‘Tales of the Jedi’ is making ‘Star Wars’ fans reassess Count Dooku’s real intentions

Over the years, Count Dooku has become a much more nuanced character in the Star Wars canon for his appearance in The Clone Wars animated shows and other spinoff media, but perhaps none of them have redeemed his actions in the fandom’s eyes as much as Tales of the Jedi, which essentially breaks down the character’s fall to the dark side in a sympathetic way.

In the latest animated show featuring six short stories and taking us back in time through the prequel era, Count Dooku slowly becomes disillusioned with the propagated idea that the Jedi are truly keeping peace and justice in the galaxy far, far away. With the council not heeding his warnings, Dooku seeks out Darth Sidious in hope of change, but the last straw is when they get Qui-Gon murdered.

Dooku completes his transformation to the Dark Side by killing Master Yaddle, thus giving birth to Darth Tyranus. But fans now have reason to believe that Dooku’s alliance with Palpatine was always a reluctant one, and he would’ve betrayed his new master if Obi-Wan Kenobi had been more willing to hear him out.

Indeed, Dooku was always using Sidious as a means to an end, and that end was true peace and justice for the galaxy. He probably wanted Qui-Gon to join him, and when he died, Dooku shifted his attention to Qui-Gon’s Padawan, Obi-Wan.

Imagine if Dooku outed Palpatine when Anakin and Obi-Wan came to rescue him in the beginning moments of Episode III. The three of them together could have probably killed Palpatine there and then. But alas, the good Count decided to ride out his betrayal to the end.