Originally posted by xPRIMExThe page before the novel states Dooku allowed himself to relax and go back to being playful right then and there is when Sidious started to goad Anakin into getting a rage boner. In fact the novel states at the very final instant Dooku was in bewildered astonishment. What does that mean you ask? It means Dooku was confused and realized too late he was doomed as that canon source I cited references.
Yeah he still realized before Anakin used his rage. Which was too late because Anakin was then too powerful for him to defeat.
Dooku only started being playful again because he mentally unbalanced Anakin with Dun Moch, because Anakin's focus was compromised by his fear and anger that he didn't use properly, but Anakin focuses his anger when Palpatine commands him to, once that happens he beats the living crap out of Dooku. In the film however, Dooku's use of Dun Moch backfires, which is kind of hilarious.
Originally posted by juggernaut74
The page before the novel states Dooku allowed himself to relax and go back to being playful right then and there is when Sidious started to goad Anakin into getting a rage boner. In fact the novel states at the very final instant Dooku was in bewildered astonishment. What does that mean you ask? It means Dooku was confused and realized too late he was doomed as that canon source I cited references.
Dooku was just playing a part.
Dooku was unprepared for the revelation that being defeated by Anakin meant that Palpatine would backstab him by not preventing Anakin from killing him. That's what caught Dooku off guard, none of this remotely suggests that he allowed Anakin to win, the same novel goes out of its way to emphasise Dooku shitting his pants and using whatever tricks he can to avoid death (IIRC, Obi-Wan actually pierces Dooku's lightsaber guard at one point). So no, Dooku didn't let Anakin win. Was he holding back? Well, it's possible that Dooku didn't want to kill Anakin, so he would've been pulling lethal punches e.g. beheading Anakin, but we also have to remember that Makashi, which Dooku's entire fighting style is based on, is about inflicting jabs and light cuts on the opponent, an example of this is demonstrated against Obi-Wan in AotC, so Dooku was not under any obligation to ignore opportunites of non lethal victories against Anakin, that's what his fighting style was designed for.
The fact that Dooku didn't realise that Palpatine wasn't going to save his life from Anakin, isn't mutually exclusive with him doing everything he can to prevent himself from having his hands cut off by Anakin.
This isn't hard to figure out guys come on now. Dooku was playing his part in a test to test Anakin to see if they can turn him to the darkside and realized too late he was fighting for his life. All back up by canon material and not hopes and dreams.
If you take your binders off the truth will set you free.