When Obi-Wan fought Dooku in Revenge of the Sith, he lost quickly. But then Anakin defeated Dooku, and then later Obi-Wan beat Anakin. How did all of this happen? It’s a puzzle to solve.
Read more below to understand how Dooku beat Obi-Wan, lost to Anakin, and then Obi-Wan beat Anakin.
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Dooku Beat Obi-Wan
In Attack of the Clones, Dooku beat Obi-Wan Kenobi and Anakin in a lightsaber duel. We can see in the scene below that after Anakin got thrown aside, Obi-Wan struggled to keep up with Dooku before the latter slashed him in the arm and leg. Anakin came back into the fight but also lost to Dooku.
We may explain the first loss to Dooku being more powerful than Obi-Wan at that point in the prequels. Dooku appeared to harness more Force powers and better lightsaber-fighting abilities. Yet, what about the second time?
In Revenge of the Sith, Obi-Wan and Anakin confronted Dooku, who they believed had kidnapped Palpatine. Obi-Wan had grown in powers and skill by that point. Yet, he was knocked out of the fight rather quickly, with Dooku Force-choking and throwing him across the room (see the clip in the next section).
In one Star Wars discussion, fans commented that Dooku won again because he was still stronger with the Force. Obi-Wan had improved his lightsaber skills, but “Dooku’s mastery of the force was significantly higher than Obi-Wan’s.” So, we could say that Obi-Wan was overpowered.
However, fans on this forum stress the “different forms of lightsaber combat” to explain how Dooku beat Obi-Wan, twice. Dooku’s Makashi form worked “well against Obi-Wan’s form, Sorseu.” In turn, Dooku’s reliance on Makashi was not as effective against Anakin’s Djem So form. “Form advantage” can go a long way toward explaining this perplexing situation.
Putting the two trajectories together we could say that Dooku prevailed over Obi-Wan because of his Force and lightsaber skills. But where does that leave us with Anakin?
Anakin Beat Dooku
As we watch the second lightsaber fight, we can note how Anakin told Dooku how his powers had “doubled” since the last duel. We may explain Anakin’s victory over Dooku through his growth in Force powers, along with his increased rage that was pushing him toward the dark side.
However, as other fans point out, those reasons are not the whole story. Based on the novelization of Revenge of the Sith, Darth Sidious orchestrated this fight to have Anakin “take Dooku prisoner to end the war,” as he told Dooku. So, Dooku may not have fought as hard once he only faced Anakin.
The above discussion also brings up the point that Dooku’s overconfidence may have made him blunder. And then, with Anakin’s dark side welling up the fight took a drastic turn. Between these two insights, we could state that Anakin won because the Emperor was on his side, Dooku misunderstood the situation, and Anakin was waxing while Dooku was waning.
The rise of Anakin and his victory seem predicated on Palpatine’s influence. As “Anakin’s abilities grew with each confrontation” with Dooku, and there were several beyond the movies, “Palpatine’s manipulation of Anakin” weighed heavily into Anakin’s aggressive fighting style and decision at the end of the battle.
Obi-Wan Beat Anakin
If we have the rising wrath of Anakin, though, how did Obi-Wan manage to beat him? Our final piece of the puzzle is solved again on the battlefield.
Anakin was indeed the stronger opponent when he faced off with Obi-Wan. Right away, Anakin took the fight to Obi-Wan, and we can see Anakin’s power and rage as they fought. Yet, the stronger does not always prevail in battle.
The lightsaber duel went back and forth, and it looked like Obi-Wan would lose, but he lucked out by leaping to the high ground. With the odds now in his favor, Obi-Wan beat Anakin because Anakin was consumed with overconfidence from the dark side and tried to win even though Obi-Wan had the advantage.
Yet, still, we can also think about lightsaber form in this situation. As a fan posted here, Obi-Wan’s Soresu combat form was “the undisputed king of defensive technique.” Hence, Obi-Wan only needed to wait and let the aggressor come to him and make use of leverage and form.
Some writers contend that Obi-Wan drifted to the dark side by drawing on the Sith lightsaber technique Mou Kei when he “struck multiple points of contact” on Anakin and thereby removed “various limbs.” However, this was after Anakin had already lost. Obi-Wan attempted to appeal to him, but Anakin was too far gone toward Darth Vader.
The Riddle of Dooku to Obi-Wan to Anakin to Obi-Wan
The puzzle we started with makes more sense when we break each fight down. The circumstances of each lightsaber battle help explain how Dooku beat Obi-Wan so easily but lost to Anakin who lost to Obi-Wan. As we see in each fight, lightsaber form plays a key role too, along with the power of the light side.