Say what you will aboutThe Phantom Menace, that movie is extremely important forStar Wars. Not only did it help define the tone of the Prequel Trilogy in the past, but it’s also proving to be more and more important to the franchise’s future, too. One scene, in particular, the climactic fight sequence that became known as Duel of the Fates - after the iconicJohn Williamstrack of the same name - proves to be the pivotal moment of the whole saga, andTales of the Jedi, the most recent animated series developed byDave Filoni, helps to further prove it to be so.
The scene itself is well-known by now. Jedi Master and Padawan duo Qui-Gon Jinn (Liam Neeson) and Obi-Wan Kenobi (Ewan McGregor) face off against the mysterious and ferocious Dark Lord of the Sith, Darth Maul (Ray Park). On the table, though, is much more than the Trade Federation invasion of Naboo that serves as the main driver for the movie’s plot, but the destiny of young prodigy Anakin Skywalker (Jake Lloyd), who was to be trained by Qui-Gon in the ways of the Force. With the Jedi Master’s demise, though, young Skywalker ends up as Padawan of Obi-Wan, recently promoted to Knight after losing his master.
In an episode ofDisney Gallery: The Mandalorian, Dave Filoni explains the impact of the Duel of the Fates throughout the whole franchise: it lays the foundation for Anakin to rebel against the Jedi after being trained for decades under Obi-Wan. The two are fundamentally divergent in their approaches to the Order and the Force, and Qui-Gon would have been undoubtedly a better-suited master to train Skywalker, whom he identified as the Chosen One. Now, inTales of the Jedi, Filoni gets his own swing at Duel of the Fates, highlighting the fight’s importance from a different point of view: the Dark Side of the Force.
Qui-Gon’s Death in The Phantom Menace Signaled the End of Dooku’s Connection to the Light
Qui-Gon Jinn was always seen in the Jedi Order as being a sort of maverick, a Jedi who deliberately went against some of the Council’s deliberations in favor of his own view of the Living Force, a chain of thought almost no one at the time dedicated themselves to. Turns out Qui-Gon’s defiance is a trait he inherited from his own master, Dooku (Christopher Leein the movies,Corey Burtonin animation), another Jedi prone to employing unusual methods to achieve the goals in his missions for the Jedi.
AsTales of the Jedishows, Dooku’s fall to the Dark Side happens in parallel to the aftermath of the Duel of the Fates inThe Phantom Menace. Disappointed with the Jedi Council after warning for years about the coming darkness and being solemnly ignored in response, the Jedi Master is revealed to be already in league with Sith Lord Darth Sidious (Ian McDiarmid) by that time, Qui-Gon’s death being the last impulse to push him over the edge of the line that separates Light and Darkness.
By then, they had already ordered the creation of the Clone Army in Kamino, as would be further revealed inAttack of the Clones, but Dooku wasn’t fully invested in Darkness yet. His disappointment in the Jedi Order was clear and explicit, and, to a point, made sense. His first episodes inTales of the Jedishow how distant the Jedi Order had grown from the very people they swore to protect while attaching itself to petty things such as bureaucracy and dedicating itself to aiding the powerful, instead of the helpless. After decades of holding this banner all by himself, it was only natural for him to grow tired of it all. His last link to the Jedi was Qui-Gon, and, in the end, his former Padawan’s death represented also the death of Dooku’s faith in the Jedi - and, since he was already in contact with Sidious, the last push he needed to turn to Darkness.
RELATED:How ‘Tales of the Jedi’ Shows the Conflict Between the Dark and Light
Palpatine Reveals That He Has Been Waiting to Replace Maul
The Duel of the Fates set the stage for many events in theStar Warsfranchise and the Skywalker Saga, butTales of the Jedinow reveals a different aspect of it. Not only was it important to fuel Dooku’s disillusionment with the Jedi, but it was also extremely important for Darth Sidious/Palpatine to remove Maul from his equation.
When Dooku arrives in Coruscant’s Industrial Sector to talk to him, Sidious makes a point of mentioning he lost an apprentice himself in that very same duel. This is noteworthy, as it shows us that Sidious' courtship of Dooku as a potential new apprentice had already been his intention even before the showdown on Naboo. As powerful as Maul was, he surely was no match for two Jedi, and his rash and distempered nature would not suit Sidious in the future, so he had to be removed. Of course, Maul would later prove to be a smart strategist himself duringThe Clone Warsseries, but he didn’t have the same political appeal and finesse as Dooku.
Before devoting himself to the Jedi, Dooku was nobility, a son of the ruling house of Serenno. Among other reasons, he left the Jedi Order, so he could take his place as the ruler of that planet and use its political influence to try and ake some real change in the way things were done in the more distant parts of the galaxy, as seen in the awesome audiobookDooku: Jedi LostbyCavan Scott. His touch was instrumental in articulating the creation of the Confederacy of Independent Systems (CIS) - most commonly known as the Separatists - and he really acted as a fully fledge Head of State. Maul could never.
The Duel of the Fates Allowed Darth Sidious to Gain a Stronghold Over the Galaxy
So, in the end, the Duel of the Fates earned Darth Sidious way more than he had initially bargained for. The galaxy was now fully in his hands. Politically speaking, he was now chancellor of the Republic as Sheev Palpatine, while, on the Force’s cosmic chess board, he now had the upper hand against the completely clueless Jedi Order.
For Dooku, after a lifetime of trying to warn the Jedi Council about the coming darkness, it allowed him to see the Jedi role in such darkness, which led to him to take Maul’s place and become Sidious' apprentice. Unbeknownst to him, his fate had already been sealed by the Duel of the Fates, as the rise of Anakin Skywalker would eventually mean his own downfall a few decades later. As smart as he was, Dooku still couldn’t think that far in the future, a trait only Sidious ever mastered.
