Saga A what if PT with a different idea for Dooku

A what if alternative idea post..

It always intrigued me that Dooku was once a Jedi but left the order and turned to the darkside, it makes me wonder though what if he left but didn't turn to the darkside. What would the PT look like with that idea within it, so here's my idea for a what if PT. (I'll try to keep this as brief as possible)

Episode 1

The civil war that would become know as the clone wars has already been raging for 5 years, but mostly taking place in the mid rim of the galaxy. The episode starts with a battle from the conflict to show there's unrest in the Republic, the battle is in space with a Republic army against the separatist army lead by one of its leaders the highly respected Count Dooku (who was once a Jedi)

Away from the war Kenobi is sent to Tatooine by the Jedi to seek out a being that's been sensed to be there and who is strong in the force, they believe this is someone who is first discovering their force abilities, the Jedi wish to recruit the being into their order. Kenobi using the force like a beacon tracks the being down and finds its a 15 year old boy called Anakin, who is about to take part in his second pod race, watching the race unfold in the stands filled with spectators Kenobi realise that the boy is unconsciously calling upon the force to guide him through the deadly terrain of the race track.

Also in the stands is a figure in black, Darth Maul, who has also tracked down the boy. From a distance Kenobi and Maul lock eyes on each other, both recognising the other as the enemy they calmly leave the stands knowing exactly what's about to happen. As the noise of pods charging their way around the circuit fills the air the Sith and Jedi lock lightsabers outside the arena, as if the dark and the light are fighting for the future of young Anakin's soul.

Maul is injured so flees, knowing his chance to claim the boy and raise him in the Sith ways is lost, the Jedi will take him, if the boy turns to the darkside it will now be through his choices and he will come to them.

The race is over and as Anakin is celebrating, Kenobi introduce himself to him.

Anakin lives with his Mother and older Brother on a farm, the harsh and often dangerous life on Tatooine had claimed the fathers life when Anakin was much younger. Anakin wasn't happy with the way of life his family lived, he was bored by farming which was one of the reasons why he took up pod racing, to get some excitement, his mother didn't know of this but his brother did and tried to talk him out of it, to no success. Anakin also saw pod racing as a chance to make money and propel himself and his family off the backwater rock, but that would take some time as the owner of the pod he used to race took the biggest percentage of his winnings.

Kenobi and Anakin instantly hit it off and Anakin invited him back to the farm for shelter from the incoming sand storm, there with the skywalker family Kenobi revealed he was a Jedi and told them that Anakin had the power to be one too. He told them that if they so chose the family could be relocated to one of the worlds where the Jedi have settlements and Anakin can be trained, The Mother and Brother took against this however, Tatooine may not be perfect but it was their home and they didn't want to live in the Republic where a civil war was being had and growing worse, Anakin wasn't happy with this and insisted he wanted to become a Jedi, but at the same time felt bad about leaving them suddenly when they required his help for the farm to function, so as a compromise Kenobi offered to stay on Tatooine to train the boy. They accepted.

3 years later and the war was beginning to spread into the Core of the galaxy, the Republic wanted every Jedi to be helping the fight against the separatist's, therefor Kenobi was called into action. Anakin now been fascinated by his new abilities (and had learned so fast) wishes to continue and fully be part of the Jedi order, he wanted to go along with Kenobi and fight in the war. His Mother and Brother were against this, but Anakin's patience with staying on Tatooine was over, Kenobi was able to buy a droid to help out on the farm to replace what Anakin did there. Kenobi and Anakin leave to take part in the war.

Through the eyes of Anakin we get introduced to the war properly and understand what's happening in the galaxy. Kenobi is assigned to Naboo a planet the Republic thinks is one of the many planets that could be in danger of being attacked or its Royalty being assassinated/captured, he takes Anakin with him who soon hits it off with the 17 year old queen, she's queen because her parents were killed early in the war when the separatist destroyed a ship they were on.

Naboo gets attacked and the invasion is led by Count Dooku who see's capturing the planet as strategically important in their fight against the Republic. Battle commences and the two Jedi are hiding and trying their best to keep the queen safe from the overwhelming army that's now ascended onto the planet. But Count Dooku tracks them down.

Kenobi and Anakin ignite their lightsabers Dooku does not, he tells them he wishes them no harm he just wants for them and the queen to be taken prisoner where they will be well looked after. Kenobi accuses Dooku of going to the darkside and asks why is he is doing what he's doing, Dooku denies this and states that the Republic is heading down a path that's dangerous for the people of the galaxy, he says he senses that the Sith are pulling the strings of the Republic and that it must be counteracted by the separatist movement. Kenobi dismisses this and says that the Jedi sense the opposite in that its the sepratists movement that's being supported by the Sith.

As a battle goes on around them time is running out, Dooku needs the queen in order to take control of the planet and not waste his armies resources unnecessarily, he approaches the Jedi and they enter into a lightsaber duel. Anakin gets his arm chopped off but Kenobi manages to eventually repel Dooku, a ship arrives and picks up the queen Kenobi and the injured Anakin, a daring escape happens and they break free from the planet. Dooku is left to take control of the planet the hard way.

The Jedi are greatly concerned with what's happening in the galaxy, their ability to see clearly is being clouded by the despair the confusion the fear the hate the fighting and the death of the people of the galaxy. All they pick up on is pain/fear as it the overwhelming emotion of the galaxy.

Anakin is fully accepted into the Jedi order.

Padme will stay on Coruscant and help in the senate, hoping to one day free her world now occupied by the separatists. Anakin (with his metal arm) is quietly pleased that he will be seeing more of Padme. It end with them together looking out across the Coruscant skyline.

Ok sorry that wasn't brief at all.. I will do ep 2 and ep 3 in following posts, where we find out what maul is getting up to in the war, and how the Jedi are being fooled by the sith and how Dooku is actually and tragically tragically right, but its realised all to late.

 

Dooku was so wasted in the films. We need more content that deals with his interactions with Ventress, Grevious, and Palpatine.

Some form of family would be nice too. He had a family that was hunted by the Empire after ROTS in the EU, but thats no longer canon, so Disney, please give us more Dooku...

 

Episode 2

Set 10 years after Episode 1, the war has been raging on, We open with Kenobi and Anakin on a important mission, its clear that they are great friends and have become a well oiled team that works excellently together. They save the day of the planet that they are on. Chancellor Palpatine congratulates them for their service to the Republic on their return to Coruscant. Here we see/learn that Palpatine and Anakin also have a friendship as Anakin has been assigned as personnel protection for the Chancellor on many occasions, hand picked by the Chancellor himself.

Anakin is now 28 years old. He is in a relationship with Padme though its kept secret because Royals of Naboo must marry into another noble family of the planet. (Jedi do love and have families in this version) They are both living on Coruscant. Naboo is still occupied by the Seperatists, Padme feels duty to her planet and hopes that one day that she will return after the war, and that she must live up to the traditions especially in a time of distress where her people will be looking for comfort. This puts a strain on their time together as Anakin wants Padme to commit to him, it frustrates him that she's ultimately going to put her perceived duty and demands of her people over him.

Jedi are dying in the war but something else is also killing Jedi, directly and not to do with being a casualty in a battle. The Council have realised that Jedi are being hunted down by the Sith warrior that Kenobi faced ten years ago on Tatooine, Darth Maul. The Jedi presume he's in league with Dooku and helped by the Seperatist, however this is wrong, he is working alone, he has no objective to help the seperatists no does he try, Maul is just seeking out the Jedi spread out through the galaxy and assassinating them. The war is weakening and distracting the Jedi, it makes it easier for the Sith warrior to take them out. Kenobi is tasked to follow up on some leads to potentially track down the dark assassin.

Anakin and Padme visits his mother and brother (who now has a wife) back on Tatooine. His mother expresses disappointment that she rarely gets to see him, he only visits a few times each year, he tells his mother that the War and Jedi duties are taking up his time. She worries about him all the time but expresses her happiness that he's found someone, she's unaware that Padme is a Queen. Anakin see's/senses that his brother and his wife are very happy, we see that he's jealous and indeed a little envious of this, their life is simple and uncomplicated, while he doesn't get to spend as much time with Padme as he would like, and that their relationship and his life outside it are full of complications uncertainty and hardship. The war is, like with all Jedi, soldiers and people of the core and mid rim, taking its toll.

Kenobi plays detective, and believes the lead he has is sound, he feels he's closing in on Maul.

Back on Coruscant and Anakin is once more tasked to be with the chancellor as extra protection as the Chancellor goes off world for an important ceremony, here we see Palpatine's subtle manipulation of Anakin, feeding him ideas, skewed feelings/thoughts, while stroking his ego making Anakin feel important. The ceremony goes wrong and there's an assassination attempt on the Chancellor, Dooku is there himself to help carry out the assassination what with his ability to use the force given the plot an extra edge, it relies on Dooku's force ability to be executed correctly, however Anakin stops it and saves Palpatine. He fights Dooku briefly but Dooku is no fool he senses the power that Anakin now possesses and flees, he knows he's no match and this once in a blue moon opportunity to get the chancellor and give the Republic a set back is gone. Dooku at this stage does not know that Palpatine is a Sith Lord rather just believes he is a supporter. This encounter strengthens the bond between Anakin and Palpatine, and Anakin's wish to get Dooku. (something that will play into ep 3)

Kenobi deals with some people in the underworld and gets the information he needs, Maul frequents a arena on the planet Geonsis in the outer rim, the arena host barbaric gladiator fights. Kenobi calls on Anakin and any spare Jedi that the Council can give (who are not currently busy with the war) to go to the said planet to capture Maul. 11 other Jedi are able to turn up. We see the Jedi blend into to the population and they attend the next scheduled arena match. The Jedi are expecting to find Maul watching the games but to their surprise find out that Maul himself is one of the fighters going up against the beasts and other fighters. Anakin wants them all to cease the arena and get him now and be done with it but Kenobi tells him they must be patient they will get him after the game, there's thousands in this arena and they may not be friendly to them hijacking their games.

The crowd is rowdy and emotions of bloodlust seeps off everyone and the fighters, Maul savagely cuts down the competitors, this whelm of bloodlust emotion was unfortunate for the Jedi as it masked to their senses what was about to happen. Kenobi's communicator beeps signalling that one of the Jedi's communication is down, then another, then another he looks across the crowd to see where he knows a fellow Jedi stands and he for himself witnesses the horror taking place, the Jedi is cut down. Over a speaker the announcer of the games asks for Kenobi to step out of the stand and onto the arena floor, Maul was expecting him. Armed guards surrounded Kenobi and Anakin,were led down to the floor. Maul stood the opposite side of the grounds, bodies littered the ground. All the other Jedi were killed. Maul wished to fight Kenobi again, as he had once lost to him as they fought for the man now standing next to Kenobi, Maul wanted to prove he was the best fighter by battling both of the Jedi, the finest two fighters of the Jedi order, to death. Epic fight, its clear Anakin is the strongest but its Kenobi that delivers the fatal blow. Mauls overconfidence was his downfall. The arena erupts with applause a good sport has been had, Kenobi is disgusted but a wry smile appears on Anakins face.

Back to a tropical land where part of the Jedi order live they hold a funeral for the slayed Jedi led by Yoda. Kenobi is in despair with how things are turning out and feels guilty, we see the toll of everything effecting him and the other Jedi.

Then to Coruscant we get some more scenes with Anakin and Palpatine, and with Padme. The couple get in a fight showing us Anakin's frustration and a glimpse into his buried anger issues, as this is happening he gets a message delivered from Owen, which is odd as he rarely gets contacted by his family, the message states that his mother is missing. He says his goodbye to Padme and goes to Tatooine there he learns from Owen that their Mother was captured by the Sand people, Anakin is furious he shouts at Owen as to how he could let this happen and what's he done to find her, Owen response is he's done everything he could since it happened but their best bet is with Anakin. Anakin storms off and tracks down his mother, they share once last moment together and she dies in his arms. Anakin goes buzerk and slaughters the tribe of Sand people, we see this fully rather than a quick scene. Anger and Hate are flowing and feeding his actions. The last Sand person is sliced down we see Anakin standing in the middle of a masse of dead bodies, the imperial march plays for the first time and then cut to credits.

(ep 3 in my next post, some titbits of it, palpatine manipulated the jedi to feeling one thing but Dooku to know another, which was the truth, but Dooku not realising his actions were what Palps wanted. Palps knew Dooku couldn't win. The end of ep 2 is Anakin's first taste of darkside, something that he then can't shake, the war does nothing but encourage him to tap into that mode)

 

You've clearly put a lot of thought into this version of the prequels. This seems like far more than simply what if Dooku were different--more of a complete re-write on the prequel trilogy. If you haven't seen it, you might be interested in similar threads:
http://boards.theforce.net/threads/rewriting-the-prequels.50008707/

 

This sounds more like a re-write than a different idea for Dooku's character.

 

I definitely like some parts of this rework you have going here, and you've clearly put a lot of thought into it. I can't say that I think EVERYTHING would work great, but I definitely see the reason behind doing this, since Dooku was a mostly wasted villain as far as potential.


Not to derail the topic from where you were going with it, but personally I would have just liked a version of Dooku which everyone referred to as Darth Tyrannus. It would have fit better. Count Dooku sounds like Dracula's incompetent cousin or something. Doesn't really fit as a Jedi or a Sith name if you ask me.

 

I really like this so far. I have to admit that when I first saw ATTACK OF THE CLONES, I thought Lucas would shock us by having Christopher Lee turn out to be a good guy all along (a nice way to subvert Lee’s villainous typecasting) and actually be the founder of the Rebel Alliance. I even remember the specific moment- right as he’s explaining the whole plot to Obi-Wan Kenobi, “He’s the founder of the Rebellion! And we’ve already seen that these clones eventually become stormtroopers. This is really interesting!” Alas, what we got was far less interesting.

 

I honestly never noticed that before, but it's a clever red herring. In short, I always knew Dooku was the bad guy, so the effect was lost on me. Though it was mainly the marketing that sealed the deal on that.

 

I guess the main reason I thought that he’d end up being a good guy was just that having him be a villain seemed too obvious. I mean, Lucas puts him in conflict with the Jedi, Lucas sets up a grand big action climax where our heroes fight him and he gets an actor (Christopher Lee) who always plays villains. I really thought Lucas would go for that twist. Honestly, it would’ve been very interesting to show the Jedi initially fighting the Rebellion and (unwittingly) helping to build up, fortify and defend the Galactic Empire, only for them to realize what they’ve done after it’s too late. Of course, once the Emperor realized that the jig was up and that the Jedi were onto him, he would then move to eliminate this threat. It could also drive an ideological wedge between Anakin and Obi-Wan, with Anakin genuinely believing the other Jedi to be traitors for turning against the Emperor and siding with Christopher Lee’s Rebellion.