The first step towards loyalty is trust.
The Republic military launches a grand offensive to re-take the planet of Umbara, with Jedi General Anakin Skywalker and the 501st Legion taking a key role in the campaign. But shortly after the battalion has landed on the planet, Anakin is abruptly recalled to Coruscant on the Chancellor's request, with Jedi Master Pong Krell sent to take temporary command of his clone troopers. As Rex, Fives, and the rest of the 501st quickly discover, Krell only cares about victory at all costs, with highly aggressive strategies that result in more casualties then necessary...
Tropes:
- Attack! Attack! Attack!: Krell's main strategy for taking the capital city is to simply charge his army directly down the frontal approach and keep going until the capital's fallen, despite the fact that the clone troopers have little to no information on the militia they will encounter.
- Bad Boss: Treat your subordinates like crap? Check. Refuse to listen to anyone else's opinions? Check. Blame someone else for a failed mission, despite the fact it was your idea in the first place? Double check. Threaten someone at lightsaber point who just called you out for belittling your second in command? Check and mate.
- The Cameo:
- Ahsoka and Barriss, the latter easier to see, can be seen flying their starfighters during the opening narration.
- Waxer is standing in the background during the briefing at the beginning.
- Casting a Shadow: Umbara, in addition to being a reference to the term umbra which is a part of a shadow, is perpetually foggy and what little light exists on the surface casts shadows on everything. In addition, their natives are described as the Shadow People.
- Chekhov's Gun: Take a note of the vixus, the tentacled monster Fives and Hardcase wind up tangling with. Also, note that Waxer is present during the opening briefing.
- Chekhov's Gunman: General Krell is mentioned for the first time in the series during the opening narration. It doesn't take long before he takes over this episode.
- Double-Meaning Title: In retrospect, the episode title refers to more than just the literal environment on Umbara. And even aside from Krell, the fact Rex and the other clones have to face increasingly difficult moral dilemmas throughout the arc is also the main theme.
- Fantastic Racism: Krell looks down on the clone troopers in both a figurative and literal sense, starting off with responding to Rex saying that it's an honor to be serving under him with a statement that he's surprised a clone can understand the value of honor. The look on Rex's face in response indicates that he might have heard comments like that before, but definitely not coming out of the mouth of a Jedi.
- Faux Affably Evil: Pong Krell is polite and reasonable to Anakin, but as soon as Anakin leaves, he starts badmouthing the clone troopers... and that's just the beginning.
- Feed It a Bomb: Fives kills the vixus by tossing it a thermal detonator when its tongue shoots out to eat him. The creature promptly swallows the detonator and dies when it explodes in its gut.
- Gory Discretion Shot: When one of the clones wrestles an Umbaran to the ground, he aims his gun at his head and the camera focuses sharply on the clone's face just before he shoots. Shortly afterwards, after Fives has broken another Umbaran's helmet after tripping him, the camera angle tilts upwards just enough to exclude him and to only show Fives aim down and fire several shots.
- Hollywood Tactics: Invoked by Pong Krell. He's doing it deliberately.
- Jerkass: Pong Krell is racist, arrogant, hardassed, a terrible commander, and all-around a raging douchebag.
- Mechanical Insects: The Umbarans release a small, scuttling six-legged root called a millicreep among the troopers, throwing them into confusion as its darts among their feet and fatally electrocutes several of them by touching them with its long, electrified tail.
- Multipurpose Tongue: The vixus has a long tongue tipped with a clawed fang-like structure, which it uses to grab prey to drag into its mouth.
- The Neidermeyer: Krell, in spades. While Anakin Skywalker is compassionate and treats his clone troopers with respect, Krell is the exact opposite and orders them to attack head-on with no cover instead of taking their suggestions of better tactics.
- "The Reason You Suck" Speech: Krell and Rex go at it after the attack fails.Krell: CT-7567. Do you have a malfunction in your design? You've pulled your forces back from taking the capital city. The enemy now has control of this route. This entire operation has been compromised, because of your failure!
[...]
Rex: Sir, if I may address your accusation, I followed your orders. Even in the face of a plan, that was, in my opinion, severely flawed. A plan that cost us men. Not clones! Men! As sure as it is my duty to remain loyal to your command, I also have another duty. To protect those men. - Second-Person Attack: Tup shooting an Umbaran he threw to the ground in the face.
- Stupid Evil: Well, more "stupid jerkass". Krell's orders seem to be cruel for the sake of it, and are considerably less effective than not being a jerkass would be.
- Yes-Man: Dogma agrees with anything the general suggests. It doesn't matter which one.
- You Are Number 6: The action that especially marks Krell as different from the other Jedi is when he addresses Rex by his number instead of his name. Rex is obviously thrown for a loop.Krell: CT-7567, are you reading me?
Rex: [startled] ...E-excuse me, Sir?
