THE VERDICT

That...was very close. Though the two combatants were virtually completely even, Maul manages to claim victory by the tip of his horns.

As you saw, Maul and Dooku were evenly matched in lightsaber combat up until the last fateful moment of the duel. Maul's agility and offensive power canceled out Dooku's efficiency and bladework. Neither was able to overpower the other due to the distinct advantages that both held in the duel. Though Maul's eventual untilization of duel wielding granted extra offensive power, Dooku is no stranger to battling duel wielding enemy's and was able to maintain his footing until the very end. Maul eventually showed himself to be the superior warrior and applied his versatility in lightsaber and martial combat to deal the finishing blow.

Dooku's clear edge lied within his great pool of force knowledge and ability. Enabling him to use his telekinesis to knock Maul off balance at key points and his usage of Force Lightning granted him a clear long range advantage. He was also able to use force grip to target Maul's legs and would've quickly knocked Maul out of battle if Maul hadn't applied his own usage of force grip to force Dooku to cancel his own.

As both are trained in the ways of the Sith and of the Dark Side, neither wouldn't have bothered with seriously using Dun Moch due it's pointlessness. Any negative emotions such as anger or hatred that sprang from it's usage would only end up fueling the other. Though charismatic, Dooku would not bother with using his charisma against the uncompromising Maul.

Both are evenly matched in raw force power and would've been able to channel all of it into their considerable talents.

However, this contest was not decided by their affinity with the force. But by the limits of their physical stamina and endurance.

While he is a strong warrior and a masterful duelist, Count Dooku is still an old man in his 80s. He is well past his prime and isn't quite knowledgeable and intuned with the force that he could overcome the disadvantages of his age as Yoda or Sidious could. The amount of physical energy that he can exert would be drastically limited compared to a younger and more in shape fighter of similar skill such as Maul.

In addition, his victories over Obi-Wan and initially Anakin can be attributed to taking advantage of their own tactical weaknesses in addition to his skill. When he fought them on Geonosis, the two jedi heroes had just fought a tense and draining battle in the Geonosis Arena and were noticeably tired while Dooku entered that battle fresh and fully energized. Considering the strain that he demonstrated after defeating Anakin, fighting the two jedi back to back had drained him and may have factored into his decision to retreat from Yoda.

Years later, he would fight the same two heroes above Coruscant. Both had grown to greater power and were still moderately drained from the battle that they went through to get to Dooku. Despite this, Dooku had to exert great amounts of energy just to keep up with both and was eventually overwhelmed by the sheer offensive power and strength of a far younger Anakin Skywalker.

In comparison, Darth Maul fought against Jedi Master Qui-Gon Jinn and talented Jedi Padawan Obi-Wan Kenobi when all three were in comparatively tip-top shape. Despite wielding a weapon that grants more disadvantages than advantages, Maul utilized his training to match against both opponents and eventually tired out and killed Qui-Gon Jinn before overpowering and disarming Obi-Wan soon afterwards. At this point, Darth Maul had won the duel and without showing noticeable strain; what happened afterwards can be attributed to Maul's understandable arrogance and Obi-Wan's plot armor.

After his reconstruction, Maul now only has to worry about using most of his energy to control his upper body since his lower body is an artificial construction of metal and force energy. This will allow him to continue fighting while still storing a greater amount of stamina in the event that the battle drew on. Since his legs are composed of equal parts force energy and metal, Maul can still subconsciously use them as well as his original legs. In addition, he possesses a clear height advantage over Dooku and a longer reach. Advantages which will strain the older sith lord as the fight wears on.

In addition to being in his prime, Maul used his failure on Naboo as a growing point for his mental capabilities. While he originally preferred to defeat his enemy's through sheer brute strength and skill, after his rebirth, he will calculate and hone in on any weakness that he perceives in his enemy. In this situation, it was a simple matter of drawing out the battle for as long as possible.

Apart from Maul's deceptive tactic, the fighting styles of the two combatants also played a key role:

Dooku's Makashi was designed as a dueling technique for fighting force users and martial warriors which allowed him to battle against Maul's Direct and Focused Juyo technique for a great deal of time. However, Makashi's one glaring weakness is that it's finesse sacrifices kinetic energy. It's so focused on precision and blade control that its ability to generate offensive and defensive momentum is hampered. Which would leave it's attacks and parries easily shunted aside, leaving Makashi users vulnerable to forms that emphasized offense, power and brute strength.

Maul's Juyo is a heavily offensive and vicous style filled with fury and malignant grace. Furthermore, the style is best used against a single foe and was noted for it's controlled chaotic and seemingly erratic sequences. It also draws heavily on the passions and emotions of it's users, leading jedi instructors to forbid it's usage due to the draw of the dark side. Since Maul already has a VIP section within the Dark Side, he can safely utilize Juyo's tenets to it's fullest without any fear of losing himself. In addition, Juyo was described as the most physically demanding of the lightsaber styles due to its more open and kinetic application.

In short, Maul's default style would trump Dooku's fighting form because Juyo is naturally superior to Makashi. Juyo is Makashi's nemesis, it's strengths form the very core of Makashi's most glaring weakness. Dooku's greater experience and force ability would allow him to initially mitigate this effect and keep the playing field even. But Dooku simply would be unable to end the fight as quickly as he needed to due to Maul's endurance, ferocity and martial prowess and eventually his venerable age would turn against him.

As the fight wore on, Dooku became more and more strained physically and mentally like his own apprentice Qui-Gon had on Naboo. The more exhausted one becomes, the less capable of fluid thought and action that they are. As a result, Dooku would be mercilessly hammered by Maul's superior strength and fighting form. Eventually, Maul see an opportunity to defeat the tiring Tyrannus and seize it.

As for the manuever that Maul actually used...I'll refer you to the 3rd Trailer of The Old Republic. Remember that Zabrak Jedi Master that wielded a saberstaff in one hand and a lightsaber in the other against two opponents? Remember how he killed the pureblood sith inquisitor by activating the second blade of the saberstaff at a critical moment?

Remember that Maul is no longer the mindless silent killer that he was in the Phantom Menace. He is just as capable of forming a long-term strategy as Dooku. That was why he initially had his saberstaff using only one blade at first. Dooku may have recognized the saberstaff's design and attempted to cut it in half before Maul activated it, but Maul's ferocity left that tactic un-worthwhile to Dooku. Since he's an older age and therefore unable to store as much information in his mind, Dooku probably lost track of it once Maul began to utilize the duel wielding style and when Dooku started trying to defeat Maul through his knowledge of the force. This left Dooku open to being completely blindsided by Maul's second saberstaff blade when it was actually activated.

Due to his arrogance, Maul wouldn't immediately kill Dooku until the old man was completely defeated. However, he would avoid his mistake on Naboo and make absolute sure that he was victorious by severing both of Dooku's arms. Without his arms, the venerable Sith Lord would be unable to use either a lightsaber or force lightning and would be under too much pain and trauma to attempt to telekinetically use his lightsaber or any other application. Furthermore, Dooku would be resigned to defeat due to his innate nobility and wouldn't be able to come up with a contingency plan before Maul killed him. Persuasion or pleading would do nothing to avert Maul's desire to kill his enemy and his fate would be sealed.

Breakdown:

Count Dooku

- Old Age and lesser physical form leaves him with less physical endurance and stamina

+ Greater experience and Force Ability was superior to Maul's limited assassination training

- Default and Preferred Fighting style was intrinsically weak against his opponent's fighting form

- Short Sighted Pride and growing exhaustion left him vulnerable to little details that he shouldn't have lost track of

- Great Charisma and Diplomacy don't count for jack against someone who doesn't care

+ Tactical ability further enabled him to martially battle against maul despite style disadvantage

+ Powerful enough to match against the sheer raw velocity of Maul's force abilities

+/- Force Lightning offered Long Range Advantage, but wasn't powerful enough to overcome Maul's defenses or endurance

Darth Maul

+ Greater endurance and longer period of sith training allowed Maul to withstand Dooku's superior Force Ability including his Force Lightning

+ Martial Training, Stamina, Versatility and Agility balanced against Dooku's greater dueling experience

- Mechanical Legs served as a potentially lethal hinderance against Dooku's application of telekinesis

- Reliance on saber combat left him vulnerable to Dooku's superior Force Abilitity

+ Fighting style was intrinsically superior to his opponent's fighting form

- Velocity and power of force abilities were no match for a more knowledgeable force user

+ Was able to combine all of his advantages into a workable long-term strategy

+ Ruthlessly honed in on his opponent's venerable age and exploited it to his advantage

The Winner:

Darth Maul

Author's Notes:

Thanks for reading! Hope you enjoyed this death duel and I hope that the verdict was reasonably fair.

I like both characters, but I always wondered who would win between the two of them. Research was a pain, but I was surprised that there would be a way for Maul to win even though the obvious choice would be Dooku.

Guess that shows that age and experience don't always win out...

The key reason that I had Maul win was because Maul isn't just a lightsaber user or a dark jedi...Maul is sith.

I know that Maul's very survival should be a breach in the Rule of Two, but it's beyond that. Maul was raised by the Sith, trained by the Sith, taught by the Sith and killed as a Sith. Dooku has never had to seriously test himself against a dark side user whose on the same mental footing as him. In addition, Dooku as a Sith Lord was meant to be a charismatic figurehead for Sidious' plans whereas Maul was trained to kill the enemies of the Sith. Maul is just the superior warrior between the two of them and would probably win.

That doesn't mean that Dooku is weak either, I just think that Maul is the stronger Sith Lord.

So why does Sidious want to replace Maul again?