The Jedi backstory of Count Dooku and his once-padawan Qui-Gon Jinn was explored in the Star Wars Legends continuity and rewritten in the post-2014 canon timeline. The connection between one of the Star Wars saga’s most powerful villains and Obi-Wan Kenobi’s Jedi Master was revealed in Star Wars: Episode II: Attack of the Clones, providing fascinating material for non-movie material in both the canon and Legends continuities. Dooku and Qui-Gon had many common traits, making them a fitting duo, but while Dooku became fed up with the Jedi Order and the Galactic Republic over time, Qui-Gon remained true to the Force, avoiding the corrupting influence of the dark side, unlike Dooku.

The Star Wars prequel trilogy films were released at a time where Legends (called the Expanded Universe at the time) was the official timeline of the franchise. The Legends material explored lore that the films mentioned and filled in the gaps between them, enriching the Star Wars saga. In 2014, the Legends continuity became an alternate timeline, cleaning the slate (aside from the original six saga films and 2008’s Star Wars: The Clone Wars) and allowing for the new canon timeline often to create reimagined versions of material covered in Legends, including the backstory and relationship between Count Dooku and Qui-Gon Jinn.

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Qui-Gon Jinn, played memorably by Liam Neeson, led the ensemble cast of protagonists in Star Wars: Episode I – The Phantom Menace, mentored Obi-Wan Kenobi, and brought Anakin Skywalker into the Jedi Order. Qui-Gon was shown to be often at odds with the Jedi Council, though he remained true to the Order’s altruistic ideals. Count Dooku was already the Sith Lord Darth Tyranus by the time he’s introduced in Attack of the Clones, though his fall to the dark side was motivated by frustration with the Republic and Jedi Order’s flaws, making his similarities to his late former padawan clear. Though Legends and canon have different depictions of their backstory, both timelines show a strong bond between Dooku and Qui-Gon that honors their portrayals in the films.

Qui-Gon and Dooku's Backstory In Legends

Qui gon Jinn Count Dooku Star Wars attack of the clones

The origin of Qui-Gon’s apprenticeship under Dooku was explored in the 2003 book Legacy of the Jedi. Even as a Jedi youngling, Qui-Gon was a skilled duelist, winning a lightsaber combat tournament and earning the respect of Dooku. Dooku chose to train Qui-Gon as his padawan after the tournament, believing that Jinn had a bright future (which Dooku believed would be beneficial to his Jedi career as well). Dooku was intense and distant, even as a Jedi in the Legends continuity, which understandably intimidated the young Qui-Gon. Nevertheless, Dooku was consistently impressed by Qui-Gon’s Jedi skill and his independent nature, which Dooku cultivated.

Dooku and Qui-Gon went on numerous dangerous missions together, such as pursuing Lorian Nod, a former Jedi who became a dangerous criminal leader. What might have forged a close friendship for other Master and padawan duos didn’t close the emotional distance between Qui-Gon and Dooku, unfortunately. Dooku appreciated Jinn’s strength but instilled harsh lessons, such as the belief in the inevitability of betrayal. When Qui-Gon became a Jedi, he and Dooku rarely interacted, and Qui-Gon, unsurprisingly, defied his former master’s insistence on rejecting friendship. Jinn disliked Dooku’s cold demeanor and resolved to have a different approach when taking on an apprentice. Qui-Gon and his padawan Obi-Wan Kenobi had a completely different dynamic, and the master taught the student the importance of compassion, and the two became friends. Obi-Wan saw Qui-Gon as a brother by the end of his training.

Although Qui-Gon never felt close with him, Dooku was quite fond of his former pupil, and Jinn’s death on Naboo devastated him. The 2012 Legends novel Darth Plagueis showed Dooku’s gradual fall to the dark side in detail, and his feelings on the death of Qui-Gon contributed to this fall from grace. Already growing increasingly frustrated by the Republic’s failure to represent its people and the Jedi Order’s shortsighted overinvolvement in its politics, Dooku finally left the Order, eventually become a Sith Lord (and, ironically, the successor to Qui-Gon’s murderer, Darth Maul).

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Qui-Gon and Dooku's Backstory In Canon

Star Wars Qui Gon Jinn Count Dooku

In canon, Qui-Gon’s tutelage under Dooku was detailed in the two novels Master & Apprentice and Dooku: Jedi Lost. A key difference between the canon and Legends iterations is that Dooku didn’t choose Qui-Gon as his apprentice, they were simply assigned to each other when Qui-Gon was ready to become a padawan. Like the Legends version, however, Qui-Gon was intimidated by Dooku, though his honesty about these feelings earned the Jedi Master’s respect. In canon, Dooku and Qui-Gon had a similar relationship, though Dooku was perhaps more personable to Qui-Gon than his Legends counterpart. Moreover, Qui-Gon was not the first Jedi whom Dooku trained in canon, with Rael Averross preceding him.

Qui-Gon was friendly with Averross, often speaking to and connecting with him when Dooku was unavailable (both figuratively and literally). Unlike his Legends counterpart, Dooku never tried to instill in Qui-Gon a rejection of trust and friendship, but Jinn witnessed his master’s darker side another way. On a mission to Numidian Prime, Qui-Gon was nearly killed by the bounty hunter Shenda Mol. Dooku saved his padawan’s life by using the Sith power of Force lightning on Mol. Qui-Gon was, understandably, disturbed, but Dooku once again demonstrated that he was closer with Qui-Gon in canon than in Legends. By using Force lightning, Dooku crossed a line that few Jedi would dare to cross for the sake of saving his padawan’s life.

Another major difference between the canon and Legends backstories was how Qui-Gon’s death related to Dooku’s departure from the Jedi Order. In canon, Dooku left the Jedi well before Qui-Gon’s death, reclaiming his rule over his homeworld of Serenno before eventually joining the Sith Order, becoming Darth Tyranus. It’s not clear when Dooku learned of his former padawan’s murder, but it didn’t contribute to Dooku leaving the Jedi. Moreover, the canon one-shot comic Age of Republic - Count Dooku shows Dooku, now a Sith, somberly reflecting on Jinn’s death, but this sadness was a ruse to gain sympathy and trust from the Jedi Knight Jak'zin. In Legends, Count Dooku’s grief over Qui-Gon’s death was one of the reasons he lost faith in the Jedi and turned to the Sith. When the Star Wars canon timeline rewrote their backstory, Dooku had long abandoned the Jedi by the time Qui-Gon perished.

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