I just wrapped up Season 1 of Star Wars: The Bad Batch last week, and this week I jumped straight into Season 2 to catch up with my friends. Everything started off pretty smoothly—until I hit Episode 2, “Ruins of War.”
Let me tell you, my jaw hit the floor when they dropped the bombshell about Count Dooku funding the war. I mean, funding a war that lasted 3 years? Sure, 3 years isn’t that long in the grand scheme of things, but footing the bill for an entire galaxy-wide conflict? That’s a whole other level of wealth and power.
House Serenno Maintained Its Galactic Fortune for Millennia
Honestly, this is a pretty easy question to answer. If you just Google how rich Count Dooku was, the first thing you’ll see is that he inherited his family’s wealth and ruled the planet Serenno. That alone makes him ridiculously rich.
So, I tried to search up how rich Count Dooku was, and honestly, the answers were not pretty straightforward. Almost every result said the same thing: he inherited his family’s wealth, and his family ruled the planet Serenno.
But I wanted to go beyond the surface-level stuff because that doesn’t really explain just how absurdly wealthy Dooku actually was. The House of Serenno wasn’t just any noble family—it was literally the richest house in the galaxy. They were one of the six Great Houses on the planet Serenno, which already gave them a ton of power and influence.
Well, that’s still obvious, but Dooku’s father is the figure I really want to talk about. Count Gora was the head of House Serenno and the Count of Serenno during the late High Republic Era.
And yet, that still doesn’t explain how House Serenno became the richest among all the noble houses.
During Count Gora’s reign in the High Republic Era, he was a descendant of Serenno’s ruling family. Now, here’s the big deal: while Serenno had several other noble Houses with a lot of political influence—especially on the Great Assembly, the planet’s highest council—Gora’s ancestors were the ones who stood out. They led the resistance against the Sith Empire when Serenno was under occupation.
That defiant act was such a monumental achievement that their family name, Serenno, became the name of the entire planet. Along with this honor, they were granted the title of Count, solidifying their position as the most influential House among Serenno’s noble families.
This key moment not only established them as the planet’s most powerful rulers but also cemented their legacy for generations. From the High Republic Era to the Clone Wars, House Serenno maintained their authority and influence. With centuries of wealth and power accumulating under their reign, it’s no wonder they were regarded as the richest House in the galaxy.
How Dooku Claimed the Serenno Legacy
Let’s be real—if you were sitting on a fortune like House Serenno’s, wouldn’t you leave the Jedi and claim what’s yours? That’s exactly what Dooku did.
To sum it up, Dooku was born in 102 BBY on Serenno, under the rule of his father, Count Gora. But things got messy when young Dooku showed signs of being Force-sensitive. Gora, terrified of his abilities, called the Jedi Order to take him away. That’s how Dooku ended up becoming a Jedi.
During his time with the Jedi Order, Dooku’s faith in both the Jedi and the Republic started to crumble. When he finally left the Order, he returned to Serenno to reclaim what was rightfully his.
By the time he returned, Serenno was under siege, led by its own Count, Ramil of House Serenno, who aimed to tighten his grip on the planet’s power. Dooku fought to liberate his homeworld and, in the process, eliminated his brother to claim the title of Count. With that victory, he secured his family’s immense fortune—one of the largest in the galaxy—and cemented his legacy as the ruler of Serenno.