Dooku

In regard to Dooku outright telling the truth to Obi-Wan about Darth Sidious controlling the Senate, it reminds me of the real world occult practitioners hiding things in plain sight, whether it be symbols being disguised as corporate logos, or news stories being published but buried in fluff pieces or relegated to the text crawl at the bottom of the screen. This kind of trick seems very much in line with the character of an elitist like Dooku. You could take it as Dooku rubbing the truth in the faces of the Jedi, or as a way of gaining the karmic permission from the Jedi to create the Evil Empire.

I'm currently listening to the Dooku audiobook so if I have anything to add here, I will.

He's one of my favorite characters too.

Unless I'm forgetting something, I feel his loyalty to Sidious in the cartoon is portrayed much like in the films. Even when ordered to kill Asajj Ventress.

The more recent novel Master And Apprentice focuses quite a bit on Qui-Gon's memories of his training with Dooku which is quite good.

I did not like his portrayal in The Dark Rendezvous novel, which had him conflicted over many things including his allegiance to Sidious and the Sith. I think a central point of his character is that he is not.

This also raises the question of how personally Dooku and Qui-Gon knew each other, particularly after Qui-Gon became a Knight and Master.
Obi-Wan never met him, which suggests that they did not talk often, but Dooku’s line in AOTC suggests that they spoke at least once after Obi-Wan became Qui-Gon’s Padawan.

Makes me wonder whether Dooku really knew whether Qui-Gon would have agreed with the Separatist cause or was using that as rhetoric.

I cannot speak for any Disney sources that shed light on the matter, but I saw different interpretations from prior EU works.

This surface level in-universe discussion is nice and relaxing, good for make-believe and escapism, and I'll add to that dimension when I'm done listening to the Jedi Lost audiobook, but what do you guys think Lucas was trying to tell us with this character? He obviously doesn't exist to look cool on the poster and sell action figures, like Darth Mall.

Something about rich folks vs. big government? But really just using fear and hate to divide the populace and gain political power?

One, definitely one.


And I was being facetious, hoping Stamp would catch it, equating Dooku with Trump.
When Trump won in 2016 everyone was making comparisons with Palpatine and the "...liberty dies" thing, but I think Dooku is more fitting.

Dooku's half truths mixed with truths is not him being like Vader in ROTJ. I fail to see the comparison. Vader's actions, were the ending of something, ending evil, by finding his compassion that he had buried deep down a long time ago. Vader did not mix half truths with truths, he acted on his compassion for the man that was his son.

Let us not lose sight on what Dooku was doing in AOTC, his actions in AOTC was not ending something, it was starting something.



"I have good news for you my Lord, the war has begun"

In AOTC Dooku's mission is to start a war. Once the war has started, he goes back to his Master and tells him of the good news. Dooku is heavily involved in the creating of the clone army, he is heavily involved in the creating of the Separatists army. He is involved in trying to assassinate a Senator of the Republic to try and form an alliance with the Trade Federation. He successfully starts a war that kills millions if not billions and ravages entire worlds.

Dooku's telling Obi Wan of Sidious is a means to an end, it's part of Sidious's overall plan to isolate the Jedi. It creates and breeds mistrust between the Jedi and the Senate. We see the seeds that Dooku planted start to blossom immediately. At the end of AOTC, we see the Obi Wan has told the Jedi Council on what Dooku said, and while they note that Dooku is now playing in the realm of the Dark Side, they agree that watching the Senate is a priority. So right away the seeds of suspicion are growing.

This is further shown in ROTS when those suspicions center on Palpatine, the leader of the Senate and the Republic.

So to me, Dooku's telling Obi Wan of Sidious is not Dooku still trying to do good, but, using the truth in order to isolate the Jedi from the Senate.

And lets not forget what Sidious says. "Everything is going as planned".

Dooku's actions in AOTC are not that of a conflicted man. He is doing his Masters bidding, he is starting a war, he is setting the seeds of mistrust between the Jedi and the Senate, and he is also trying to score points with Obi Wan to see if there is any chance Obi Wan would be turned and help Dooku kill Palpatine so that He (Dooku) can become the new Master.





How did it go over Obi Wan's head? Again, Dooku is not conflicted here, he is not trying to "destroy the Sith", because he is the Sith! Obi Wan's instincts tell him Dooku is not to be trusted, and Obi Wan is right. Dooku is trying to play everything off as if he did this all because of the Sith threat, Dooku was part of the Sith threat. A very important piece of information that he purposefully leaves out when talking to Obi Wan, this is lying by omission.

Furthermore, we see that the Jedi do start to "follow up". At the end of AOTC we see that they acknoeldge that the Senate must be watched. They do not just dismiss what DOoku says and forget about it. We in fact see that when ROTS comes along, that they have grown ever more suspicious of the Senate and Palpatine. No doubt, in part of what they learned in AOTC. The Jedi are not idiots. In the intervening years between AOTC and ROTS they surely investigated. However, just because there was am investigation does not mean they would have found any more truth to who Palpatine was.

Also, there are things that are simply not in the Jedi's control. For example the Clone Army. Using the Clone Army is not up to the Jedi. It is up to the Senate. The Jedi have no power and no vote to cast in the Senate. This is demonstrated in a very important scene in AOTC where Mace and Yoda have to watch the Senate debate in a doorway, they do not even have the luxury of a pod to sit in, because they have no place in the Senate.

It's these little intricate details that so many people miss in AOTC. It is why I love AOTC so much, there are these tiny details that so many people don't pick up on, but, are very important to the story of how the Jedi work.





Well, I do not blame the Jedi one bit for the Rise of Palpatine, nor the fall of Anakin. However, that is for another thread.

But yes, the people of the Republic do share some blame in the rise of Palpatine. However, there is something to also be said about what happens when a government becomes so large, so big, it no longer can be controlled by the people. This is what we see in TPM, that the Republic and it's central government, the Senate has become so bloated and so huge, that nothing gets done anymore.

Everyone worries about the single tyrant that tries to move in and take over. However, there is also a concept called the "Tyranny of the Majority". Something that can be just as brutal and crushing as a single Tyrant. In 'Tyranny of the Majority" scenarios, governments that rule purely on the basis of majority, over time, diminish the rights, voices and freedoms of those that do not share the majorities values and ideologies. (not to get too political, but this is why the United States Electoral College is such a brilliant and fundamental tool in combating one group from holding power forever).

So it can be assumed that even before Palpatine's rise to power, that the Republic, a government that was a thousands years old, was well into a system of "Tyranny of the Majority" where independent voices, like Naboo, are drowned out in the ocean of corruption and majority.





Well that's just it, he was an evil man, who started a war under the guise of a freedom fighter. He was not in the war to free the Republic, but, to enslave it under Sith control and tyranny.