Summary
Dooku completes his transition to Darth Tyranus in a great episode full of striking visuals and meaningful drama.
This recap of Tales of the Jedi season 1, episode 4, “The Sith Lord”, contains spoilers.
“The Sith Lord”, singular, is really about Sith Lords, multiple – at least two, but it’s really the crucial turning point of a third, as this is where Count Dooku, in his gentlemanly manner, becomes Darth Tyranus, much to the cackling enjoyment of Palpatine.
Tales of Jedi episode 2 and episode 3 were both about Dooku’s gradual realization that the Republic was rife with corruption and that it was being allowed to fester by inaction; the Jedi were unwilling to stray from their supposed ideals to intervene, and the masters among them were kowtowing to power for what essentially amounts to career advancement. This is where Dooku’s lack of faith in the system crystalizes into outright radicalism, as we see how his clandestine team-up with Palpatine finally leads him to the Dark Side.
Tales of the Jedi season 1, episode 4 recap
“The Sith Lord” opens with Dooku sneaking into the archive room and using Sifo Dyas’s identity to delete all the records pertaining to Kamino, where, as we all know, the Empire’s clone army is being secretly developed. Through a conversation Dooku has with Yaddle (Bryce Dallas Howard), we learn that this is taking place during the events of The Phantom Menace, as Dooku’s former apprentice, Qui-Gon Jinn, has reported an encounter with a Sith Lord that, predictably, the Jedi Council are reluctant to act upon or even believe. This is after Qui-Gon’s first meeting with Darth Maul on Tatooine.
When we cut a little ahead, we catch up with Yaddle and a somber Dooku again, this time with Qui-Gon’s death – thanks in large part to the Council refuting his claims – weighing heavily on Dooku’s conscience.
Part of the reason Dooku feels so guilty about Qui-Gon is that he has secretly been conspiring with a remorseless Palpatine, whom Yaddle catches him meeting with. When Yaddle confronts them both, Dooku is literally given a choice between the two, between Light and Dark. He can either help Yaddle take Palpatine down and answer for the crimes he has already committed, or he can side with Palpatine and cement his transition to the Dark Side. He chooses the latter.
This builds to a lightsaber duel reminiscent of the one from Attack of the Clones between Dooku and Yoda, though admittedly less competitive. Dooku crushes Yaddle under a hanger door, but she’s eventually able to power her way free, badly weakened by the ordeal. This is somewhat unlikely given the door literally closed flush, but whatever – it gives Dooku a much more meaningful moment by finishing her off and completing his fall from grace. (I also like how Palpatine sticks around to watch the fight, continuing a long legacy of wanting to be present for the chaos he creates. Nice touch.)
And with all that, Dooku becomes Darth Tyranus, the villain we all know and remember. From what I understand, this deviates somewhat from the depiction of how Dooku leaves the Jedi Order in Cavan Scott’s audiobook Dooku: Jedi Lost, but it’s nonetheless a fitting climax for his trio of episodes.
