This essay is from Darth Goo
Published on March 20, 2001

A Charismatic Separatist

Everyone has been going crazy trying to decipher who Count Dooku (Christopher Lee) is, but we've all missed a major clue: The official site. The official site lists Christopher Lee as playing "a charismatic separatist."

Now, if you check your American History, you'll notice that during the early times of the American Colonies, the Plymouth and Massachussetts Bay colonies were run by Puritans, who had left England because they didn't like the way the church and government were functioning. The Puritans believed that their new, purer churches in New England would inspire the churches of Old England to mend their ways and "purge themseleves of corruption."

However, there was a sub-group of Puritans called "separatists," who believed that the churches of England (and the government of England) could never change, and should be denounced (and sometimes even destroyed). These separatists were usually treated as radicals, but from time to time they would gain a modest following amongst the Puritans.

So here's my theory:

Count Dooku was originally Master Dooku, a very highly respected Jedi. However, he became disenchanted with the order and indeed with the Republic itself. Seeing the corruption and unholiness of the Republic (and possibly in the Jedi order as well), Dooku leaves the order. With a number of followers (the Star Wars galaxy's version of Puritans), Dooku goes off to live on Geonosis, a rocky desolate planet that no one has settled on yet. While the "Puritans" are happy being away, Dooku seeks more. His anger swells, and he seeks destruction for the Republic. He begins to build an army of clones.

This would explain Episode II's opening crawl - Dooku's followers saying that they are seceding from the Republic. It also explains WHY he wants to destroy the republic. Like Palpatine said, "it is not what it once was. There is no interest in the common good." Dooku, like Palpatine, wants to rid the Republic of corruption. The only way that he sees to do it, though, is to declare war.

From here we move away from the Puritans and the early American colonies and move into the American Civil War. That's what the Clone wars really are, after all, the American Civil War. The Senate argues over creating their own army of clones, and they do. And then it's clone vs. clone, with everyone else caught in the middle. That's the action side of Episode II.

 

What do you think. Does Darth Goo's theories tie in with all the new (and old) Episode II news we've heard? Email us at rebel@theforce.net.

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