Star Wars: How Dooku Proved The Greatest Difference Between Anakin & Luke

A key lightsaber duel with Dooku in the Star Wars prequel trilogy shows the biggest difference between Anakin Skywalker and his son, Luke. In the first act of Star Wars: Episode III – Revenge of the Sith, Anakin has his final duel with Count Dooku, the Sith Lord who Anakin held a grudge with for the entirety of the Clone Wars. Their fight is a direct parallel to the final duel in Return of the Jedi, in which Anakin, now Darth Vader and Dooku’s Sith replacement, clashes with Luke Skywalker as the latter struggles against the dark side and his goal of redeeming his father. Both duels feature similar scenarios and even cinematography, but their different outcomes highlight the difference between Anakin and Luke.

Return of the Jedi’s throne room sequence has some of the film’s most nuanced and emotionally haunting moments. As the Rebellion is gradually overrun on Endor and in orbit of the Forest Moon, Luke battles his father one last time, trading blows with the more experienced Sith while the Emperor goads him to embrace the dark side. After enough sustained taunting and a significant threat made by Vader, Luke briefly gives in, driving Vader back and cutting off his hand, defeating the Sith Lord.

Similarly, Anakin battles Dooku aboard the Invisible Hand while Palpatine gleefully watches. In Legends, Anakin never got over his defeat and dismemberment on Geonosis, eagerly waiting for the rematch he finally got in Revenge of the Sith. In canon, Anakin and Dooku battled numerous times, each defeat or near-victory worsening Anakin’s hatred of the Sith Lord. After gradually overpowering and dismembering Dooku, Anakin finds himself in the same position that Luke would, only the difference is how each duel concluded. Anakin gave in to the dark side’s temptation and executed the helpless Dooku, while Luke resisted the dark side and spared his father.

George Lucas cleverly recreated Richard Marquand’s cinematography in Return of the Jedi when working on Anakin and Dooku’s fight in Revenge of the Sith. The clearest example of this is the moment when Anakin drives Dooku back towards Palpatine with a series of aggressive strikes. The camera follows them as the action moves to the left, just as it did when Luke tapped into his rage and attacked Darth Vader. The purpose of this was to say that Anakin’s duel with Dooku put him in the same position as Luke in Return of the Jedi, only Luke succeeded against the dark side where Anakin failed.

Despite Anakin’s rivalry with Dooku, his years of Jedi training made him hesitant to execute a helpless enemy. As revealed in the Revenge of the Sith novelization, however, it wasn’t Palpatine’s command that compelled Anakin to kill Dooku, it was that he was given permission to do what he wanted. Without the consequences of the Republic or the Jedi Order, Anakin proved that he’d turn on his values for a vendetta.

Luke, on the other hand, had every reason to believe that his father was too far gone. Luke was never raised by Anakin and owed his values and kindness to Owen and Beru, and Darth Vader is a proven tyrant who’s killed countless Jedi, Rebels, and civilians, directly or indirectly. When Vader made a threat against Leia, Luke had every reason to kill him to protect his sister and friend, but he nevertheless spared his father, remembering the potential for redemption he felt in him. What Anakin’s duel with Dooku in the Star Wars prequels proved is that Anakin only needed an excuse to do the wrong thing while Luke refused to compromise his values, no matter what.

About The Author

David Miller
(636 Articles Published)

David Miller is a staff writer for Screen Rant, indie comic writer, and life-long lover of all things Star Wars, Marvel, and DC. He was born and raised in New York and has a degree in English from Rider University. He relates to Peter Parker maybe a little too much.

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