RotS Sidious vs TPM Sidious

Serious question how many of you subscribe to the idea RotS Sidious is vastly more powerful than TPM Sidious? I always went along with the idea because everyone else said so, but after looking at the actual evidence I find the idea rather unconvincing.

Most of the quotes stating Palpatine's power grew during the intervening years could easily be referring to his ever growing political power; the actual power he wielded that was so instrumental in his domination of the Senate, his complete control of the Clone army, and the galaxy at large. His individual prowess played very little role so I seriously doubt that's what the quotes are reffering to.

Now I'm not saying he didn't grow at all, as he certainly did get a permanent boost in power from his masters' death just as Plagueis himself was confirmed to after Tenebrous' murder, but even so I doubt this bumped him up an entire tier; Plagueis was still unable to manipulate Midicholirans despite the recent amplification of his power, so the increase while noticable, doesn't seem to be game changing.

I'm in the same boat as you. I once argued RotS Sidious was far more powerful than his TPM counterpart, but after reviewing some key evidence, the consensus has been reached that he hit his biological Force potential after killing his Master. That's as powerful as he ever got in his original body unless he drew on reserves of power beyond his potential, but that would hasten his decay and risk his demise.

We have a direct comparison between the two. Maul can percieve Sidious somewhat as of tpm

Then years later during tcw Maul is unable to see percieve Sidious through the force, he is simply that fast and we know maul grew a ton.

Not seeing the difference. In both the Journal and SC he couldn't track Sidious's blades at least not at full speed. Nothing in either source suggests his Force sense couldn't react to them. Hell even in general Force users typically rely on instinct, experience, and precog in a lightsaber duel rather than try to react to each stroke individually because sequences happen too fast for the naked eye to see:

path of destruction wrote:When two Masters engaged in lightsaber combat, the action happened too quickly for the eye to see or the mind to react. Everything had to be done on instinct; the body had to be trained to move and respond without conscious thought. To accomplish this, Kas'im made his students practice sequences, carefully choreographed series of multiple strikes and parries drawn from their chosen style. The sequences were designed by the Blademaster himself so that each maneuver flowed smoothly into the next, maximizing attack efficiency while minimizing defensive exposure.

ROTS Palpatine>Plagueis ~ Post boost Palps>>Pre boost Palps

Kilius wrote:Not seeing the difference. In both the Journal and SC he couldn't track Sidious's blades at least not at full speed. Nothing in either source suggests his Force sense couldn't react to them. Hell even in general Force users typically rely on instinct, experience, and precog in a lightsaber duel rather than try to react to each stroke individually because sequences happen too fast for the naked eye to see:

path of destruction wrote:When two Masters engaged in lightsaber combat, the action happened too quickly for the eye to see or the mind to react. Everything had to be done on instinct; the body had to be trained to move and respond without conscious thought. To accomplish this, Kas'im made his students practice sequences, carefully choreographed series of multiple strikes and parries drawn from their chosen style. The sequences were designed by the Blademaster himself so that each maneuver flowed smoothly into the next, maximizing attack efficiency while minimizing defensive exposure.

Well, in the journal Maul notes he can't track the blade in general, which leads me to believe he can't do so with his senses either. Shadow Conspiracy only notes there were "too many to count."