Yoda wasn’t one to engage in fear and hate. But it didn’t stop him from feeling that way regarding Count Dooku’s lightsaber.
No one knew Dooku like Yoda, having served as his Jedi Master. So what was it that made Yoda so disdainful of the Sith Lord’s curved-hilted saber?
Count Dooku’s lightsaber fit his Makashi, or Form II fighting style. A fighting style he learned for both its elegance and its appropriateness for saber to saber combat. Dooku’s passion for ending the Sith prompted him to create it, worrying Yoda.
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About Count Dooku’s Lightsaber
Count Dooku’s lightsaber was one of the most distinguished in the Prequel Trilogy. Containing a curved hilt, it was easy for viewers to point out, and Dooku constructed it specifically for lightsaber combat.
The lightsaber that Count Dooku uses in the Prequel Trilogy as a Sith Lord is the same one he used as a Jedi.
The audiobook Dooku: Jedi Lost, states that Dooku started using a curved lightsaber at age 15, one year before becoming a Padawan in 86 BBY.
His hilt’s customized craftsmanship differed from those the Jedi typically chose. It was an ancient design that went out of fashion long before he constructed it between the time he reached Jedi Knighthood and 32 BBY.
He didn’t choose the curved hilt exclusively out of glamor or as a nod to the Jedi of old, but instead because of his combat technique, something he discovered when studying the Jedi Archives.
Like all Sith lightsabers, Dooku’s blade shone from a red kyber crystal. When he wielded the lightsaber during his days as a Jedi, the lightsaber boasted a blue blade.
Why is Count Dooku’s Lightsaber Bent?
Dooku knew the unique curved hilt helped him gain better control during lightsaber duels. He further realized the hilt gave him an advantage when he fought multiple opponents.
Such a belief proved true twice during the Prequel Trilogy.
Count Dooku’s Duels During the Prequel Trilogy
During the events of Attack of the Clones in 22 BBY, Dooku confronted Obi-Wan and Anakin. Despite the duo giving Dooku all they could muster, the Sith Lord isolated Anakin with Force lightning before slashing Obi-Wan multiple times.
Anakin recovered and dueled Dooku with both his and Obi-Wan’s lightsabers. He lasted under a minute before Dooku severed the Padawan’s arm. Dooku probably would have killed the duo had Yoda not interfered and forced the Sith Lord to flee.
During the early events in Revenge of the Sith. During the scene where Obi-Wan Kenobi and Anakin Skywalker rescue Chancellor Palpatine, they crossed Dooku, who easily gained the upper hand.
It wasn’t until Dooku knocked out Obi-Wan did Anakin let his anger and emotion drive him into defeating Dooku, killing the Sith Lord at Palpatine’s order.
The Curved Hilt Fit Count Dooku’s Fighting Style
Some of the advantages Dooku sought were ingrained in the finesse, one-handed fighting style, known as Makashi or Form II.
Besides the elegant look Makashi permitted, something that fit Dooku’s persona and noble status as a Count, its reliance on precision allowed the Sith Lord to perform quick strikes when engaged in combat.
The curved hilt gave Dooku more accuracy when lunging and slashing at his opponents. It was a graceful fighting style whose methodic strikes were energy-efficient that relied on disarming or deteriorating an opponent’s defense before killing.
Requirements and Disadvantages of the Curved Hilt
The curved hilt and the Makashi fighting style were best suited for lightsaber-to-lightsaber combat.
Therefore, Dooku and other Form II practitioners had a harder time deflecting blaster bullets, once again displaying Makashi to be a noble, and non-violent combat style like its Shii-Cho counterpart.
One reason the curved hilt went out of style stemmed from the advent of long-range weapons. During older conflicts in the galaxy, lightsaber duels were more common.
As time went on, Force-sensitive beings had to contend with weapons like blasters. This led to the more standard, straighter hilt moving forward.
Why Did Yoda Hate Dooku’s Lightsaber So Much?
“Fear is the path to the dark side. Fear leads to anger. Anger leads to hate. Hate leads to suffering.” – Yoda.
Even someone like the Jedi Grand Master couldn’t always live by his own wisdom. If there was one thing Yoda hated, it was Count Dooku’s lightsaber.
But why?
Dooku: Jedi Lost provides stellar insight into this matter, something you would never expect.
During Dooku’s days as a Youngling, it was a common belief among the Jedi Order that the Sith had been extinct for nearly a millennium.
But Dooku refused to believe the tale. This annoyed Yoda, who reprimanded Dooku for chasing a supposedly vanquished enemy.
Dooku grew obsessive in his chasing of the Sith, and the curved lightsaber hilt that he built further concerned Yoda.
We know the lightsaber’s design conformed to Dooku’s fighting style. But he also adopted the style with the Sith in mind.
Why Was Dooku Obsessed With the Sith?
Dooku, with his friend Sifo Dyas, found expelled Jedi Klias Teradine’s journal. The journal revealed the Bogan Collection resided within the Temple’s Jedi Archives.
Breaking into the Archives, Dooku realized just how much of the Sith the Jedi were hiding, given the number of artifacts the collection contained.
He further discovered Jedi Master Lene Kostana’s obsession with the artifacts and wrongfully accused her of being a Dark Lady of the Sith.
The two engaged in a heated duel where Dooku, still 15 at the time, dueled Kostana to a stalemate before Yoda stepped in.
Yoda realized Dooku developed so much passion for rediscovering and ending the Sith that it inadvertently kickstarted the Youngling’s fall to the dark side. A passion that started with Dooku creating the curved-hilted lightsaber.
Why Did Yoda Take Dooku as a Padawan?
It was uncommon for a Jedi Grand Master, or anyone on the Jedi High Council, to take on a Padawan. Since Yoda grew so concerned over Dooku’s actions, he felt it was best for him to train Dooku in one last hope to diffuse the young Jedi’s pull to the dark side.
Yoda also felt he was the only one who could train Dooku in avenues other than dueling. Something Dooku proved he was more than proficient in.
Yoda’s efforts failed, and Dooku continued to refine his dueling skills.
Dooku continued to study the Makashi fighting style and how wielding the curved-hilted lightsaber helped him steadily improve in combat.
With continued refinement, Dooku did not stop until he mastered Makashi, discovering the perfect saber-to-saber style, exploiting and throwing opponents off-balance.
The passion that Dooku brought in perfecting his Makashi fighting style to defeat the Sith was another step in the future Jedi Master’s downfall.
Yoda knew this. And he ultimately tried to suppress the Padawan Dooku’s passion by coaxing him into focusing on things other than lightsaber combat.
Conclusion
Yoda rarely despised anything, so when he did, there was a good reason for it. He knew Count Dooku’s curved-hilted lightsaber implied Dooku wanted to take on multiple opponents in lightsaber combat. He felt that multiple opponents of the Sith were living among the masses.
Dooku’s actions as a Youngling and Padawan compounded Yoda’s concern, such as the passion he developed in vanquishing what the Jedi believed was an extinct enemy.
In the end, Dooku was right about the Sith. But the passion he possessed led to anger. And after Dooku left the Jedi Order, Darth Sidious visited him and inducted the fallen Jedi into the Sith.