Dooku, Politics, and My Totally Objective Attempt to Save the Prequels

I was watching Attack of the Clones recently, and I had a realization- Dooku is almost a really good villain. Like, in ROTS he's basically just a plot device for Anakin, but dude has depth in Clones. In fact, he might be one of the few characters that were actually portrayed better in the films than in The Clone Wars animated series.

What really cause me to realize this was the scene where Dooku chats with the bound Obi Wan. Dooku mentions Qui Gon, then looks aloof, saying that he wished Qui Gon was with him now. I can't believe I never realized that it's such a powerful scene. Dooku has betrayed the Order, and legitimately has grievances with the Republic. Further, he knew about the infiltration of the Sith, so much that he even warned Obi Wan about it (though exactly what he knows and what he intends gets kinda fuzzy there). He legitimately wanted to have Qui Gon at his side during this incredibly trying time in his life, when the Galaxy was literally primed to tear itself apart.

Another thing I noticed- we really get very little context as to why Count Dooku is holding this uprising. Is it because he knows of the sith infiltration? If so, why didn't he go directly to the Jedi, or some other group? And how did he get "thousands of star systems" to join him?

So, to fix these Issues, I thought of a few things that I personally think could have really helped the prequel trilogy.

1. Fix the timeline. Right now, we have:
EP1: Establishes "normal world". Self contained adventure
EP2: Starts Clone Wars
EP3: Ends Clone Wars

Really, we see very little of the Clone Wars- basically, we get the tail beginning and the tail end. That's kinda strange, since it seems like we should've gotten much more. "Normal World", by the way, is a term writers use to reference the condition of our characters' lives before the events of the plot start to unfold. Think Frodo in the Shire, or Luke wanting to simply pick up power converters.

Instead, it should look something like this:
EP1: Establish "normal world", begin intrigue for the Clone Wars, have the war started by end of film
EP2: Continue Clone Wars, use this time to also expand our characters and their relationships
EP3: End Clone Wars, evil Empire stuff, etc

This way, the entire trilogy feels more cohesive. We have time to learn about the Clone Wars, and what caused them. We don't have to spend an hour talking about trade negotiations. And who better to provide this more interesting political context than Dooku? Here's my brief synopsis of the events of the films:

Rough Episode Synopsis

EP1: Jedi Qui Gon Jin and Obi Wan are investigating a rumor about secession in an outer rim planet, having been dispatched by newly elected Supreme Chancellor Palpatine. They follow that lead, having some adventures and such- hopefully using this time to add and flesh out new characters- perhaps Padme, Anakin, etc. At some point, they run across Darth Maul. Obi Wan and Qui Gon duel him, but eventually we see fear in Maul's eyes and he runs away. Dooku emerges from nearby, hooded and very reminiscent of Ben Kenobi at the beginning of ANH. And Dooku has a blue sword, or anything but red, really. He's an exile, not a sith.

Qui Gon is surprised to see Dooku. He asks his old mentor what happened, and why he left the order. Dooku replies that he had evidence that the sith had infiltrated the Republic and was scared to go to anyone with that info, even the Jedi, for fear of how far the sith's influences were. Qui Gon and Obi Wan are skeptical, but open-minded. After all, they had just encountered Maul, who was believed to be a sith, and the sith were supposed to be dead.

We go to Dooku's headquarters, where we see that after he left the Jedi he had assumed the role of Count (of whatever planet really) to grant him influence. He's clearly amassing an army in the outer rim, and Qui Gon and Dooku get into an argument once Qui Gon realizes that this army is intended to invade the Republic. Basically, Dooku sees himself as Caesar crossing the Rubicon- he'll invade the Republic just enough to destroy the Sith and bring peace to the galaxy.

By the end of the film, Maul will attack again, and Qui Gon will die. Dooku, furious that his old apprentice has been killed by the sith, will begin mobilizing his invasion. He offers Obi Wan a position in his top advisers, but Obi Wan says that his loyalty is with the Republic and runs away with Anakin.

Meanwhile, Maul is seen speaking with a hooded figure. He tells the figure (obviously Palpatine) that he failed to gain control of the outer rim armies.

Palpatine laughs: "Ah, but we do control them. They are attacking the Republic, are they not? This war begun, and the galaxy will tear itself apart".
End film.

(Let's not have Clones. A conflict between droids and clones can be problematic because there's so literally personal stake in it. I think that was intended, but I think involving actual lives raises the stakes and makes the change worth it.

Anyway, let's not see Yoda in this film. In fact, the fewer scenes on Coruscant in the first film, the better. Our characters can constantly talk about how great Palpatine and Yoda are, but we don't need to actually see them. Let that anticipation build up.

EP2:

Honestly, this one isn't all that well flushed out, but I think a few important things need to happen-

- Anakin, now older, doesn't need to seem dark yet. In fact, make him happy. Make him a hero.

- Also, make Anakin meet Palpatine. Let their friendship blossom now.

- Don't make the love story depressing. Let Anakin and Padme seem like teenagers sneaking off. If it starts happy, it'll be all the more depressing later when it falls apart.


- Let's see the war! It's been presumably raging for a while now, at least 7 years if not more. We saw Dooku start his invasion at the end of the last film, but he's presumably been pretty had some successes and his armies have grown.

- Remember, the battles can include droids, but will mostly be fought with real people/aliens on both sides. Instead of obviously rooting for the Republic, we're kind of torn- this is basically like the Civil War, in that we have brother fighting brother. It's a tragic war.

- The Jedi aren't generals yet. We see them instead petitioning for peace. Meanwhile, we see Obi Wan and Anakin in secret communication with Dooku, trying to piece together the sith conspiracy.

- Eventually, Palpatine cruelly passes a law that recruits the Jedi to fight on the front lines, citing their combat ability as necessary in the war.

EP3:

- We see Obi Wan and Anakin fighting on the front lines. It's messy and bleak- think World War 1. Both try as hard as possible to defeat their enemies with non-lethal means.

- At some poine, Anakin is captured. His captors are cruel and cut his arm off during interrogation. In a rage, he retrieves his lightsaber and slaughters the enemy camp.

- Later in the film, Dooku has pushed his way to Coruscant. He approaches Palpatines quarters, when Anakin and Obi Wan step in his way. Dooku reveals that he now has evidence that Palpatine is the sith lord, and must be executed. Anakin and Obi Wan say they can't let Dooku do that, and that Palpatine should be questioned. A fight ensues, and Dooku is dead by the end of it.

- In a rage at having to kill Dooku (who Anakin would've had a strong relationship also, despite me not necessarily convaying that well here, while Obi Wan doesn't really care for Dooku) Anakin approaches Palpatine and demands answers, while Obi Wan joins the soldiers to try to hold off the seperatist assault on Palpatine's palace. Palpatine reveals that he is a sith lord, and the two duel. Similar to in ESB, Palpatine bests Anakin and as Anakin hangs over a precipiece outside Palpatine's palace over the battle raging underneath, Palpatine describes a scenario in which he and Anakin rule side by side "almost like father and son". Then he adds that when he has died, Anakin and his own son would become the new galactic monarchs. "You realize you do have a son coming, don't you?"

-With that, Anakin gives in to Palpatine, becomes Vader, accidentally kills Padme in his rage, fights Obi Wan, yaddayaddayadda.



Anyway, thanks for sticking through these ramblings. I'm sure these ideas need to be fleshed out more, but I really like the idea of making Dooku more of an anti-hero than a villain, and I think he could've brought a much more intriguing face of politics to the films than what we got.