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The Holocron

The Clone Wars Episode Guide: Duel of the Droids

Welcome to a look inside The Holocron. A collection of articles from the archives of *starwars.com no longer directly available.

(*Archived here with Permission utilising The Internet Archive Wayback Machine)

The Clone Wars Episode Guide: Duel of the Droids

Episode Air No: 7
Original Air Date: November 14, 2008
Production No: 6

Written by Kevin Campbell; Henry Gilroy
Directed by Rob Coleman

Key Characters: General Grievous; Anakin Skywalker; R2-D2; Ahsoka Tano; R3-S6; Gha Nachkt; Clone Captain Rex

Key Locales: Skytop Station; Ruusan moon

Cast:
Matt Lanter as Anakin Skywalker
Ashley Eckstein as Ahsoka Tano
Dee Bradley Baker as clone troopers
Matthew Wood as General Grievous | battle droids
Ron Perlman as Gha Nachkt
James Arnold Taylor as Obi-Wan Kenobi
Tom Kane as Narrator

Episode Brief: Anakin, Ahsoka and replacement droid R3-S6 embark on a dual rescue/sabotage mission when they discover R2-D2 is being held at General Grievous’ secret enemy listening post.

Full Synopsis

“You hold onto friends by keeping your heart a little softer than your head.”

Newsreel:

Missing in action! Anakin
Skywalker’s heroic droid
navigator R2-D2 was lost in
battle. When a desperate
search fails to locate Artoo,
Anakin is forced to take on
a new navigator, R3-S6.
Now the Jedi embark on a
dangerous new mission, to
find a secret enemy listening
post. Meanwhile, R2-D2 has
fallen into the hands of a
vile droid smuggler and is
on his way to General Grievous
who will surely plunder the
Republic’s secrets hidden
within him….

ACT I

Gha Nachkt’s salvage ship, Vulture’s Claw approaches the storm cloud-covered moon of Ruusan and opens communications with General Grievous. The slimy Nachkt is insistent on getting paid promptly for his services. Sealed within a cargo hold, the captive R2-D2 cuts his way into an electronics trunk with a circular saw, exposing wiring connected to the communications system. He blurts out a brief beep over the open comm before Gha Nachkt detects his sneaky maneuver and debilitates the droid with an ion prod.

Elsewhere, the Twilight scours nearby space for Grievous’ secret station. Aboard, Ahsoka Tano intercepts Artoo’s brief outburst, and Anakin Skywalker recognizes it as his droid’s whistle. He orders Captain Rex to trace the signal. Ahsoka reminds Anakin that their orders are to find the Separatist listening post, but Anakin justifies his shift in priorities by suggesting that perhaps R2-D2 is at the listening post. Rex locks onto the coordinates, and the Twilight leaps into hyperspace.

In the skies of the Ruusan moon, Gha Nachkt’s vessel lands at Skytop Station, a Trade Federation core ship converted into a listening post. Nachkt marches the captive R2-D2 past surveillance posts manned by Aqualish technicians and is met by General Grievous. After getting a taste of Artoo’s characteristic defiance, Grievous orders the little droid torn apart and sifted for information. Gha Nachkt then takes the droid to a terrifying disassembly chamber.

The Twilight emerges in the Ruusan system and detects the presence of Skytop Station. Anakin recognizes it as a Separatist installation. He orders R3-S6 to contact Obi-Wan Kenobi, using scramble code 1477. Skywalker reports to Kenobi, who advises that Anakin hold off until reinforcements arrive. Anakin reveals that he thinks R2-D2 may be aboard and Obi-Wan changes tactics. He instead tells Anakin to sneak aboard the station and destroy it before the lost astromech’s systems could be scoured for valuable intelligence. Above all, Kenobi reminds him, this is not a rescue mission.

Skywalker, Ahsoka, Rex and a team of four clones prep for the insertion mission, and they’re taking R3-S6 with them to help maneuver past the station’s computer systems and sealed passageways. Rex gets the job of carrying the droid during their insertion drop. Using the moon’s turbulent atmosphere and the Twilight‘s sensor jamming as cover, the strike team jumps from the spice freighter and freefalls to the station. The clone team uses rocket packs to slow their descent, while the Jedi rely on the Force.

Secure on the station’s surface, Anakin cuts through the hull with his lightsaber. The troops enter through the hole and quickly subdue a battle droid patrol. They arrive at a control panel, and R3-S6 plugs in. A holographic projection of the station reveals that the station’s reactors are 30 levels below. Anakin orders Ahsoka to lead the squad in destroying the reactors while he searches for R2-D2. The plan is to cripple the station’s repulsorlifts, and let gravity do the rest.

ACT II

R2-D2 has been dissected! His splayed body parts lay strewn atop the chopshop table while Gha Nachkt probes the little droid’s protected files. Images begin to coalesce in Artoo’s holoprojector as Nachkt uncovers some sensitive Republic data. The Trandoshan scavenger excitedly calls Grievous with news that the droid’s mission memory has never been erased. Gha, pleased with himself, demands an increase in his fee. All Grievous offers, however, is a lightsaber stabbed through Gha Nachkt’s back. The Trandoshan is instantly killed.

As Ahsoka leads her troops deeper into the station, R3-S6 opens a transmission to General Grievous — the little gold droid is a double agent! Goldie informs Grievous of the Jedi intruders, and the general orders the astromech to delay them. Ahsoka comes looking for R3 as Grievous sounds a general alarm. Grievous leaves to deal with the trespassers, assigning a quartet of MagnaGuard droids to watch over the disassembled R2-D2. He later orders his guards to take R2-D2 to his ship.

Rex and Ahsoka find the reactor room, but the general alarm has triggered a ray shield that prevents them from entering. Ahsoka tasks Goldie with bypassing the shield but the droid seems to have little luck — in fact his lackluster slicing triggers a secondary blast door to slam down. Battle droid reinforcements arrive from either end of the corridor and open fire, forcing the clones to scatter for cover. Rex and his troops throw droid poppers — EMP grenades — that detonate and incapacitate the enemy.

Grievous arrives at the corridor, unimpressed by Ahsoka and the clones. He ignites his lightsaber; Ahsoka does the same and charges the general. Grievous quickly overpowers her, tossing her aside. Rex and the boys open fire but Grievous leaps into their midst, cutting through and bowling over several clones. Trooper Denal is thrown into a bulkhead and Rex is knocked out cold. As Grievous is about to plunge his lightsaber into the clone captain, Ahsoka stops his blade with hers.

Grievous ignites a second blade and forces Ahsoka back. She is nimble enough to avoid his swipes and she runs away with R3-S6 following. Grievous alerts his troops about a second Jedi in the station while he continues to pursue the young girl. In a darkened storage room, Grievous stalks Ahsoka.

Rex and Denal awaken and realize they’re the only two clones left. He contacts Ahsoka, asking if the mission is still a go. She orders him to continue to plant the charges in the reactor. R3-S6 shines a spotlight on Ahsoka, giving away her location to Grievous.

Elsewhere, Anakin crosses paths with the MagnaGuards transporting R2-D2. He cuts past interfering super battle droids while giving chase. Anakin confronts the bodyguards, who discard Artoo while they engage in combat with the Jedi. Unnoticed, Artoo begins to pull his body together while Anakin cuts the MagnaGuards apart. R2-D2 even manages to zap a particularly stubborn bodyguard droids before it could lay a hand on Skywalker. Reunited with Artoo, Anakin then radios the Twilight to rendezvous at the south landing bay for extraction.

ACT III

As Ahsoka hides from General Grievous, the cyborg confers with the treacherous R3-S6, who updates Grievous on the Jedi mission. Ahsoka overhears this and realizes that Goldie has been a spy and saboteur all this time. Grievous dispatches R3 to interfere with Anakin’s escape efforts.

The Twilight docks at the south landing bay, but Anakin and R2-D2 are dismayed that no one else has seemed to have made the rendezvous. Before long, R3-S6, Rex and Denal arrive. Rex reports that the reactor explosives have been placed. Anakin asks about Ahsoka and is shocked to hear that she engaged General Grievous alone. Anakin is determined to find her. Rex agrees to lead Anakin to her, but the blast doors to the hangar slam shut, tripped by R3. The traitorous little droid also shuts the external hangar bay doors, and activates a trio of vulture droids suspended from their ceiling recharge racks. Another hatch dispenses super battle droids. Anakin realizes his suspicions about R3’s true loyalties were correct. A firefight erupts in the hangar, and Anakin and the clones scatter for cover behind docked P-38 fighters.

Back at the supply room, Ahsoka carelessly drops her guard and is plucked into the air by Grievous, who lifts her bodily off the ground by her throat. He grabs her lightsaber, eager to add it to his collection.

In the hangar bay, Anakin orders Rex to trigger the explosives, even though none of the team has yet to leave the station. Explosions erupt deep in the station, blossoming along the lower curve of the massive sphere. The whole structure shakes with repercussions, and Ahsoka takes advantage of the distraction to push Grievous’ ignited lightsaber blade into his own wrist, severing his hand. Ahsoka rabbits into a nearby air duct, calling her lightsaber back to her with the Force, and scurrying away from the enraged cyborg. Grievous makes his way to his hangar, and leaves the dying station aboard his personal starfighter.

Anakin then orders Artoo to get the hangar bay doors open by venturing through an access hatch to an exterior maintenance catwalk, and unlocking the doors from the outside. R2-D2 braves the winds of the Ruusan moon as Skytop station plummets through the clouds. Behind him is R3-S6, who has followed him outside. The deceitful droid rams into Artoo, and the two begin to spar. They extend a variety of tools and appendages as they fight.

Ahsoka cuts her way into the south hangar, and leaps atop one of the vulture droids, severing its head with her lightsaber. She is reunited with their master, and they fight back-to-back defending against the droids. Skywalker then uses the Force to toss one of the hangar bay’s fuel cells at the droids as Rex fires at the impromptu missile. The cell detonates, wiping out most of the droids.

R2-D2 momentarily incapacitates R3-S6 with an electro-jolt, and then opens the outer hangar bay door. Goldie awakens soon enough to once again pick up the fight against Artoo. Artoo douses Goldie with oil, and ignites a trail of fire with his booster jets. Goldie keeps his distance, but as the Separatist astromech falls off the catwalk, he fires a towline at R2-D2 and tries to pull the droid down with him. R2-D2 cuts the cable loose with his circular saw, and R3 falls off the catwalk. He is sheared into tumbling fragments by a piece of debris that has broken off the doomed station.

The Twilight lifts off from Skytop, departing the crashing sphere. Anakin boards his starfighter and blasts away from the freighter’s hold, returning to the station to rescue R2-D2. Skywalker matches speeds with the station and flies up to the catwalk. R2-D2 powers up his boosters and leaps into the droid socket. Anakin’s starfighter then lifts away, leaving Skytop Station to die far below.

Later, as the Twilight flies away from Ruusan, Anakin reports into Obi-Wan Kenobi who is incredulous at the risks Skywalker took to save R2-D2. But Anakin has no regrets: Artoo is more than a droid. He’s a friend.

Trivia & Details

  • Though not named in the episode, the script establishes that Skytop Station is within the atmosphere of a moon of Ruusan. Ruusan is an important world in the expanded universe of Star Wars fiction, the site of a critical battle between the ancient Jedi and Sith.
  • The Vulture’s Claw has seats similar in design to those found aboard the Millennium Falcon.
  • R3-S6’s gold and black color scheme is based on Dave Filoni’s hometown favorites, the Pittsburgh Steelers.
  • Those fishing around for hidden Aurebesh messages in Artoo’s data screens are in for challenge. The text is gibberish.

Memorable Quotes

“You sneaky little scrap pile! You better be worth all this trouble!” — Gha Nachkt to R2-D2.

“So defiant! No need for fear. We’re all droids here!” General Grievous to R2-D2.

“Follow me, boys!” — Ahsoka Tano to the clones.

“Those 631s are not the brightest lights on the ship.” — Battle droid complaining about inferior battle droid models.

“Next time, you’re lugging this astromech around!” — Clone Captain Rex.

“Go up to Level Eight. Get your head adjusted. It feels great.” — Battle droid chatter.

“There’s your bonus.” — General Grievous, stabbing Gha Nachkt in the back.

“They sent a child to destroy my station? The Republic must be running out of Jedi!”

“Sorry to interrupt your playtime, Grumpy, but wouldn’t you prefer a challenge?” — Ahsoka Tano to Grievous.

“You have something that belongs to me.” — Anakin Skywalker to MagnaGuard droids.

“I’ve got a bad feeling about this, sir.” — Captain Rex, staring down vulture droids.

The Holocron

The Clone Wars Episode Guide: Downfall of a Droid

Welcome to a look inside The Holocron. A collection of articles from the archives of *starwars.com no longer directly available.

(*Archived here with Permission utilising The Internet Archive Wayback Machine)

The Clone Wars Episode Guide: Downfall of a Droid

Episode Air No: 6
Original Air Date: November 7, 2008
Production No: 2

Written by George Krstic
Directed by Rob Coleman

Cast:
Matt Lanter as Anakin Skywalker
Ashley Eckstein as Ahsoka Tano
Matthew Wood as General Grievous | battle droids
Ron Perlman as Gha Nachkt
James Arnold Taylor as Obi-Wan Kenobi
Dee Bradley Baker as clone troopers
Tom Kane as Admiral Yularen | narrator

Episode Brief: R2-D2 is lost during a fierce space battle — and Anakin must find him before the Separatists discover the Jedi military secrets locked in his memory banks.

Full Synopsis

“Trust in your friends, and they’ll have reason to trust in you.”

Newsreel:

After suffering a series of
disastrous defeats at the
hands of General Grievous,
the Republic’s foothold in the
Outer Rim is in jeopardy.
Commissioned to protect the
strategic world of Bothawui,
Anakin Skywalker and his
weary battle group are all that
stands between the system
and domination by the
droid army….

ACT I

A flotilla of three Jedi cruisers, led by the Resolute float beyond the inner rim of the rocky ring surrounding Bothawui. Admiral Yularen advises the fleet not to approach too closely to the asteroids as they await the appearance of enemy forces.

Within the Resolute‘s hangar bay, Anakin Skywalker and R2-D2 tinker with his yellow Jedi Delta-7B starfighter, modifying its thrust ratio to become the fastest ship in the fleet. A surly Treadwell droid gives Artoo some electronic guff, and the astromech droid returns the favor by igniting the ion engines when the Treadwell is caught within the backwash. Anakin chastises a giggling Artoo just as Ahsoka Tano rushes to tell Skywalker of an urgent transmission.

Anakin, Artoo and Ahsoka join Captain Rex on the bridge, where a holographic Obi-Wan Kenobi reports some grim news. The Republic continues to get hammered, losing a battle group at Falleen. Grievous’ fleet is now headed towards Bothawui. Noting that Anakin is outnumbered, Kenobi advises retreat, but Skywalker refuses to give up such a strategic point in the sector. He has a plan up his sleeve.

Separatist frigates emerge from hyperspace and approach the planetary rings. Aboard the lead vessel, General Grievous orders the fleet to enter the asteroid field to engage the Republic warships, an unorthodox approach that strips the advantage from the Republic. The warships ease through the swarm of rocks with full power to the forward shields. Their undefended aft sections are covered by the asteroids.

The hangar decks on the Republic warships open and disgorge Gold Squadron’s V-19 Torrent interceptors, with Gold Leader — Anakin Skywalker — in command aboard his Delta-7B. Anakin grins to Artoo that Grievous is falling into his trap. The Separatist ships emerge from the ring and open fire.

Cannonades pelt the Resolute and its sister ships while the Republic starfighters zoom to intercept. One of the Venators is crippled by the barrage, and a clipped V-19 spirals out of control, taking out a wingmate. Anakin orders the Torrents to take evasive action, but he and Artoo use the overpowered thrusters of the Delta-7B to push forward. Anakin notes that the Separatists are in position, and orders Ahsoka to unveil their surprise. She radios to Rex to join the party.

The asteroids directly behind the Separatist frigates are crawling with AT-TEs. Rex leads the walkers in outflanking the Separatists, and the rock-hugging walkers open fire, blasting the warships in their unprotected aft sections. As the frigates struggle to redistribute their shields, the Venators open fire, catching Grievous’ fleet in a deadly crossfire. Anakin weaves his fighter through the enemy fleet, darting past an unprotected bridge tower and blasting it apart. Grievous orders a retreat and storms off the bridge.

The frigates are effectively boxed in. Grievous boards his personal starfighter and leaves his doomed flagship. Anakin spots him retreating and gives pursuit. Grievous starts to power up his hyperdrive and Anakin presses his ship even harder. Unfortunately, a shrapnel hit is bleeding power from the ship’s systems. He redlines it, causing a catastrophic system failure. Something aboard his ship explodes and it spins out of control into the asteroid field.

ACT II

Anakin awakens in a medical bay with a 2-1B droid looming over him. Rex and Ahsoka inform Anakin that his plan saved the day: Grievous has fled but his fleet was destroyed. Any rejoicing over the victory is short-lived, however, when Anakin discovers that R2-D2 did not return from the battle.

Later, Obi-Wan holographically congratulates Anakin, but Skywalker is distracted by the loss of R2-D2. Obi-Wan doesn’t see the importance of that particular astromech, however, and simply suggests Anakin get another, but Skywalker won’t have it. He’s insistent on recovering Artoo. Anakin reveals a secret about R2-D2, however. After all their time together, after all their missions, Anakin never erased Artoo’s memory. The little droid is programmed with tactics, base locations, and other vital information that could be exploited by the Separatists. Obi-Wan is livid. He orders Anakin to find the droid.

A short time later, the Twilight is prepped for departure. Anakin finds Ahsoka aboard with a new astromech droid, R3-S6, which Ahsoka has nicknamed “Goldie.” Ahsoka is a little too enthusiastic about the new droid for Anakin, who is still glum about Artoo’s absence.

The Twilight inspects the debris field of the space battle, its illuminator probing the wreckage-filled void. Anakin spots his derelict Delta-7B, but its droid socket is distressingly empty. Anakin’s convinced that R2-D2 must have somehow escaped, but the scanners only reveal another vessel in the debris: a Trandoshan scavenger ship, Vulture’s Claw. The Twilight docks with the other ship.

Anakin and Ahsoka don simple peasant ponchos and board the foul-smelling scavenger vessel with R3-S6 in tow. An electronic eyeball probes the newcomers’ intentions; Anakin explains that he is looking to buy a droid. The entrance hatch irises open, and out climbs a fat, flatulent and lazy-eyed Trandoshan, Gha Nachkt. His stench is enough to actually knock over Ahsoka.

Anakin says that he is looking for an R2 unit. Nachkt explains that the R series are hard to find due to war shortages. Gha eyes the credits that Anakin flashes. He lets the customers into his unkempt cargo hold, but warns them to be careful around some of his more “unique” collector’s items.

As they explore the hold, Anakin and Ahsoka discover a pair of deactivated IG assassin droids. Anakin orders R3 to access the ship’s computer and find the inventory manifest. R3 plugs into a terminal. Anakin’s keen hearing detects a familiar sounding whistle from another part of the hold: he thinks he hears Artoo, but Ahsoka is not convinced. Anakin orders R3 to open a blocked hatch, but Goldie instead turns on the hold lights and, somehow, activates the IG assassins.

The cylinder-headed droids begin attacking. Anakin and Ahsoka ignite their lightsabers to defend themselves as the agile, relentless assassins press their assault. The two Jedi cut through the droids and sheath their blades. Anakin scolds R3 for his inappropriate actions, but Ahsoka defends the little droid. R3 finally opens the door, and Anakin finds Gha Nachkt eavesdropping.

Anakin confronts Gha Nachkt, demanding the return of his droid but his command is met with silence. Ahsoka insists that Artoo is not aboard. Anakin, realizing he has nothing to go on, leaves the indignant Gha Nachkt and his pungent ship behind. As the Twilight flies away. Gha Nachkt opens a channel to General Grievous. He has R2-D2, and is en route to rendezvous with the Separatist general.

ACT III

Anakin and Ahsoka once again report into Obi-Wan Kenobi via hologram. The case of the missing droid is pretty much shut; Obi-Wan tells Anakin to assume that R2-D2 has been destroyed. There are more pressing matters: Republic intelligence has confirmed the existence of a Separatist listening post. Kenobi orders Anakin to split his forces, seek out the base, and destroy it.

Anakin will take point in the sweeps, scouring the outer corridors of suspected space while the remainder of his forces concentrate along a more central path. Ahsoka insists that Anakin take R3-S6 aboard his starfighter, though Skywalker is skeptical of “Goldie” and his abilities. In space, Anakin docks his fighter into a hyperspace transport ring and rockets away.

Meanwhile, aboard the Vulture’s Claw, Gha Nachkt’s guard is down as he naps and snores loudly. R2-D2 takes the opportunity to remove his restraining bolt by rubbing it against a bulkhead. His attempt to escape is intercepted by an IG droid, whom Artoo lures into an airlock and blasts into space. But Gha Nachkt awakens in time to catch Artoo.

Anakin emerges from hyperspace in an area of suspected Separatist activity. He orders R3 to activate long-range scanners; the droid instead activates the long range tracking beacon. Back at the fleet, Ahsoka detects Anakin’s signal and realizes that something must be wrong. She tells Rex to gather some troops. She’s going to get to the bottom of this.

General Grievous, aboard a Separatist frigate, also detects the Jedi tracking beacon. Grievous relishes the turnabout: Skywalker has fallen into his trap. Anakin deactivates the signal just in time to see a Separatist fleet emerge from hyperspace in front of him.

Anakin hurriedly orders R3 to prep the hyperdrive engines for escape, but the droid instead drops the engines. The transport ring disengages and is blown to smithereens by Separatist cannon-fire. Anakin is now stranded, and furious at the glitching astromech.

Grievous launches a swarm of vulture starfighter droids to pursue Skywalker. The droids fire multiple volleys of missiles at Anakin’s fighter, but Skywalker cuts engines and spins around, opening fire at the incoming warheads. Anakin then has trouble getting R3 to start up the engines again. The droid also reports the fighter’s laser cannons aren’t functioning.

It seems quite dire, until incoming laser blasts from the Twilight take out the droid fighters. Ahsoka radios to Anakin to fly his fighter into the Twilight‘s open cargo bay, but Anakin bitterly reports that R3 is having trouble with the engines. Ahsoka sweetly asks R3 if everything is all right, and the little golden droid cooperates, firing up the Delta-7B’s ion engines. Rex and his clone troops serve as gunners aboard the Twilight, offering cover fire as Anakin docks with the freighter.

With Anakin safely docked, Ahsoka plots an escape course directly between the Separatist warships. She retracts the ship’s outrigger pylon and squeezes past the closely spaced frigates, scraping hull plates and leaving a trail of sparks in her wake. The pursuing vulture droids aren’t so lucky, as they collide with their mother ships. Rex then takes the Twilight into hyperspace, successfully escaping from Grievous’ reach.

After Goldie’s lackluster performance under fire, Anakin is now more determined than ever to find R2-D2.

Trivia & Details

  • Ahsoka has a pet name for Rex, too: Rexter.
  • This was the second Clone Wars episode produced. Given that the first episode became part of the Clone Wars movie, this now represents the earliest animation that will be seen as part of the series.
  • In the original production order of episodes, Ahsoka’s foolhardy maneuver between the Separatist frigates would explain Anakin’s hesitance about her flying ability seen in the later-produced “Shadow of Malevolence.”
  • Obi-Wan’s use of the phrase “dime-a-dozen” now reveals that there are dimes in the Star Wars galaxy. The word “dime” means, literally, a tenth, suggesting that a dime is analogous to the previously established “decicred,” worth a tenth of a credit.
  • An earlier iteration of this episode’s “Jedi fortune cookie” read as follows: “Friends are hard to find, difficult to leave, impossible to forget.”
  • The ATTE RUL3Z text seen in “Rookies” appears once again (though, technically, this one came first… and fits the context quite well), this time on Ahsoka’s tactical screen aboard the Resolute. There’s some additional text underneath too that says “TAKE THAT GRIEVOUS”.

Memorable Quotes

“Artoo, he didn’t deserve that.” — Anakin Skywalker, chastising R2-D2 for carbonizing a Treadwell droid.

  • “You should listen to your Padawan.”
  • “As you listened to yours, my old Master?” — Obi-Wan Kenobi and Anakin Skywalker.

“We’re outgunned. We’re not going to last a mynock minute out here.” — Ahsoka Tano.

“I’ve got a bad feeling about this.” — Anakin Skywalker, redlining his ill-fated starfighter.

“And best of all, Master? He’s gold! A gold droid for Gold Leader of Gold Squadron!” — Ahsoka Tano, trying to sell a reluctant Anakin on the merits of R3-S6.

  • “Ugh. What’s that smell?”
  • “Trandoshan. That’s Huttese for snuff and poodoo.” – Ahsoka Tano and Anakin Skywalker.
  • “Pookums here really has her heart set on another R2. She lost the last one.”
  • “Pookums? Oh brother.” — Anakin Skywalker and Ahsoka Tano, bluffing their way past Gha Nackht.

“Back at ya, piston-head!” – Ahsoka Tano to an IG assassin droid.

“As for you, stubby, you’d make a poor excuse for a light switch.” – Anakin Skywalker to R3-S6.

“I know! I know! Missiles… I hate missiles.” — Anakin Skywalker.

“You know, if this ship blows up, you go with it.” — Anakin Skywalker to R3-S6.

“Did somebody call for help… again?” — Ahsoka Tano to Anakin.

The Holocron

The Clone Wars Episode Guide: Rookies

Welcome to a look inside The Holocron. A collection of articles from the archives of *starwars.com no longer directly available.

(*Archived here with Permission utilising The Internet Archive Wayback Machine)

The Clone Wars Episode Guide: Rookies

Episode Air No: 5
Original Air Date: October 24, 2008
Production No: 14

Written by Steve Melching
Directed by Justin Ridge

Key Characters: Captain Rex, Commander Cody

Cast:
Dee Bradley Baker as the clone troopers
James Arnold Taylor as Obi-Wan Kenobi
Matthew Wood as General Grievous | Battle Droids
Matt Lanter as Anakin Skywalker
Tom Kane as Narrator | Admiral Yularen
Nika Futterman as Asajj Ventress
Gwendoline Yeo as Hologram VJ

Episode Brief:Alone on a distant outpost, clone officers Rex and Cody must inspire their rookie unit to believe in themselves to stave off a Droid Commando invasion.

Notable: All clone | droid episode.

Full Synopsis

“The best confidence builder is experience.”

Newsreel:

Clone forces rally! As the war
escalates in the Outer Rim, the
Jedi Knights are spread thinly
across the galaxy. Many new
clones are rushed into service
to support their Jedi generals.
Unfortunately, because of the
relentless demands of battle,
many young clones must join
the struggle before their
intensive training has been
completed. These clones,
manning a vital network of
tracking stations are all that
stand between the Republic
and invasion…

ACT I
The setting is the tracking station on the Rishi moon, located on the wispy borders of Republic space, not far from the cloning facilities of Kamino. A clone sentry, CT 327, reports the skies are clear of any suspect activity — an all too common report heard by the rookie clones within the station. Though genetically identical, they are different in personality and outlook. Hevy is the impetuous and impatient one that vocally laments his posting. He whiles the time away arm-wrestling with trooper Cutup. Echo is all about regulation manuals and protocol. New to the station are Fives (CT 27-5555), Nub (named after the non-flattering acronym “Non-Useful Body”) and Droidbait.

The distracted troops snap to attention at the arrival of their commander, Sergeant O’Niner. He informs them that clone officers are due for an inspection of their outpost, one of the most important tracking stations safeguarding this quadrant of the Outer Rim.

Back at the Republic fleet, Anakin Skywalker examines data to find any trace of General Grievous, who has vanished for weeks. Obi-Wan Kenobi, visiting the Resolute, comments on Anakin’s readily apparent weariness. Commander Cody reports in, noting a successful check of the tracking station in the Pastil system. The next destination for Cody and Captain Rex is Rishi.

At the tracking station, long range sensors detect an incoming meteor shower. The clones raise the defensive shields, which block any meteors that land too close, but several strike in the outlying crater plain. The lookout CT 327 spots something peculiar through his electrobinoculars. Within the craters are droid landing pods from which emerge sleek and stealthy droid commandos! The agile droids incapacitate the lookout and begin slicing into the door locks.

When CT 327 fails to report in, a concerned O’Niner sends Nub and Droidbait to investigate. They discover the infiltrating commando droids and are cut down by enemy fire. The clones attempt to activate the alert beacon, but the droids have disabled it. O’Niner orders a message dispatched to the fleet, but he too is killed by droid fire, leaving only Fives, Echo, Cutup and Hevy behind to carry out the mission.

The rookie clones seal the ops center and escape through a ventilation shaft before the commandos cut through. The commandos contact General Grievous and the Separatist fleet with news of their success. The droids have hard-wired the all-clear signal, thus preventing the Republic from knowing of the Separatist incursion toward their cloning centers. Asajj Ventress has already infiltrated Kamino and all is in readiness: Grievous will be able to cripple the Republic’s cloning facilities for good.

Just then, Republic attack shuttle Obex arrives at the Rishi outpost. Rex and Cody contact the tracking station, and are greeted by a visual of droid commando wearing a clone trooper helmet while doing a vocal impression of a clone. The commando tries to get Rex and Cody to call off their inspection, however, the odd delivery of dialogue — punctuated by an affirmative “roger roger” no less — raises their suspicions.

ACT II
The four rookie clones emerge in the crater-filled crags beneath the tracking station, but find no safety. They are stalked by an immense Rishi eel that chomps down on Trooper Cutup, dragging him away screaming. The remaining three clones spot Cody’s shuttle coming in for a landing. The rookies have to somehow warn the officers.

Rex and Cody emerge from the Obex, not at all impressed by the lack of deck officer on duty. The doors to the station open, and out emerges a fully armored trooper with an oddly mechanical gait. The clone tries to bluff Cody and Rex into leaving without doing an inspection. Just then, an alert flare lights up the night sky — fired by the rookie clones. Rex impetuously fires point-blank into the clone’s head. After the body falls, he pulls off the helmet, revealing the scorched cranium of a commando droid. Cody realizes the flare must have come from the outposts’ survivors.

Blaster fire erupts as the remaining commando droids charge the platform from within the station. The droids lob thermal detonators that destroy the Obex. Under cover of the explosion, Rex and Cody rappel off the platform’s edge, and the droids mistakenly assume the officers were killed.

Below the platform, the officers discover the remaining rookies, who prove their true allegiance and status by removing their helmets, revealing that they aren’t droids. Just then, a Rishi eel strikes again, but Rex fells the massive creature with one well-placed shot. The rookies briefly marvel at Rex’s marksmanship, but quickly snap to attention as Cody takes command of them. The young clones, particularly Hevy, are determined to retake their outpost.

Back at the fleet, Admiral Yularen is unable to raise the clone officers on the communicator, but Kenobi and Skywalker are too concentrated on tracking Grievous to be alarmed.

At the outpost entrance, commando droids 07, 08, and 09 are met by an oddly shuffling and robotic-acting clone at the gates. It’s Captain Rex, posing as unit 26 posing as Captain Rex. To complete the charade, Rex holds a decapitated droid head into the security camera frame when the commandos demand visual identification. Despite Cody’s doubts about this rather unorthodox plan, the gullible droids open the blast doors, and are immediately shot apart by the clones.

Rex takes point and storms the ops center. In the gunfight, Fives is wounded, but the clones successfully wipe out the commandos. Cody examines the controls and detects the Separatist fleet invading Republic space. Aboard the Separatist flagship, Grievous receives a status update: the Rishi base is still transmitting an all-clear signal, but the commando droids are not responding. Not willing to leave anything to chance, Grievous dispatches reinforcements to Rishi.

The clones discover that the station’s communications system has been sabotaged and that the all-clear signal is hardwired. They spot the incoming Separatist landing craft and realize that their situation is growing worse.

ACT III
The landing craft sets down on the platform and disgorges battle droids. Rex improvises a new objective: the clones must destroy the outpost. When the all-clear signal stops broadcasting, the Republic will be alerted to the invasion. Echo suggests using LT — liquid Tibanna — a fuel source used to keep the lunar outpost warm during its freezing cycle. The clones plan to collect the Tibanna tanks and rig them for detonation, but also stock up at the armory to defend against the battle droids while they do that. Hevy naturally gravitates to the Z-6 rotary blaster cannon, which he uses to mow down the first wave of battle droid reinforcements.

While Yularen continues his attempts to contact Rishi and Grievous’ fleet continues its incursion, the clones retreat deeper into the station, holding off the droids long enough for their explosives to be set. The Tibanna tanks are actually three plunk droids wired together to explode, but Rex is having trouble with a faulty detonator. Hevy takes over demolition duty, telling Rex and the rest to evacuate through the vent shaft.

Hevy has little luck with the detonator. As battle droids enter the ops center, Hevy seeks cover. Hevy is determined to manually detonate the explosives. He is blasted by the droids, but goes down fighting, limping back to the fuel tanks. Dying, he uses his last ounce of strength to trip the explosives, ripping the entire station apart in a fireball that sends the landing platform — and the droid lander — crashing into the crater.

There is an immediate result — the all clear signal stops. The Republic fleet realizes an invasion may be underway. Republic ships immediately surround the Separatists, who turn tail and retreat. Republic gunships land on the Rishi moon, picking up the surviving clones.

Later, aboard the Resolute, the clone rookies are commended for their service and their sacrifice. They receive medals directly from Generals Obi-Wan Kenobi and Anakin Skywalker and are absorbed into the 501st. When the Jedi leave, Echo voices regret. He still views their mission as a failure — the tracking station was destroyed. But Cody and Rex instead explain the bigger picture, and the crucial role these rookies played in defending Republic space.

Trivia & Details

  • The fauna of Rishi includes another re-use of the neebray manta model — the fourth so far for the series. It can be seen as a tiny creature on the moon of Rugosa in “Ambush,” deep space leviathans in “Shadow of Malevolence“, and fluttering over Tatooine in the feature film.
  • Drop-pods used to deliver droids is an idea that echoes the deployment of probots in The Empire Strikes Back. The model of the commando pod is a re-use of the pod-hunters seen in “Rising Malevolence” and the boarding craft that will appear in “Cloak of Darkness,” suggesting a modular, versatile design.
  • CT 327’s identifying number uses the very common digits 327 — numbers that conspicuously appear throughout the Star Wars saga. Among other things, 327 is a docking bay number aboard the Death Star in Episode IV, a landing platform in Cloud City in Episode V, and a Naboo ship type in Episode I. Though George Lucas has remained coy on the subject of explaining the number’s origins, many have noted that it is a popular car engine type, invoked by name in his feature, American Graffiti.
  • Careful inspection of the backgrounds in the ops section of the tracking station shows some Twi’lek model pinups photos on the work station walls.
  • Rex and Cody briefly mention a previous dire situation on Tibrin. Tibrin is the Ishi Tib home world.
  • Cody, a commander, outranks Rex, a captain.
  • Rex touches Echo’s armor after killing a Rishi eel, leaving a handprint of eel blood on his armor that remains throughout the rest of the episode, making Echo easier to identify.
  • The holographic VJ hosting the music broadcast is a BD-3000 droid, nicknamed a “Bettie Bot”
  • The text on Hevy’s detonator screen says, in Aurebesh, “ATTE RUL3Z SOME TEXT.”

Memorable Quotes

“You’re listening to the Grand Army of the Republic broadcast, the voice of the Outer Rim. This next one goes out to the Mud-Jumpers of the 224th, slugging it out on Mimban. Keep your heads down and your seals tight, boys.” — Bettie-Bot VJ

“Leave him alone. They kept him in his growth jar too long.” — Cutup, defending Echo from Hevy.

“Ooo. Meteor shower.” — An ironic Hevy, expressing “concern.”

“Now that was an eel. That’s why we have the regulation not to go outside.” — Echo, quoting procedure after Cutup is devoured.

“I have a bad feeling about this.” — Clone Commander Cody

“Hands above your heads. Take your sun bonnets off.” — Clone Captain Rex

  • “They should have checked in from the Rishi station hours ago. It appears your captain follows orders as well as you do.”
  • “Hm. Perhaps Cody is boring Rex with standard procedures and protocol.” — Obi-Wan Kenobi and Anakin Skywalker, discussing their clone officers.

“Looks like we got ourselves a batch of shinies, commander.” — Clone Captain Rex

“Not so tough now, are ya, Sparky?” — Hevy, to a blasted commando droid

“All right, listen up. There’s only one target of interest in this sector: Kamino. It’s the closest thing we clones have to a home. Today we fight for more than the Republic. Today we fight for all our brothers back home, understood?” — Clone Captain Rex.

The Holocron

The Clone Wars Episode Guide: Destroy Malevolence

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The Clone Wars Episode Guide: Destroy Malevolence

Episode Air No: 4
Original Air Date: October 17, 2008
Production No: 11

Written by Tim Burns
Directed by Brian Kalin O’Connell

Key Characters: Anakin Skywalker, Obi-Wan Kenobi, Padmé Amidala, C-3PO, General Grievous

Cast:
Matt Lanter as Anakin Skywalker
James Arnold Taylor as Obi-Wan Kenobi | Plo Koon
Catherine Taber as Padmé Amidala
Matthew Wood as General Grievous | Battle droids
Anthony Daniels as C-3PO
Ashley Eckstein as Ahsoka Tano
Dee Bradley Baker as the clone troopers
Tom Kane as Admiral Yularen | Narrator
Corey Burton as Count Dooku
Olivia d’Abo as Luminara Unduli

Episode Brief: Padmé Amidala and C-3PO are taken hostage by General Grievous, leaving Anakin and Obi-Wan to save the Senator and complete the destruction of the Malevolence.

Notable: Series debut of Padmé Amidala and C-3PO.

Full Synopsis

“A plan is only as good as those who see it through.”

Newsreel:

Grievous in retreat! Before the
battleship Malevolence could
destroy an Outer Rim clone
medical base, a Republic strike
force, under the command of
Jedi General Anakin Skywalker,
crippled the warship, disabling
its dreaded ion cannon. Now
the Jedi relentlessly pursue
the Malevolence….

ACT I
The smoldering warship Malevolence limps away from the barrage of turbolaser fire from a trio of pursuing Republic Star Destroyers. Its primary stabilizer and hyperdrive are damaged, and its forward drive begins to fail, but the ship is so immense, it can nonetheless continue to absorb the pounding the Republic vessels deliver. Aboard a flagship, Jedi Generals Obi-Wan Kenobi, Plo Koon, and Anakin Skywalker convene for a tactical update. Skywalker has attempted to contact Luminara Unduli for additional support, but she is tied up dealing with Separatist reinforcements nearby. Kenobi orders all cannons to target the Malevolence‘s bridge.

Count Dooku contacts Grievous holographically. The count has arranged a trap that will give Grievous an advantage over the Jedi: an important Galactic Senator is heading towards the Malevolence. Grievous is to take this representative hostage in order to stop the Republic attack.

A silvery Naboo yacht hurtles through hyperspace with Senator Padmé Amidala and C-3PO at the helm. She in on a diplomatic mission to secure a potential separate peace with an executive from the Banking Clan that supposedly contacted Chancellor Palpatine with overtures of alliance. Emerging from hyperspace, the ship nearly collides with the fleeing Malevolence.

Ahsoka Tano picks up the incoming vessel on the Republic flagship’s scanners. The Jedi desperately try to contact Padmé’s ship while the Republic taskforce holds its fire. The Malevolence snags the yacht in its tractor beam and reels the unarmed ship into its hold. Padmé demands that the Jedi continue their attack, but Anakin cannot bring himself to order fire to resume with his beloved trapped within the Malevolence. Anakin decides to mount an infiltration mission to rescue Padmé, and Obi-Wan accompanies him.

General Grievous orders a repair crew to resume work on the ship’s hyperdrive while he traverses the huge distances within the ship via its rail system in order to arrive at the main hangar. There, Padmé begins overloading the yacht’s power systems and flees the ship with C-3PO. Grievous spots the explosive trap before it is too late, and leaves the captive yacht before it erupts in flames. Firefighting battle droids try to douse the flames while Grievous orders an alert to capture the stowaways.

ACT II
Within the Malevolence, Padmé attempts to rig a comm panel to contact the Republic fleet, but her work is cut short when she and Threepio need to hide as Grievous and his troops approach. She overhears that the warship’s hyperdrive was not as badly damaged as originally feared, and the ship should be able to achieve superluminal flight in good order. Grievous leaves to contact Dooku.

Obi-Wan and Anakin leave the Resolute‘s hangar bay aboard the Twilight, and Kenobi is less-than-impressed with Anakin’s plan to dock with the Malevolence‘s emergency airlocks. Skywalker correctly assesses that those aboard the warship are too occupied with the ship’s catastrophic damage to detect the spice freighter. The Jedi pass through the airlock, cut through some hapless battle droids, and enter the ship. Anakin orders Artoo to stay behind.

Meanwhile, back at the Republic fleet, Ahsoka and Plo Koon have contacted Luminara Unduli, who pledges her forces as reinforcements. Yularen reports that they’re receiving a transmission from Senator Amidala. Ahsoka patches the signal through to Anakin. Padmé reports from the lower levels, and she is surprised to hear that Obi-Wan and Anakin are also aboard the Malevolence. Working from data gathered from scans, Ahsoka advises the infiltrators to rendezvous within a large open area that runs through the center of the ship.

The central channel of the ship is dominated by an extensive rail jet system. Padmé and C-3PO and Anakin and Obi-Wan are on opposite sides of the chasm. With battle droids in pursuit, the intruders leap onto approaching rail jet cars. A super battle droid launches a warhead at the rails ahead, knocking out a bridge in front of Padmé. She leaps towards Anakin’s train, and he uses the Force to carry her over the distance and into his arms. As the train enters a tunnel, the two share a brief private moment of affection.

Poor C-3PO has fallen onto another car and into a crate. Obi-Wan Kenobi tries to lift him to safety using the Force, but the droid instead is intercepted by another rail jet car, taking him deeper into the ship. Padmé informs the Jedi that she overheard that the hyperdrive was nearing reactivation, so Kenobi agrees to venture towards the ship’s engineering station and ensure that it remains offline. Grievous overhears this communication, and plans to intercept Kenobi.

Anakin contacts Artoo and asks him to help find Threepio. R2-D2 plugs into the Malevolence‘s computer network and stops Threepio’s train.

Kenobi arrives at the engineering station, only to be surrounded by battle droids, super battle droids and droidekas. Then, General Grievous emerges from the shadows, itching for a fight.

ACT III
Grievous orders his droids to open fire. Kenobi leaps his way past their fire, and uses the force to shove the droidekas into wheel form, bowling over his attackers. Kenobi then flees engineering. Grievous orders the droids to guard the hyperdrive while he gives pursuit.

Elsewhere in the ship, Anakin and Padmé outrun battle droids. Contact with Obi-Wan is cut off by jamming. Skywalker hatches another plan. Meanwhile, C-3PO and R2-D2 are reunited within another section of the Malevolence.

Skywalker storms the bridge, where battle droids near completion of bringing the hyperdrive back online. He cuts through the guards. Then, as Padmé clears the battered droids to hide their presence, Anakin hotwires the ship’s guidance systems to give General Grievous “a little surprise.”

The reinforced Republic Star Destroyers achieve attack position. Plo Koon is unable to contact Skywalker or Kenobi. Ahsoka urges Master Plo to give them more time, but the chrono is ticking… the Malevolence must be stopped.

Kenobi flees to a rail-jet tunnel, but Grievous dogs his leaps and bounds. Their lightsaber duel is cut short and Obi-Wan dodges an attack by jumping onto an opposite train.

R2-D2 and C-3PO return to the Twilight, and Anakin, Padmé and Obi-Wan all reunite at the spice freighter. The ship undocks from the Malevolence and flies away. Grievous is determined to catch these Jedi, so he leaps aboard his starfighter and lifts off, accompanied by vulture droid wingmates. Padmé mans the turret guns, blasting away at their pursuers.

The Star Destroyers open fire, pelting the Malevolence. A battle droid reports to Grievous that the hyperdrive is repaired. Grievous orders the ship to flee to Separatist space; he will rendezvous with them in Sector Four.

The Malevolennce begins its jump sequence… but something is wrong. The ship is aiming toward a dead moon. Grievous orders the hyperdrive to reset, but it is too late. Just then, Count Dooku contacts the general for an update. Grievous cuts off all communication as the Malevolence slams into the moon. The threat of the Malevolence is over. Grievous flees into parts unknown.

Trivia & Details

  • Of the three Republic warships pursuing the Malevolence, the lead ship is General Skywalker’s Resolute. As a flagship, it has red conning towers.
  • The original script had Padmé and C-3PO rushing to the battle site to aid in the evacuation of the Kaliida Shoals Med Center (you may recall mention of Naboo relief ships being dispatched in “Shadow of Malevolence.” The story was changed to instead have Padmé tricked into becoming Grievous’ hostage.
  • The specialist battle droids in the hangar have reflective paint strips that resemble firefighter’s uniform.
  • In the script, Anakin’s original plan to board the Malevolence included a foolhardy hyperspace micro-jump that would have deposited the Twilight just centimeters away from the enemy ship’s hull.
  • Grievous’ greeting of “hello there” to Kenobi is a callback of Obi-Wan’s “hello there” to Grievous in Episode III, which itself was a callback to Obi-Wan’s “hello there” to Artoo in Episode IV.
  • The design of the rail-jet car draws inspiration from the Trade Federation MTT tanks from Episode I.
  • If you listen carefully to the disembodied rail-jet conductor voice, you’ll note that it advises travelers to “mind the gap.”
  • The final frame of the heroes is the first time all these prequel characters have ever been thus depicted; the final frame from Episode I did not have C-3PO while Episode II and III had them scattered across different planets.

Memorable Quotes

“Do not compound your failure this day by allowing our prize warship to fall.” — Count Dooku to General Grievous.

“I will not be made into a Separatist bargaining chip! Continue your attack! ” — Padmé Amidala to Anakin Skywalker.

“We’re doomed.” — C-3PO

  • “There he goes again, craving adventure and excitement.”
  • “You get used to it.” — Plo Koon and Ahsoka Tano about Anakin

“Hey, that’s just rude.” — A knocked over battle droid to General Grievous.

“But do we have a plan B? Every operation needs a backup, Anakin.” — Obi-Wan

  • “Everything I know I learned from you.”
  • “Oh, if only that were true.” – Anakin Skywalker and Obi-Wan Kenobi

“Somebody stop this contraption, please! (train stops, sending Threepio flying) I suppose I did ask for that.” – C-3PO

“Hello there.” — General Grievous

“R2-D2, oh my, you are a sight for short circuits!”

  • “Ever since I’ve known you you’ve been playing with droids.
  • “I used to put them together. Now I only take them apart.” – Anakin and Padmé

The Holocron

The Clone Wars Episode Guide: Shadow of Malevolance

Welcome to a look inside The Holocron. A collection of articles from the archives of *starwars.com no longer directly available.

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The Clone Wars Episode Guide: Shadow of Malevolance

Episode Air No: 3
Original Air Date: October 10, 2008
Production No: 9

Written by Steve Melching
Directed by Brian Kalin O’Connell

Key Characters: General Grievous, Anakin Skywalker, Ahsoka Tano, Jedi Master Plo Koon
Key Locales: Balmorra Run

Cast:
Matt Lanter as Anakin Skywalker
Ashley Eckstein as Ahsoka Tano
Tom Kane as Admiral Yularen | Narrator
James Arnold Taylor as Obi-Wan Kenobi | Plo Koon
Dee Bradley Baker as the clone troopers
Matthew Wood as General Grievous | battle droids
Corey Burton as Count Dooku
Gwendoline Yeo as Nala Se

Episode Brief: With the help of his Padawan Ahsoka and Jedi Master Plo Koon, Anakin utilizes new long-range Y-wing bombers to lead a bold strike on General Grievous’ warship, the Malevolence, and its destructive weapon.

Notable: Introduction of the Y-wing bombers.

Full Synopsis

“Easy is the path to wisdom for those not blinded by themselves”

Newsreel:
A deadly weapon, unleashed! The
Separatist battleship, Malevolence
advances unopposed through Republic
space, tearing apart any ship that
stands in its path. After a daring rescue
and narrow escape, Anakin Skwalker
prepares a counterattack on the
enemy and its diabolical droid
commander, General Grievous….

ACT I
Within the hangar bay of the Resolute, Anakin Skywalker and Admiral Yularen brief the assembled clone pilots of Shadow Squadron on their strike mission against the Malevolence. As the bulk of the fleet is engaged elsewhere, this strike mission will operate on its own. The Malevolence‘s primary weapon is geared against capital ships, so Anakin believes a small squad of bombers could outmaneuver it and target the warship’s bridge, knocking out the ship and General Grievous. The clones — including Matchstick and Broadside — are eager for a fight. Jedi Master Plo Koon, however, expresses his reservations about Anakin’s aggressive attack strategies, an opinion that Ahsoka Tano shares.

In the Ryndellia system, the Malevolence continues its assault, blasting apart another Republic convoy. A lone medical transport flees the carnage, but it is overtaken by the weapon’s ion plasma blast. Even its escape pods are targeted for annihilation. General Grievous relishes the destructive power of his weapon, but continues to be frustrated by the incompetence of his battle droid troops. He smacks one to pieces out of anger, and gets a brief chastisement from a holographic Count Dooku, who notes that these droids are pricey and the Republic are never so callous with their soldiers.

That is precisely a weakness the Separatists plot to exploit by targeting the Republic’s secret Outer Rim medical station. The Kaliida Shoals Med Station, not far from Naboo, is unprotected and treating over 60,000 wounded clones. Once destroyed, the Jedi in the Outer Rim theater will have no place to send their wounded troops.

Back in the Resolute‘s hangar, Shadow Squadron’s Y-wing bombers undergo preparation, and Anakin assigns Ahsoka as his tailgunner. Admiral Yularen reports in with news of the Ryndellia attack. Anakin theorizes that Grievous will likely target the Kaliida Shoals station. Stellar densities in that area of space limit the Malevolence‘s hyperspace capabilities, giving Shadow Squadron the opportunity to intercept it via a shortcut. Plo Koon decides to join Anakin’s squadron flying fighter escort.

At the Kaliida Shoals station, Kaminoan administrator Nala Se receives a warning from Admiral Yularen. It is impossible to evacuate all the wounded from the station. Obi-Wan Kenobi also chimes in via holocom. He has contacted the Naboo, who are sending ships to assist in the evacuation, and he plans to arrive as well aboard the Negotiator.

The Y-wings depart from the Resolute‘s central hangar deck, tailed by master Plo’s Delta-7B fighter. They check in, and then blast off into hyperspace. The nimble fighters will take Anakin’s shortcut to Kaliida Shoals, while Obi-Wan’s warship will take the longer route.

ACT II
The Malevolence travels through hyperspace at a velocity well past lightspeed, but it’s not fast enough for the impatient General Grievous. The navicomputer has had to calculate a complex course sidestepping the Kaliida nebula. The Y-wings, however, can negotiate the dust cloud, so Shadow Squadron emerges from hyperspace to traverse the nebula: a short cut dubbed the Balmorra Run that Anakin Skywalker learned from smugglers in his youth. Entering the cloud completely obscures the fighters’ scanners. Ahsoka is increasingly concerned by this dangerous course of action.

At Kaliida Shoals, the evacuation proceeds slowly, with the stabilized patients being moved to medical transports first. The more critically wounded and those in bacta tanks cannot be moved just yet.

The Malevolence is in its last parsec of travel when Count Dooku reports in. He has received intelligence from Lord Sidious: the Republic has launched a small strike force led by Anakin Skywalker to intercept and attack the Malevolence. Grievous fears nothing, for his ship is unstoppable.

In the heart of the nebula, Shadow Squadron suddenly stumbles upon a swarm of giant neebray mantas, deep space leviathans. The annoyed hulks begin to swim around the Y-wing fighters, and Anakin orders evasive maneuvers. Shadow Two (Matchstick) grazes a neebray wing as he flies by, causing damage to his portside thruster stabilizer. Anakin orders bantha formation — a single-file flight pattern that allows the squadron to thread its way past the beasts. The fighters emerge from the nebula, where the neebrays will not follow.

At this point, half of the Kaliida Shoals facility has been evacuated. Still not enough, to Obi-Wan Kenobi’s thinking, as the Negotiator plies through hyperspace. Kenobi hopes Skywalker will intercept Grievous in time, or else 30,000 clones still lie at risk.

ACT III
The Malevolence bursts into realspace and is immediately swarmed by Anakin’s squadron. Grievous orders the ship brought about, and vulture droid fighters launched. A group of medical transports flee the Kaliida Shoals station, and Grievous targets them with an ion blast, followed by a turbolaser volley. The battle is joined.

Grievous next targets the jumble of dogfighting fighters, even though his vulture droids are in the mix. Anakin orders his fighters to fly to the edge of the incoming disc of crippling energy. The Y-wings pour on all the speed they can, but Shadow Two’s crippled stabilizer slows him down. Matchstick’s engine blows, and he spins out of control, plowing into trooper Tag’s Y-wing. Both fighters erupt in flames. The rest of the squadron crests the ion wave, though three other fighters, Shadows Six, Seven and Ten, are caught in the blast and immobilized. Anakin is now down to almost half his original squadron, possibly not enough for him to continue his mission.

The remaining Y-wings close in on the Malevolence, and the warship’s point defense batteries create a withering curtain of anti-starfigher fire. As another Y-wing is blasted out of the sky, Ahsoka urges Anakin to abandon this course of action: they need a new plan. “Master, you can make it, but everyone else is getting shot down!” she urges. Meanwhile, Grievous charges up the ion cannon to target the medical station. Anakin realizes his Padawan is right: he abandons his bid to destroy the bridge and General Grievous, and instead targets the prime weapon.

The remaining fighters of Shadow Squadron change course, and fly toward the starboard ion cannon. Volley after volley of proton torpedoes launch from the fighters and strike the disc emitter as it builds up its ion charge. A cascade of explosions rock the Malevolence. The ion cannon fires, but the blast loses direction and expands outward, backfiring and crippling both ion emitters and disabling the vessel’s hyperdrive. Kaliida Shoals is saved, but the Malevolence lives on, defanged and limping away.

Just then, Obi-Wan Kenobi’s taskforce emerges from hyperspace. The Negotiator continues pursuit of the Malevolence while Anakin’s Y-wing fighters head to the medical station.

Docked at the medical station hangar, Plo Koon congratulates Anakin on his successful run. Anakin meets with Nala Se, who thanks Skywalker for the lives he saved. Skywalker, though, remains focused on the lives he has lost.

Trivia & Details

  • The “Crumb Bomber” — the Republic gunship with the Kowakian monkey lizard illustration on its side — was stationed within the Resolute hangar.
  • The four-legged power droid is called a plunk droid, and sure enough, that’s what it says as it shuffles about.
  • The chairs at the briefing are basic office chairs with casters, just like the chairs aboard the original Death Star.
  • An as-yet-untold adventure has established that Anakin is wary of Ahsoka’s piloting (see episode guide for “Downfall of a Droid” on November 7th for more information).
  • Deep space leviathians within a dust cloud have been seen before in the expanded universe, in the novel Lando Calrissian and the Starcave of ThonBoka, with the massive Oswaft living within the ThonBoka nebula.
  • After Grievous callously beheads a battle droid gunner, there is a replacement one ready to take its place.
  • The script and earlier versions of this episode had the Jedi fortune cookie read: “Easy is the path to wisdom for those not blinded by ego.”
  • The look of the Clone Wars-era Y-wing bombers stems directly from the design of the original Y-wing and speculation from Episode IV Visual Effects Art Director Joe Johnston that the Rebel Alliance Y-wing was a “chopped” version of an older craft. An earlier idea of a skinned or fully faired Y-wing appeared in the Star Wars: Incredible Cross-Sections book from DK, but that design differs from the final look of the Y-wing bombers seen in this episode, which more effectively bridges the design aesthetic of the prequel and original trilogies.

Memorable Quotes

“Minimal casualties, maximum effectiveness. That’s us.” — Broadside, describing Shadow Squadron’s motto.

“Boy, this is a lot more fun when they’re not shooting back!” — Battle droid gunner aboard the Malevolence.

“The care these Jedi show for their troops is a weakness.” — General Grievous

“Target those escape pods! I have a reputation to uphold!” — General Grievous

“Cut the chatter, Ahsoka.” — Anakin Skywalker, Squadron Leader

“Broadside, we make it through this one, drinks are on me.” — Matchstick

“Does anyone care what the Padawan thinks?” — Ahsoka Tano

“This is old fashioned flying. You have to feel your way through to stay on course.” — Anakin Skywalker

  • “That one looks hungry!”
  • “Nah, it’s just smiling at you.” – Ahsoka and Anakin, regarding a neebray

“I have a bad feeling about this.” — Battle droid gunner.

  • “That’s kind of true, Snips.”
  • “From a certain point of view.” — Anakin Skywalker and Plo Koon, responding to Ahsoka taking credit for changing the final attack plan.

 

The Holocron

The Clone Wars Episode Guide: Rising Malevolance

Welcome to a look inside The Holocron. A collection of articles from the archives of *starwars.com no longer directly available.

(*Archived here with Permission utilising The Internet Archive Wayback Machine)

The Clone Wars Episode Guide: Rising Malevolance

Episode Air No: 2
Original Air Date: October 3, 2008 (Premiere episode)
Production No: 7

Written by Stephen Melching
Directed by Dave Filoni

Key Characters: Jedi Master Plo Koon, General Grievous, Anakin Skywalker, Ahsoka Tano
Key Locales: Abregado, Coruscant

Cast:
Ashley Eckstein as Ahsoka Tano
James Arnold Taylor as Obi-Wan Kenobi | Plo Koon
Dee Bradley Baker as the clone troopers
Tom Kane as Yoda | Admiral Yularen | Narrator
Corey Burton as Count Dooku
Terrence “TC” Carson as Mace Windu
Ian Abercrombie as Chancellor Palpatine
Tim Brock as the medical droid
Matthew Wood as General Grievous | battle droids

Episode Brief: An attack by a devastating new Separatist weapon leaves Jedi Master Plo Koon and his clone troopers struggling to survive until Anakin and Ahsoka can find them.

Notable: Series debut of Anakin, Ahsoka, Grievous; introduction of Plo Koon; revelation of secret enemy weapon

Full Synopsis

“Belief is not a matter of choice, but of conviction.”

Newsreel:
The clone Starfleet is under siege!
Dozens of Republic warships have
been destroyed in merciless surprise
attacks that leave no survivors.
Rumors spread of a terrible new
Separatist weapon. In the face of
growing fear, the Jedi Council sends
Master Plo Koon to hunt down the
menace before it strikes again….

ACT I
In the Abregado system, Plo Koon’s flotilla of three Republic attack cruisers close in on a silhouetted enemy vessel. Aboard the Triumphant, Plo Koon orders his first officer, Commander Wolffe, to contact Coruscant and relay their position prior to attack. Master Plo makes contact with Anakin Skywalker’s fleet stationed in the nearby Bith system, and warmly greets Ahsoka Tano. There is little Skywalker can do to support Plo Koon, as he has been ordered to protect the staging area. Just then, the communications are cut off — jammed from the Separatist warship, Malevolence.

Ahsoka is gravely concerned about her old friend, Plo Koon, and urges Skywalker to launch a rescue. Anakin demands patience and silence from her as he contacts the Jedi Council. The holographic avatars of Mace Windu, Chancellor Palpatine, Yoda and Obi-Wan are discussing the predations of General Grievous’ mystery weapon, which has managed to strike in over a dozen systems and disappear without a trace. Anakin updates the Council of Master Plo’s entrance into the Abregado system.

Meanwhile. the Triumphant and the Malevolence close distance. At Count Dooku’s order, General Grievous fires the vessel’s primary weapon, an immense ion cannon that blasts a disc of disruptive energy that washes over the three Republic ships. As lightning dances across their hulls, energy is leeched from the warships, leaving the taskforce without shields or weapons. The Malevolence opens fire, blasting apart the defenseless ships. Plo Koon orders all hands to the escape pods. Master Plo enters a pod with Wolffe, and the clone troopers Sinker and Boost. Wolffe reports the grim news that their power grid has burned out, limiting life support and communications.

Aboard the Malevolence, Grievous relishes the destructive power of his new weapon. Count Dooku orders pod-hunters dispatched into the wreckage to ensure that there are no survivors who could report on the weapon’s location or capabilities.

Anakin continues his report to the Council. Plo Koon’s taskforce has vanished, and the absence of distress beacons suggests that the vessels were wiped out. Given the precedence set by the previous Malevolence strikes, Plo Koon is believed to be dead. Mace Windu assigns Skywalker’s taskforce to protect vital convoy missions, but Ahsoka speaks up, urging the Council to search for Plo Koon. Anakin chastises her for speaking out of turn. Anakin orders Admiral Yularen to deploy the task force to protect against any enemies who may threaten the convoys, while he and Ahsoka scout ahead aboard the Twilight.

The air in the pod is beginning to thin. Trooper Sinker points out that, strategically, it makes little sense to come looking for a missing pod over looking for the Malevolence, but Master Plo stresses the value of the troopers’ lives. Suddenly, the clones spot another pod floating in the wreckage. It has been sliced open, and the clone troopers within float lifelessly. Something is out there… something that can breach escape pod hulls.

The Twilight lifts off from Anakin’s flagship, Resolute, and Skywalker orders Artoo to input coordinates. The spice freighter blasts into hyperspace.

ACT II
Obi-Wan Kenobi’s flagship, Negotiator, does its part in protecting the vital Republic convoys. Kenobi radios Admiral Yularen to check on Anakin’s progress, and Yularen reveals that Skywalker has “redeployed” himself.

The Twilight emerges in the Abregado system, and rather than search for the Malevolence, Anakin orders Artoo to calibrate the sensors to look for life-forms. Ahsoka is surprised to find that Anakin has bent the rules to look for Plo Koon. Skywalker explains that he had always intended to look for survivors, but how he dealt with the Jedi Council is what he was trying to teach to Ahsoka. Rather than be directly confrontational, as Ahsoka was, Anakin instead is choosing to creatively interpret his mandate.

Meanwhile, aboard the escape pod, Sinker and Boost restart the power grid. Wolffe intercepts a signal from Pod 1977, currently under attack. Elsewhere in the debris field, the pod-hunter vessel latches its pincers onto Pod 1977. A squad of four rocket-equipped battle droids emerges from the pod-hunter and uses built-in torches to cut into the pod. Plo Koon and his clones listen in horror at the sounds of men suffocating to death in cold vacuum as the droids breach the Pod 1977’s hull.

The Twilight’s scanners probe the debris field with little luck. Ahsoka explains to Anakin that Master Plo was the Jedi Master who found her and brought her to the Jedi Temple. Obi-Wan Kenobi, sounding tired of once again dealing with Anakin’s maverick stunts, communicates with Skywalker to get his position. Ahsoka tries to take the blame, but there are more pressing matters. Obi-Wan urges Anakin to return to the defensive escorts. The Republic needs him at the rendezvous point. Anakin agrees, and starts to turn the Twilight around. Suddenly, R2-D2 picks up a signal on the emergency channel.

The battle droid hunting team spot Plo Koon’s escape pod and close in. Its pincers enclose the pod. Plo Koon, whose Kel Dor physiology can withstand vacuum for a brief time, decides to face the threat head-on. He orders Boost and Sinker to accompany him. They done their helmets and leave the pod, just as the pod-hunter’s pincers squeeze their tiny lifeboat. Wolffe stays behind to keep the emergency communication signal alive.

Plo Koon and his clones intercept the battle droid team, while the Twilight searches the wreckage to pinpoint the source of the weak emergency signal. The pod-hunters pincers start to squeeze the pod, which immediately begins venting its precious atmosphere.

ACT III
With Sinker and Boost covering him, Plo Koon cuts through the pod-hunter’s heavy arms with his lightsaber. Using the Force, Master Plo shoves the pod away, causing it to collide in the debris field.
On Coruscant, Palpatine continues conferring with the Jedi Council. Obi-Wan reveals that Anakin — on his own authority — is searching for survivors amid the wreckage of Plo Koon’s fleet. Mace and Yoda grouse about Anakin’s reckless decisions.

Palpatine contacts Anakin, relaying the disappointment among the Council. Palpatine implores Anakin to return to the fleet. Ahsoka, meanwhile, reaches out with the Force, and senses a connection to Plo Koon. Before the Twilight can depart, she takes control of the ship, and charges into the debris field. She finds Plo Koon’s pod, and launches a tow cable, reeling the lifeboat into the Twilight’s cramped hold.

Exhausted, Plo Koon, Boost and Sinker are inspected by the Twilight’s 2-1B medical droid. Master Plo asks if there were any other survivors, but Anakin confirms there were none.

As the clones recover in the hold, Plo Koon follows Anakin and Ahsoka to the bridge of the Twilight for debriefing. He explains that the mystery weapon is an ion cannon. The sensors detect a massive vessel approaching. Plo Koon quickly orders them to shut down all power systems before they are detected. Reluctantly, Ahsoka shuts down R2-D2. In their haste, however, they forgot about the medical droid tending to the clones.

The droid sensor operators aboard the Malevolence detect the 2-1B’s energy signature. The Twilight is found! Dooku wants no witnesses; General Grievous orders the warship to attack. Anakin hurriedly restarts the Twilight, and attempts to flee through the debris field. Plo Koon reactivates Artoo, and the little droid must program the navicomputer to jump… anywhere! The Malovelence fires its ion cannon.

Anakin twists and turns the vessels through the debris field, narrowly outrunning the ion blast. R2-D2 delivers a viable set of coordinates at the last instant, and the ship clears the wreckage, leaping into hyperspace. Grievous has failed Dooku: the Republic now knows the nature of the superweapon threat.

At the Republic rendezvous point, the Twilight lands aboard the Resolute. In talking with Wolffe, Anakin credits Ahsoka for their rescue. Plo Koon and Skywalker then head to report to the Council. Anakin insists Ahsoka accompany him, because, after all, if he’s getting in trouble for this, she should share in the blame as well.

Trivia & Details

  • Commander Wolffe’s clone troopers have stylized wolf muzzles painted on their helmets.
  • The entry hatchways to the escape pods aboard the Triumphant have the Republic “cog” logo on it.
  • Booster and Sinker’s attempt to restart the escape pod’s power grid uses dialogue directly lifted from The Empire Strikes Back when Han Solo and Chewbacca are trying to fix the Millennium Falcon.
  • The second escape pod, Pod 1977, is named after the release year of the original Star Wars.
  • The firing channel shot of the ion cannon is a nod to the shot design of the Death Star firing in Episode IV.

Memorable Quotes

“From what I hear, Skywalker’s always ready for a fight.” — Commander Wolffe.

“Koh-to-ya, little ‘Soka.” — Plo Koon

“Don’t look at me. It’s Boost, sir. He only takes a bath when he’s on leave.” — Sinker

“I value your life more than finding that weapon.” — Plo Koon

“Anakin has just redeployed himself… again.” — Obi-Wan Kenobi

“Artoo, set up the scanner. Modulate for incoming… mystery weapons.” — Ahsoka Tano

“Doing what the Jedi Council says, that’s one thing. How we go about doing it, that’s another. That’s what I’m trying to teach you, my young Padawan.” — Anakin Skywalker

“No, that’s not it. This one goes here, that one goes there.” — Boost

“When you ask for trouble, you should not be surprised when it finds you.” — Plo Koon

“Let’s cut this can open!” — Rocket battle droid

“Time to put the squeeze on ’em!” — Rocket battle droid

“In this war, a step ahead of us Dooku always seems.” — Master Yoda

“That is one big cruiser-crusher!” — Ahsoka, seeing the Malevolence for the first time.

The Direct - Star Wars

The Clone Wars Season 8 Almost Happened

Here’s the latest from: The Direct – Star Wars

By Klein Felt

Members of the Star Wars: The Clone Wars cast revealed that Season 8 of the hit animated series was much closer to happening than one may have expected.

The final seventh season of the series stunned fans back in 2020, with the show’s final batch of episodes hitting Disney+ before Star Wars said goodbye to the Clone Wars story.

And despite The Clone Wars being as beloved as it is (even winning the likes of Anakin Skywalker actor Hayden Christensen over), the series was no stranger to being on the chopping block during its seven-season run.

The series was thought to have been completed after its beloved sixth season; however, it came back for a seventh using incomplete story ideas from before and repurposing them into one batch of 12 cohesive series-closing episodes…

…Read the Full Article @ The Star Wars – Direct

The Holocron

The Clone Wars Episode Guide: Ambush

Welcome to a look inside The Holocron. A collection of articles from the archives of *starwars.com no longer directly available.

(*Archived here with Permission utilising The Internet Archive Wayback Machine)

The Clone Wars Episode Guide: Ambush

Episode Air No: 1
Original Air Date: October 3, 2008 (Premiere episode)
Production No: 8

Written by Stephen Melching
Directed by Dave Bullock

Key Characters: Yoda, King Katuunko, Count Dooku, Asajj Ventress
Key Locales: Rugosa

Cast:
Tom Kane as Yoda | Narrator
Dee Bradley Baker as the clone troopers
Brian George as King Katuunko
Corey Burton as Count Dooku
Nika Futterman as Asajj Ventress
Matthew Wood as the battle droids

Episode Brief: Jedi Master Yoda and three clone troopers — Jek, Thire, and Rys — must face off against Count Dooku’s dreaded assassin Ventress and her massive droid army to prove the Jedi are strong enough to protect a strategic planet and forge a treaty for the Republic.

Notable: Yoda in action; series premiere; series introduction of Ventress

Full Synopsis

“Great leaders inspire greatness in others.”

Newsreel:
A galaxy divided by war! Peaceful
worlds must choose sides or face
the threat of invasion. Republic and
Separatist armies vie for the allegiance
of neutral planets. Desperate to build
a Republic supply base on the system
of Toydaria, Jedi Master Yoda travels
to secret negotiations on a remote
neutral moon….

ACT I
On the dried coral moon of Rugosa, the Toydarian monarch King Katuunko and his retinue await the arrival of their Jedi envoy. They are met instead by Asajj Ventress, who brings a holographic message from Count Dooku. The Separatist leader hopes to sway Toydaria to his cause by illustrating that the Republic offers little protection — as they cannot even protect themselves.

In space above, a Republic frigate carrying Yoda and his troopers are suddenly surrounded by Separatist warships. Cannonades pummel the frigate, forcing Yoda and his troops to escape their ship aboard life pods. The frigate launches all pods, and while the battleship blasts a few of the lifeboats, Yoda makes it to the colorful moon’s surface alongside three clones: Lieutenant Thire, Rys and Jek.

The Republic frigate leaves the system, a move that Asajj Ventress spins to the king as a sign of weakness. Her attempts at persuasion are interrupted by a holographic call from Yoda: the Jedi Master has survived.

Asajj suggests a deal. If Yoda survives Ventress’ attempts to capture him, then Katuunko is free to join the Republic. But, should the Separatists prevail, Toydaria’s allegiance is theirs. Though Katuunko does not like this turn of events, Yoda agrees.

Yoda and his troops march through the coral underbrush as a Separatist landing ship carrying a full battalion of droids arrives. Yoda leads the clones away from the enemies and the rendezvous point he had agreed to reach by nightfall.

ACT II
In the thick of the coral, the battle droid armored column has difficulty negotiating the tight confines. The infantry droids proceed on foot, and the clones outflank them. Sniping from the underbrush, Thire and his men blast through several droids, splitting up the squads.

Yoda hops around them, cutting the droids down one by one. A squad of super battle droids pushes the clones back. Thire is wounded in the cross-fire, and the clones are pinned. Meditating on the Force, Yoda lifts one of the advancing droids into the air, and spins him about, causing it to open fire on its fellow droids. This gives Yoda and the clones the time they need to retreat, narrowly avoiding pursuing droidekas.

Though the battle droids report their successes to Asajj, Yoda too resumes communication with Katuunko, indicating he’s not having any trouble at all. Yoda and the clones make it to a dried gulch lined with caves to rest and recover.

Inside a cave, the clones take stock of their grim position: low on ammo, Thire wounded, with only two grenades and one rocket for the launcher against a battalion. Yoda’s spirit never flags, however, and he speaks to each clone in turn. He advises Rys to take inspiration not from wanting to crush the enemy, but from himself and his comrades. He tells Jek that his most powerful weapons are not the hardware he lugs, but rather his mind. He tells Thire to have patience, rather than rush headlong into battle. The clones meditate on Yoda’s counsel, but the sound of approaching droids interrupts them.

Yoda ventures into the canyon to confront the armored column. He sits, cross-legged, right in the path of the imposing tanks that aim all their weaponry straight at the little Jedi Master.

ACT III
The battle droids report in to Ventress, who orders them to open fire on Yoda. Dispatching Yoda is no easy task. He darts past the enemy guns, cutting down hapless battle droids and slicing through tank armor. Katuunko grins at this reversal, but Asajj will not give up; she orders a reinforcement squad of droidekas to tumble into the gulch. Yoda is too occupied with the main column to spot the droidekas in time, but the clones see them from atop the ridge.

Thire fires the squad’s last rocket into overhanging bluff, sending an avalanche of rock crashing down on the droideka reinforcements, saving Yoda from the attack. Yoda is proud of his troops, and they move on to rendezvous with Katuunko.

The Toydarian king, impressed by Yoda’s performance, opts to join the Republic, and tells Count Dooku so. He is further disgusted by Asajj’s breaking of her promise of a fair fight. The holographic Dooku orders Ventress to assassinate the king, but the would-be regicide is stopped mid-swing as Yoda uses the Force to telekinetically freeze Asajj’s strike. Yoda greets Katuunko and dismisses Asajj with a simple display of Force. Rather than surrender, Ventress triggers an explosion that causes a rockslide, distracting Yoda while she escapes in a solar sailer.

Katuunko pledges his loyalty to the Republic, and Yoda vows not to fail their new allies.

Trivia & Details

  • The targeting display screen for the Republic frigate appears to have a tried and true Corellian design; it’s the same orange-against-red grid seen aboard the Millennium Falcon in A New Hope.
  • The aurebesh legend at the bottom of Thire’s macrobinocular viewplate reads “infrared mode”. The top reads “regular mode.”
  • The little creature that perches on Yoda’s finger on Rugosa is a baby neebray.
  • The script and earlier iteration of this episode had this as the “Jedi Fortune Cookie” message at the start of the episode: “Great leadership comes in all sizes.”

Memorable Quotes

“Ah well. It’s my programming.” — Battle droid gunner

“Okay clankers, suck lasers!” — Trooper Jek

“He’ll be the small, shriveled green one… with a lightsaber!” — Asajj Ventress

“Smaller in number are we, but larger in mind.” — Yoda

“Die, Republic dogs!” — super battle droid

“Left behind, no one will be.” — Yoda

“Deceive you eyes can. In the Force, very different each one of you are.” — Yoda, to the clones

“Get out of the way, all of you! I’m having a serious malfunction! Don’t shoot! I’m on your side.” — A super battle droid spun about through the Force by Master Yoda

“That’s a lot of smoke for a surrender.” — King Katuunko

“But I just got promoted!” — Ill-fated battle droid

“In the end, cowards are those who follow the dark side.” — Yoda

Generation Tech

The Simple Reason Why the Clone Army Was So Small

Video

Most estimates indicate that the Grand Army of the Republic was many times smaller than the Separatist Droid Army. Count Dooku claims the droids had the clones outnumbered 100:1. Today we take a look at why these numbers aren’t actually that surprising given the way the Galactic Republic fights wars.

Please help our channel by becoming a Patron: Generation Tech @ Patreon

Generation Tech

Is This a New Type of Clone Trooper?

Video

When Vice Admiral Rampart sends an assassin against the clone trooper whistleblowers, he doesn’t just send any individual, he sends a specially trained trooper named Clone X. We take a look at who Clone X potentially could be and what it means for the future of the clones. Is he just a one off experiment or a sign of what’s to come for the clones?

Please help our channel by becoming a Patron: Generation Tech @ Patreon

Star Wars Dispatches, Star Wars Explained

Why Chuchi is the Perfect Senator to Represent Clone Troopers

Video

Senator Chuchi made her first prominent appearance in Star Wars animation in a LONG time in the most recent episodes of The Bad Batch. She has decided to take it upon herself to represent clone troopers in the Imperial Senate. But why is that so important to her? I think it lines up perfectly with her experiences in the Clone Wars.

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Star Wars Dispatches, Star Wars Explained

New Clone Trooper Type | Phase Zero Dark Trooper?

Video

The most recent episodes of The Bad Batch introduced a new type of clone trooper type to the Star Wars universe. Could it be a concept first seen in Star Wars Legends and hinted at in season two of The Mandalorian? I think this new trooper might be the Phase Zero Dark Trooper.

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Rebel Force Radio

THE BAD BATCH After Show LIVE: “The Clone Conspiracy”/”Truth and Consequences”

Video

It’s a double batch this week with two episodes to review. Get your tin foil hats ready as we dive into “The Clone Conspiracy,” followed by “Truth and Consequences,” which features a long-teased appearance of the Emperor himself. Note this week’s change of start time as we will begin tonight at 9 p.m. Eastern. Be sure to watch, listen, comment, chat and call in with your thoughts and observations for this super-sized RFR BAD BATCH After Show Livestream!

#starwars #aftershow #rebelforceradio #rfr#badbatch #disneyplus

Brought to you by RFR on Patreon!

Official YouTube Video Home for Rebel Force Radio: Star Wars Podcast

#StarWars News, Interviews. comedy and Commentary

Catch new audio podcasts every Friday at www.rebelforceradio.com

Watch Full Show Video, get tons of exclusive bonus podcasts and join a great community at: RFR on Patreon

…Rebel Force Radio

 

Star Wars Dispatches, Star Wars Explained

The Bad Batch Season Two | The Clone Conspiracy & Truth and Consequences Episode Reviews

Video

We’ve reached the midseason point of The Bad Batch season two, with a double drop of episodes! The Clone Conspiracy and Truth and Consequences are both great examples of what this series can be when it’s at its best. Here are my thoughts.

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The Holocron

Joel Aron: Creating the Effects of Clone Wars

Welcome to a look inside The Holocron. A collection of articles from the archives of *starwars.com no longer directly available.

(*Archived here with Permission utilising The Internet Archive Wayback Machine)

Joel Aron: Creating the Effects of Clone Wars

Tonight’s episode of Clone Wars, “Brain Invaders”, closes the multi-part Geonosian arc that has introduced viewers to several stunning special effects created for the show, the most memorable probably being the flame throwers used to take out the Geonosian warriors in “Landing at Point Rain.” CG/FX/Lighting Supervisor Joel Aron, who spent nearly two decades creating visual effects for feature films at ILM, currently helms the effects team for Lucasfilm Animation, generating the flame thrower, dust storm, lava, speeder bike rooster tail, and other effects spotted in recent episodes.

We asked Aron a few questions about how these effects were crafted for the series, and what viewers can expect to see in future episodes of Clone Wars.

How did you first get involved with the Clone Wars series?

I was first involved with Clone Wars after finishing production at ILM on the Nightmare Before Christmas 3D conversion. Afterwards, there was not a lot of work to do, and it was brought to the attention of ILM that it would be great to send someone with Maya [a 3D graphics and modeling software application] experience over to Singapore to work with the effects team over there, which was just three people at the time. Of course I jumped at the opportunity to go to Asia for eight weeks having never been, and helped raise the bar a little bit on the look of the effects. When I got back, I returned to ILM and went to work on Indiana Jones IV — but I realized, I missed The Clone Wars. It stuck to me. So ILM let me leave temporarily to work on The Clone Wars to see how I would work out as an effects lead. I came over to Big Rock Ranch and started to look under the hood of the show and work on the effects. It was at that point that I started working on an episode — “Trespass”, in season one — which was all in snow on Orto Plutonia. That’s when I realized I was having so much fun that I decided this is what I wanted to do.

How would you say your work on The Clone Wars differs from the productions you worked on for ILM?

Anyone who works at ILM knows it’s a place of perfection. Before I worked on The Clone Wars, I had been at ILM for close to 17 years working on feature films, so I’m used to running that treadmill for a long time on a single shot. At ILM you may work for five months on a single shot, where on The Clone Wars you may work five days. So I had to think differently. During the summer of 2008, when [supervising director] Dave Filoni kept coming in to see what I was doing and telling me “too photo-real, way too photo-real,” I realized I not only needed to make the effects look more stylized like the show, but I also needed to develop them in a way that they could be easily dropped into a production — they needed to have a specialized look and be easy to use.

You’ve created very stylized effects for the show, be it snowfall, dust storms, streams of flame, etc. Can you describe how you crafted some of these effects?

“Trespass” was a pivotal episode for the series in that it was one of the first in which the environment played a role on the show — it was actually a character. For “Trespass”, we would need a very snowy environment. Snow is kind of an easy gag — you just have a little bit of turbulence, a little bit of wind — but instead of using regular particles, I came up with a technique that I used way back on the movie Deep Impact. To develop the look of the comet rock and tail for that movie, I did something that was kind of out of the ordinary — I really didn’t want to have to deal with controlling particles, and I didn’t want to have to set up a huge rig and explain to people how to make the comet work, so I used a new technique. I like painting, so I figured I’d paint what the comet should look like first.

So I painted, like a painting in Photoshop, with streaky lines and beautiful wispy ethereal formations of color, resembling what would happen if you squirt milk into water. I painted that look, and then I took sections of my painting and put them on ribbons or patches. I then lined the rock itself with all these ribbons and patches to look like the huge corona of the comet. With some trickery using the shader, I was able to make that texture kind of wiggle and move — and that was the comet.

I hadn’t done that in years, because it’s like kind of cheating, but when I started to get into the stylized snow and the look for “Trespass,” I went ahead and just painted textures. I painted a whole bunch of small little textures with my stylized way of drawing to kind of make it look like art. A real quick kind of gouache, goopy paint look, which is kind of the look of the show.

The rooster tail effect can be seen behind and under the speeder bikes from the episode “Trespass”

The next thing, which was my biggest departure away from ILM, was the rooster tails underneath the speeder bikes that ripped across the snow. I did exactly what I did before which was to draw what I wanted it to look like first, in this case an almost anime-like sawtooth pattern coming up out of the ground underneath the speeder bike. I modeled each sawtooth piece of geometry really quick and dirty, just as a test. I’d model the sawtooth shape — I did about ten of them — and then added a few chunked-up looking spheres which emit a bunch of particles. I then told the particles to distort the sawtooth geometry, so that when it’s born, it’s very flat but quickly rises up in height, so it looks like a sawtooth growing up out of the ground. When it goes away, it actually starts losing its height and stretching in length. So what you get is this anime-style rooster tail. And what’s funny is that test is what’s in the show.

It’s the exact method I used for the flame thrower in “Landing at Point Rain.” And for the lava in “Children of the Force”, I just did the same thing — I painted three different textures on cards, so when the lava is closest to the shore where it’s darkest, I use my darker card; when it’s closer to an area where you might see some hot lava breaching and turning yellow-orange, I use my yellow-orange card; and I would just instance those cards to particles. Each particle would slowly rotate each card, and so what you get is this flowing look of lava.

What effects challenges are you currently facing going into the show’s third season of production?

One of the biggest things that we’re tackling, and you’ll see it toward the end of season two, is fire. Fire has always been a challenge. I could have gone the photo-real path but no one’s going to like it. So instead we went with this technique of using cloth. I had this idea because in one of the episodes, there’s a meeting in a location that’s based off of a Ralph McQuarrie painting — Filoni’s been dying to put it in an episode. If you look at that painting, there are these blue flames that are decorative. My thought was that if they are decorative blue flame, what if they behaved like blue silk scarves under water? They’d just have this ethereal blowing slow quality. So one of the cloth guys at our Singapore studio used cloth for fire and sculpted it, so that’s what we have for fire now. We can make it a campfire, we can make it a bonfire, and the beauty of this is that now we can hand that off as a renderable cache that doesn’t require an effects artist to spend a week trying to make a campfire look good. He can just drop it in and render it.

The fire was a huge challenge, because it’s always been the monkey on my back, and we got it. What’s great is that we tried something completely different and didn’t follow the manual. I always like to say the best skiing is when you’re off the trail.

The Holocron

Three-Minute Epics: A Look at Star Wars: Clone Wars

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(*Archived here with Permission utilising The Internet Archive Wayback Machine)

Three-Minute Epics: A Look at Star Wars: Clone Wars

Genesis and Inspiration

Episode II set the stage with the furious Battle of Geonosis that first pit Jedi-led clone troopers against the seemingly endless ranks of Separatist battle droids. As explosive as that incredible sequence was, it only served to whet the Clone War-appetites of Star Wars fans. Episode III is still years away, but the next engagements of the Clone Wars will come soon enough, on the small screen, in animated episodes that may be short on running time, but are nonetheless large in scope and downright huge in talent. As announced today, Star Wars: Clone Wars is coming to the Cartoon Network this fall.

Leading the war effort is Genndy Tartakovsky, the acclaimed creator of “Samurai Jack” and “Dexter’s Laboratory” for the Cartoon Network. When executives at the Cartoon Network began exploring the possibilities of animated Star Wars adventures, Tartakovsky’s name was at the top of the list of desired talent.

“I was contacted because I’ve always been very vocal that I’m a Star Wars fan and would love to work on it,” says Tartakovsky. “So, the Cartoon Network came up to me and asked me to put a little pitch together. We came up with this idea of doing a Clone Wars-style story with a Band of Brothers-feel to it — where it’s episodes of different battles and strategies during the Clone Wars. We went up to Lucasfilm and pitched it, and everyone enjoyed it, and it just came together.”

The end result will be 20 animated shorts of two-to-three-minutes running time each, telling one continuous story of the Clone Wars, as well as side stories that branch from the main. “A little bit of the story changed here and there since the pitch, but it’s pretty much the same,” says Tartakovsky. “Anakin and Obi-Wan are on Muunilinst, and they’re taking out these factories that the Federation has built. And in our side stories, we have Kit Fisto, another with Mace, another with Yoda and Padmé.”

Tartakovsky is heading up a lean, mean crew of animators, designers and artists, mostly made up of familiar faces from “Samurai Jack,” however that doesn’t mean Star Wars fans will just get “Jack” episodes with lightsabers added. “I didn’t want to do exactly what we did with ‘Samurai Jack.’ One of the guys I’ve been working with the longest time, Paul Rudish, is a huge Star Wars fan. We went with his style, which blends Star Wars with the way we both draw. He designed the look of the characters, based on what the actors look like, but eventually it changes into its own thing. It still retains the feeling of the actors; it has their essence, but it doesn’t look exactly like them.”

Since “Samurai Jack” debuted in 2001, critics and animation buffs have lauded its deft mixture of minimalism and spectacle, and its cinematic scope that evokes feelings of a Kurosawa epic – definitely a far cry from what television animation was just a few years ago. Tartakovsky promises similar attention to detail with Star Wars: Clone Wars. “It’s going to be very high quality,” he says. “It’ll be like little mini-features, because everything is really hand-crafted and we’re really taking our time with everything because we respect Star Wars so much.”

As inspiration, Tartakovsky turned to his library of World War II films. “I’m a big World War II buff, so I looked at a lot of old footage and old movies, like The Longest Day. When doing battle scenes, it was almost a second language to us. I was a big fan of Band of Brothers, and thought that the fighting there was executed really well. Black Hawk Down was another well executed war film. I mean, it’s still going to be robots and droids that get killed in battle, but there will be a few hardcore things. It’s not going to be too gritty,” he says with a smile.

Case in point, for all the cinematic drama of “Samurai Jack,” the show is also quite funny. The three-minute Clone Wars shorts will still pack fun into their brief action-filled running times. “There’s definite visual jokes. For example, we have one where the Republic ARC Troopers are blowing up a cannon, and instead of putting one piece of demolition on it, it’s absolutely lined with bombs. So, it’s kind of absurd and funny, since it wouldn’t really happen like that, but it’s still cool. There are little, subtle things like that.”

This marks the first time Tartakovsky has ever worked on a licensed property. Dexter and Jack were his creations, giving him absolute freedom in crafting their characters. With Star Wars, Tartakovsky has to adhere to the precedent of the Star Wars films, as well as the creative guidance of Lucasfilm — something he notes is going smoothly.

“Ever since I got into animation, I’ve been working with characters that I created or helped create. Now, this is working with somebody else’s character. So, when Anakin’s talking we ask, ‘Well… would he say that?’ And I respond, ‘I don’t know… it’s not my character!’ With Samurai Jack or Dexter, it’s more intuitive. Here, there’s a lot more discussion about it. Would Yoda say it like this, or would he not do that? We have to talk it out, and we don’t have the absolute authority to say, ‘yes, he would say that.’ That was our first stumbling block, but now we’re a lot more comfortable with it,” he says.

“The great thing is George Lucas is a fan of ‘Samurai Jack,'” Tartakovsky notes, “So he said, ‘let them do their job without being too involved.’ I think this is great because we don’t have to copy exactly what the live action is, and we can take Star Wars and interpret it and animate it in our style.”

Rebel Force Radio

THE BAD BATCH After Show LIVE: “The Solitary Clone”

Video

This week the focus is on Crosshair as he and another familiar clone face grapple with the moral and ethical dilemmas of carrying out the orders of a growing Empire. Join us tonight for another RFR After Show livestream looking at this thought-provoking episode of THE BAD BATCH. Be sure to watch, listen, like, chat, comment and call in with your thoughts and observations for “The Solitary Clone.”

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Star Wars Dispatches, Star Wars Explained

The Bad Batch Season Two | The Solitary Clone Episode Review

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Crosshair is back! The third episode of season two, titled The Solitary Clone, is one of the best episodes of the series so far, exploring the continued spread of the Galactic Empire through the familiar lens of a Clone Wars inspired story. And it also brings along a familiar face…

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Artorr

The Legacy of Star Wars: The Clone Wars (Part 3)

Video

On March 11th, 2013, The Clone Wars was cancelled, leaving many of its stories untold, and their futures uncertain. In spite of this, Dave Filoni and Lucasfilm Animation endeavored to deliver as many of those stories as possible, even up to the recent final season of the show. This is the conclusion of the 12 year story of Star Wars: The Clone Wars.

Support ArTorr on Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/artorrpresents

I tell stories about stories. With acclaimed documentary-style video essays on your favorite movies, shows, and video games– including Star Wars: The Clone Wars, The Last of Us: Part II, and Cyberpunk 2077– ArTorr combines a love for storytelling with high-production and a personal edge. Consider subscribing to support the channel!

FOLLOW ME
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This channel and I do not claim any right over any of the graphics, images, songs used in this video. All rights reserved to the respective copyright owners.

SOURCE

Artorr

The Brilliance of Star Wars: The Clone Wars (Part 2)

Video

In our previous video, we explored the humble origins of The Clone Wars and the trials of Lucasfilm Animation. But in this video, we’re going to be looking at the show’s turning point– where George Lucas, Dave Filoni and the team of Lucasfilm Animation began to realize the potential of the series and deliver some of the most enriching animated storytelling ever produced.

Support ArTorr on Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/artorrpresents

I tell stories about stories. With acclaimed documentary-style video essays on your favorite movies, shows, and video games– including Star Wars: The Clone Wars, The Last of Us: Part II, and Cyberpunk 2077– ArTorr combines a love for storytelling with high-production and a personal edge. Consider subscribing to support the channel!

FOLLOW ME
Twitch | https://www.twitch.tv/saitorr
Twitter | https://twitter.com/ParkesHarman
Instagram | https://www.instagram.com/parkesharman/
This channel and I do not claim any right over any of the graphics, images, songs used in this video. All rights reserved to the respective copyright owners.

SOURCE

The Holocron

The Clone Wars: Top 5 Moments of 2012

Welcome to a look inside The Holocron. A collection of articles from the archives of *starwars.com no longer directly available.

(*Archived here with Permission utilising The Internet Archive Wayback Machine)

The Clone Wars: Top 5 Moments of 2012


As The Clone Wars goes on, it continually advances the Star Wars mythos in new ways: it introduces new characters, it explores relationships, and it pulls back the curtain on things only glimpsed at or mentioned in the six-film saga. In 2012, The Clone Wars delivered these advances in spades.

The starwars.com Team selected its top moments of the year for the groundbreaking animated series; check them out, and let us know what you think in the comments section. (Spoiler warning: Plot points will be discussed, so stop here if you are not caught up!)

5. Mission Impossible with Droids: “Secret Weapons,” Episode 5.10

The premise sounds a little bizarre: a team of droids (including R2-D2) called D-Squad are led by a tiny alien colonel to infiltrate a Separatist dreadnought and recover an decryption module. But the results are actually thrilling — each droid gets its chance to shine and show off its special modifications — and the episode runs the gamut from espionage to action to comedy.

4. Obi-Wan Gets a Facelift: “Deception,” Episode 4.15

In the opening minutes of this episode, Obi-Wan Kenobi is shot, killed, and receives a Jedi funeral. Viewers knew he wasn’t really dead, so what was going on? It turns out that Obi-Wan faked his own death in order to undergo a painful physical transformation to appear as Rako Hardeen, bounty hunter. From there, Kenobi uses his disguise to gain the trust of Count Dooku and Cad Bane with the hopes of thwarting their plot to kidnap Chancellor Palpatine. It put the series back in spy mode, which fits The Clone Wars surprisingly well, and the scene depicting Obi-Wan’s transformation was just the right amount of creepy. Seeing Anakin’s uncontrolled anger at Obi-Wan’s death added yet another layer to the characters’ complex relationship.

3. Droids Versus Witches and Zombie Witches: “Massacre,” Episode 4.19

After Asajj Ventress fails in her attempt to destroy Count Dooku, she heads home to Dathomir. Dooku knows this, and dispatches General Grievous and a droid army to kill Ventress and all Nightsisters, the dark magicks practitioners of Dathomir. The resulting battle is one of the more unique ever found in Star Wars. The droids shoot blasters; the Nightsisters sling energy arrows, use magicks, and yes, raise their own dead to create a zombie army. The hazy setting of Dathomir gives it all an appropriately nightmarish feel, making “Massacre” one of the strangest — and coolest — episodes of The Clone Wars.

2. Lightsaber Making 101: “Bound for Rescue,” Episode 5.08

We were never privy to see the construction of a lightsaber in the Star Wars films, but it was something hinted at as being significant in the life of a Jedi. “I see you have constructed a new lightsaber,” Darth Vader said to Luke in Return of the Jedi. “Your skills are complete.” In this arc, viewers were treated to the entire process: Jedi younglings harvest their own lightsaber crystals in a rite of passage called The Gathering, and then assemble their Jedi weapons by using the Force in a meditative state, elegantly combining many disparate pieces. It’s a major piece of Star Wars lore, and the scene in which the Jedi younglings finally assemble their lightsabers is fittingly magical. (Bonus points for having Gungi, a Wookiee youngling, incorporate wood into his lightsaber hilt.)

1. The Return of Darth Maul: “Revenge,” Episode 4.22

It’s something everyone thought impossible. Darth Maul was chopped in half by Obi-Wan in The Phantom Menace, accepted as deceased in the Star Wars canon. And the introduction of Savage Opress, his brother, seemed to further drive that point home, as Opress was groomed to become a new Sith. But it was all a misdirection: Maul survived. Found by his brother on a junk planet, Maul had become a raving, tortured soul, complete with disturbing spider-like legs made of garbage. After the Sith Lord’s mind was restored and he was gifted new humanoid mechanical legs by Mother Talzin, he was determined to get revenge against the Jedi and Kenobi. It all led to a thrilling rematch in which Kenobi took his lumps, and Maul was reestablished as a major Star Wars villain.

None of this would have worked or been believable had it not been for the stunning work by Dave Filoni and his team. Fans worried that Maul’s return would cheapen the ending of The Phantom Menace, but if anything, it strengthened it. Maul clearly suffered in the time since his defeat at the hands of Kenobi; you hear it in his nonsensical ramblings and see it in his gaunt, confused face. It reinforces many themes from the Star Wars films, especially that one should accept death as a part of life. To hold on to life the way Maul did is an unnatural thing, and as a result, he became twisted. And in his reborn form, he comes to act as powerful foreshadowing for what will become of Anakin: a half-man, half-machine, driven by hate and ultimately tragic.

The Holocron

Drawing Asajj Ventress from The Clone Wars

Welcome to a look inside The Holocron. A collection of articles from the archives of *starwars.com no longer directly available.

(*Archived here with Permission utilising The Internet Archive Wayback Machine)

Drawing Asajj Ventress from The Clone Wars

Ever wanted to draw Star Wars characters and vehicles just like the professional comic book artists? In this step-by-step series, Star Wars artists and illustrators show you how to draw some of the most beloved characters in the saga.

Star Wars illustrator Cynthia Cummens explains with these easy-to-follow steps on how to draw Asajj Ventress from Star Wars: The Clone Wars. Steps 1-4 are to be drawn lightly with a pencil. No pen, no dark lines. Finished lines and details will come at the end.

Step One:
Start with drawing a few lines to capture the pose of the figure. Draw with a light hand, not too much pressure. Keep your lines loose and energetic.

Step Two:
Using simple shapes, and following the lines you drew in Step 1, draw her arms and body. Don’t be afraid to draw through overlapping shapes. You’ll erase some of those lines later.

Step Three:
Start defining and shaping the body contours and add her facial features.

Step Four:
Lightly sketch in some details of her clothes and face.

Step Five:
Grab your colored pens and start inking! If you want to get fancier, try using Copic markers or Microns. Afterwards, erase the pencils lines you no longer need.

Step Six:
Color Asajj with colored pens, or professional Copic Markers. You can also scan your inked image and color it in Photoshop, or use watercolors if you like. Have you tried colored pencil? Add some white highlights with white colored pencil, gouache or white acrylic. Deleter White, often used by comic book artists, is also very effective for highlights. Experiment with art supplies until you get the results you like best.

Step Seven:
Here’s the final art with lightsabers! Remember to draw daily. And when possible draw from life — either at the zoo, in the park, at school, anywhere. Remember, it takes lots of practice to become a skilled artist. Stick with it and you’ll yourself transform over time into an amazing artist. Good luck!

The Holocron

Expanding the Design of The Clone Wars

Welcome to a look inside The Holocron. A collection of articles from the archives of *starwars.com no longer directly available.

(*Archived here with Permission utilising The Internet Archive Wayback Machine)

Expanding the Design of The Clone Wars

Over the scope of 22 episodes plus a feature film, The Clone Wars series has visually expanded the scope of the Star Wars galaxy immensely. We’ve gone to about 20 planets in the whirlwind that was the first season, and met a variety of alien cultures and creatures. Season two promises to be even richer, and Comic-Con International hosted some of the key members of the artistic team that help put that together at a panel early on Star Wars Day. On hand were Dave Filoni, Supervising Director; Joel Aron, CG Supervisor; Kilian Plunkett, Lead Designer; Danny Keller, Story Artist and Animation Consultant; and moderating the panel was starwars.com’s own Pablo Hidalgo

“The goal was to create 22 minutes of the best movie to you each and every week,” said Filoni, describing how creator George Lucas kept pushing the envelope on the scope of the story. “If there are 10 clones on the screen, he wants 20. We put 20, he wants 100. Once we get around 100, he wants a thousand. It’s a goal that you simply don’t see every week on an animated series.”

Filoni contrasted the leaps and bounds made by the production team. When the feature film and season one began, Lucasfilm Animation was still being constructed from the ground up. “One simple way to illustrate it very easily, we had Plo Koon — a new character we had built for that. We had three clones that we redressed with different formats. That was largely all we had to build for that episode. No, for the season finale, we had new models of Cad Bane, Aurra Sing, Robonino, a modified pirate for a bounty hunter, a whole bunch of new Senators and background characters. So, just as far as character models, we’ve multiplied what we’re capable of.”

Pablo chimed in – “With that said, is there any temptation to revisit any of the designs done for season one?”

“It’s unavoidable,” said Filoni. “Just because we built Anakin Skywalker, he’s was the first model we built, so he’s needed some of the heaviest redesign that we’ve had to do. The Anakin you see now in Clone Wars, even though he looks relatively the same, is not the same model we used in the movie. In fact, he’s substantially better than the one. We redid the rigs, we redid some of the surface textures.”

To show an example of how confidence in execution has changed the approach of designing the characters, Kilian showed an image of the original concept maquette of Anakin Skywalker next to the concept maquette for Bail Organa. Whereas the original explorations of Anakin were hard and geometric, Organa was a much more subtle yet still stylized design.

The experience the team has garnered over the course of season one has also effected the writing of the series to a large extent. The team laughed about how new capabilities let them come up with better designs, and perhaps avoiding the creation of some that wouldn’t look quite right. Throwing up a sketch of Ahsoka from well before the series, her outfit looks decidedly different from her clothing in the show. “We originally gave Ahsoka a schoolgirl skirt that expanded out when she spun around. Turns out that was really expensive” Filoni joked.

Joel then went on to show how the art style of Clone Wars influences details and subtle as even the snow or the water. Passing through some videos, he describes the process of creating the flamethrowers that will be used in season two. Revealing the process he used, he actually created models for each frame of the flame itself, then sped the animation up quickly – and this process gives the fire a definite ‘Clone Wars’ effect, making it stylish and artistic to match the show. “It’s been a great learning experience,” he goes on to say, “Since I came over to animation from ILM (Industral Light and Magic) I was trying to break myself away from the photo-realistic style I have always gone for.” By opting for a stylistic choice and approach, the production team achieves an economical solution far less taxing that expensive computer physics simulation ordinarily employed for such effects.

As the panel ended, hints of the story of season two began to drop. In response to a question about Season Two, Filoni began to wax philosophical: “With the Jedi, when it seems like they are winning, they are really losing. It only seems like they are winning. They are a tool of Palpatine and the Clone War. They should not be fighting the war, and they don’t understand it. They believe if they fight the war and end it quickly, they can put it behind them. Obi thinks that, Yoda thinks that.(…) There are a lot of things and themes going on that really make the story very deep.”