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When Anakin killed Dooku, he said he shouldn't have done that and it's not the Jedi way, but when they got back to Coruscant, he was praised by Obi-Wan for killing Dooku.

I don't get it. Was it actually a good and moral thing to do? Obi-Wan is a 'by the books' type for Jedi and yet he seems to find it okay. And it seems no one really was bothered by it.

Null
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bmarkham
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2 Answers2

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Obi-Wan was unconscious when Anakin killed Dooku (Obi-Wan had been knocked out earlier in the fight), so he didn't see that Anakin executed Dooku. Obi-Wan praised Anakin for his victory over Dooku without realizing how Anakin had killed him.

The only witness to Dooku's execution was Palpatine, so none of the Jedi knew Anakin had executed Dooku. The Jedi thought Anakin had defeated Dooku in armed combat, which is acceptable to the Jedi.

Executing an unarmed man like Anakin did, however, is not the Jedi way, good, or moral. Palpatine (secretly a Sith Lord) encouraged Anakin to do it in order to draw Anakin closer to the dark side. When Anakin admitted that his execution of Dooku was not the "Jedi way", Palpatine replied:

It is only natural. He cut off your arm, and you wanted revenge. It wasn't the first time, Anakin. Remember what you told me about your mother and the Sand People.

This was another step in Anakin's journey to the dark side.

Null
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  • Praised Anakin without realizing he killed Dooku? Can you explain? I believe in the movie he said "And you killed Count Dooku" and in the novel he said ""My young friend is too modest; he killed Count Dooku." Smiling, Kenobi touched the lump on his head. "I was... taking a nap."" – bmarkham Dec 30 '15 at 06:14
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    @bmarkham He praised Anakin without realizing how Anakin killed Dooku. – Null Dec 30 '15 at 06:15
  • Ah "HOW he killed" misread it – bmarkham Dec 30 '15 at 06:15
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    Unarmed.... I see what you did there ;) +1. – David says Reinstate Monica Dec 30 '15 at 15:17
  • @DavidGrinberg :) – Null Dec 30 '15 at 15:30
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    I'll explain better. Obi-wan assumed that Dooku was killed during the fight, as it happened with 500 storm troopers. That is acceptable, because he posed a threat. On the other hand, a man who was already defeated could be imprisoned (which was the ideal scenario), but Palpatine had different plans (Not only drawing Anakin to the dark side, but making sure Dooku wouldn't reveal that Palpatine was Sidious) – Oak Dec 30 '15 at 18:24
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    Except that Mace Windu was about to execute the seemingly unarmed and helpless Palpatine before Anakin stopped him. – dramzy Dec 31 '15 at 00:31
  • @dramzy Indeed, Mace Windu is a giant hypocrite. It was all for the greater good, don't you know? The Jedi can't possibly do anything wrong. – Null Dec 31 '15 at 02:40
  • @Null: In Windu's defense, he does mention that "Senate and courts are under his influence", so imprisoning him was basically equal to just letting him go. – Sergio Tulentsev Dec 31 '15 at 08:15
  • @SergioTulentsev That's a convenient claim on Windu's part, but it's not necessarily true. Publicly exposing Palpatine as a Sith Lord would turn the public against him, and not even the Senate and courts would be able to save Palpatine. The Jedi, as always, are willing to ignore their own rules when it suits them. – Null Dec 31 '15 at 15:06
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As mentioned, Dooku had been disarmed and executed instead of killed in combat, however he was still a threat due to his force powers and the fact Anakin was alone with an important hostage and his unconscious master in an enemy ship.

It seems similar to this thread in terms of the situation Anakin was in.

Is it "the Jedi way" to kill a defenseless being if they pose a sufficient threat?

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