Tales of the Jedi: Episode 3: Choices
What is it ? : Dooku and Mace Windu have been dispatched to the world Raxus Secundus to retrieve the body of a dead Jedi, Katri. Mace intends to do exactly as instructed, whereas Dooku isn't happy with just bringing her body back, he wants to know how she died.
They discover that she was killed in an ambush of the Senator she was assigned to protect, Larik. Dooku investigates further, asking to be taken to the scene of the ambush in the forests. There he and Mace notice that the attack seemed to come from the landing site, and that the shuttle has no marks on it from the attack. Pressing further, Larik shouts out that his own guards attacked him before the guards gun him down.
The guards attack the two Jedi, who easily defeat them, and interrogate their leader, Semage, who reveals that they knew that Larik was corrupt, and intended to blackmail him to better serve Raxus Secundus. They are jailed, but Dooku tells them to not give up on the good fight.
Returning to Coruscant, they attend Katri's funeral, and afterwards Dooku confronts Mace as to him being given Katri's seat on the Jedi Council, accusing Mace of already knowing about the appointment before they went. But Mace deflects the question, instead saying that he will use his new position to speak on Dooku's behalf since he disobeyed orders, which led to the death of a Senator. . . .
High Points : While not as good as the episodes either side of it, this continues the story of Dooku's understandable slide to the Dark Side. And offers a fantastic comparison between Dooku and Mace, adding to the one done previously between Dooku and Qui-Gon. Mace and Dooku both are on the edge emotionally of the Dark Side, both can give into anger, whereas Qui-Gon is a much calmer character not given to anger or rage at all. In comparison, both Dooku and Qui-Gon break the rules, seeing their limitations and acting as they feel is right instead of how they are told to act. This compares to Mace, who is a stickler for following the rules.
This lets us see why those rules are in place, as Qui-Gon makes them look pointless, as he breaks the rules, but never suffers any ill-consequences, where this episode shows us the rules exist to keep someone like Dooku from falling to the Dark Side. Qui-Gon is extremely unlikely to ever be tempted, and Mace follows the rules so avoids temptation as well, but the combination of being a free spirit, and suffering from, some may say it righteous, anger issues leads Dooku towards the Dark Side.
Low Points : Mace doesn't come over in this episode well, it looks as if he's sticking to the rules to get a promotion, making him look opportunistic and power hungry, which I don't think they intended.
Also as a linking piece between episode 2 and 4 of Tales of the Jedi, this episode is important, but doesn't excite. Instead just providing us with a continuing theme, which we saw the powerful beginnings of last time, and the consequences of next time.
So what do you really think ? : An enjoyable enough episode, but it really doesn't feel as impactful as the last, and Dooku seems to get penalised for investigating why one of his colleagues was murdered, which doesn't seem very Jedi Order.
Final Words : This block of 3 episodes really humanises Dooku and makes you understand, and probably agree with his reasons for turning to the Dark Side and joining Palpatine in destroying the Republic and the Jedi Order. Making it truly because he wants both rebuilt in a kinder, less corrupt fashion.
Score : 8.5/10
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