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Continuity & Analysis

Star Wars: Tales of the Jedi - The Sith Lord (2022) [E4]
A Jedi master makes a troubling discovery.




CONTINUITY
This episode is the last of three connected stories about Dooku, preceded by 'Justice' (E2) and 'Choices' (E3). It takes place
during the events of Episode I, and approximately 13 years after 'Choices', give or take a few years. One world is seen in this episode:

Everything before the title takes place on the 5th day of Episode I, and everything after the title takes place on the 8th day.

- Dooku was still a Jedi until the end of Episode I. This fits with established facts from Episode II, and rectifies longstanding issues about Dooku's
history. Legendary additions to his backstory, as well as later non-canon additions by Lucasfilm had created serious inconsistencies and
outright continuity errors. Eventually, the order of events became so convoluted that Dooku was said not to be a Jedi at the point in
time when he would need to delete Kamino from the Jedi archives. Much of this was corrected by The Clone Wars Season 6, however
after the disney takeover Lucasfilm authorized a book they consider canon which asserted that Dooku left the Order 10 years before
the events of Episode I. This once again meant that there was no point where Dooku would have erased Kamino from the archives.
This was obviously wrong, and books aren't canon anyways, and thus a canon correction was still needed. Fortunately, Dave Filoni chose
to ignore disney's expanded 'canon' and focus on restoring continuity with the true canon of Lucas-produced material. Dooku deletes
Kamino in this episode while still in the Order, repairing continuity in a manner which takes into consideration the timing concerns of
those who messed up the background timing in the first place, most importantly the issue of having three Sith around at the same time.
It was clear from The Clone Wars that Dooku was known to some by the alias Tyranus before these events, proving Dooku was already
an agent, or at least ally, of Sidious when Maul was still around. This episode nullifies the issue of whether Sidious was transgressing
the Rule of Two. Dooku was Tyranus, but only now becomes Darth Tyranus and fully embraces the Sith.
Main Article: Dooku, Sifo-Dyas, and the Clone Army


How does Dooku have Sifo-Dyas' security clearance code? Dooku was good friends with Sifo-Dyas and had been working
with him in the clone army conspiracy. It is possible Dooku gained the code through any number of ways during this
time. Dooku also took possession of Sifo-Dyas' dead body and was aboard his crashed ship, although it is difficult to see
how Dooku could get a security code from a dead person, and it would be absurd if that were something that could be
looked up on a Republic shuttle's computer. Silman, Chancellor Valorum's aide, was taken alive from that shuttle, and
in The Clone Wars 'The Lost One' (S6E10), he says they were betrayed by "someone who wanted to be Sifo-Dyas",
which is of course Dooku. It was assumed that Dooku wanted to "be Sifo-Dyas" meant primarily in regard to gaining
access to the authorizations for the clone project with the Kaminoans, in order to instruct them to take orders from his
alter ego, however this clearance code issue presents another situation in which he wanted to assume his identity. It
remains unclear how betraying Sifo-Dyas in order to be him would result in Dooku gaining access to such codes. Yoda
states clearly in Episode II that "only a Jedi" could have removed a planet from the archives, however there is no
indication that the planet ever existed in the archives, and thus no way to "look up" who deleted it. Since Dooku was
still a Jedi at the time, he could have used his own codes. It is possible that a more thorough investigation of security logs
from this time period might have indicated a unspecified deletion, and that Dooku sought to ensure that no connection
to him could be established, but nothing Obi-Wan or Yoda says suggests further investigation of that kind is possible.
Main Article: Dooku, Sifo-Dyas, and the Clone Army


- Kamino is found in the Jedi archives until Dooku deletes it, despite being virtually forgotten by the interstellar civilization. This was due in
large part to the isolationism of the Kaminoans, however it was certainly not the only forgotten planet within known space. The planet
Roon, located relatively near to Kamino, was seen in Droids to have become historical to the point of legend. This was because it
had become largely inaccessible, however in many instances the sheer number of useful worlds in the known galaxy, numbering in
the millions, means that remote, unfrequented, or unremarkable worlds can fall out of common knowledge, particularly remote
systems in the Rim. Despite being in the Jedi archives, it is unlikely that any living Jedi is at all familiar with the planet or its people,
other that Dooku. He and Sifo-Dyas likely learned of it when searching for a suitable off-the-grid cloning operation for the army.


- Qui-Gon's alleged encounter with a Sith Lord not widely believed amongst the Jedi, but has attracted great attention. The Jedi are unwilling to
believe the Sith have returned primarily due to the patience and secrecy of their enemy's millennium-long plan. The Jedi incorrectly believe
that the last of the Sith Lords were killed almost a thousand years prior, leaving no one to pass on their religion. This has not stopped
the Sith historically, as at least twice in history all the Sith Lords were made extinct without eliminating enough of the religion and its
knowledge to prevent their eventual return hundreds of years later. The difference was that in those interim time periods, evidence of
agents of the dark side and their activities could be found, and thus there was reason to believe the Sith might still be out there or could
one day be seen again. The Jedi have grown complacent in their certainty that the Sith cannot come back, and the stealthy Sith plans
based around a strict interpretation of the Rule of Two have concealed their active hand in the galaxy from Jedi detection. Nevertheless,
Qui-Gon's assessment seems so unlikely that for him to have made this claim would suggest there was much evidence to suggest this may
have been a Sith. In Episode I, Mace does not dispute the possibility of a Sith return, only that the Jedi's unfailing vision with the Force
would have alerted them if the dark side had once again grown that strong. Yaddle does not doubt Qui-Gon's claim, however even if nearly
every other member of the Council felt the same, the Jedi leadership in this era is paralyzed by an eternal policy of caution and skepticism.
Main Article: Awareness of the Jedi and the Sith

- This is the only appearance of Yaddle outside of Episode I, where she sat on the Jedi Council but had no spoken lines in the film. She was
presumed to have died or retired in the decade prior to Episode II, since she was no longer present on the Council. It is shown here
that she both left the Council and died almost immediately after her only prior appearance. She is the only other member of Yoda's
intentionally mysterious and unnamed species to have been seen until Grogu in The Mandalorian.


Why doesn't Yaddle talk in out-of-order sentences like Yoda? The most sensible explanation would be that Yaddle was
born on Coruscant or some other Human majority planet and learned Basic as her first language, whereas Yoda was
born on the homeworld of his species, or a world where they can be found, and that his first language was not Basic.
Anyone who begins speaking a different language from their mother tongue will usually carry over the inflections,
points of emphasis, and cadence of their original language, and will tend to still organize their thoughts and sentences
in the order which they would occur in their original language. This can be hard to unlearn, and gives a similar sound to
the way everyone of the same first language speaks the second language. If that is not what is going on here, this
episode would seem to be implying that Yoda is an eccentric weirdo, which would be a disappointing addition.


- Dooku says he has been warning the Jedi Council "about the coming darkness for years", which is vague enough not to prove anything in terms
of the timeline of events, but seems to imply that Sifo-Dyas' visions and the events which led to his removal from the Council took place years
earlier, and therefore also years before Dooku betrayed him. Dooku honestly hoped the Jedi would open their eyes to the threat, and
more importantly, take stock of their role in preserving corruption and corporate exploitation.
Main Article: Dooku, Sifo-Dyas, and the Clone Army

- Qui-Gon was born on Coruscant, which according to supplementary material was in 7897 (80 BBY). He has a Jedi name, something common but
not at all universal to the Jedi. These are usually given to children who were taken in by the Jedi at such a young age they did not really know
a different name, and are almost always hyphenated. The Jedi do not seem to have a uniform policy about this, as some Jedi brought in
from an early age retain the name they were given. It is unclear exactly what Jedi policy is regarding the politics of taking children in, however
as a matter of a child's socialization and education, the Jedi wish children to join the Order as early as possible. Qui-Gon was born on the same
world as the main Jedi Temple, which for numerous reasons would increase the likelihood of Qui-Gon being found early in life.

- Yaddle senses something is funny about Dooku both times that he is distracted by his feelings about Qui-Gon. The dark side is repeatedly described
by the Jedi as being elusive, hard to see, and deceptive making it difficult to detect even when it is localized around a person like Dooku or
Palpatine. Once a person is revealed to have gone dark, that presence can become recognizable to those who have any connection to them in
the Force, but until that happens a Jedi's senses about this are clouded. This is not an exact science, which is part of the reason why Coruscant
and the Senate are such an excellent camouflage for Sidious. With a gargantuan population, Coruscant has so many people that any one sense in
the Force must be significant enough to stand out of the background. Palpatine may sometimes seem to be unduly surrounded by the dark side,
however as a politician and leader of the Senate, he is constantly surrounded by political intruigue involving underhanded motives and selfish
personal interests, whether he likes that or not. The Jedi are unable to see through that before it is too late. Dooku, on the other hand, is not
fully committed to the dark side, and while already intending to betray the Order on some level to serve his personal interests, he is neither
steeped in evil nor yet growing unnaturally powerful by its use. When a person becomes emotional, their thoughts "betray" them, which is
to say they become much easier for another Force wielder to sense them telepathically. Disciplined minds are very difficult to read. Yaddle
is sensing Dooku is hiding something, which at this point is his involvement in a secretive conspiracy against the interests of the Council.

- Dooku takes a DC0052 on his way to falling completely to the dark side and becoming a Sith Lord. This is the same kind of airspeeder that Anakin
takes on his way to do the same in Episode III. Both seem to have departed from the same hangar at the Jedi Temple, as well.


- Sidious has been using LiMerge Tower as his base and Sith Temple on Coruscant since at least this year, and will continue to do so until the end of
the Clone Wars. It is not discovered by any Jedi, except Yaddle in this instance who is for obvious reasons unable to report this to the Order.

- Dooku became allied with Darth Sidious at some point during or before 7944 (33 BBY), and was operating under the alias Tyranus, when he had
Sifo-Dyas killed. He then staged Sifo-Dyas' death on Felucia by causing negotiations to break down leading to a resumption of hostilities and
many Felucians dying. He then assumed Sifo-Dyas' identity to erase Kamino from the Jedi archives and instruct the Kaminoans to take further
instructions from Tyranus. The series of events beginning with Sifo-Dyas' death began just before Episode I, and it is now seen that Dooku
erased Kamino during the events of that film. Dooku clearly still sees himself as an honest actor and a Jedi, for if he had already committed to
the dark side, he would not have been trying to alert the Council of the threat the dark side posed to them. Like Anakin, Dooku takes many
smaller steps towards moral ambiguity before his final dive to the dark side. His question to Sidious, "how many have died because of my
actions?" may be limited to Sifo-Dyas and those on Felucia, or may include other actions of their alliance which he has already undertaken.
Main Articles: Dooku, Sifo-Dyas, and the Clone Army & Darth Sidious and The Plan

- Yaddle's lightsaber is green, which was disappointing to anyone who enjoyed the legendary material where her saber was orange, a color which
was widely used if somewhat less common in historical eras, and which has since become very rare. Eeth Koth is seen using an orange saber
as a temporary replacement in Clone Wars 'Chapter 22', however Yaddle would have been the first known Jedi whose designed saber
would utilize an orange crystal, theoretically corresponding to her personal vibration in the Force at the time she built her current saber.
This was instead abandoned, either because the creators didn't do their homework correctly, or because creators assume fans will associate
orange sabers with the dark side after Ahsoka. This detail made no difference to the story. Based on this and other examples, it seems
like they are trying to retcon less common saber colors like Tera Sinube from canon and Yaddle from legends, leaving Mace and Ahsoka
as holders of unique saber colors that no one else gets to share. If this is in fact the case, it is an annoying retcon of SW tradition. Even
in this era of blue and green dominance, some Jedi Knights use yellow, purple, or white sabers, and in rare cases also orange.

- The Sith advance within their Order by passing trials just as the Jedi do, the major differences being the values being tested, and that Sith tests
usually involve lethal combat. This is almost always the case with becoming a Sith Lord, the last of the Sith trials and the step which makes
one a true Sith. Sith Lords must be killed to take their place, and as there are only two Sith Lords per Sith Order, Sith Acolytes seeking
advancement must either help the apprentice Lord defeat their master, or prove themselves the more powerful apprentice by defeating
the current apprentice Lord. Dooku is at this point much as Anakin was before his fall, essentially already a Sith Acolyte without being
aware of it, while being carefully manipulated by Sidious. Like Anakin, Dooku's usefulness in defeating Sidious' opponents is tested
without him being aware of the prize victory will bring him. This is precipitated by Yaddle's nosy investigation, however it seems likely
Sidious would have sought to test him in a similar manner in short order. Dooku's fall and the duel which leads to it mirrors Anakin's
fall, with Dooku playing the part of Anakin, and in a classic SW inversion, noble Yaddle playing the part of Dooku's evil future self.

- Yaddle apparently resigned from the Council due to feeling responsible for not sending more Jedi with Qui-Gon, and claims to have come
around to Dooku and Qui-Gon's opposition to the Council's prevailing policies. If that was in fact the case, it was an awful move to stand
down from the Council, as Yaddle could have done much more from within. It had previously been theorized that Yaddle either left
the Council or had died, and in typical Filoni fashion he decided it should be both rather than one or the other. It is unclear exactly why
this was added to the story, perhaps to suggest that the Jedi take leadership seriously, and that a good Jedi steps aside from leadership
once recognizing their own failures. This may also have been to increase Yaddle's innocence in the scene, and increase the tragedy
level, as Dooku is once again choosing to eliminate a goodhearted Jedi ally, as he did to Sifo-Dyas, to protect himself and Sidious.
Yaddle is replaced on the Council by either Coleman Trebor or Shaak Ti.


Did Sidious intend to replace Maul with Dooku all along? It is not certain, but it seems most likely based on the timeline
that Sidious was not working with Dooku and may not have even known him when Maul was first trained, so at first
Sidious was working with the best option available. Maul was intended to be used as a weapon to kill Jedi, and to alert
them to the return of the Sith, thus readying them for Sidious' next round of manipulations. Non-canon material has
built up the idea that Sidious didn't really like Maul, and hadn't intended for him to be anything but an Acolyte and
weapon, but that Maul proved too adept not to be made a Sith Lord. There is no canon basis for this, however the idea
that Sidious intended for Maul to be used up long before his final move against the Jedi seems consistent with canon
dialogue. Some details of Sidious' original plan are unclear, but it is no matter as Sidious altered and enhanced his
plan after his discovery of Dooku and his anti-Council activities. This presented Sidious with a potential agent who
was already a powerful and fully-trained Jedi Master, had inside access to the Jedi Order, and most importantly, was
a respected figure in the Republic who could command the political loyalty of honest actors in the galaxy. Maul was
simply a mysterious warrior, and his long term usefulness in political machinations was limited. Sidious can always find
and train a new apprentice from somewhere in the galaxy, however Dooku is a perfect fit, is already ready to fight Jedi,
was falling to the dark side on his own and with some coaxing, and is a member of a rich and politically powerful
family. Sidious' decisions about where and how to use Maul may have been influenced by a desire to promote Dooku.
Main Article: Darth Sidious and The Plan


ANALYSIS
The Sith have been 'gone' for so long that the Jedi have begun to see them as legendary and historical, and are in denial about the possibility
of their return. This is not only because of their overconfidence regarding their vision through the Force, but also because of a general spirit
of complacency and stagnation which grips the Order. The Jedi are on top of the food chain in the galaxy, having to deal with mundane threats
which are mostly beneath their skill level. As the centuries passed after the Sith defeat, each generation of Jedi grew increasingly diminished
in readiness to meet a threat as dangerous as the Sith, while the Council's outlook became increasingly focused on galactic police work and
management of political stability. This is exactly what the Sith Order intended, and is one of the many facets of their patient, thousand-year
plan which was so brilliant. The return of the Sith should have been viewed as an inevitability, rather than a near impossibility, but centuries
of not detecting the Sith or their activities have convinced the Jedi not to be concerned. This is why Sifo-Dyas' visions about a great war
and the return of the dark side were so completely rejected, and why the Council kicked Sifo-Dyas off for refusing to drop the matter. Dooku
was apparently much more receptive to his friend's message, in part because he had already noticed how corrupt the Republic had become,
and may have even suspected that this was in some part being orchestrated behind the scenes by a malevolent, phantom menace. Dooku
had been warning the Council "about the coming darkness for years, never to be taken seriously", which likely means that he was not only
continuing to argue for Sifo-Dyas' concerns but also pushing his own, having seen for himself the degree to which corruption had already
undermined the increasingly fragile structure of the Republic. Yaddle insists that the Council did not wish "to cause undue alarm," and was
only being "cautious until we know more", which suggests the Council was taking all of these warnings and signs seriously, but as usual was
paralyzed by its abundance of caution, unwillingness to address their growing hypocrisy, and inflated sense of control over the situation.

Dooku's political activities, in contempt of the Jedi Council and its intentions, are motivated by his pious idealism and belief that it is his duty
as a noble and conscientious Jedi to take such actions. The compromises with his Jedi ethics which Dooku has already had to make to achieve
this groundwork have exacerbated his darker tendencies, nevertheless he remains partly grounded by his noble purpose and by Qui-Gon.
His student become Master has always been his own Jedi, but nonetheless carries on Dooku's obstinate piety and idealistic resolve, a fact which
gives Dooku great pride and also hope that the Order may change before it is too late for the Jedi and the Republic. Sifo-Dyas' visions have
only confirmed for Dooku what he had already become afraid of, specifically that the Republic was headed towards a dangerous crossroads
which threatened to replace the galaxy's order with total chaos. Qui-Gon and perhaps others in the Order of a similar mind were the only
thing really keeping Dooku on his Jedi path at this point, and to lose Qui-Gon was devastating. This time the Council's failure to listen to
threat resulted in the death of Dooku's friend and ally, precisely what Dooku and Sifo-Dyas had been warning was coming. The Council now
moves in Dooku's mind from political rival to adversary, the same penultimate step Anakin will take during his fall. Dooku used to bring Qui-Gon
as a boy to the tree in the Temple, telling Yaddle how Qui-Gon was fascinated by it having only known the stone and metal of Coruscant.
The Jedi Council has become devoted to this artificial world, and the living Force they are supposed to serve is reduced to a monument for
reflection. Young Qui-Gon was inspired by the tree to seek the truth of the Force which lies beyond the inanimate constraints the Jedi have
constructed for themselves. In this way, Qui-Gon represented Dooku's optimism for the future, which is now dead.

Dooku warns Qui-Gon regarding Maul, telling him "a Sith Lord is not to be trifled with", which is of course ironic considering that Dooku is completely
ignoring the danger a Sith Lord poses by entering into an alliance with one himself, in the name of his personal mission to root out corruption and
restore justice to the galaxy. A Jedi Master such as Dooku is likely to believe he can avoid being corrupted, but it is difficult to justify working with
someone whose goals are almost certainly evil. As a Jedi, Dooku should have understood that selfless goals cannot be achieved by selfish motivations,
however Dooku has already crossed that bridge when he decided to take actions without his fellow Jedi. Dooku realizes that the Council will stand in
the way of any meaningful change, as they "blindly serve a corrupt Senate that fails the Republic it represents." Dooku has already sacrificed his friend
and ally in the clone project, Sifo-Dyas, by paying the Pykes to shoot him down, probably on Sidious' insistence, however this action may well have been
seen as necessary by Dooku despite still believing his motives to be honorable. He clearly still sees himself as an honest actor, for if he had already
committed to the dark side, he would not have been trying to alert the Council of the threat the dark side posed to them. Qui-Gon's death, which
Dooku blames on the Council's failure to listen and act, was the last straw for Dooku, who mentally moves from rival of the Council to adversary.
Dooku shared Sifo-Dyas' motive in creating the clone army regarding protecting the Republic from the Jedi Council's shortsightedness, however
since he was also on a crusade against corruption which would at the least require keeping the Council in check, he obviously intended to ensure
the army's loyalty would not be to the Council, which is unlikely a detail he shared with Sifo-Dyas. This also lends heavily to the idea that Sidious
was the one who originated this concept, and that Dooku passed it to Sifo-Dyas. The clone army would address Sifo-Dyas' fears about the future,
while providing the vehicle for Sidious' master plan. Dooku may not have been fully aware of how Sidious intended to use the army, believing
only that the Jedi could be checkmated by means of it. Despite what Dooku did to his friend Sifo-Dyas in the service of their "greater cause", he
is incensed that Sidious "allowed" Maul to kill Qui-Gon, suggesting that they have killed another would be ally. Sidious notes that he could have
been an ally for Dooku but not for him. Sidious and Tyranus are already playing out the Sith master and apprentice roles they will continue in
for over a decade, with Tyranus always looking to the long term and seeking a capable ally with whom he can eventually move against Sidious.
Sidious is vigilant about this threat, and regularly eliminates potential accomplices. Dooku must believe that he can use Sidious for his purposes,
taking advantage of his power and influence, and then deal with him before he can turn Dooku's purposes to evil. Sidious has promised Dooku
the possibility of power which can bring about the changes in the galaxy he desires, and Dooku has already committed his loyalty to this deal with
the Devil. Dooku claims he only wants "to bring peace and order to the galaxy", however the galaxy already has both, just not an order which
Dooku is willing to accept. His desire to bring peace must be in reference to the coming war from Sifo-Dyas' vision. Dooku is unaware this is
a self-fulfilling prophecy, as Dooku's decent lead Sifo-Dyas to see a vision of the Clone Wars, leading Sifo-Dyas and Dooku to create the army
needed to defend the Republic in a war which Dooku will wage against it. Dooku was thus working in part to remedy a problem he caused in
the first place, and to stop a threat which will turn out to be Dooku himself. Now that he is actively murdering good people just to cover his
tracks, Dooku surrenders fully to the dark side, and as Darth Tyranus, he will fully embrace the Sith program and plans for the galaxy.


FURTHER ANALYSIS
Report Pending