"Are you sure?" Aayla asked, more out of surprise than any doubt that the count was wrong.

"Yes, I checked it twice. Dead even," Master Plo Koon replied, "It's a tie between Kenobi and Windu and Skywalker."

They'd never had a tie before. "I suppose it's up to use to choose the winner, then," someone suggested and there were nods around the Council Chambers.

Luminara spoke up first, "Kenobi's performance was quite moving. He showed a talent that, I believe, most of did not know he had."

"Yes, that's true. But...I'm not sure it was entirely appropriate," one of the older council members said.

"Inappropriate? How?" Aayla asked, a little more defensively than she'd intended.

"It was a love song. Not exactly fitting for a member of the Jedi Council. It was a breach of decorum," Ki-Adi-Mundi explained, shaking his large head slowly.

Aayla personally thought that briefly loosening those sort of strict notions of how a Jedi was expected to behave was half the point of having a Talent Show in the first place. But the conversation had moved on before she could make her point.

"Young Skywalker's demonstration was very impressive. He's always had a flare for the dramatic," Kit Fisto said, and several people chuckled in agreement.

"Yes, his lightsaber talent was exceptional," Ki-Adi-Mundi said, "but...and I hesitate to speculate what Master Windu was thinking when he agreed to that, but it is the dramatic elements of his performance that I must take issue with."

Aayla stifled a sigh. This whole debate was starting to ruin the fun.

"I'm afraid I agree," Master Depa Billaba said, "The thematic elements were not appropriate for the audience at all, especially the fake death at the end. Several younglings were crying!"

"So should we give it to Kenobi then?"

"No, don't write off Windu and Skywalker. They both showed extraordinary precision and control."

"But Kenobi's talent was so unexpected."

"Yes. We all know who the great swordsmen are. Let's celebrate something new."

The conversation went around in circles for a few more moments before there was the sharp sound of Master Yoda's wooden staff tapping on the ground. The Council Chambers grew quiet and all eyes turned to him.

When he had their attention, Yoda spoke, "Overthinking this, you are. Charge by the letter, they do not."