Although the the Skywalker saga has officially ended, fans still have many questions about some of the biggest events and the abilities of some characters. One of those questions is why Yoda didn’t sense that Sheev Palpatine was actually siding with the dark side, and the answer to this might be in Count Dooku’s fall into the dark side. The history of the Star Wars universe is divided into three – the original, prequel, and sequel trilogies – and they all follow the rise and fall of the Empire, the Republic, and all the battles that resulted from this.
The prequel trilogy told the backstory of Anakin Skywalker along with how the Sith rose to power thanks to Palpatine and all his schemes, while the original trilogy dealt with their reign and the efforts of the Rebel Alliance to bring them down. The sequel trilogy arrived to close the Skywalker saga and introduced the remains of the Empire, with new hero Rey (Daisy Ridley) and the Resistance finally bringing balance to the galaxy. Although the story of the Skywalker saga is now complete, there are still some questions that fans have been trying to answer, such as why Yoda couldn’t sense that Palpatine wasn’t what he seemed and was actually Sith lord Darth Sidious, and it could all be connected to one of his apprentices: Count Dooku.
Dooku (played by Christopher Lee) was abandoned by his family and taken by the Jedi Order. He was Darth Tyranus. Dooku played an important role in Palpatine’s plans, and his death was planned by the Emperor himself to make way for another apprentice (per the Sith’s Rule of Two). With Palpatine close to the Jedi Order and Yoda being one of the greatest Jedi masters, it seems odd he never sensed his real intentions, but it was thanks to Dooku’s bond to the Jedi master that Palpatine was able to continue with his plans.
A bond is formed between master and padawan, and Yoda and Dooku’s case was no exception. Like any other master, Yoda trusted his apprentice, and even when he left the Jedi Order and returned to his homeworld, he wouldn’t have suspected he also renounced to the light side in favor of ing the dark side. This allowed Palpatine to carry on unsuspectedly, as the bond between Yoda and Dooku played in his favor to continue hiding his real identity from the Jedi and more. Palpatine had everything carefully planned and few things happened by accident or were coincidences (such as his kidnapping by Dooku which led to the latter’s death), so he knew well that Yoda wouldn’t suspect that his former apprentice could turn to the dark side and work with him.
Of course, there could also be many more reasons why Yoda never sensed Palpatine was a Sith lord and everything he had been doing behind the Jedi Order’s back, but Dooku’s turn to the dark side can be a good answer to that mystery. The Star Wars universe is still in constant expansion, so this could be properly answered in other media, not exactly in movies and TV shows.
