Anakin and Ahsoka, while onboard the Resolute, get a call for help from Jedi General Aayla Secura, who's outgunned and needs assistance. The Resolute jumps to the rescue, and Anakin and Ahsoka board gunships to rescue Aayla and her clone troopers. Anakin has a ship dock in the lower hangar of Aayla's Jedi Cruiser so they can escape. As he, Ahsoka, Aayla, Rex, Commander Bly, and some clone troopers are almost at the ship, Anakin is severely injured holding back an explosion with the Force to buy them some time. Ahsoka and Aayla drag him onboard, and the ship races back to the Resolute. Admiral Yularen tells Aayla that they can't dock now because the cruiser is under too much heavy fire. The ship ends up damaged enough that the hyperdrive suddenly activates without warning, taking the ship away. Yularen gives orders to finish up the battle as soon as they can, so they can search for the Jedi.
A couple days later, Anakin is in a coma and they're still stuck in hyperspace when a problem arises: due to the damage to the hyperdrive, the ship is on a direct collision course with a star. Ahsoka and Bly are forced to cut the ship's power completely in order to drop out of hyperspace. It's a close rush to turn the ship away from the star and the ship is too damaged to continue, so it crash-lands on the planet Maridun.
Everyone manages to get off before the ship explodes due to the damage, but Anakin is still too injured to be moved. The decision is made that Rex will stay to watch Anakin at the crash site while Ahsoka, Aayla, Bly, and the other clone troopers will go in search of help as night falls. Bly discovers a piece of wood carved with the image of a tree, and Ahsoka suggests that they should head for the nearest trees as the residents of the planet may live near them.
Once Ahsoka, Aayla, Bly, and the other clone troopers reach the trees, they find that the dangers of the large seed pods falling and crushing someone mean there's no one there, but there are tracks where people have dragged them away. Aayla decides they will follow the tracks. Shortly thereafter, Aayla's group have a run-in with several Mastiff Phalones, the planet's apex predator, in which three clones are killed, leaving Ahsoka, Aayla, and Bly. One of them attacks the crash site, too, waking Anakin up before Rex can chase it off, injuring his arm in the process.
Shortly after sunrise, they arrive at a small village of Lurmen. The headman, Tee Watt Kaa, is not happy to see them, because the village is a colony of Actual Pacifists who moved to Maridun to avoid the war. On the other hand, his son Wag Too, the village healer, is willing to help, but Kaa won't let him go unless one of the Jedi stays behind as collateral, in this case Aayla.
Ahsoka, Bly, and Wag Too get back to the crash site just in time to save Anakin and Rex from another Mastiff Phalone. Everyone heads back to the village, Anakin carried on a stretcher by Ahsoka and Bly. Anakin wakes up briefly, confused by all the Lurmen looking at him, and is taken to the healer's hut to be patched up. As the episode ends, Ahsoka and Aayla talk about how long they'll be on Maridun.
Tropes:
- Action Prologue: The episode opens with Aayla Secura and her Clones fighting it out with the Seps at the Battle of Quell.
- Actual Pacifist: The Lurmen colony. Their entire reason for living on Maridun is to get away from the war.
- Aliens of London: Tee Watt Kaa and his son, Wag Too, both speak in very thick Irish accents.
- Armor-Piercing Question: Aayla gives one to Tee Watt Kaa when he insists on his Suicidal Pacifism, only to be met with a Armor-Piercing Response phrased as a question. Overlaps with Both Sides Have a Point.Aayla: Isn't freedom worth fighting for?
Tee Watt Kaa: Is it worth killing for? - Bad Boss: The Tactical Droid in command of the Separatist fleet, TF-1726, orders the Republic cruiser destroyed despite there still being plenty of battle droids fighting aboard it.TF-1726: This is taking too long. Destroy that cruiser!Battle Droid: But sir, there are still hundreds of droids on board!TF-1726: I don't care!
- Call-Forward: While wounded in the Frigate's small medbay, Anakin wears a respirator. The iconic Darth Vader breath can be heard.
- Conveniently Close Planet: In keeping with The Clone Wars tradition, after their ship nearly flies into a star, Maridun is right there to crash on.
- Cut the Juice: Aayla shuts down the power to prevent the ship from colliding with Maridun's sun while in hyperspace.
- Dramatic Irony: Aayla assures Tee Watt Kaa that the Jedi didn't start the Clone Wars and their only intention is to end it and restore peace to the galaxy. Of course, the "true causer" of the war is using it to thin Jedi numbers by the pound and only he can end it and restore peace to the galaxy.
- Feathered Fiend: The Mastiff Phalones are vicious predators which attack and try to kill anything they come across. They look like flightless griffins.
- Hurl It into the Sun: Nearly happens due to the damaged hyperdrive, but Ahsoka and Bly manage to make the ship drop out of hyperspace before it can.
- The Metric System Is Here to Stay: A rare aversion. This episode features one of only two occasions in The Clone Wars — the other one being "The Deserter" — where Imperial measurements are used.Aayla Secura: [to Tee Watt Kaa] Our ship crashed a few miles away and one of us is very badly injured.
- No Gravity for You: When the ship's power is completely shut off, so is the gravity, which causes some problems when Aayla's attempting to switch the power back on. Rex's handhold breaks and he slams into her, causing her to lose her grip on the power switch.
- Oh, Crap!:
- Aayla and Bly have this reaction when the hyperdrive is activated. Yularen has this reaction as well when he orders that the Resolute perform evasive maneuvers to get out of the ship's way.
- Anakin, when he wakes up and senses an approaching Mastiff Phalone. He tries to get up but collapses just outside the makeshift shelter, and then he gives Rex a moment when he warns him "Behind you!" about the approaching creature.
- Outrun the Fireball: Everyone has to do this to get off the wrecked ship before it explodes. Ahsoka and Aayla while carrying Anakin were the last ones off.
- Pet the Dog: Despite his distrust of the Jedi and the Republic, Tee Watt Kaa agrees to send medical aid to the wounded Anakin.
- Red Shirt: The three clone troopers, Cameron, Flash, and Lucky who get killed by the Mastiff Phalones.
- Team Rocket Wins: While not mentioned in the episode itself, the Separatists won the Battle of Quell despite losing a lot of their Battle Droids.
- We Have Reserves: TF-1726, the Tactical Droid leading the assault at the beginning of this episode doesn't care that there are still hundreds of droids on board when it gives the order to destroy Aayla's cruiser.
- What Happened to the Mouse?: The escape cruiser has two clone pilots. One is killed when the ship is damaged, but the other simply vanishes into thin air.
