Count Dooku, one of the most difficult villains of the Star Wars saga, may have tried to overthrow Palpatine with the help of Obi-Wan in Star Wars: Episode II — Attack of the Clones. This wouldn’t necessarily be surprising given Dooku’s Sith superiority, but it speaks to his intelligence and manipulation skills that almost rival those of his Sith teacher, Darth Sidious. The fall of Count Dooku to the dark side and the assumption of the Sith identity of Darth Tyranus is comparable to the tragic fall of Anakin Skywalker. Dooku became a Sith lord in the hope of destroying the corruption and injustice that the Jedi and the Republic perpetuated. However, as a Sith lord, Dooku’s use of the dark side turned him into a much worse source of tyranny than the institutions he left behind, turning him into an insidious assassin who plotted against his master but may have still had reservations about the Sith Order. .
It’s in the nature of the Sith to betray each other. In both Star Wars episodes, the Sith struggle posed a greater threat to their order than even their ancient enemies, the Jedi. Although the specific details differ between canon and legends, both timelines establish that Darth Bane mitigated the inevitable betrayals among the Sith lords by creating the Rule of Two, according to which there should always be only a couple of Sith lords. The Sith Master is constantly looking for a new and stronger disciple, while the Sith disciple is plotting to usurp his teacher and train his own disciple. Palpatine trained Dooku well, but as shown in the films, eventually replaced him with Anakin Skywalker, also known as Darth Vader.
Count Dooku was a brilliant leader and tactician and was undoubtedly fully aware of Palpatine’s intention to replace him, but he never suspected it would be with a Jedi knight who opposed the Sith throughout the Clone Wars. Dooku, in particular, trained several unofficial Sith apprentices during the Clone Wars in both Canon and Legends, working on Palpatine’s possible betrayal, but his words to Obi-Wan Kenobi in Attack of the Clones suggest something more than simple manipulation. Dooku probably saw Obi-Wan as the best student of the dark side to eventually overthrow Palpatine, so his words worked in two ways. In addition to participating in Palpatine’s grand plan to turn the Republic into a fascist state, Dooku also created the opportunity to have a powerful dark side user on his side when he eventually turned against Palpatine.
Count Dooku Really wanted to overthrow Palpatine with Obi-Wan
Despite having trained Obi-Wan’s mentor, Qui-Gon Jinn, Dooku and Obi-Wan had never met before the former became a Sith lord. Dooku expressed regret about this in Attack of the Clones, which is understandable given their love for the late Qui-Gon Jinn. Dooku noticed the similarities between Kenobi and the infamous free-thinking Genie, probably sensing that Kenobi was ready to join him. Even before Obi-Wan discovered that Dooku had turned to the dark side, he refused out of loyalty to the Republic and disgust with the repressive leadership of the separatists.
Unsurprisingly, this disappointed Dooku, who was probably also keen to recruit Obi-Wan for his strength in the Force and fighting skills. Obi-Wan is a humble and inconspicuous warrior from the Star Wars saga who split a fully trained Sith lord in half when he was a padawan and fought Jango Fett (known as a skilled Jedi assassin) shortly before meeting Dooku. If Obi-Wan had joined Dooku, he would have been a much more powerful Sith apprentice than any Dooku trained in the canon or Star Wars legends, and their combined strength could have been enough to truly challenge Palpatine.
Count Dooku is plotting against Palpatine together with Ventress
As shown in Star Wars: The Clone Wars, Dooku trained Asajj Ventress as his unofficial Sith assassin, not only to have a deadly separatist agent at his disposal, but also as a real Sith apprentice to help him overthrow Palpatine and take his place as a Sith master. Palpatine felt this betrayal when Ventress became stronger, ordering Dooku to turn against her, which he did correctly. Ventress’s replacement, Savage the Oppressor, was probably intended for the same purpose, but Dooku’s custody of the Dathomirian was extremely short-lived. Although Asajj Ventress is undeniably a deadly dark side user, she would never pose the same threat to Palpatine as the hypothetical dark side-corrupted Obi-Wan working alongside Dooku.
Count Dooku might have thought of the Sith
Although Dooku had turned to the dark side and was a Sith lord by the time he first met Obi-Wan, he may not have gone so far that redemption was impossible. Dooku left the Jedi Order and eventually joined the Sith out of frustration with the corruption of the former and perpetuating injustice in the galaxy.
