Palpatine successfully overthrew the Republic in the Palpatine, secretly the Sith Lord Darth Sidious, was a brilliant and Machiavellian tactician who pitted portions of the galaxy against each other, pulling the strings of both sides as he gradually subjugated worlds under Sith rule. Essential to his prequel-era machinations was Count Dooku, once a Jedi Master who fell to the dark side and became the Sith Lord Darth Tyranus. Just as Dooku’s schemes were key to Palpatine’s plans, so too was Dooku’s death.
As a Sith Lord, Count Dooku was often the public face of Palpatine’s Sith schemes. As a political idealist, Dooku founded the Separatist Alliance, a faction that enticed scores of planets with the promise of less corporate influence than the notoriously corrupt Republic and far better representation for individual planets. Behind the scenes, the Separatist Alliance was run by not only the Sith but also a council of the galaxy’s most unethical megacorporations, making the Separatists far more corrupt than the Republic.
Ultimately, Dooku and the Separatist Alliance were meant to be the ideal opponent for the Republic, a perfectly reprehensible enemy with an overwhelming army of ruthless droids and gruesome villains like General Grievous for the valiant Jedi and Clone Troopers to fight. Dooku played his role perfectly, splitting the galaxy in two and creating the perfect crisis for Palpatine to erode the Republic’s democracy until it functionally became the Empire. As revealed in Star Wars: The Secrets of the Sith, Dooku’s death was always planned. During the Battle of Coruscant, Anakin Skywalker dueled Dooku after numerous encounters during the Clone Wars, dismembering the Sith Lord and executing him in cold blood on Palpatine’s orders. Dooku’s death not only cleared the way for Anakin to take his place as the Sith Lord Darth Vader but also for Palpatine to end his phony war.
Dooku became a reoccurring rival to Anakin throughout their various clashes, with Anakin never quite getting over Dooku cutting off his arm during the Battle of Geonosis. Anakin grew stronger each time he fought Dooku, nearly killing him on Naboo, as shown in Palpatine’s manipulations pushed Anakin further towards his eventual fall to the dark side, and the role of Sith apprentice that Dooku’s death left vacant.
Dooku’s death also served a broader purpose to Palpatine. Most of the galaxy saw Dooku as a political leader, and even his critics ired his charisma. With Dooku gone, any semblance of sympathy for the Separatists was gone, with the ghoulish General Grievous, a brute with a reputation for killing Jedi Knights, serving as the head of the Separatist Alliance. Dooku’s death also likely provided the people of the Republic with a morale boost. Not only did the Separatist plot to kidnap Palpatine fail, but they lost their founder and leader in the process.
Dooku needed to die so that Palpatine could move his plans along. By having Anakin be the one to kill Dooku, Palpatine set up Skywalker’s fall and the end of the Clone Wars in one fell swoop. Everything went according to plan, with Order 66, the deaths of the Separatist leaders, and the rise of the Galactic Empire soon following. For all of his aspirations, intelligence, and leadership skills, as shown in the Star Wars prequels, Count Dooku was ultimately just another pawn of Palpatine and his master plans.
