How Christopher Lloyd’s character in The Mandalorian expands Count Dooku’s legacy

Warning: This article contains spoilers from The Mandalorian season 3, episode 6 “Guns for Hire” and The Bad Batch season 2, episode 3 “The Solitary Clone.” 

In the post-Return of the Jedi time period of The Mandalorian, Count Dooku has been dead for decades. Nevertheless, Dooku and his actions continues to impact the galaxy and its people.

Dooku gets a surprising mention in “Chapter 22: Guns for Hire” from Christopher Lloyd’s character Commissioner Helgait, the longtime Head of Security on the planet Plazir-15. Bo-Katan Kryze and Din Djarin realize that Helgait is the one behind the recent droid incidents and confront him.

Helgait’s remarks about never giving up to the corrupt Republic or to the Empire make Bo-Katan realize that he is a Separatist. He doesn’t like that specific term and insists that he just supports democracy, which leads to Helgait referring to Count Dooku as a “visionary” who “was cut short in his prime.”

Dooku’s legacy has been touched on in a number of Star Wars television series lately. His Tales of the Jedi episodes made his fall to the dark side clearer and more tragic. The Bad Batch season 2 premiere made his legacy even more tragic by showing how the people of Dooku’s homeworld Serenno suffered because of his actions.

“The Solitary Clone” episode made Dooku’s legacy even worse by showing what happened to Governor Tawni Ames and her planet Desix at the hands of the Empire. Tawni Ames and Mina Bonteri were Separatists who wanted peace and democracy and put their faith in Dooku, yet he betrayed their trust and sabotaged their chance at forging peace with the Republic, all so he and Darth Sidious could further their own agenda. By the end of “The Solitary Clone,” Tawni Ames is dead just like Dooku, and Desix, like other Separatist worlds, has fallen to the Empire.

The Mandalorian does show that even decades after Dooku’s death and the Separatists’ defeat, there are still people throughout the galaxy who continue to see Dooku as a heroic leader, and who think that with more time, Dooku could’ve changed the galaxy for the better.

Despite this more positive outlook on Dooku, Commission Helgait’s story in The Mandalorian ultimately adds another layer of tragedy to Dooku’s legacy. In the name of democracy and contempt for the ex-Imperial Captain Bombardier (Jack Black), Helgait throws away many years of trust and loyal service to the Duchess of Plazir-15 (Lizzo). He tries to be like his hero Count Dooku, but ends as a traitor who must now go into exile. Helgait ends up like Dooku, but not in the way he wanted, with both of them being corrupted and betraying the trust of those counting on them.

The exploration of Dooku’s legacy and of Separatists after the Clone Wars in The Bad Batch and in The Mandalorian is fascinating. The Separatists lost the Clone Wars, and Dooku and the Separatist leadership were killed by Anakin Skywalker in Revenge of the Sith, but there are still many Separatists out there. Given how influential Dooku was and how many Separatists there were, it is only fitting that these stories be told and continue to be told.

Andor season 2 might be a good place to continue the tale of post-Clone Wars Separatists, especially considering that Andor season 1 didn’t explore Cassian’s Separatist ties, and some Separatists are part of the Rebel Alliance.

As for The Mandalorian, having Helgait be a Separatist was an excellent choice that makes his motivations and actions in this episode more believable and understandable. It it also another example of how The Mandalorian continues to connect the prequel, original, and sequel trilogy eras together.