A new Star Wars the details finally make sense of Count Dooku’s character arc, explaining all the many inconsistencies and oddities. There has always been something so compelling about the tragedy of Count Dooku, the fallen Jedi who became a Sith and ended up betrayed by Palpatine. Part of Dooku’s attraction, without a doubt, lies in the incredible performance of Christopher Lee, who was truly cast to perfection. Unfortunately, as fun as the character Dooku is, I always had a lot of questions about his arc.
The problems start in Star Wars: Episode II – Attack of the Cloneswhen Dooku tries to persuade Obi-Wan Kenobi to join him. This always seemed strange, especially since Dooku went so far as to tell Obi-Wan that the Senate was controlled by a Sith Lord – risking exposing Palpatine if they believed him. Modern Star Wars I can’t decide whether or not Dooku knew about Order 66 (let alone whether he approved of it), which suggests I’m not the only one who finds Dooku complicated. But a new Star Wars the details finally make sense of his arc and even explain all these inconsistencies.
Count Dooku was obsessed with the past… and always open to the dark side
Your lightsaber is a big clue
You may have noticed that Count Dooku has a rather unusual type of lightsaber – a blade with a curved hilt. It sounds cool, but it’s also important; It’s because he was trained in the lightsaber form called Makashi, one of the oldest forms, focused on lightsaber duels. Makashi was out of fashion at the time of the prequels, but I tended to take Dooku’s interest in Makashi as an indicator of his competitive nature. A new detail in Star Wars: The High Republic – The Lightsaber Collection suggests there was another reason; apparently the curved hilt itself was an old and neglected design.
This new detail ties in well with Cavan Scott’s fantastic audiobook Dooku: Lost Jediwhich serves as the Count’s origin story, but is cut short before his fall to the dark side. One scene shows Dooku meditating using what is apparently an ancient Jedi mantra, suggesting that the ancient Jedi considered balance an aspect of the Force – and were open to light, dark, and balance as well.
“We call upon all three – light, dark and true balance. One is not greater than the others. Together they unite, restore, center and renew. We step into the light, acknowledge the darkness and find balance within ourselves. The Force is strong.”
Putting all these pieces together, I’m wondering if Dooku was driven by nostalgia in the first place – a belief that the Jedi were lost long ago. There is abundant evidence that this was true, because the Jedi became closely linked to the Republic and its internal politics. But has Dooku looked even further back, to a time when the Jedi used both the light and dark sides of the Force? This would explain its focus on an older lightsaber form that emphasizes dominance, its old-fashioned hilt, and even why the respected Jedi Master opened up to the dark side.
Did Dooku think he was destroying the Jedi… or reforming them?
Did Dooku even believe he had stopped being a Jedi?
This idea raises another intriguing possibility: Did Dooku believe that the Clone Wars would destroy the Jedi, or did he prefer to think that they would be refined in the fires of war? In fact, there is some considerable evidence that Dooku believed he would reform the Jedi, not destroy them. In the end, he considered Qui-Gon and Yaddle’s deaths a waste in Star Wars: Tales of the Jediwhich would be quite strange if he thought he just set up Order 66 at that point in the timeline.
Dooku actually had three acolytes at the time of Attack of the Clones – at least as far as Legends is concerned. Certainly Darth Tyranus seems to have already recruited Asajj Ventress by then, and he doesn’t seem to have thought about doing so to cause an imbalance in the Rule of Two. Ventress called herself Sith in Genndy Tartakovsky’s Legends Clone Wars microseries, but Dooku insisted that it was actually something else; he never called her a Sith in canon. Is it possible this is because he saw Asajj as the beginning of a reformed Jedi Order rather than a Sith?
This finally makes sense of Obi-Wan Kenobi’s temptation of Dooku in attacking the clones
The strangest dialogue finally makes sense
This has the virtue of finally explaining why Dooku told Obi-Wan Kenobi so much during Attack of the Clones. Dooku makes a surprising plea to persuade Obi-Wan to join him, and goes so far as to tell his prisoner that the Republic and Senate are under the control of a Dark Lord of the Sith. “Hundreds of senators are now under the influence of a Sith Lord named Darth Sidious,” he reveals. Dooku is risking everything if his words are believed, so it never made sense to me.
Now, though, I’m left considering the possibility that Dooku actually expected Obi-Wan to side with him against the Sith – and, in fact, that Obi-Wan would be just the first Jedi to do so. If I’m right, Dooku wanted to pit the Jedi and the Sith against each other, destroying Palpatine and providing himself the perfect opportunity to reform the Jedi. It’s an explanation that suits the scenes themselves surprisingly well.
Was Asajj Ventress’ death the moment Dooku finally committed to the Sith?
It’s a more important moment for Dooku than I thought
If I’m right, the sad truth is that Dooku’s dreams of reforming the Jedi were shattered. Obi-Wan rejected his proposals and there was no Jedi schism; instead, Dooku simply stayed with Ventress, the only one willing to train with him. It is now that Palpatine reaches Dooku in the Star Wars: The Clone Wars episode “Nightsisters”, warning him against training that Sidious considers a “Sith Apprentice.” He orders Dooku to prove his loyalty to the Sith by killing Ventress – giving up his dreams of Jedi reformation. Dooku does so, committing himself fully to the Sith.
I’ve always considered this a turning point for Ventress, but this new perspective suggests it was a turning point for Dooku as well. This was the moment he gave up on the Jedi completely, forever consumed by the dark side. Then, in the “Slaves of the Republic” arc of season 4, Dooku tells the Zygerrian Queen that he wants to destroy the Jedi. He is fully committed to Order 66 for The Clone Wars Season 6, when he helps Palpatine cover up a failed inhibitor chip before it exposes Sith plans. The apparent inconsistencies in Dooku’s story are resolved, turned into a character arc.
I’m not sure if all of these details were intentional on Lucasfilm’s part. I know this interpretation works incredibly well, giving Dooku his own consistent story that’s ripe for deeper exploration. Better yet, there’s something quite symbolic about nostalgia as a Sith’s driving motivation – coming at a time when Star Wars embraced nostalgia a little too much. It’s a beautifully ironic interpretation, which adds a lot of depth to Count Dooku’s lore.