#Labyrinth of Evil

[charmwasjess]

woke up thinking about that scene in Labyrinth of Evil where Yoda rightly points out how if you think about it, Dooku had less than zero practical reasons for calling off his guard escort and halting his escape from Geonosis to enjoy a silly lightsaber duel with Anakin and Obi-Wan. You know, the whole point is to escape capture, if something went wrong there, the CIS is dead on arrival, plus the duel proves Dooku is a martial dark side user and not just a political enemy.

And Yoda's conclusion, having known Dooku better and longer than anyone living? The reason was simply that Dooku couldn't resist an opportunity to show off in front of his lineage. It wasn't a tactical play, it was just his batshit awful personality.

[magnusbae]

As per usual, normal behaviour in: Labyrinth of Evil +Bonus Obi-Wan asks Anakin if he captured Gunray and Anakin tells him that the entire entourage had escaped:

[jennasvamp]

rereading labyrinth of evil and obi wan is constantly at the end of his tether with anakin im giggling

“and who’ll worry about you if i don’t?” poor baby😭😭😭

“without a head i wouldn’t have much mind left now would i?” OBI WAN😭😭😭😭

[kingofattolia]

Obi-Wan, with a single-step plan he came up with 0.4 milliseconds ago: Qui-Gon could never

[crionic-dubs]

“I never claimed to be the Chosen One. That was Qui-Gon. Even the Council doesn’t believe it anymore, so why should you?” "Because I think you believe it,” Obi-Wan said calmly. “I think you know in your heart that you’re meant for something extraordinary.” “And you, Master. What does your heart tell you you’re meant for?” “Infinite sadness,” Obi-Wan said, even while smiling.

James Luceno, Star Wars: Labyrinth of Evil

[skywalkr-nberrie]

It’s the way Padmé has to distract herself with work because that’s what’s expected of her, but she’s constantly thinking about Anakin 👌

I love the mention of how both Anakin and Padmé are able to sense each other because of their deep connection, and this delightful call back of TPM with Padmé remembering the first dinner she and Anakin shared on Tatooine and how it makes her “smile.” Padmé truly cherishes those memories of when she first met Anakin and even Shmi. It’s a sweet telling of how much she thought of them both in the years they were separated.

[comebackali]

The council, pointing at Anakin’s obvious anger issues and deeply problematic relationship with Palpatine: This doesn’t seem right to me.

Obi wan: How dare you?? You have the nerve, the AUDACITY…

[legacy-expo]

Did you ever hear of the tragedy of Darth Plagueis the wise? It’s not a story the Jedi would tell you…but we know someone who would. We're so excited to welcome James Luceno to Legacy Expo this September 13th & 14th in Burbank, CA! Luceno is known for authoring Labyrinth of Evil, Cloak of Deception, Darth Plagueis, several New Jedi Order novels, and so many more favorites.

Tickets to Legacy Expo are available now - make sure to get yours so you can join us as well!

[thequeerlibrarian]

I'm totally normal about Obi-Wan & Anakin in Labyrinth of Evil

"This one is going to kill me" Obi-Wan muttered. But he didn't care about his own fate, rather: What if Anakin gets killed?

"When are you finally learning to trust me?"

"I trust you. I just can't keep up with you."

"Stay close to me."

"Do I have a choice?"

"Of course, Master."

"Anakin" he says, amused, "lovely to see you." When Anakin reached him, his former Master collapsed into his arms.

[banjodroid]

Me looking at obi-wan say hes “destined for infinite sadness” in LoE, knowing that 26 years ago when he was only an initiate yoda told him he sensed a kinder destiny for him:

[astralmaenad]

reading the labyrinth of evil... what do you mean they have an established routine where Obi-Wan always plays the bait??

now I desperately need the adventures of Bait-Wan and Rescuekin please

[charmwasjess]

could you elaborate more on that passage from Labriynthe of Evil with Dooku showing Grevious footage of Anakin and Obis saber skills? Really like your writing on lightsaber forms and Dooku and why favors Makashi.

Absolutely! Thank you for such a fun ask! :D I love this kind of thing.

It looks like I was actually a little off, at least in the exact passage from Luceno’s Labyrinth of Evil I was thinking of. He just wishes Grievous was there to see:

Initially, it had cheered him to observe that Skywalker and Kenobi had finally learned to fight together; to see how powerful they had become in partnership. Complementing each other’s strengths, compensating for each other’s weaknesses. Kenobi making full use of his inherent discretion to balance young Skywalker’s inattentive rowdiness. He could have watched them until the light faded on fair Tythe. And he wished that General Grievous could have been there to witness the display for himself.  

This is funny because of several reasons. 

Dooku just literally had a ceiling collapse on top of him and is slightly concussed. God, this marvelous dizzy bitch, dragging himself out from under chunks of duracrete to think about how pretty the lightsabers are

He mentions only “initially” being cheered by this display because his next thought in the lines after this is that the Jedi could really win this war and what will he do and could he possibly go crawling back to the Jedi?? –Yoda said he’d take him back, but then he thinks no, he’s gone too deep in the dark side and he can’t come home after that

It’s a fascinating portrait of the character at the end of his life: his hopelessness and aimlessness on the literal eve of Revenge of the Sith. How isolated he is. He has no one to talk to, not even the likes of Grievous. How taking a moment to nerd out about the lightsaber forms is this little distracted treat he saves for himself in a particularly bleak moment. 

You can really see the seeds of Dooku losing his final battle here. His Makashi depends on his aggression and precision to keep the relative delicacy and lack of defense in the form up on its feet, but Dooku is going into this fight in a daze - distracted with nostalgia, demoralized, and questioning.   

To move onto wider lightsaber thoughts, I think this section also gives us another interesting insight into how much individual Jedi’s personalities go into their lightsaber styles. He thinks about the ways Obi-Wan and Anakin's fighting styles adapt to their individual traits, how much the form is actually in conversation with their wider relationship. And it’s remarkable how well Dooku actually seems to know Obi-Wan and Anakin as people here to recognize the aspects of their personality coming out in the fighting. His lineage. His future killers. 

Bonus Round

Here’s a snippet from an earlier LoE chapter where Dooku is eavesdropping on the same recording and being charmed by Anakin and Obi-Wan’s sassy banter:

“--beginning to  … things almost as much … I hate sand,” Skywalker was saying to his former mentor as he raised his lightsaber over one shoulder.

Kenovi spread his legs and brought his blade directly in front of him. “Then…. sweep up.”

Touched by their camaraderie, Dooku smiled to himself. 

Dooku, you are the truly patron saint of self-inflicted loneliness. 

[magnusbae]

Labyrinth of Evil by James Luceno

[redsandspirit]

Matthew Stover ruined Dooku

It is perhaps generally accepted that Revenge of the Sith novelization by Matthew Stover is one of the best books ever written in the Star Wars universe, if not the best. It's not hard to see why, since in many ways the story is head and shoulders above the movie, and Anakin Skywalker is, in my opinion, better captured by the author than anywhere else in the Expanded Universe. Still, I can't say that I was completely satisfied with the novel. Count Dooku is one of my favorite EU characters and I was saddened by how he was portrayed by Stover.

Xenophobia

Matthew Stover's Darth Tyranus is a terrible xenophobe, who never fails to remind the reader of this even during conversations with his colleagues such as Grievous and Darth Sidious. He deeply believes that creating the Empire of Man is what he was born to do? Seriously? Dooku is so evil in this book that it seems as if he would have been able to carry out all of Palpatine's plans exactly to the smallest detail without the participation of Palpatine himself. I think Stover here erases the complexity of the character that Jude Watson and Sean Stewart were able to create, and that's something we'll come back to.

A government clean, pure, direct: none of the messy scramble for the favor of ignorant rabble and subhuman creatures that made up the Republic he so despised. The government he would serve would be Authority personified. Human authority. It was no accident that the primary powers of the Confederacy of Independent Systems were Neimoidian, Skakoan, Quarren and Aqualish, Muun and Gossam, Sy Myrthian and Koorivar and Geonosian. At war’s end the aliens would be crushed, stripped of all they possessed, and their systems and their wealth would be given into the hands of the only beings who could be trusted with them. Human beings. Dooku would serve an Empire of Man. And he would serve it as only he could. As he was born to. - Revenge of the Sith, 2

In the novels written before Revenge of the Sith, we saw many important episodes from Dooku's past, and there were no premises for xenophobia. As a child, he was constantly dealing with other sentient species in the Jedi Order, and his father figure was a literal gremlin. One of Dooku's childhood friends was Eero Iridian, who is also not human. Darth Tyranus shows some remorse due to the fact that he and Darth Sidious took advantage of the Troxans (a non-human species) to drain the Republic's resources. This definitely doesn't fit with the way in RotS Dooku gleefully imagines crushing non-humans under the new government.

“These are the envoys from Troxar,” his Master said. How could he know? Dooku didn’t ask. Darth Sidious knew. He always knew.“They are considering surrender,” Dooku said. “They claim they have a resistance planned, ready to rise in insurrection when the clone troops withdraw.” “No!” the flickering figure said sharply. “The war has already damaged the planet too much to make it worth saving. Its only value now is to chew up more troops and resources. Tell them they have to fight on. Promise them reinforcements—tell them you will be deploying a new fleet of advanced droids to retake the whole system within a month, if only they can hold on. Explain that such weapons will not be put in the hands of those who surrender.” “And when the month passes, and no reinforcements arrive?” “Help will come within another month at most. Promise them that, and make them believe it. I’ve shown you how.” “I understand,” Dooku said. How casually we betray our creatures. The hooded figure cocked its head. “Having an attack of conscience, my apprentice?” “No, Master.” He met the hooded figure’s hideous eye. “It was their own greed that brought them to you,” he said. “In their heart of hearts, they always knew what they were getting into.” - Yoda: Dark Rendezvous, 1

Technophobia

The next uncharacteristic trait that was added to the character is technophobia. Anakin Skywalker's prosthetic arm disgusts Dooku, and he almost spits bile while talking to Grievous. The aristocrat hates not only cyborgs, but also ordinary droids, calling them “repulsive” and hoping that they will be destroyed along with the General.

“Which is precisely,” Dooku said meditatively, “why it might be best if I were to kill him, instead.” “Are you so certain that you can?” “Please. Of what use is power unstructured by discipline? The boy is as much a danger to himself as he is to his enemies. And that mechanical arm—” Dooku’s lip curled with cultivated distaste. “Revolting.” “Then perhaps you should have spared his real arm.” “Hmp. A gentleman would have learned to fight one-handed.” Dooku flicked a dismissive wave. “He’s no longer even entirely human. With Grievous, the use of these bio-droid devices is almost forgivable; he was such a disgusting creature already that his mechanical parts are clearly an improvement. But a blend of droid and human? Appalling. The depths of bad taste. How are we to justify associating with him?” - Revenge of the Sith, 2

Dooku nodded judiciously to himself, frowning down at the translucent blue ghosts slinking toward Palpatine. “Sound the retreat for the entire strike force, General, and prepare the ship for jump. Once the Jedi are dead, I will join you on the bridge.”“As my lord commands. Grievous out.” “Indeed you are, you vile creature,” Dooku muttered to the dead comlink. “Out of luck, and out of time.” He cast the comlink aside and ignored its clatter across the deck. He had no further use for it. Let it be destroyed along with Grievous, those repulsive bodyguards of his, and the rest of the cruiser, once he was safely captured and away. - Revenge of the Sith, 3

Why doesn't this make sense? As with xenophobia, the previous books and comics do not contain any hints that Dooku has disdain or hatred towards people with prosthetics and cyborgs. Moreover, when Grievous proposed using Geonosian technology on the Jedi Padawans for experimental purposes, Dooku approved the idea. Not to mention, the Sith Lord enjoyed Grievous' training.

Grievous had been a delight to train, as well. - Labyrinth of Evil, 22

Love and friendship

Next, Stover gaslights the reader by talking about the friendship between Dooku and Lorian Nod. Because if we go back to Legacy of the Jedi, it turns out that Dooku wasn't such a bad friend. He cares about Lorian and tries to be careful with his words so as not to hurt his feelings. Then after Lorian betrayed Dooku by blaming him for stealing the holocron, did Dooku worry about his reputation? Sure, but what unsettled him was that he was betrayed by someone so close to him. Even after what happened, he considers Nod his friend and cannot decide to refuse his request.

He doesn’t remember quite when he discovered this; it may have been when he was a young Padawan, betrayed by another learner who had claimed to be his friend. Lorian Nod had said it to his face: “You don’t know what friendship is.” And he didn’t. He had been angry, certainly; furious that his reputation had been put at risk. And he had been angry at himself, for his error in judgment: trusting as an ally one who was in fact an enemy. The most astonishing part of the whole affair had been that even after turning on him before the Jedi, the other boy had expected him to participate in a lie, in the name of their “friendship.” - Revenge of the Sith, 3

His best friend had betrayed him. Throughout the years at the Temple, he could always depend on Lorian. They had shared jokes and secrets. They had competed and helped each other. They had quarreled and made up. The fact that this person could betray him shocked him so deeply he felt sick. Legacy of the Jedi, 3

Dooku didn't know what to say. He wasn't prepared to lie, but he couldn't say no to his friend. So he said nothing, and, after a long while, the two friends fell asleep. Legacy of the Jedi, 3

Was Dooku the perfect friend? Of course not, and his pride played a role in escalating the conflict, as did Lorian’s envy, but to reduce everything to the words that “Dooku was different and did not understand friendship” I think is a monstrous simplification. The loss of his friend played a big role in Dooku's life, and that's how the story ends.

Lorian had been wrong. Dooku's heart hadn't been empty. He had loved his friend. But he had changed. Lorian had betrayed him. He would never believe in friendship again. If his heart was now empty of love, so be it. The Jedi did not believe in attachments. He would fill his heart with nobility and passion and commitment. He would become a great Jedi Master. Legacy of the Jedi, 6

We further learn that Dooku cannot care about the feelings of other beings and does not even see those around him as entirely real. Now, I don't by any means think that characters with these traits are a bad thing, or that you can't do something interesting with them, but that's not Dooku. We've seen how important his relationships with some of the other characters are to him (there's a whole novel written about him and Yoda), and that he cares to some extent about the feelings of those around him. Moreover, Stover will not explore these new traits, because Dooku will die in the next chapter anyway.

He is entirely incapable of caring what any given creature might feel for him. He cares only what that creature might do for him. Or to him. Very possibly, he is what he is because other beings just aren’t very … interesting. Or even, in a sense, entirely real. For Dooku, other beings are mostly abstractions, simple schematic sketches who fall into two essential categories. - Revenge of the Sith, 3

Jedi Order

Stover's Dooku ideal Jedi Order would forcibly remove Force-sensitive children from their families. Perhaps it's just my opinion, but it seems strange in light of the fact that his rejection trauma, as described by Sean Stewart, is related to his parents and the Jedi Order.

And that Fist would become a power beyond any Jedi’s darkest dreams. The Jedi were not the only users of the Force in the galaxy; from Hapes to Haruun Kal, from Kiffu to Dathomir, powerful Force-capable humans and near-humans had long refused to surrender their children to lifelong bound servitude in the Jedi Order. They would not so refuse the Sith Army. They would not have the choice. - Revenge of the Sith, 2

Ultimately, I can make the case that the ending of Yoda: Dark Rendezvous may have served to develop Dooku and make him even more bitter, but that doesn't justify the radical personality transplant Matthew Stover performed. And now, I often see these lines used to say that Dooku was always pure evil, had no good intentions and was always pretending, and also see questions like "as a human supremacist, what did Dooku think of Yoda?" And how can we know? All of these things were added to the character at the last minute and didn't match anything we'd seen before. This is not my Dooku.

[jewishcissiekj]

actually I love Labyrinth of Evil this book fucks

[kingofattolia]

YOU THOUGHT I WAS JOKING

Obi-Wan: Attachment? How dare you. Anakin is the Chosen One, born to restore balance to the Force, so it must be the highest goal of ANY Jedi to see that he survives at all costs. Therefore I am merely fulfilling my disinterested, sacred duty — as anyone ought — by protecting him from harm, and defending him to the Council, and turning a blind eye to his marriage, and making sure he eats and gets adequate rest, because sometimes he pushes himself too hard, and keeping the temperature of the ship up high because he gets cold easily, and watching his favorite holofilms for the 600th time—