The Bendu vs. Yoda (Canon)

Who wins

Bendu

How much stock are we putting into Vader's statement that Palpatine > Bendu?

I put stock into it. I mean, I don’t think there’s really anything the Bendu did to suggest it is even close to Palpatine’s power. As a result, I think Yoda should take this somewhat handily.

XSUPREMEXSKILLZ wrote:I put stock into it. I mean, I don’t think there’s really anything the Bendu did to suggest it is even close to Palpatine’s power.

Yeah, that's kind of my thinking as well.

Vader's knowledge of Bendu came straight from Thrawn, who personally witnessed all of Bendu's feats, and gave Vader/Palpatine a very detailed report about what exactly happened on Atollon. Yet even with this knowledge, Vader still stated that Bendu's power "paled in comparison" to that of Palpatine. It didn't read as an exaggeratory/empty boast that Vader was using to give Palpatine some random wank, imo.

Vader knows sod all about the Bendu’s presence in the Force or its power. Thrawn dismissed the Bendu as a trickster or magician, so Vader’s thoughts on him are irrelevant.

The Bendu wins handily. He’s simply beyond Yoda, and is clearly meant to be some kind of Force entity.

BoD wrote:Vader knows sod all about the Bendu’s presence in the Force or its power. Thrawn dismissed the Bendu as a trickster or magician, so Vader’s thoughts on him are irrelevant.

Perhaps.

But I will say that Thrawn didn't just dismiss Bendu. Alliances makes it pretty clear that he gave Vader/Palpatine a very detailed report about the happenings on Atollon(including his encounter with Bendu.) So at the very least, Vader would have known that Bendu was capable of becoming a literal storm that was able to one-shot AT-ATs and starships, when he made the statement that Bendu's power paled in comparison to Palpatine's.

But I will say that Thrawn didn't just dismiss Bendu. Alliances makes it pretty clear that he gave Vader/Palpatine a very detailed report about the happenings on Atollon(including his encounter with Bendu.) So at the very least, Vader would have known that Bendu was capable of becoming a literal storm that was able to one-shot AT-ATs and starships, when he made the statement that Bendu's power paled in comparison to Palpatine's.

In which case, Vader's claim is questionable at best. Unless Sidious has replicated that at some point, it's "mwahaha the Dark Side is greater than anything else" evil henchman talk.

BoD wrote:In which case, Vader's claim is questionable at best. Unless Sidious has replicated that at some point, it's "mwahaha the Dark Side is greater than anything else" evil henchman talk.

During Lords of the Sith, Palpatine used his lightning+TK to drop a starship, but he obviously never had a reason to attack his own AT-ATs.

I see where you're coming from, but I personally didn't read Vader's comment as random hyperbole/Palpatine-wank. He was essentially 'reminding' Thrawn not to fail the Empire again, lest he suffer the wrath of a being even more powerful than Bendu... That was my interpretation, at least. /shrug