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The Clone Wars Episode Guide: Senate Spy
Episode Air No.: 26 (Season 2, Episode 4)
Original Air Date.: October 16, 2009.
Production No.: 205 (Season 2, Episode 5)
Written by Melinda Hsu
Supervising Writer: Drew Z. Greenberg
Staff Writer: Brian Larsen
Directed by Steward Lee
Key Characters: Senator Padmé Amidala; Anakin Skywalker; C-3PO; R2-D2; Senator Rush Clovis; Senator Lott Dod; Poggle the Lesser
Key Locales: Coruscant; Cato Neimoidia
Cast:
Matt Lanter as Anakin Skywalker
Catherine Taber as Padmé Amidala and Betty Droid
Robin Atkin Downes as Clovis
Gideon Emery as Lott Dod
Anthony Daniels as C-3PO
Tom Kane as Yoda and the narrator
James Arnold Taylor as Obi-Wan Kenobi and computer hologram
Terrence “TC” Carson as Mace Windu
Matthew Wood as Poggle the Lesser
Episode Brief: At the Jedi Council’s request, Padmé investigates a Separatist conspiracy in the Senate.
Full Synopsis:
“A true heart should never be doubted.”
Newsreel:
Treachery in the Senate! The Jedi
Council suspects that Senator Rush
Clovis is secretly taking part in a
Separatist conspiracy. But to find
out what the Senator from Scipio
is up to, the Council will need a spy
of its own. Meanwhile, Jedi Anakin
Skywalker has been away from
Coruscant on a lengthy tour of duty
leading the clone army. Now Anakin
returns for a long-awaited reunion
with his wife, Padmé Amidala….
After a long absence, Anakin Skywalker is warmly greeted by Padmé Amidala at her skyrise apartment on Coruscant. Anakin has just hitched a ride on a cargo freighter, and brought back warm dinner. It is a special occasion tonight, when the secretly wed couple are able to spend time together.
At the Jedi Temple, the Council discusses a disturbing matter. The InterGalactic Banking Clan has shrewdly avoided direct connection to the Separatists, but the Jedi suspect the financial institution to be in league just the same. Investigating Senator Rush Clovis of the Banking delegation could provide the Jedi the proof they need to expose the treachery, but already Senator Amidala has refused their entreaty to spy on her colleague.
The Jedi are unwilling to take no as an answer. Mace Windu and Yoda ask Obi-Wan Kenobi to summon Anakin, but Kenobi has had difficulty reaching his former apprentice. Anakin has been attempting to ignore them all night, but ultimately feels that duty calls. Padmé is disappointed, and does not appreciate Anakin’s hasty lecture about putting duty first in times of war.
Back at the Jedi Temple, Mace, Obi-Wan and Yoda examine surveillance footage of Rush Clovis, a young human Senator, meeting with the Trade Federation Senatorial representative, Lott Dod. Anakin arrives at the briefing. Mace explains that they need Senator Amidala to spy on Clovis — to send a Jedi would only raise Clovis’s guard. Anakin is increasingly hesitant, particularly when he learns that Clovis and Amidala were close friends during their early careers in the Senate. Yoda implores Anakin to get Amidala to agree to this.
Anakin catches up with Padmé in the hallways of the Galactic Senate building. Despite her words, she is still upset at Anakin, and his requests on behalf of the Jedi Council are of little help for her mood. She reiterates her refusal to spy on a colleague and old friend. Anakin’s jealous reaction to her friendship with Clovis only sparks Padmé’s temper. Padmé is surprised to learn that Clovis may have any connection to the Separatist, a fact Yoda failed to mention during his entreaties to her. This changes her mind on the matter, but Anakin disagrees with the Council’s decision to use Padmé like this. He refuses to see her put in danger, and she is irked by his overprotective streak. She accepts the mission over Anakin’s protestations, quoting his original line that duty comes first in wartime.
Inside the Jedi Council chamber, Padmé lays out her strategy for spying on Clovis. First, she must re-initiate contact; it’s been some time since they last were in touch. Anakin is unsettled to learn that Padmé and Clovis had a romantic relationship. She ended it years ago, returning them to the status of professional colleagues, something that Clovis did not take well. Still, Padmé is confident he can regain his trust. Anakin will serve as bodyguard for the assignment.
ACT II
At the dining commons within the Senate building, Padmé and Clovis enjoy a late dinner. Rush is about to head to Cato Neimoidia, to collect some outstanding dues from the Trade Federation. Padmé offers to help, and she agrees to accompany Clovis in the hopes of using her diplomatic contacts to sway the Neimoidians. Clovis hopes that traveling with Padmé will be even better than it was in their past.
The next day, the Senators board a gleaming Naboo star skiff. Anakin, dressed as a Naboo pilot, assists Captain Typho, C-3PO and R2-D2 in ship preparations. Anakin barely contains his jealousy while trying to play the role of an impartial pilot. To prevent Clovis from sitting right next to Padmé, Anakin surreptitiously breaks the harness of the adjacent seat, forcing Clovis to sit apart. When Clovis moves too close to Padmé for Anakin’s liking, Skywalker twists the ship through a maneuver to shake the amorous Senator away.
Before long, the skiff arrives at the gilded bridge cities of Cato Neimoidia. The joint Naboo | Scipio delegation is greeted by Senator Lott Dod, who is surprised to see Amidala but nonetheless welcomes her to the grand hall of his palace. While servant droids escort Padmé and her retinue to their room, Clovis meets with Dod in the library.
They discuss a new investment by the Banking Clan into the Separatist war effort for the creation of a new droid factory. Dod is delighted by the prospect of war profits, but is fearful of the Senator that Clovis has brought with him. The Geonosian weapons manufacturer Poggle the Lesser emerges from the shadows. The two aliens try to negotiate a greater stake of the profits, but Clovis doesn’t budge. The Neimoidians are far too indebted to the banking clan in this venture to begin haggling. The conspirators cut their conversation short as Padmé approaches, apparently wandering the library. Clovis escorts Padmé out, leaving Dod and Poggle to fume silently. Dod notices the obvious affection Clovis has for Amidala, and sees an opportunity to force Clovis to comply with their wishes — if they could threaten the Naboo Senator.
Senator Dod intercepts Clovis and Amidala in the grand hall corridor outside the library. He presents them drinks to toast their new friendship. Dod gives Padmé a poisoned glass as the Senators retire to the dining chambers.
Meanwhile, at the skiff on the landing platform, an agitated Anakin waits impatiently for Padmé’s signal, with R2-D2 keeping him company.
After dinner, Padmé begins to feel faint. C-3PO suggests she retire for the night, but Padmé rallies her energies and agrees to a tour of the palace with Clovis. Threepio is dismissed and returns to Padmé’s quarters, where he encounters Anakin. The droid tells him of Padmé’s whereabouts and actions, which only worries Anakin more.
As Clovis and Padmé walk through the palace library, her head pounds and she feels weak. She asks Clovis to fetch her some water. As he disappears, Padmé sneaks to the hologram projector she spotted earlier. The data contained within is password-protected. After a few false guesses, Padmé tumbles on the true password: her name. The display activates, revealing an enormous Geonosian droid factory. This is the evidence she sought. She signals R2-D2 while she ejects and palms the hologram disc.
Clovis returns with a drink for Padmé, and she carefully keeps the disck hidden behind her back. She throws her arms around Clovis to keep him from seeing her stolen prize. Anakin arrives to catch his wife in the embrace of a Senator, but keeps quiet as a he stealthily takes the disc from her hand. He returns to the star skiff and gives the data to R2-D2. Anakin orders Artoo to take the data to the Jedi Council if he does not return, and then he races off back to the palace.
Clovis is surprised by Padmé’s display of affection. She faints from the poison, and Clovis carries her to her bedroom. He orders Threepio to fetch a medical droid. In the hallway outside the bedroom, Clovis confronts Lott Dod. He knows Padmé has been poisoned. Dod correctly brands Amidala as a Republic spy. Clovis reluctantly faces the truth when he checks the hologram projector and finds the data stolen.
Clovis returns to the bedroom and calls out Padmé on her treachery. She vows loyalty to the Republic; Clovis is the one who has betrayed the Republic. She tells Clovis that the data is on its way to the Senate. Just then, Anakin arrives, spoiling for a fight. He orders Clovis to step away from the fading Padmé. Anakin wants to rush her to Coruscant, but there is no time. Clovis realizes that Dod must have the antidote. In exchange for the hologram disc, Clovis will get it from Dod. Anakin ignores the offer. He’d rather get what he needs directly from the Neimoidian.
Clovis genuinely cares for Padmé’s health. He helps Anakin take her back to her ship. They are intercepted by Lott Dod. Clovis tries to bluff his way past the Neimoidian, but Dod does not want her taken off-planet. Clovis pulls a blaster and holds Dod at gunpoint, demanding the antidote. Dod hands it over, and Anakin takes Padmé back to her ship. Clovis asks for Anakin for the disc back, but Anakin coldly refuses, leaving Clovis behind to face the Neimoidians.
As the Naboo star skiff takes off, Anakin administers the antidote to Padmé. Her mission was a success: with the holographic evidence, the Jedi can now move against the new droid foundry. Padmé nonetheless regrets making Anakin doubt her, but he admits no doubt.
Trivia & Details
- This episode uses a number of environments previously seen in the live action movies, including Padmé’s apartment verandah (Episode III), the Senate corridor (Episode II) and rotunda chambers (Episode I), the Jedi Council war room (Episode III), entrance gates (Episode III), and Cato Neimoidia (Episode (III).
- Anakin uses “clicks” as a unit of time in this episode. In previous episodes, “klicks” were used to denote distance — kilometers. It is not yet known how long a click is.
- When Anakin expresses surprise that Padme and Clovis were ever close, Obi-Wan raises a very suspicious eyebrow.
- Not a single blaster is fired in this episode, nor is a lightsaber ignited, nor does anything explode.
- An earlier concept for this story would have replaced Rush Clovis with the boy Palo, mentioned by Padmé in Episode II. This was abandoned for a couple of obvious reasons. One, Palo is said to have abandoned politics to become an artist. Secondly, their relationship was at a very young age — when Padmé was 12. It worked better for the thread of jealousy if Padmé’s past flame would have been a relationship she had as an adult.
- The Senate pods do indeed have sound-dampening privacy technology, which is what allows Anakin and Padmé to talk so freely even in the midst of the Senate chambers.
- Padmé mentions the Holonet to Rush Clovis, the first time this expanded universe concept is mentioned in a source like this. The HoloNet is a galaxy-wide communications network that works somewhat like television and the Internet. It was first mentioned in a 1989 roleplaying game sourcebook.
- The chairs at the Neimoidian dinner are all articulated self-propelled mechno-chairs.
- The all-Aurebesh screen on the holographic projector in Lott Dod’s library actually contains tutorial text for basic 3-D computer modelling.
- The take-out food Anakin carries is labeled “WARM FOOD” on the side, and “SUSHI” on the top. The crashing wave design printed on the box is taken from a recently produced R2-D2 tea towel.
- The grand hall gallery at Lott Dod’s palace include many heroic paintings of past Neimoidians, done in a classical style, including a Napoleonic Neimoidian riding a kaadu.
Memorable Quotes
- “I hitched a ride on a cargo freighter.”
- “What happened to your military transport?”
- “Ehhhh … it blew up.” — Anakin and Padmé
- “What?”
- “You called this home.”
- “What else would I call it?” — Anakin and Padmé
- “On the contrary. I hope it’ll be better than old times.” — A hopeful Rush Clovis.
- “Don’t worry, Clovis. It’s good to know you have a heart. I wishI could give you the disc, but I have a lot faith in your survival skills.” — Anakin’s parting words to Clovis.
- “Hmm, it seems no one wants my company tonight.” — C-3PO.
