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Recap / Star Wars: The Clone Wars S2E21 "R2 Come Home"

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Adversity is a friendship's truest test.

After sabotage by Boba Fett causes the Jedi Cruiser Endurance to crash-land on the planet Vanqor, Anakin Skywalker and Mace Windu land to see if Admiral Kilian, who insisted on Going Down with the Ship, survived, along with the remaining command crew. But Boba and the adult bounty hunters with him, Aurra Sing, Bossk and Castas, got to the crash site first, capturing Kilian and Commander Ponds and laying a trap in another attempt to kill Mace. When the two Jedi are pinned in an especially precarious part of the wreckage as a result, it's up to R2-D2 to evade the bounty hunters and roaming gundarks to somehow get word back to the Republic about their dilemma... all by himself.


Tropes:

  • Big Damn Heroes: Ahsoka, Plo Koon, R2, and the Wolfpack arriving to rescue Anakin and Mace just before the Endurance's bridge collapses.
  • Booby Trap: Boba leaves his father's helmet on the bridge of the Endurance, rigged to explode if moved. When the bomb does go off, it leaves Anakin and Mace pinned in the precarious wreckage, with the bridge threatening to collapse if they try to free themselves.
  • Bound and Gagged: Kilian, Ponds, and the unnamed clone officer captured by the bounty hunters.
  • Bring Help Back: Since Anakin and Mace are trapped in the wreckage, R2 has to go send word to free them, which leads to him eventually having to go all the way back to Coruscant after Anakin's starfighter is destroyed dealing with a gundark and the bounty hunters destroy the long-range transmitter on Mace's.
  • Call-Forward: At the end, Ahsoka tells Anakin that he's got some pretty serious burns, but nothing a night in a bacta tank won't cure... this time.
  • Death Glare: Deprived of the ability to speak, Kilian, Ponds and the other clone can only give the bounty hunters these looks.
  • Decapitation Presentation: Boba persuades Aurra to go into the wreckage by noting that Count Dooku will pay them a fortune if they bring him Mace's head.
  • Dirty Coward: Castas complains about having to participate in any sort of dangerous activity whatsoever.
    Aurra: When I hired you, I didn't realize you were such a coward.
  • Don't Touch It, You Idiot!: Mace's warning to Anakin about the rigged helmet comes too late, leaving him only enough time to Force-pull Anakin away.
  • "Eureka!" Moment: Anakin pointing out the out-of-place Mandalorian helmet on the bridge leads Mace to put all the pieces together with the clone cadets and Jango Fett to realize that Boba Fett is the one responsible... just as Anakin picks up Jango's helmet and sets off the bomb attached.
  • Hostage Situation: Unbeknownst to the Jedi, the bounty hunters have taken Admiral Kilian, Commander Ponds, and a clone navigation officer hostage.
  • "It" Is Dehumanizing: Mace refers to R2 like this in order to emphasize that, like most people in the Galaxy Far Far Away, he doesn't think much of droids and thinks Anakin encourages his too much.
  • Look Behind You: R2 warns R8 when a gundark comes up behind the other droid, but it doesn't do much good as Mace's astromech is destroyed when two gundarks pull it apart while fighting over it.
  • Make Sure He's Dead: Boba insists on entering the wreckage of the Endurance to double-check that Mace is dead, even though Aurra thinks it's pointless since No One Could Survive That! The dangers of the wreckage combined with R2's interference lead the bounty hunters to retreat before they reach the bridge, and Aurra settles for blowing up what's left of the Endurance, but again, R2 interferes and tricks them into thinking that Mace has escaped.
  • No One Could Survive That!: Aurra thinks that the booby-trapped helmet did the Jedi in, so there's no need to go check.
  • Oh, Crap!: Mace, when he realizes who the saboteur is and that the helmet Anakin's just picked up is rigged to blow.
  • Pain to the Ass: R2 pulls out one of his instruments that is especially pointy and stabs one of the gundarks in the butt in an attempt to get them to let go of R8. It doesn't save the droid, but it does result in a Pain-Powered Leap from the gundark.
  • Pet the Dog: After being dismissive towards him all episode, Mace sincerely complements and thanks R2 for saving his life.
  • Right for the Wrong Reasons: The bounty hunters eventually realize that Mace survived, but they don't realize that the party escaping in the Jedi Master's starfighter is actually R2-D2.
  • Schmuck Bait: Upon reaching the bridge of the crashed Endurance, Anakin sees a Mandalorian helmet — that of the late Jango Fett — and picks it up. It is naturally rigged to explode, trapping Mace and Anakin in the wreckage.
  • Staircase Tumble: When he gets to the Jedi Temple, R2 is in such a hurry to report Anakin and Mace's predicament that he interrupts a strategy meeting by bursting in and then falling down the stairs.
  • What a Drag: R2 defeats a gundark who accosts him by the fighters by attaching it to Anakin's fighter with a cable and starting the engine, propelling the starfighter to crash into the wreckage with the gundark pulled along behind.
  • Whole Costume Reference: The poncho Boba is wearing is designed after the Man With No Name's from The Good, the Bad and the Ugly, a major inspiration for the season.


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