In preparation for seeing Star Wars: The Force Awakens for the umpteenth time, us here at iDigitalTimes watched the Star Wars prequel trilogy , and trust us—we watched it with a critical eye indeed. But, in light of Episode VII , it’s worth looking at the prequels in a new light. Today, that light is the fall of the Empire and Palpatine’s legacy … and his failure. He aimed to build an empire that would last forever. He failed. And that’s because he chose Anakin Skywalker over Count Dooku.

Count Dooku, I Choose You!: The Emperor’s Big Mistake

Emperor Palpatine’s plans were long and complex, but also open to changing circumstances. Five, ten years before he became chancellor, could he have known that it was none other than suspected Sith lord Jar Jar Binks who would facilitate his seizure of emergency powers? Of course not. Likewise, Sidious could not have known that he’d make the incredible upgrade from that loser Darth Maul to turning the great Jedi Count Dooku to the dark side.

Ah, the Dooku-Palpatine partnership . It was no marriage of equals; such is not the way of the Sith. But the two worked together toward a common goal, and they succeeded brilliantly: They orchestrated a massive galactic civil war— the Clone Wars —between two huge states, each one with a Sith lord at its head. Dooku is, more than anyone else besides Palpatine, responsible for the fall of the Galactic Republic .

Count Dooku’s control over the Confederacy of Independent Systems allowed him or Palpatine to instigate the Clone Wars, create the plans for the Death Star , create the Grand Army of the Republic , and grant ultimate power to Palpatine on a permanent basis. The elimination of most of the old trappings of the Republic and increasing consolidation of power in Palpatine’s hands was the most important factor in the creation of the Galactic Empire. The destruction of the Jedi—partially orchestrated by the Republic’s clones, partially by Anakin Skywalker—secured the Empire’s footing, but the destruction of the Jedi alone would not have accomplished Palpatine’s aims.

Not Without My Dooku: Palpatine’s Vote Against Experience

So, why did Palpatine choose Anakin Skywalker over Count Dooku? In case you haven’t seen Revenge of the Sith in a while, let me remind you that this is a very explicit choice on Palpatine’s part. He directly orders Anakin to kill Dooku with his own hands. He also monologues about his reasons for the change—he wants a new and more powerful apprentice. Anakin is certainly that; he’s a teenager instead of an old manager, and he’s the most powerful Jedi ever —ever! In fact, he’s the Chosen One. He’s a choice catch. That’s basically the argument for Palpatine picking Anakin: Anakin is younger, stronger and more pliable, and his defection would be a crushing blow to the Jedi (all, like, twenty of them ). And so it is.

But hindsight is 20/20, and foresight is at best 50/50—even for a Sith lord. In the long run, picking Anakin over Dooku was a critical error on Palpatine’s part (assuming that, like Palpatine himself, Dooku could have enjoyed the unnaturally long life of a murderous maniacal Sith lord). After all, Anakin—not Luke—is the reason the Empire falls. He kills Palpatine! He ends the Rule of Two ! And he does it for the same reason he joined the Dark Side in the first place.

Unlike Count Dooku, Anakin is emotionally unstable. He’s obsessively afraid of death and loss, he’s exceedingly vain, and he’s wildly impulsive. He falls to the Dark Side because the Jedi don’t reward him quickly enough, and because he’s afraid for Padme—entirely without reason, mind you. Count Dooku, on the other hand, was supremely rational, cold and calculating like the Jedi he once was. He was the perfect apprentice.

Would we have made the same choice in Palpatine’s place? Maybe. There’s another reason he chose Anakin: Dooku was nearly Palpatine’s equal. Dooku was far more likely to kill Palpatine. Anakin was a child, and nearly totally in Palpatine’s thrall . Anakin’s weak emotional mind allowed Palpatine to dominate him entirely, such that Darth Vader never tried to kill Palpatine—until Luke showed up and broke through the emotional prison Palpatine held over his father. That took years and years, but Palpatine should have been smart enough to see it coming. He was trying to get rid of Anakin at that point in favor of Luke (just as Anakin was trying to get rid of Palpatine in favor of himself, with Luke as his own apprentice), but Palpatine should have seen that the same family-driven circumstances that made Anakin wildly erratic long ago would do the same thing again.

Dooku wouldn’t have done that. Palpatine and Dooku could have ruled the Galaxy side-by-side, two near-equals, both too rational to break the balance by killing each other and risking letting the Empire fall into the hands of the Grand Moffs . Their evil empire could have lasted forever. Instead, Palpatine gave an unknown quantity a chance, and he eventually paid the price.

Alas, poor Dooku. It coulda been you.