What if Count Dooku hadn’t left the Jedi Order?
He was one of the most respected members of the Jedi Order. He trained Qui-Gon Jinn, who in turn taught Obi-Wan. Taking up the mantle of Darth Tyranus, he transitioned over to the Sith. But what if Count Dooku had remained loyal to the Order?
Even in his old age, Count Dooku was chosen as the next apprentice of Darth Sidious, succeeding Darth Maul as the Sith Lord’s right hand man. What does that tell you about his raw power?
But before his fall to the Dark Side, Dooku was a valued member of the Jedi Order, having been trained by Yoda himself. As we’ve seen in Attack of the Clones and The Clone Wars, he was more than capable of handling the best of the best.
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In the prequels, he is portrayed as a cunning Sith Lord, a guy who can take on anybody in a duel but will quickly bail if he senses defeat. He’s arguably the most powerful apprentice Sidious had until Darth Vader. When we first see him in AOTC, George Lucas plays Dooku off as a former Jedi who became disillusioned with the Order and the Council, so he defected to the Sith and became the leader of the CIS (Confederacy of Independent Systems).
The Clone Wars gave us a little more backstory on Dooku’s activities between AOTC and ROTS, showing Asajj Ventress as his own apprentice and Savage Opress for a brief time. You often hear fans ask “What would’ve happened if Anakin didn’t turn to the Dark Side?” I find myself asking “What if Dooku hadn’t turned?”
You might not realize it, but so many things about the franchise we love would be drastically different if he had remained with the Jedi Order.
Let’s see what would’ve changed.
No apprentice for Darth Sidious
Shortly after Darth Maul’s apparent demise in The Phantom Menace, Sidious searched for a new apprentice while also scheming to take over the Galactic Senate. At the same time, Dooku had left the Jedi Order after becoming frustrated with the Senate’s corruption and the Order’s decisions, but it was Qui-Gon’s death that sold Dooku on leaving the Jedi.
The death of his former apprentice took a toll on the aging Dooku, who had since relocated to his home planet of Serenno. Somewhere along the line, Sidious contacted Dooku and convinced him to turn to the Dark Side. Dooku, wanting more power, took up the mantle of Darth Tyranus.
If he had stayed exiled on Serenno or stayed with the Order, Sidious would’ve been without an apprentice. Knowing the Dark Lord, he probably would have tried to find a place holder as Anakin was still too young to approach. Going solo, the difficulty that Sidious would have faced trying to orchestrate the Clone Wars would’ve skyrocketed without a puppet like Dooku.
The Clone Wars may not have happened
Photo Credit: Lucasfilm
Without Dooku, who was the leader of the CIS, Sidious’s plan to divide the galaxy into two factions may not have come to fruition. The Sith Lord needed somebody like Dooku to be the face of the Separatists so that he could focus on carrying out his plan to control the Senate.
The Clone Wars kicked off with the Battle of Geonosis, which wouldn’t have occurred if Dooku hadn’t kidnapped Obi-Wan. I still keep going back to the possibility of Sidious finding another apprentice if he hadn’t turned, but I don’t know if that person could have been as convincing to the other Separatist leaders as Dooku was.
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Anakin might have been granted the rank of Master
Imagine Dooku sitting on the Jedi Council along with Yoda, Mace Windu, Obi-Wan, Ki-Adi-Mundi, and others. As we saw in AOTC and ROTS, he was impressed with Anakin’s abilities. With Dooku sitting on the Council, he might have pushed for Anakin to be given the title of Master. In turn, there would be no Darth Vader, no Galactic Empire, and no dead younglings. Sidious wouldn’t have gotten away with Windu’s murder and he probably would’ve been detained by Anakin and the other masters.