In the fourth episode of Star Wars: Tales of the Jedi, Count Dooku almost attempts to recruit Jedi Master Yaddle to help him expose the corruption of the Jedi Council. Had she accepted his offer, she could likely have turned the tide of the war in the Separatist’s favor. During their duel, which explains where Dooku was during The Phantom Menace, Yaddle pleads with Dooku and agrees with him about the Council’s shortcomings. Despite this, Dooku’s resolve is absolute, and he carries out Darth Sidious’s orders in dispatching her.

If Dooku had invested more effort into converting Yaddle to their side, their victory among the Jedi could have been almost absolute. With Yaddle’s support and leverage within the Jedi, their cause could have been far stronger than it was. Though she had just recently stepped down from her position on the Jedi High Council, Yaddle wasn’t seen as radical within the Order — something that Dooku (and his apprentice Qui-Gon Jinn) were known for. While Dooku’s defection caused a schism within the Jedi Order, Yaddle’s defection would have been tantamount to Grand Master Yoda leaving.

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Yaddle Truly Seemed To Believe Dooku's Political Arguments

Yaddle in Star Wars Tales of the Jedi

Before Yaddle discovered Dooku’s true intentions, she truly seemed to sympathize with him. Despite defending the Council’s actions in front of him, she also agreed with his dissenting views about their methods. While she says that there is no reason to cause alarm over the potential return of the Sith, she also believes that Qui-Gon’s warnings are true. When Dooku refuses to attend Qui-Gon’s funeral, she realizes that something far deeper is troubling him.

Yaddle is a character who empathized deeply with both Qui-Gon and Dooku. She saw how similar they were and how Qui-Gon embodied the best of the Jedi that taught him. On the other hand, she saw how Dooku’s bitterness was getting the better of him and how he felt cheated by the Council time and again. Her unique position in his life allowed her to see exactly why Dooku came to the conclusion about the Council that he had. Even after confronting him about his sins, she still believed there was a chance to return him to the light.

In the midst of their duel, Yaddle breaks away from Dooku and attempts to sway him one final time. She reveals that she stepped down from the High Council because of their corruption and that she believes they were wrong in not taking Qui-Gon’s warning seriously. Had the Council taken action, she says that Qui-Gon’s death could have been prevented — a fact she utilizes in the most pivotal moment in their battle. Sadly, she comes to Dooku’s conclusions about the Council far too late to be converted to their side, but if Dooku had taken the time to fully tip her, she could have been a powerful piece in Sidious’s game.

Yaddle Would Have Been The Perfect Pawn For The Sith

Palpatine Sidious Star Wars Rebels World Between Worlds

Unlike many of the other Jedi the Sith have attempted to sway to their side, Yaddle was a former Jedi High Council member who clearly had a powerful presence among the Jedi. Had she turned to Dooku’s side, she likely could have appealed to the Council directly about their shortcomings. Ultimately, when the Clone Wars began, she would have fully stepped away from the Jedi as a whole — an absence that could easily have split the remaining Jedi Order.

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Palpatine and Plagueis’s mastermind plan went almost exactly as they wanted it to. Palpatine controlled the Galactic Senate as the Chancellor, the clone army with Order 66, and the Separatists as their leader from the shadows. The one and only major group he had no moles in was the Jedi Council — and this mistake almost cost him his life at the hands of Mace Windu. Near the end of the war, Sidious appointed Anakin as his representative on the Council, but if Yaddle had converted to the dark side, his plans may have been shortened by years. With Yaddle reporting to him on the Council’s doings, he would have sway in every major ruling authority across the galaxy.

Regardless of her beliefs, Master Yaddle’s body never got a proper Jedi funeral. Her disappearance was no doubt linked to Count Dooku’s defection. But since she died at the Inquisitorious Headquarters on Coruscant, and since the Jedi know nothing about the building, Sidious and Dooku likely disposed of her body in a shameful manner rather than return her remains to the Jedi Temple. Dooku’s arc in Star Wars: Tales of the Jedi ends with him using Yaddle as a stepping stone to gain favor with the Sith, but he and Palpatine may have missed out on a valuable asset to their cause.

Next: Will There Be A Tales Of The Jedi Season 2?