he used words to seduce Anakin which worked. So, he was indeed weak and unarmed in front of Windu.. You shouldn't count words (non-force ability). – user931 Mar 15 '12 at 16:27
6

In my eye that was all a ploy. Once Anakin stepped in as he knew he would, he blasted him with enough dark force lightning to shoot him half way across the city. Had he killed Windu (with force lightning) he knew Anakin would be able to step away. Only with Anakin's involvement in Mace's death would he be able to twist him to his desires. When that is assured he easily finishes him off. Remember Palpatine is extremely intelligent. He is not fighting Mace for his life, he's fighting to show how corrupt and dangerous the Jedi are so Anakin can see this and turn evil. He is in short insidious! – AncientSwordRage Mar 15 '12 at 16:36
Nice point, but its a matter of debate.. – user931 Mar 15 '12 at 16:56
Exactly. Jedi will kill, when needed. They are pragmatic, and not cruel, but not saints. As for Palpatine, I thought it was obvious he was playing weak in order to convert Anakin. Mace was a threat he could easily handle. – Apr 04 '15 at 03:32

Why was Windu going to kill Sidious?

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