Satele Shan vs Darth Talon

 
MARTIAL ARTS
The title of Emperors hand, no matter the century, is reserved for the absolute best warriors and operatives, the title marking them as some of the best of there Order. Darth Talon was no exception. Growing up in the rigorous life style of a Sith upbringing, Darth Talon learned at an early age that to survive in the One Sith she would have to be ruthless, powerful and loyal to Darth Krayt above all else. As such, her skill in combat was almost unparalleled among her fellow Sith, with only Darth Nihl truly being her equal. Described as a master of Lightsaber Form four, Ataru, Talon was a extremely flexible and acrobatic warrior, dodging about the battlefield with ease. She was also quite fast, capable of changing Force attacks into her bladework and skilled in unarmed combat. On the subject of fighting forms, Talon almost always wielded her blade with one hand and had a good deal of skill with quick, accurate jabs, suggesting at least some practice of Form two, Makashi. However, both Forms four and two share weaknesses in blast deflection and against multiple opponents, weaknesses that Talon did not have, which suggests practice of another Form or possibly Just Talon compensating for her chosen Forms weaknesses. Talon has stalemated Wolf Sazen and Shado Vao at the same time, stormed a Sith temple alongside Darth's Krayt and Nihl, as well as disarming and eventually killing the high level Imperial Knight Elke Vetter. Further cementing her position as one of the best martial artists of her day, Talon dueled the extremely skilled and powerful Cade Skywalker on at least two occasions. Although she has never defeated the Jedi, she did at first force Cade to resort to augmenting himself with the Dark side and overpower her directly. However, in there final duel Cade once again proved his own skill, outpacing and impaling the Dark lady before there battle could truly begin.

Currently, the unrivaled bearer of the title "lady of war" is Jedi master Shaak Ti, her flowing grace remaining unmatched. However, she actually has some pretty big competition here, in the form of Jedi Grad master Satele Shan. Trained by three separate Jedi masters, including a renowned Battle master, Shan became extremely skilled with both standard Lightsabers and Saber-staffs. The only Jedi to survive the first battle of the Great Galactic War, Shan fought on the front-lines throughout the war, constantly proving herself to be one of the best the Jedi Order had to offer. In combat, Shan relied almost entirely on acrobatics, dodging and outmaneuvering her opponents before they had a chance to fight back. Needless to say, Form four is generally believed to be Shan's weapon of choice. Shan was also quite skilled in blast deflection, fighting multiple enemies at once (cutting down seven Sith warriors in one go on Alderaan) and changing in Force attacks into her combat sequences. Although Shan has demonstrated defensive lapses before, these were always against Darth Malgus, who was for all intense and purposes the best Lightsaber duelist the Sith Empire had to offer at the time. Against lesser opposition, even Dark Council members like Darth Mekhis, her defense served much better, indicating it took a top tier to break it. Even other highly regarded warriors such as the infamous Darth Baras have proven unable to break her. That being said, Shan remains a offensive duelist, charging into battle and taking down her enemies before they have a chance to strike back. Ironically, considering how many times she has been pitted against him in Versus videos, Shan is most comparable with Grand master Yoda, a highly acrobatic warrior who relies on quick movement to defeat her enemies.

On the surface, these two are very comparable martial artists. They both fight in very fast paced and acrobatic styles, with a good deal of skill in unarmed combat and changing in Force attacks. However, upon further examination a couple stark differences appear between the two. Satele Shan fought in a relatively controlled and graceful style and, due to the era she lived in, had a greater skill against multiple opponents, cutting down many Sith warriors in seconds. On the other hand, Darth Talon's style is typified by bloodthirsty rage and aggression, combined with preciseness and finess, something that would serve her well against Shan's relatively weak defense. So in the end who is the better martial artist? Well, although Shan has a good deal of skill and power, as well as much more combat experience, Talon has displayed just as much skill in the dueling arena, and her fighting style is also, on a technical level at least, tailored to beat Shan's. If this battle was a pure martial conflict, these two would go head to head, both of them being highly offensive duelists. However, Talon is the more aggressive of the two and would drive the Grand master back, until an opening showed up in Shan's defense that she could exploit. Thus, I give the martial arts advantage to Darth Talon

FORCE POWERS
I will admit that when I started research on this battle, I though Talon was going to be a Darth Maul carbon copy: Dedicated to martial arts above all else, with little to no ability true with the Force. However, this has turned out to very much so not be the case. First off, she has no problem with using the Force, often working grand displays of telekinesis into her combat style. Whats more, she also had a good deal of practical knowledge and skill with Sith Lightning, using it to out right kill people before, although I should point out the individual in question was already heavily wounded. Talon even had some skill with more arcane abilities, displaying some skill with Force concealment and telepathically ripping desired information out of her targets mind. Although she is no Force using powerhouse, Talon has managed to achieve a greater skill with the Force than most comparatively unrefined Sith warriors.

A warrior at heart, Satele Shan was principally a field commander and martial artist. However, anyone who would like to think this meant her Force powers were anything less than overwhelming would be rudely surprised. The descendit of powerful Jedi Bastila Shan Revan, Satele Shan had a nigh incredible amount of strength in the Force. She could protect herself from the vacuum of space with a Force shield, she mastered Tutaminis to the point she could bloke Lightsaber blades, she has some skill with foresight and it has been theorized she had natural potency with Battle meditation. Her greatest power however, by a wide margin, was her unbridled power with telekinesis. Although later in life she used it to easily destroy Hexes, while just a Jedi knight she felled three Sith warriors at once, dropped a tree on Malgus half way through there duel and practically blew up a mountain (Beat THAT, Yoda).

The edge here is pretty obvious, so I'll hurry through this part. First and foremost, Shan's ability with telekinesis completely outclasses Cade Skywalkers ability with such, someone who has constantly ragdolled Talon with this ability. Whats more, Talon's concealment won't do any good in a straight up battle, and her telepathic skills are matched (if not outright dwarfed) by Shan's own. And finally, Darth Talon's Force lightning won't be anything more than a distraction here, as Shan has more than enough skill with Tutaminis to absorb the attack. Add in Shan's own arcane abilities with meditation and Force shields, and this category becomes what is known as "overkill".

PHYSICAL SKILLS
Darth Talon was a young female Twi'lek, remarkably achieving the rank of Emperors hand at a young age. A rare Lethan Twi'lek, Talon's skin was bright red and covered in black tattoos. Talon had a strong preference for acrobatic attacks, unarmed combat and physical strikes and had a strong enough constitution she survived being impaled in the abdomen with a Lightsaber, although her recovery time was considerable. As a Twi'lek, however, Talon's head was adorned with twin brain tails called "Lekku" that not only made her head a larger target but also caused extreme pain when damaged.

Although her in-game avatar does not indicate as such, Satele Shan was a human female roughly in her sixties. When she was younger, Shan had a strong preference for acrobatics and physical, unarmed fighting. However, unlike other martial artists such as Qui-gon Jinn, Shan's physical state never really deteriorated to a point where she was incapable of keeping pace with younger warriors, and even in her advancing age Shan continued to practice a acrobatic fighting style and unarmed combat. Shan also had an extremely strong constitution, soldering through Darth Malgus's brutal assaults on multiple occasions.

Most of the time, species such as Zabraks and Weequay automatically get the physical edge, due to there inherent advantages. The exact opposite holds true for the Twi'leks: there Lekku are obvious targets and are even more susceptible to damage than most body parts. Shan might be a couple decades older than Talon, but she remains in just as good physical shape, in terms of speed and strength, as her competition. This gives Shan the edge, as she does not share Talon's head tail weakness.

WEAPONS AND EQUIPMENT
As with all members of the One Sith, Darth Talon built her Lightsaber's hilt out of Yorik coral. This added a deeper connection between Talon, her weapon and the living Force, although there are no tangible benefits from this union. Her weapons hilt was slightly longer than the norm and her blade was most likely powered by a synthetic Sith crystal. All in all, her Lightsaber had no inherent advantages or disadvantages beyond her familiarity with her own handwork.

Satele Shan has the impressive achievement of going threw more Lightsbaer's than even Anakin Skywalker, although this is not something you should boast about. Over the course of her carer, Shan built at least three separate blue bladed saber staffs, all of which were built with identical designs of aesthetically ornamental, but technically standard. Shan also has a good degree of skill with more standard weapons, her Saber staff being capable of being wielded as a normal Lightsaber and Shan herself temporarily using a single blade of standard make.

Both Shan and Talon use weapons of standard design and since Talon has previously combated Saber staff wielders, removing the shock value of the weapon. This leaves us with a simple question: which is a better weapon: a double bladed saber or a single bladed weapon. On the one hand, a Saber staff has twice as many blades and thus twice as many options, as well as a unique skill set. On the other, they also somewhat restrict there users movements, and there elongated hilts make bigger targets that even expert staff wielders such as Maul and Shan had problems defending. In the end, it's like comparing apples to oranges: both weapons have there own unique advantages and disadvantages, and although the major tool behind Saber staffs is the shock value, they are still perfectly serviceable weapon without it. Thus, for know, I will give the edge to Shan, as her weapon can be wielded as both a staff and normal Lightsaber.

THE VERDICT
Lets not waste any time and just jump right in and see who wins this. First of all, although Talon's head tails are an obvious point of weakness, Darth Talon is more than likely capable of defending this point of vulnerability just as well as rest of her body. On the same note, Talon's experience against saber staffs and Shan's preference for not wielding it as a standard weapon pretty much removes the Jedi's advantage there. Next we have the closest and most controversial edge here: martial arts. I believe Darth Talon to be the ever so slightly better martial artist, although it would take a considerable amount of time and effort on Talon's part. If we take just the first three edges, Darth Talon emerges the battered and bruised winner. However, there is a fourth category, one that could very well be decisive. And yes, lets be honest here, Satele Shan is MUCH more powerful than Talon in this area, displaying a wider variety and a greater amount of magnitude. However, before we jump to conclusions, I would remind you that this does not necessarily secure Shan a victory. I know I harp on Yoda...A lot, but just bear with me here. There is no doubt that on the battlefield, Yoda is an almost unparalleled master of the Force, manipulating star-ships and wiping out armies with his mind (well, If you take the 2003 Clone wars as a proper depiction of the Jedi Order's powers). However, in a one on one sense, Yoda is much less accomplished. He was stalemated by Count Dooku (a lesser Force user by most accounts) could only move large objects or use his Force powers offensively with a great deal of strain and even when his opposition gains the high-ground he continues to attempt to breach the gap and reengage them with the blade. Weather it is a personal unwillingness, his Force valor taking to much of his energy or something else, Yoda seems to be largely incapable of bringing his great magnitude with the Force to bear in a one on one duel. The point, to put it simply, is being more powerful in the Force doesn't mean anything if you cant use it against single opposite. Yeah...this was just a unwarranted rant without purpose. Satele Shan has ZERO limitations in combat, being extremely skilled in changing in her Force attacks and using them against one enemy. The moment Talon starts gaining ground, Shan will fell on a tree in the middle of the battleground. Or throw her into a cliff. Or collapse a mountain on top of her. Etc, etc, etc. In the end, I fell relatively confident in declaring Satele Shan, grand master of the Jedi Order and lady of war, the winner.