LOL Remember When Anakin Took on Count Dooku in ‘Star Wars’?

Anakin Skywalker had many battles in the Star Wars prequels. Not once, but twice, he fought Count Dooku and Anakin didn’t always make it out of those fights as a happy and healthy Jedi.

The Anakin (Hayden Christensen) vs. Dooku (Christopher Lee) fights happened in both Attack of the Clones and Revenge of the Sith, so explaining what happened to Anakin in them gets a bit complicated. The first time around, it was pretty easy to see what happened to Ani. But if you take a deeper look at both of the battles, you can see a shift in Anakin Skywalker.

Exploring both Attack of the Clones and Revenge of the Sith, let’s talk about what happens to Anakin in his battles against Dooku.

Star Wars: Episode 2 – Attack of the Clones

While on the planet Geonosis, Anakin was held captive alongside Padmé (Natalie Portman) and Obi-Wan Kenobi (Ewan McGregor). At the time, Anakin was just a Padawan to Obi-Wan and still growing in his power. So when Anakin and Obi-Wan had to take on Dooku, it did not go so well.

On Geonosis, Obi-Wan is injured by Dooku and Anakin has to take him on by himself. Dooku, a more powerful Sith Lord, eventually gains the upper hand and slices Anakin’s arm off with his lightsaber. Instead of killing the Jedi as he is injured, Dooku leaves both Obi-Wan and Anakin alive in the end.

Whether it was because he knew the power that Anakin would eventually possess, we do not know but he does not kill Anakin or his Jedi Master, Obi-Wan, in that battle. But it did fuel Anakin’s need for revenge in Revenge of the Sith.

Star Wars: Episode 3 – Revenge of the Sith

Oh boy, the number of times I have seen Revenge of the Sith. (Over 60 to be exact.) This fight doesn’t go as well for Dooku. As he has Palpatine (Ian McDiarmid) captured, both Anakin and Obi-Wan come to the Chancellor’s rescue. But when Obi-Wan ends up knocked out by Dooku, it is a rematch for Ani.

When he corners him in the end, Anakin slices off both of Dooku’s hands and has him at his mercy, with his own lightsaber and Dooku’s lightsaber crossed around the Count’s head. In that moment, Dooku is not able to fight back or run and Palpatine uses it to his advantage, saying to Anakin that he has to kill him.

The turmoil of going from the way of the Jedi and what Obi-Wan has taught him to doing what Palpatine is telling him to do is very obvious but still, he listens to Palpatine. At first, Anakin says “I shouldn’t” to Palpatine’s request but all it takes is a “do it” and Dooku’s head is decapitated from his body.

There are other battles, like Anakin and Dooku on Tatooine in The Clone Wars but talking about the live-action movies, these are the two major battles between them.

(featured image: Walt Disney Studios Motion Pictures)