General Grievous, in his quest to kill as many Jedi as he can, has begun targeting members of the Jedi Council. He leads an attack on the ship of Master Eeth Koth. After defeating Koth in part by softening him up with commando droids and MagnaGuards, Grievous sends a taunting message to the Jedi in which he makes it clear he intends to keep Koth alive for a long time in order to make the Jedi suffer by proxy by having to sense Master Koth's suffering. However, Master Koth sends his own secret message via hand signals in the holomessage — the coordinates where Grievous is taking him, the Saleucami system. Anakin, Obi-Wan, and Adi Gallia immediately volunteer to lead the rescue.
The plan is simple: Obi-Wan, Admiral Yularen, and the fleet will jump in first. Obi-Wan and Commander Cody will be in a light cruiser, intending to lure Grievous onboard in an attempt to capture him. They'll send Anakin, waiting in a shuttle with Adi and Rex, the precise coordinates of Grievous' flagship and they'll jump in and board the ship to rescue Master Koth.
The initial part of the plan goes flawlessly. However, Grievous correctly guesses that where you find Kenobi, Skywalker won't be far behind, and Anakin and Adi face a squad of commando droids upon arriving at the bridge. The commandos prove to be no match for the Jedi, and Master Koth is rescued and taken back to the shuttle. Meanwhile, on Obi-Wan's cruiser, the attempt to capture Grievous isn't going nearly so well. Grievous, escaping back to his flagship, orders the engines of Obi-Wan's cruiser to be fired upon, causing damage while Obi-Wan and Cody pursue Grievous back to his ship. When the two ships break away, however, Adi Gallia, coming to help Obi-Wan capture Grievous, is able to rescue the men stuck in the boarding tube while Grievous makes for the landing craft. Obi-Wan is persuaded to stop chasing after Grievous and come to the hangar so Anakin can pick them up in the shuttle.
As Grievous' landing craft descends toward Saleucami, an engine from the exploding light cruiser strikes it, causing the craft to tumble out of control. Obi-Wan tells Anakin to command the space battle, while he, Cody, and Rex land on the planet's surface to find Grievous. Adi Gallia takes Eeth Koth to a medical frigate, and he says he would have gladly given his life to bring Grievous to justice. Anakin says it's a good thing that they all live to fight another day.
Tropes:
- Archenemy: It's not particularly difficult to figure out why Obi-Wan is so confident that Grievous won't be able to resist boarding his cruiser to face him in person.
- An Arm and a Leg: Anakin cuts off the right arm of Grievous' tactical droid, which has the control for shocking Master Koth.
- Back-to-Back Badasses: Anakin and Adi stand back-to-back while facing Grievous' droids.
- The Cameo:
- Ahsoka Tano, Barriss Offee, and Tera Sinube all appear during the briefing with no lines.
- Ki-Adi-Mundi, Luminara Unduli, and Kit Fisto attended the briefing via hologram.
- Plo Koon and Commander Wolffe appear via hologram, with Wolffe being the one who spotted Master Koth's secret message.
- Combat Pragmatist: During his confrontation with Eeth Koth, Grievous softens him up by sending in commando droids and MagnaGuards first.
- Crowd Hockey: Grievous' tactical droid, which has a control on his arm for shocking Master Koth, is forced to chase after his arm when Anakin cuts it off, as it's kicked around and moved by commando droids and Jedi. When he finally gets the arm, he realizes he can't press the button since he's holding his right arm with his left, at which point Anakin promptly destroys him.
- Cutting the Knot: Eeth Koth's torture restraints are triggered by the tactical droid's wrist button thing, so Anakin Force Pulls him over and cuts his arm off.
- Deadly Dodging: Obi-Wan, while fighting two MagnaGuards, takes out one this way via having the other hit it.
- Dog Pile of Doom: Cody and three other clone troopers pile on top of Grievous during their attempt to prevent his escape from Obi-Wan's cruiser. One of them punches Grievous in the face shortly before the cyborg general throws them off.
- Electric Torture: Master Koth is subjected to it while Grievous' prisoner.
- Evil Gloating: Grievous calls the Jedi to tell them he has captured Eeth Koth and is going to torture him. No reason, just because he hates them.
- Hand Signals: The Republic military has an extensive set of these, which Master Koth surreptitiously uses during Grievous' transmission to tell the Jedi where they'll be able to find them.
- I Take Offense to That Last One: You'd expect Grievous to take offense at being called a coward, but he instead takes issue with being called a murderer as he doesn't see "ridding the galaxy of you Jedi filth" as murder.Eeth Koth: Your reputation precedes you, general. The reputation of a coward, and a murderer.
Grievous: Murderer? - Little "No": It would've been a Big "NO!" if it hadn't come from a tactical droid with a monotone voice.
- Motive Rant: Grievous gives a lengthy one when Obi-Wan accuses him of being just Dooku's puppet: Grievous retorts he doesn't give a damn about the politics of the Separatists, he's only interested in exterminating the Jedi for the offences they've done him.Obi-Wan Kenobi: I hear a lot of talking, General, but in the final accounting, what does all the talk get you? A futile quest for power, a mutilated body, and your place as Dooku's errand boy!General Grievous: I'm no errand boy, and I'm not in this war for Dooku's politics. I am the leader of the most powerful droid army the galaxy has ever seen!Obi-Wan Kenobi: An army with no loyalty, no spirit, just programming! What have you to show for all your power? What have you to gain?General Grievous: The future. A future where there are no Jedi!
- Neck Lift: Grievous does this to Koth after wearing him down.
- Non-Answer: When Adi Gallia asks Anakin how close to Grievous' ship he's going to come out of hyperspace, he responds with a snarky "Close enough to get the job done".
- Oh, Crap!: The tactical droid when it realises Anakin is going to cut it in half.
- Plot Hole: As this episode canonically takes place quite some time before their confrontation in Revenge of the Sith, it makes no sense for Obi-Wan to react with surprise at Grievous drawing four lightsabers then, since he sees him do it here.
- Red Eyes, Take Warning: The tactical droid serving General Grievous in this episode is the first to have red eyes. It's also the nastiest and most sadistic one seen yet in canon.
- Schmuck Bait: Grievous knows Obi-Wan wants him to board his ship so that Anakin can rescue Koth, he does so anyway and though he leaves Koth protected by commando droids he takes his far more formidable MagnaGuards along to soften up Kenobi.
- Smug Snake: Grievous' tactical droid is so smug he doesn't even realize that the Jedi having cut off his arm makes him unable to activate the controls for shocking Master Koth until after he picks it up.
- Tractor Beam: Grievous' flagship catches Obi-Wan's cruiser in one.
- Unspoken Plan Guarantee: Downplayed. The part of the plan involving rescuing Master Koth goes off without a hitch, but the part involving capturing Grievous... less so.
- Wrecked Weapon: Obi-Wan takes one of the MagnaGuards' electrostaffs in order to duel wield against Grievous, but Grievous cuts the staff in three with two of his pilfered lightsabers.
