In Revenge of the Sith, Mace Windu defeated Palpatine and only lost because Anakin intervened. It would have made sense then for Yoda and Obi-Wan to team up and take on Sidious together. So, why didn’t they? The heart of the explanation comes down to strategy but also some overconfidence.
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Why Didn’t Yoda and Obi-Wan Team Up?
This video draws on the novelization of the last prequel movie to indicate that Obi-Wan and Yoda discussed this option after Windu’s death. Yet, Obi-Wan believed they wouldn’t “stand a chance” against Palpatine since Sidious had collectively beaten Windu and three other Jedi. Yoda agreed, and they both went in separate directions to confront Palpatine and Anakin and later into hiding.
This explanation makes sense given that Sidious wiped out Kit Fisto, Saesee Tiin, and Agen Kolar quickly in the duel in Palpatine’s office. Windu overpowered Sidious but ultimately failed to defeat him. Obi-Wan and Yoda’s idea was that they would have a better chance of defeating Palpatine later and for the moment Obi-Wan needed to stop Anakin-Vader.
This long-term vision coincides with this explanation that stresses the importance of Yoda’s decision to send Obi-Wan to confront Anakin and not come with him to face Palpatine. Vader-Anakin had to be “killed or redeemed” to stop his trajectory to the dark side. Likewise, Obi-Wan was not strong enough to contend with Palpatine and would only cause problems.
If Obi-Wan had been there with Yoda, we can imagine a scenario like Obi-Wan and Anakin’s first fight with Dooku in Attack of the Clones when Anakin was quickly dispatched. Obi-Wan may have even gotten in the way of Yoda almost taking down the would-be Emperor, or Palpatine may have focused on inflicting pain on Obi-Wan to thwart Yoda’s efforts.
The above article also points out that Yoda most likely calculated the rise of both of them confronting Sidious and realized it was too great. That is, if Yoda and Obi-Wan perished, the remaining Jedi would be even fewer, and the light side of the Force near extinction. At the minimum, it seems likely that Obi-Wan would not have lasted long and may have been killed.
Posts on this forum tend to emphasize how Obi-Wan would have been in the way or “eliminated very quickly.” Correspondingly, we saw that happen when Anakin and Obi-Wan fought Dooku for the second time in Revenge. Obi-Wan was taken out quickly, and he did lose in the first encounter too, just lasted a little longer.
Other Reasons Why Yoda and Obi-Wan Didn’t Fight Palpatine Together
An alternative explanation for why they didn’t team up against Palpatine may rest with Jedi tenets. A fan here indicates how the Jedi Council had “a strict policy” against the idea of “double-teaming Sith Lords.” The way of the Jedi stressed not engaging in “simultaneous combat” against the Sith because it would not be a fair fight and throw the Force off balance.
Yet, this explanation does not seem that compelling, given that Obi-Wan had urged Anakin to team up with him, or “take him together,” when fighting Dooku. The Jedi Code forbade the killing of “unarmed opponents” and pursuing revenge, but did not specify that Jedi could not work together in combat against the Sith. In fact, the master-apprentice relationship calls for joint action.
Another more likely reason why they didn’t fight Palpatine together was that Yoda thought he could take advantage of Sidious’s arrogance. The “divide and conquer” strategy could have been effective if Yoda could manipulate Palpatine’s overconfidence to his advantage. Alas, the opposite unfolded, with Yoda being overly confident and acting on his “own arrogance.”
The Revenge of the Sith novel includes this explanation as well by revealing how Yoda only realized he could not defeat Palpatine midway through their fight. It also fully dawned on him how much the Jedi and he had been deceived and overthrown by the will of the Emperor.
They Didn’t Fight Together
The forefront reason why Yoda and Obi-Wan didn’t fight Palpatine together was strategy. They recognized Sidious’s power and believed they had a better chance if Obi-Wan took on Anakin-Vader while Yoda contended with Palpatine. Yet, we can also see how maybe Yoda misjudged his chances with Sidious, leading us down a dark road indeed.