Mace Windu killed three Sith acolytes in an invisible battle of the clones attack

Jedi Master Mace Windu killed three Sith Acolytes off-screen in Star Wars: Episode II – Attack of the Cloneswhich may have had a major impact on Count Dooku’s escape from Geonosis. After a millennium of undermining the Jedi Order and Galactic Republic in secret, the Sith Lords revealed their survival to the Jedi Order when Darth Maul briefly dueled Qui-Gon Jinn on Tatooine. In the decade following the Invasion of Naboo, Count Dooku (Darth Tyranus) succeeded Darth Maul and worked with his master, Palpatine (Darth Sidious), to execute the grand Sith plan, recruiting several unofficial Sith in the process.

According to Darth Bane’s Rule of Two, there can only be two Dark Lords of the Sith at a time. Unsurprisingly, some Sith have violated or broken this rule, with Palpatine and Darth Plagueis training Darth Maul and granting him official Sith lordship, despite Maul only functionally being a Sith assassin. During the Separatist Crisis and the Clone Wars, Palpatine and Count Dooku trained many Force-sensitives to use the dark side, making them Sith in all but name. These Sith Acolytes were extremely dangerous, serving as elite CIS agents, but they were ultimately expendable.

Dooku secretly had three Sith acolytes attack the clones

Count Dooku had many Dark Acolytes during the Clone Wars. Some of Dooku’s pawns were former Jedi who defected to the Sith and the CIS out of frustration with the Republic and the Jedi Order (like Dooku himself) and others simply fell to the dark side and were attracted to Sith philosophy and culture. Others were non-Force-sensitive Jedi who were simply recruited and trained by Dooku. Asajj Ventress is easily the most iconic of the Dark Separatist Acolytes, with Ventress having been raised by a Jedi on her homeworld of Rattatak before Count Dooku sought her out and recruited her.

The first known Dark Acolytes saw action during the Battle of Geonosis, with Sev’rance Tann leading CIS forces to create an escape route for his Sith master. Three anonymous Dark Acolytes also fought in the battlesimilarly ensuring Count Dooku’s escape. Each of the three operated Sith Enforcers – powerful Separatist tanks designed exclusively for the Sith – while guarding Dooku’s hangar. Like Sev’rance Tann, the trio of Dark Acolytes were invaluable to Count Dooku’s successful escape from Republic forces on Geonosis, and thus to the spread of the Clone Wars themselves.

Mace Windu’s battle with the Sith acolytes explained

The Dark Acolyte Trio only has a single appearance node Star Wars Continuity of Legends: The 2002 Video Game Star Wars: The Clone Warswhich allows players to experience the Battle of Geonosis and the Dark Reaper Crisis. The game reveals Mace Windu’s off-screen role in the Battle of Geonosis, with Windu commanding the crew of a Republic Gunship and piloting a TX-130 Saber-class combat tank, assisting the Clone Army in destroying the Techno Union Hardcell transports and the flagships of the Trade Federation. At the end of the battle, however, Windu takes his tank to Dooku’s hangar to capture the Sith Lord.

The Dark Acolyte Trio stops Mace Windu from confronting Count Dooku and a battle ensues. Mace Windu kills all three Sith Acolytes, but the battle slows him down to intervene in Dooku’s duels with Obi-Wan, Anakin and Yoda. Mace Windu’s battle with the three Acolytes is particularly notable for being one of the few battles between Jedi and Sith that is not a lightsaber duel, with both parties exclusively using their respective hover tanks.

Dooku lost his acolytes… but was saved from defeat

Mace Windu’s battle with the Dark Acolyte Trio is not only notable for its vehicular nature, but also for avoiding a drastically different ending for Attack of the Clones. The Sith Acolytes – despite being killed by Mace Windu – did exactly what the Sith Lord needed, delaying Windu from reaching the hangar.. If the Dark Acolyte Trio had not been guarding the hangar to stop Windu, he would have joined his fellow Jedi in the battle against Dooku.

Count Dooku is one of the best duelists and dark side practitioners of Darth Bane’s Sith dynasty, but even he would likely fall under the combined power of Yoda and Mace Windu. If not for the Sith Acolytes, Dooku would have been captured and thus the Separatists would immediately lose their most charismatic political leader, as well as one of their most important figures for the growth of the CIS. In this alternative ending to Star Wars: Episode II – Attack of the ClonesPalpatine would almost certainly be forced to free Dooku to ensure the galaxy was devastated by the Clone Wars.