Summary

This set was on my wishlist for a while - for its minifigures as well as the fact that it replicates one of the iconic scenes of Star Wars - but not for the usual price. However, when I found it on sale I had to pick it up. During the build I started to appreciate it more and more... There are only 10 stickers in this set, though 8 of them are tricky to apply, as they are on the inside of curved pieces. The build was fun and varied, and took me some 2 hours and 30 minutes. And in the end it resulted in a great play set and OK display set, with nice minifigures. Ist it worth the money? IMHO it probably is. It offers a lot of scenarios to play out, for a Star Wars set it actually reasonably priced looking at the Price Per Part, and generally IMHO it looks quite good.

Build experience

The build itself was very easy for the most part, as long as one pays attention to the manual (which I did not do on occasion, meaning things did not fit properly). The most tedious element in construction was the construction of the blue-light columns. Tricky was the installation of the stickers on the inside of the round corner pieces: to have them lined up properly next to each other, and in relation to the neighbouring pieces. What did not help was that the sticker sheet had been folded inside the box.

The designer has done a good job in keeping construction interesting. There are few if any repetitive construction sequences - and when they are they are far enough apart in the steps. What I like is that the play features are simple yet effective, and well integrated - no ugly bright red or yellow pins or bricks. Overall, I enjoyed building this set a lot.

The minifigures

Included in this set are five minifigures: Luke, Darth Vader, Emperor Palpatine and two Praetorian Guards.

The Praetorian Guards can also be found in a battle pack. I generally like the moulding of the head gear, as well as the capes. I like them a lot.

Luke is also found in set 75159 Death Star, and an advent calendar; he has a nice print on the front and back of the torso, and no print on the legs. He has two nice face-prints.

Darth Vader is IMHO the best minifigure in this set. He is unique, and I like the print on the torso and legs. The print is in register, and continues nicely from the torso onto the legs. He has no print on the back, but that is no problem, as he is wearing a cape. I like his head - white with a nice print, one face, as the back shows scars - and a two piece mask.

Emperor Palpatine, just as Darth Vader, is unique to this set. He has a nice print on the front of the torso that is continued onto the legs. The print is also nicely in register. He is armed with lightning bars. He has no print on the back of the torso, but again, that is hidden by his cape. The hood looks nice. He has two good face prints, one evil, one angry and evil.

The build

This is a very well designed set, IMHO. It quite nicely gives an impression of the throne room of the movie, with the designs of the windows. Every segment also has its own playefeature(s). And all of them are well integrated: collapsing side-walk, exploding chairs, sliding doors... They are simple but effective, and not easily triggered by accident.

The throne of the Emperor is a nice build as well. I like the feature that the set can be folded together. It makes it more compact, for storage, and can be folded out for play. Whatever bright coloured bricks have been used, have been nicely by grey, tan and black bricks, and are no longer visible. In fact, there are no truly ugly sides to the build.

Play vs display

Above all, this is a play set, and IMHO a very good one at that. There are numerous and quite varied integrated play-features. There is quite a bit of space to put minifigures. All the most striking elements of the famous movie scene can be recreated. Yet at the same time, the set does not feel too stuffed with features, especially when expanded to its full size.

This set is less of a play set, but can easily be integrated in a bigger display. That said, it does not look out of place as a display piece, IMHO.

The verdict

Overall this is a very well designed set, and considering the usual prices of Star Wars set, at a reasonable RRP. There are numerous play features that are well designed, and help in creating many play scenarios. The minifigures for this set are quite good, maybe even one of the better play sets in the Star Wars line of the last couple years. If one can still find this set at RRP or a discount, it is well worth picking up.

As a fan of Return of the Jedi, this set satisfies all expectations and is a great set. It's fun to play with and is a great display piece. This set works for me as both a play set and a display set. This makes this set one of the greatest I own and am very proud of it. I would recommend this to any fan of Star Wars, the price is great, the playability is perfect, and is enjoyable for everyone!

I was initially reluctant to buy the final duel set because this particular scene had already been rendered to a lesser degree in one of the many rooms of the Death Star. Obviously I acquiesced in the end, but more so because of the minifigures than the set itself. As it turns out, the set would have been worth a purchase even if didn't include new Darth Vader and Darth Sidious minifigures. To be clear, I wouldn't have bought a set this expensive if I didn't think it had some promise beyond the minifigures. It just succeeded in surpassing my expectations.

When fully closed, the model appears very compact, which is surprising given its large number of play features. Firstly, the doors at the front of the entrance slide open. The platform on which the entrance door rests can also be extended from the center building, revealing a flat bridge. This bridge has a lever that, when pressed down, can make Vader or Luke "leap" into the air. Additionally, the staircase is outfitted with an exploding function that sends a minifigure flying. Sidious's chair rotates 360 degrees so he can scan the galaxy or just watch a good ol' fashioned brawl between father and son. There's also a really neat function that allows Sidious's lightsaber to pop out from the floor. This is accomplished by pushing down on a lever located on the first floor that subsequently lifts the bottom of the lightsaber hanging down from the ceiling. The right tower doesn't have any play functions, but the pit is deep enough to convey a decent fall for Sidious's death. The left tower has a collapsing platform, which falls cleanly when its thin supporting pillar is knocked out from under it by a lightsaber.

Darth Vader's new helmet looks a bit large, but it's actually more accurate to the film than the previous version of his helmet ever was. Vader's face is no longer a monochrome gray color, and for that matter Sidious's face isn't either. Unfortunately, Vader has a slight smirk on his face that doesn't make much sense considering the context of the scene.

75093: Death Star Final Duel was one of the most anticipated and controversial sets for LEGO Star Wars fans. This playset attempts to recreate the scene on the second Death Star from Episode VI: Return of the Jedi as Darth Vader brings his son, Luke Skywalker, to the Emperor Palpatine in the throne room guarded by Royal Guards. This eventually leads to the climax of the franchise as Luke fights for his father's redemption but the will of the Emperor is strong. Skywalker's hatred of the Emperor may lead him to the Dark Side and his undoing. Darth Vader is now forced to make the ultimate decision within his own conflict: serve his master and kill the last Jedi in the galaxy or trust his thoughts, save his offsping and destroy the one who drove him into madness. 75093 expands on 7200 and 7201 (Final Duel I and II), two small sets that were available in 2002 and uses some of the concepts from 10188: Death Star from 2008.

This set is controversial simply because of the Darth Vader minifgure as it features an all-new helmet. It is the first time since LEGO Star Wars that the Vader minifigure receives a serious update that is not a new print. We usually see small print changes or an attempt to make helmets look closely to the movies or TV series (The Clone Wars) despite the restrictions. The best update examples are Boba Fett and Stormtroopers and almost nobody complained about them. Vader being the most important character of the entire Star Wars franchise, it is normal that the new helmet is controversial. However, it is probably for the best considering the goal to be achieved by this set. This is also an expanded version of the throne as featured in 10188: Death Star with the cylinder tops being a different color and the cylinders are also extended in the current set, the throne being updated as well as the window piece (no longer being a TIE Fighter windshield like 7200: Final Duel I, the chair from 10188 is also very similar to 7200).

I previously owned 7150: TIE Fighter & Y-Wing, 7200 and 7201 so I do remember the original Darth Vader and the original Emperor Palpatine. I didn't own 7166: Imperial Shuttle in 2001 but it had the same minifigure for the Emperor. Buying the set 7200 was the easiest and cheapest way to get both Vader and the Emperor as Vader was only available in 7150 released in 1999, the first year of LEGO Star Wars. At the time, Luke Skywalker was available in four sets at launch. 7150 was also my first Star Wars set so the nostalgia is definitely a kicker when it comes to any sets featuring Darth Vader. It remains my favorite and the most important minifigure I've ever owned (now only matched by the minifigures from 76023: The Tumbler). I followed the evolution of Darth Vader in LEGO and I'm quite amazed by it. I was definitely tempted to get 75055: Imperial Star Destroyer for Vader, the troopers and the Imperial stuff because I gave my LEGO sets away in 2004 as I moved during my teenage. So yes, I wanted to have a Darth Vader minifigure again. The announcement of 75093 at Toy Fair made me so happy that I absolutely wanted this set right off the bat.

I grew up watching the Star Wars movies on VHS (the copies released in 1995, two years before the special edition) and one of my favorite scenes if not my favorite was Luke confronting the Emperor and Vader. That makes two reasons for me to get this set. It all comes down to personal experiences as a Star Wars fan. And as you might imagine, I love Darth Vader as a character (I kept the Technic set 8010: Darth Vader) and I own a 3D sculpture puzzle of Vader's head. I love the idea of a conflicted personality between pure hatred and compassion.

Box/Instructions

The box is pretty simple but is probably similar in size compared to 9526: Palpatine's Arrest released in 2012. Oddly enough, 75093 is cheaper and contains more pieces than 9526 but has 5 minifigures instead of 6, two of them being the same: the Royal Guards. And judging the back of the box, 75093 probably has more features even if you can remove the doors and the landing platform in 9526.

The back gives us a preview of all play features for the set such as the falling bridge, the stairs and the door. We can also see that the set can be "closed" thanks to the pieces that can allow the side sections to close in and lock the walkway that can be extended.

The instructions book, and yes it is a book, contains no mistakes and I wasn't confused during the construction. We still have the usual advertisement for LEGO Star Wars including the other Summer 2015 sets and the minifigures now available. None of the minifigures from 75093 appear in other sets from this current wave at the moment the review is posted. I just wish it wasn't folded and protected with a cardboard with the stickers (automatically a con for me).

Parts

This set contains a good mix of grey, dark grey and black parts and, surprisingly enough, a very low amount of pale-colored pieces (white pieces are in this set, it's up to you to find out). It also has some sand-colored 2x1 slopes which is good for desert/Tatooine MOCs. I'm actually surprised by the presence of dark red pieces. More on that later. Lot of big pieces used for the side sections like the ones used for the shaft, the windows and the barrier-like pieces in the low-centre part of the set. You obviously get a stair piece which is excellent for castle and Rebellion/Empire base MOCs.

Minifigures

The Royal Guards are, unfortunately, not new at all because they are the same ones from 75034: Death Star Troopers (there were two Royal Guards). However, it is the first time I own any Royal Guards since their creation for 7166: Imperial Shuttle in 2001. The hood piece is absolutely phenomenal but the printing is pretty basic. They all come with their staves (or polearms) just like in 75034. If you own any other sets with the Royal Guards and you want to expand on your army or make a great scene for the Emperor's arrival (and get this "new" Emperor"), then it's an excellent alternative. While we are on the subject…

The Emperor Palpatine is, in my opinion, a minifigure that is perfect! I don't think we can go any better. The details for the wrinkles and the double-sided printed head are spot on. The print for the robes is excellent. It's a shame that this Emperor makes the minifigure from 5004357 no longer exclusive and it might be difficult to spot any differences. The Emperor can obviously be equipped with Force Lightning and there is a hidden red lightsaber so if you own a Yoda minifigure or want to twist the events, it's all up to you.

Luke Skywalker is pretty standard in my opinion. The main problem is that we see the chin on the back of any face prints despite being covered by the classic hairpiece. However, the clothing print is totally different from the previous Jedi versions of Luke's minifigure which is totally fine, the most recent being released in 10236: Ewok Village. It's Luke in a nutshell, not bad but not impressive either. Luke is equipped with a green lightsaber but also handcuffs to replicate his arrival in front of the Emperor

Darth Vader… I perfectly understand the controversy and that is why I had to make it clear that I owned the original Darth Vader minifigure from 1999. However, considering that this playset is basically trying to replicate Vader's redemption, I have NO problem with the update. Something that I always hated for any versions of Vader: the head. After all, did you watch The Empire Strikes Back? The lower part of the helmet is supposed to cover his neck and it's something that LEGO didn't do since the creation of Darth Vader as a minifigure. With the two-pieces helmet, it will allow LEGO to expand and, perhaps, enhance the details even more. It does look a little big considering the size of a traditional minifigure but even the size of the droids don't make much sense.

Despite the fact that the torso printing is completely inaccurate to Return of the Jedi, it is impressively done. The torso and legs are the same from 75055: Imperial Star Destroyer but the face is, obviously, different. Instead of an Emperor-like face, Vader has a more pale piece for the head which is much more accurate to Anakin's last moments (thanks Sebastian Shaw) with scars and the smile. Some people find it odd that Vader is smiling… but we never saw his face before Luke removes Vader's mask. The smiling face, in context with the scene and therefore the playset makes a lot of sense to me.

Overall, you can dislike the new helmet and replace it with the original one but I don't see any cons. Darth Vader is supposed to be tall and imposing and now the minifigure is taller than most thanks to the helmet. In fact, it is now the same height (mostly) than General Grievous' minifigure. Vader's minifigure is excellent! Of course, he has his own lightsaber.

The build

I found this set to be quite intermediate to build but I'm sure that any kids (8-9+) would be able to assemble this set without any problem. However, placing the throne and the window was much more challenging because you have to move the set and, at the beginning, it is a bit flimsy. The cylinder with the transblue slopes was probably the most intriguing part to build because it's part of the decoration.

Except for the windows, the cylinder tops and door, there is a low amount of mirror builds which makes it a much more fun set to assemble. It's all thanks to the multiple features. Placing the sticker for the shaft was definitely the most challenging part. This section being shadowed by the window's build doesn't make the sticker's mistakes seem too bad (unlike UCS sets) but stickers are frustrating nonetheless.

The completed model

The playset is quite large, much more than I initially expected. The side sections can be placed aside of the throne which is a bit inaccurate but fine considering it's LEGO. The door, however, is completely inaccurate to the elevator for the tower. It does feel like an attempt to simplify the opening mechanic but I'm sure the set would be more expensive if there was an actual tower-like structure for the door. The idea of expanding the walkway and incorporating a "force jump" mechanic is good. The throne can be fully rotated and is easier to access than the one from 7200: Final Duel I. The slope can allow the Emperor minifigure to hold Luke's saber. The red lightsaber near the throne can be launched with a mechanic built early in the set but is definitely not the best play feature.

The reactor shaft does look great with the stickers and you can recover any fallen minifigure by lifting the playset. The Force Jump mechanic near the doors is quite the thing because you can lose a minifigure by simply using this function. The stairs are also pretty interesting despite being an odd function considering the scene but you can replicate the moment where Vader is kicked off the stairs by Luke. And despite being at a completely inaccurate place, the bridge mechanic does work pretty well too and can easily be replaced. The falling bridge can actually fall easily with any abrupt movement but it does seem quite solid at times. It does replicate the moment where Vader throws his saber at Luke, making the bridge fall down with Luke, leading to the famous scene under the throne.

You can detach the throne section in order to place Vader and Luke to replicate the scene where Vader tempts his son to turn to the Dark Side, quite a memorable scene thanks to the cinematography. Yes, THAT scene! There was actually enough rooms to add more transblue slopes to fully replicate the lower level of the throne room. It took me around 2 hours and half to complete and I definitely took the time to observe the techniques used. Except for the bridge and the stairs (and the doors), the set was quite simple but is a great replica of the scene considering the restrictions. And by simply doing this, the playset hits the jackpot.

I wish that some small pieces would be covered such as the 1x1 grey cylinders at the bottom of the set as well as the golden pieces next to the doors. Other than that, I don't see anything else to criticize for this construction. It definitely looks better than 7200 and 7201 combined thanks to the feature and is a great alternative for those who don't want to get 10188.

Oh and the set comes with a brick separator which is absolutely great.

Overall opinion

At the beginning of this review, I made my point clear that, yes, nostalgia is strong with me. However, I am enough open-minded to welcome any additions or updates from LEGO. This set is a great remake of something that has been done twice but never reached its full potential. The first was too small and the second was part of one of the most expensive LEGO sets of all time. This is basically a set where I could say: "If you love this scene, you will love this set." And that pretty much sums it all. This playset has enough features for its price, it has a lot of big pieces and "droid arms" so you can make your own meditation room for Vader if you have different gear parts. The details are excellent, everything functions pretty well too.

Because it's Star Wars, it's mostly about the minifigures. I was interested in 75094: Imperial Shuttle Tydirium but I'm someone who appreciates the bad guys in Star Wars. They usually have the coolest stuff excluding the X-Wing. And because I like Darth Vader more than any other character, this was also one of the reasons to buy 75093 instead. The Royal Guards look great, Luke is Luke so no surprise. The Emperor is spot on and Vader, despite being one of the most controversial minifigures now, looks fantastic. Again, you still can use the original helmet piece with this set if you wish but it's been since LEGO Star Wars began that we didn't get a different helmet for Vader. This is a welcome update and this Vader can finally join the new/more accurate Stormtroopers and bounty hunters in your Empire scenes.

It's hard to consider this set being a remake however since the previous versions were very limited in terms of playability or because of the price. Also, LEGO Star Wars fans are not used to playsets because of the incredible amounts of starfighters or vehicles so it's something that is always refreshing and it opens up for more creativity and ideas. Even the adults can appreciate the playsets because they recreate iconic scenes from the movies as diorama. I always expect accuracy for the spacecrafts but, for the playsets, I expect functionality, playability and a recreation of most sequences from a specific scene. In both case, I need to see the same magic and authenticity and this set is spot on! Despite some small mistakes in terms of accuracy and the controversy for Darth Vader, this set is absolutely excellent. Kids will enjoy building and playing with this set even if they never watched Star Wars and may get into Star Wars thanks to this set alone, teenagers may create their own "ending" and the adults will get this set for the nostalgia and the importance of this scene alone for the entire franchise.

This is the second time since I restarted building LEGO sets that a specific set spoke to me as a fan of a franchise or movie. 76023: The Tumbler was that first set and 75093: Death Star Final Duel joins it as one of the best sets I've ever owned, period. Objectively, I recommend that you wait for a price drop but even then, you won't be disappointed. However, this set represents so much for me. Not only it captures the magic and authenticity of a single scene but it shows how far LEGO Star Wars evolved from 1999-2001 to this day. Whoever designed this set at LEGO, thank you so much!