Part of what makes the Star Wars franchise so engaging is just how big its universe is and how many potential storylines there are. But as a result of its expansiveness, some plot lines go unresolved and don't actually get a neat and tidy ending. For example, Jedi Masters Obi-Wan Kenobi and Anakin Skywalker spend a significant amount of Star Wars: Attack of the Clones apart, which leads to one of these unfinished storylines.

In the film, Anakin spends most of his time with senator Padme Amidala as her protective detail while Obi-Wan investigates the failed assassination attempt on her life. Obi-Wan's investigation leads him to the planet Kamino, where he discovers the clone army being manufactured. Obi-Wan learns that the Kaminoans are creating a clone army using the DNA of bounty hunter Jango Fett, and they were commissioned to do so by a Jedi Master named Sifo-Dyas to develop the Republic's Army. But there never was any Jedi Master named Sifo-Dyas, right? Well, as far as the films were concerned... no, there wasn't. At least not one who was alive. What happened to the elusive Jedi has, for fans of the Star Wars films, remained a mystery.

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The Kamino entry on Wookieepedia explains why this plot line was never fully resolved within the films. George Lucas decided to de-prioritize the mystery in favor of exploring Anakin's fall to the Dark Side and his eventual transformation into Darth Vader. In refocusing the story, there had to be some cuts. Unfortunately, that came at the expense of Obi-Wan's investigation in Attack of the Clones being left without a clear answer. While that left many fans to cry foul and point once more to the prequel films' oft-maligned writing, as we will later see, it may have been a quiet blessing.

While technically the mystery was never resolved officially in the canon of the films, there was first an answer within Star Wars Legends. In these stories, Sifo-Dyas was actually Count Dooku, according to the 2005 novel Star Wars: Labyrinth of Evil by James Lucino. In the novel, Obi-Wan discussed the mystery with Master Yoda, who stated his theory that Dooku was behind the clone army. While neither he nor Obi-Wan had the exact details of how Dooku was able to successfully pull off this ploy, as well as cover it up, they seemed confident it was him.

yoda count dooku

However, since this reveal is part of the Legends expanded universe, it's not the official canon resolution. That came much later, in 2014, thanks to the Clone Wars television series. In Season 6, Episode 10, "The Lost One," Sifo-Dyas was revealed to have indeed been a Master Jedi on the Council. Sensing a disturbance in the Force and believing there to be an impending war launched in secret at the behest of their ancient enemies, the Sith, the Jedi pleaded for his fellow council members to prepare by amassing an army. Only in that way, he believed, could the Order be maintained, not to mention order itself throughout the galaxy.

Unfortunately for the Jedi, Sifo-Dyas was killed under the auspices of Count Dooku in his guise as Darth Tyranus and at the order of Darth Sidious, himself, who knew he was closer to the truth than anyone expected. So, while it may have never officially been followed up on nor resolved in Star Wars: Revenge of the Sith, later canon did confirm Dooku's involvement in the assassination, and Sifo-Dyas' posthumous role in creating the clone army that would eventually fell the Jedi Order.

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What's strange, however, and what remains a mystery, is that even with this knowledge, the Jedi Council decided to simply "play the game," in the words of Yoda, set up by the Dark Lord of the Sith (Palpatine) rather than decommission the Clone Army. This, of course, allowed the Jedi to fall even deeper into the trap they knew full well was set for them. Yoda comments that the Council needs to cover up their knowledge of Sifo-Dyas' involvement, so as not to show their hand once more to the enemy. However, inconceivably, they still decided to drink from the poison chalice he poured them and use the Clone Army.

Why anyone would use a weapon, or indeed an entire fighting force, given to them by their sworn, insidious enemy is beyond comprehension, made worse by the fact that these individuals are, ostensibly, the wisest humanoid beings in the galaxy. As such, having this mystery solved actually makes the Jedi reaction -- and the tragedy of their eventual purge -- worse, implicating them in their own destruction thanks to hubris or sheer ineptitude or both. Perhaps George was right to let this particular mystery go unsolved.

* This article was edited to correct a previous version that did not clarify Sifo-Dyas' existence in canon or his involvement in the clone army's creation, as revealed in The Clone Wars.

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