Jedi Master Mace Windu killed three Sith Acolytes offscreen in Star Wars: Episode II – Attack of the Clones, which might have had a major impact on Count Dooku’s escape from Geonosis. After a millennium of undermining the Jedi Order and the Galactic Republic in secret, the Sith Lords revealed their survival to the Jedi Order when Darth Maul briefly dueled Qui-Gon Jinn on Tatooine. In the decade following the Invasion of Naboo, Count Dooku (Darth Tyranus) succeeded Darth Maul and worked with his master, Palpatine (Darth Sidious), to execute the Sith grand plan, recruiting multiple unofficial Sith in the process.
As per Darth Bane’s Rule of Two, there can only be two Dark Lords of the Sith at a time. Unsurprisingly, some Sith bent or broke this rule, with Palpatine and Darth Plagueis training Darth Maul and granting him official Sith Lordship, despite Maul only functionally being a Sith assassin. During the Separatist Crisis and the Clone Wars, Palpatine and Count Dooku trained many Force-sensitives to use the dark side, making them Sith in all but name. These Sith Acolytes were extremely dangerous, serving as elite agents of the CIS, yet they were, ultimately, expendable.
Dooku Secretly Had Three Sith Acolytes In Attack Of The Clones
Count Dooku had many Dark Acolytes during the Clone Wars. Some of Dooku’s pawns were former Jedi who defected to the Sith and the CIS due to frustration with the Republic and Jedi Order (like Dooku himself) and others simply fell to the dark side and were drawn to Sith philosophy and culture. Others were non-Jedi Force-sensitives who were simply recruited and trained by Dooku. Asajj Ventress is easily the most iconic of the Separatist Dark Acolytes, with Ventress having been raised by a Jedi on her homeworld of Rattatak before Count Dooku sought her out and recruited her.
Asajj Ventress is a Rattataki whose wherabouts after the Clone Wars are unknown in the Legends continuity. In the modern canon, Ventress is a Dathomiran Nightsister who somehow survived a fatal Force lightning attack.
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The earliest known Dark Acolytes saw action during the Battle of Geonosis, with Sev’rance Tann leading CIS forces to create an escape route for her Sith master. Three anonymous Dark Acolytes also fought in the battle, similarly ensuring Count Dooku’s escape. The three each operated Sith Enforcers – powerful Separatist hover tanks designed exclusively for Sith – as they guarded Dooku’s hangar. Like Sev’rance Tann, the trio of Dark Acolytes were invaluable to Count Dooku’s successful escape from Republic forces on Geonosis, and thus the spread of the Clone Wars itself.
Mace Windu's Battle With The Sith Acolytes Explained
The Dark Acolyte Trio has only a single appearance in the Star Wars Legends continuity: the 2002 video game Star Wars: The Clone Wars, which allows players to experience both the Battle of Geonosis and the Dark Reaper Crisis. The game reveals Mace Windu’s offscreen role in the Battle of Geonosis, with Windu commanding the crew of a Republic Gunship and piloting a TX-130 Saber-class fighter tank, assisting the Clone Army with destroying Techno Union Hardcell transports and Trade Federation core ships. At the end of the battle, however, Windu takes his tank to Dooku’s hangar to capture the Sith Lord.
The Dark Acolyte Trio blocks Mace Windu from confronting Count Dooku and a battle ensues. Mace Windu kills all three Sith Acolytes, but the battle delays him from intervening in Dooku’s duels with Obi-Wan, Anakin, and Yoda. Mace Windu’s battle with the three Acolytes is particularly notable for being one of the few battles between Jedi and Sith that is not a lightsaber duel, with both parties exclusively using their respective hover tanks.
Dooku Lost His Acolytes... But Was Saved From Defeat
Mace Windu’s battle with the Dark Acolyte Trio is not only notable for its vehicular nature, but also its prevention of a drastically different ending to Attack of the Clones. The Sith Acolytes – despite being killed by Mace Windu – did exactly what the Sith Lord needed by delaying Windu from reaching the hangar. Had the Dark Acolyte Trio not been guarding the hangar to impede Windu, he would have joined his fellow Jedi in battling Dooku.
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Count Dooku is one of the finest duelists and dark side practitioners in Darth Bane’s Sith dynasty, but even he would likely fall to the combined might of Yoda and Mace Windu. If not for the Sith Acolytes, Dooku would have been captured and thus the Separatists would immediately lose their most charismatic political leader as well as one of their most important figures for growing the CIS. In this alternate ending to Star Wars: Episode II – Attack of the Clones, Palpatine would almost certainly be forced to free Dooku to ensure that the galaxy is ravaged by Clone Wars.
The Mandalorian & Grogu | May 22, 2026 |
Years after the events of The Phantom Menace, the Skywalker Saga continues with Star Wars: Episode II - Attack of the Clones. When Senator Padme Amidala's life is threatened, Jedi Knights Obi-Wan Kenobi and Anakin Skywalker are tasked with her protection. While Obi-Wan uncovers a clone army made in secret, Anakin falls in love with Padme, marking the beginning of his inevitable fall to the dark side of the Force.
Release Date May 16, 2002
Distributor(s) 20th Century
Runtime 142 Minutes
Budget $115 Million
English (US) ·