Why did Mace Windu kill Jango Fett?

Question

Inspired by these two questions Why was Mace Windu Surprised when Jango Fett was Decapitated? and Why did Mace Windu threaten Jango Fett on Geonosis?
For a Jedi, it is more acceptable to capture than to kill. In Revenge of the Sith, when Anakin incapacitated Darth Tyranus:

FROM THIS SCRIPT

Supreme Chancellor: [Anakin cuts off Dooku's hands ending the battle. Anakin catches Dooku's lightsaber and ignites it and puts both lightsabers to his neck] Good, Anakin, good. Kill him. [Dooku looks at Palpatine in shock]

Supreme Chancellor: Kill him now.

Anakin Skywalker: I shouldn't...

Supreme Chancellor: Do it!

Anakin Skywalker: [Anakin decapitates Dooku] I couldn't stop myself.

Supreme Chancellor: You did well, Anakin. He was too dangerous to be kept alive.

Anakin Skywalker: Yes, but he was an unarmed prisoner. [frees Chancellor Palpatine]

Anakin Skywalker: I shouldn't have done that. It's not the Jedi way.

Supreme Chancellor: [stands up, rubbing his wrists] It is only natural. He cut off your arm, and you wanted revenge. It wasn't the first time, Anakin. Remember what you told me about your mother and the Sand People. [sound of sand people screaming in as if Anakin can still hear their death]

This scene tells that it is not the Jedi way to kill, they should be captured. Of course, with the exception of this scene when Anakin killed Dooku on the Supreme Chancellor's orders. But Anakin realize that it's not the Jedi way. So why did Mace Windu kill Jango Fett, considering that Mace Windu is a Jedi Master?

Answer 1

The Jedi have no qualms about killing people in combat. What's not "the Jedi way" is to kill someone who is no longer a threat. Dooku had been defeated and was no longer a threat when Anakin executed him. Fett was an active threat when Windu killed him, and the most effective way for Windu to remove that threat was to kill Fett. Although it would have been useful for Windu to capture and interrogate Fett, it would have been impossible for Windu to capture Fett because the Jedi were outnumbered by Separatist battle droids at the time. Windu had no other way to neutralize the threat posed by Fett.

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Mace Windu's attempt to execute the disarmed Darth Sidious in Episode III is an actual example of Windu failing to live out the "Jedi way" (and a commission of treason). But the Jedi routinely fail to live up to their own principles when times get tough. The Jedi don't support executing their opponents, right? Except when their opponent is a Sith Lord. The Jedi don't support slavery, right? Except when there's a convenient slave army to be used. And so on...

Answer 2

The film's official novelisation indicates that Mace considered Jango to be a formidable opponent. He struggled to kill him and even at the point of Jango's death, Mace was expecting to have to block additional attacks.

The man was good, Mace had to admit. Very good, and more than once the Jedi had to parry desperately to turn a bolt aside. He kept up his offensive flurry, though, keeping Jango on the defensive with sudden stabs and slashing cuts.

One misstep…

And then it happened, all of a sudden. Mace started to slash to the left, cut it short and stabbed straight out, then reversed his grip and sent the lightsaber slashing across, left to right. He spun a complete circuit, coming around to parry a blaster shot, but there was no shot forthcoming.

That left to right reversal had cleanly landed. Jango Fett’s head flew free of his shoulders and fell out of his helmet, to settle in the dirt.

_{^{Star Wars Episode II: Attack of the Clones - Official Novelisation}}

Given that he was fighting for his life, presumably capturing Jango would have to be a secondary consideration, not least because his main goal is to capture Dooku and the Separatists High Command rather than a mere bodyguard.

Answer 3

As we see in Revenge of the Sith, Windu is fine with killing people if they potentially pose a threat.

Mace Windu: He's too dangerous to be left alive!

As Fett was an active combatant, it's no surprise that Windu thought it best to subdue him. The fact that Fett was wearing Mandalorian armor, making him look like a member of a race well-known across the galaxy for their ability to kill, makes Windu's choice even more explainable.

This seems to be how the Jedi generally act, as shown by the deaths of Grievous, Maul and many others.

Answer 4

I believe it was mostly a heat of the moment thing, if he wasn't in a battlefield in which he would surely possibly die at any given moment, Mace probably would've taken time to think about what he was doing. All he really seemed focused on though was that he saw a Republic enemy, and moved towards him, he sliced the blaster, but most likely thought there would be another attack coming from Jango as a quick reflex, but there wasn't, which resulted in Jango's death, making it possibly unintentional.