Dooku was wayy more delusional that Anakin/Vader ever was. And this is from someone who is very Anakin critical.

Look, I don't support Anakin in rots in any way but like from his perspective there was at least a reasonable chance that Palpatine would actually save Padme, so if you understand his motivation as 'wanting Padme to not die while not giving a fuck about the Jedi' it sort of makes sense not that it's right in any way but you know what I'm talking about

On the other hand, try applying just any motivation to Dooku and no matter what you try, his actions fall apart.

He wanted to expose the corruption in the Senate? Sure, let's work for the guy that is responsible for that corruption instead of, y'know, letting the Jedi/public/just about anyone know about it an remove him.

He wanted to reform the Jedi? Okay, let's work for the guy whose goal is to destroy the Jedi.

He wanted revenge for Qui-gon? I don't know how many mental gymnastics you have to do to justify this but. Dooku. literally worked for the guy who ordered him killed.

Wait, you mean that Dooku is actually evil and he wanted to put himself in power? Yeah, starting a galatic wide war and purposely losing it is definitely the way to do that.

HOWEVER, I do think we can poke some holes in the Anakin side of this. I think you're right about Dooku and how delusional he is and how much he is sabotaging himself, but I don't know if I totally agree that Anakin's motives are MORE reasonable.

For one, it's fairly clear from Anakin's dialogue that his motive is never JUST "save Padme from dying." Even when speaking TO PADME later, he makes it very clear that a major aspect of his choice is that he believes he can eliminate Palpatine and take over the Empire from him and become the most powerful person in the galaxy. And THAT'S Anakin's actual core motivation. What he ACTUALLY WANTS is to be more powerful than anyone else so that no one else can ever have power over him again, and "saving Padme" was just the excuse he needed to justify what was necessary to ACHIEVE his actual goal.

But even if we ignore that obvious actual motivation and JUST pretend that his motive is "save Padme," let's take another look at why that was equally delusional. Sure, Palpatine MIGHT have had some kind of knowledge of a way to save Padme, but Anakin is having to TRUST that Palpatine is telling the truth about that and, even if he is telling the truth, that Palpatine will actually TELL Anakin about it and teach him how to do it. And this is a dude that Anakin now knows has been LYING TO HIM FOR YEARS, has been lying to the entire GALAXY for years, and has been literally manipulating the entire Republic into giving him power while forcing them into a galactic civil war that he is running both sides of. There is NO WAY that this person should be trusted to be telling the truth OR trusted to hand over any of his secrets and power to someone else even if he DOES have a way to keep people from dying. Anakin's choice to trust that Palpatine isn't manipulating him and lying to him YET AGAIN when he has very direct, clear evidence of how much Palpatine has ALREADY BEEN LYING TO AND MANIPUALTING him is absolutely delusional.

So even if his motivation WERE just "save Padme," even if we pretend that there MIGHT have been a chance that Palpatine had a way to save Padme, the fact that Anakin chooses to trust Palpatine in any way at all is such a massive delusion and it destroys everything around him. It also destroys everything Padme HERSELF ever cared for and, even if somehow everything had worked out the way Anakin wanted and he'd been able to "save" Padme from dying in childbirth, he'd have lost her anyway probably. That relationship would never have been the same again because she'd never be able to look at him the same way again even if she stayed with him.

But since his motive is ALSO to try to take over the Empire and eliminate Palpatine, you have to consider how delusional Anakin is about his own skills and powers. This is a man who has successfully maneuvered his way into power over and over again, an extremely powerful Sith Lord who has survived multiple other apprentices and killed his own master, and a man who has to be very aware that Anakin is going to want to try to overthrow him and believes he can survive that, too. The amount of delusion Anakin has in his ability to overthrow Palpatine is IMMENSE, and it's a delusion that Palpatine has intentionally encouraged and built up in him specifically to MAKE Anakin overconfident in himself, enough that he's often going to throw himself into situations that he isn't strong enough to overcome.

I'd image having an alien who relies so heavily on cycles and repeated patterns in order to function normally would be mind-boggling to the Eridians. What do you mean it celebrates the exact day of its birth every so often, just because? Wait we need to program a reliable change in light levels to simulate its planet, which has almost no atmosphere? And we have to schedule any interactions we have with it around this cycle? Wait it tracks its age by the scientific year, not by life experience and physical aging?

I like big butts and I cannot lie ©

a dragon seeking warmth

inspired by this new favorite picture of mine