Recap / Star Wars: The Clone Wars S5E20 "The Wrong Jedi"

Never give up hope, no matter how dark things seem.

After Ahsoka has been captured by Republic forces, she is tried for crimes she did not commit. While Ahsoka is facing penalty of death on the Military Court, Anakin searches for evidence of her innocence.

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Tropes:

• The Bad Guy Wins:
  • Barriss Offee is more Well-Intentioned Extremist than outright villain (although she was perfectly fine letting her good friend Ahsoka take the fall for her actions), but her goals to expose the Jedi's corruption did come to pass in an underhanded way, since it causes Ahsoka to resign and Anakin to eventually go Sith.
  • Palpatine also gets out pretty well in this episode despite only presiding over the trial and having nothing else to do with the situation. He doesn't let Barriss get taken away until after she finishes ranting to the courtroom - and the galaxy at large - about how the Jedi have lost their way and caused her to become radicalized. This helps sour Republic opinion towards the Jedi, making it all the easier for him to eventually declare the Jedi traitors. And as mentioned above, the whole incident has severely deteriorated Anakin's trust in the Council, removed his beloved Padawan from his life, fueling his anger and isolation that Palpatine will need to complete his conversion to the Sith.
• Bittersweet Ending: More bitter than sweet, verging on Downer Ending. Anakin uncovers the true culprit just in time, clearing Ahsoka's name and saving her life. However, Ahsoka ends up leaving the Jedi Order, feeling betrayed by the Jedi Council and after nearly getting executed thanks to Barriss. Anakin is devastated and has lost much of his faith in the Jedi, and Palpatine has Anakin more isolated and angry than ever.
• Broken Pedestal: With the exception of Anakin, Obi-Wan, Yoda, and Plo Koon, the Jedi Order ends up becoming this to Ahsoka.
• Call-Forward: Towards the end of their duel, Anakin quite clearly begins Force-choking Barriss—and earlier, he goes a bit further with Ventress. His fighting style even becomes Vader-like in his movements.
• The Cameo: Anakin and Barriss' duel takes them out onto the Temple roof, where Tera Sinube (who is introduced in "Lightsaber Lost") is training a group of younglings, including Petro and the others first seen in "The Gathering".
• Chronic Evidence Retention Syndrome: Lampshaded by Anakin when, after Ventress tells him whoever framed Ahsoka took her lightsabers, and he confronts Barriss about her role in events, she reveals she kept them after completing the frameup and getting Ahsoka caught. Choosing to fight him with them, however, proves her guilt far beyond their presence, and she's so far gone into her extremism at this point that she claims they "fit [her] better now."
• Clear Their Name: With Ahsoka in custody, Anakin conducts his own investigation to prove his Padawan's innocence.
• Curb Stomp Cushion: Anakin's fight with Barriss Offee. Barriss provides a good fight for someone who lost utterly to Ahsoka only two years earlier, but the duel is in Anakin's favor from the start.
• Dark Action Girl: Barriss, the once sweet Jedi Padawan Ahoska befriended at the beginning of the Clone Wars, is revealed to be a traitor and her fighting style changes reflects it, becoming more aggressive and sinister with Ventress' red lightsabers.
• Dramatic Irony:
  • Palpatine gives a dramatic speech to the Senate court about how the Separatists have repeatedly infiltrated the Republic in order to destroy it from within. He's ostensibly talking about Ahsoka, but this is, of course, his own modus operandi, and the very court session he's presiding over is yet another part of it.
  • Anakin's fight with Barriss ends up placing him right outside the Jedi Temple in front of a group of younglings. On the one hand, seeing him fighting a once-trusted Jedi gone bad should have made the younglings more suspicious of Anakin himself later; on the other hand, this very fight would convince them Anakin was still on the light side.
  • Barriss Offee's Motive Rant accuses the Jedi have become corrupted by war and become an army for the Dark Side, and she was willing to do anything to stop it before it's too late. She says all of this right before Palpatine, who delights in this rant as he is secretly the one who led the Jedi Order into the darkness by engineering the Clone Wars in the first place. And little does Barriss realize, her extremist actions to stop the Jedi corruption has only made her the ideal candidate for Palpatine's Inquisitorius program.
• Dual Wielding: Anakin with Barriss' and his own lightsabers, Barriss with Ventress'.
• Double Weapon: The Jedi Temple Guards wield staves with a short lightsaber blade on each end.
• Easily Condemned: Ahsoka remains one of the most stedfast and loyal Jedi in the entire order. Yet when the evidence (and very circumstantial evidence at that) points her to being the guilty culprit behind the Temple Bombing, all but Obi-Wan, Anakin, Plo, and Yoda are willing to throw her to Tarkin's nonexistent mercy to save face in terms of public perception — even though the Council were the ones who trusted Ahsoka to look into the bombing! Needless to say, she isn't so quick to forgive, especially when they say this was just part of her great trial.
• Et Tu, Brute?: Ahsoka's reaction when Anakin reveals Barriss as the traitor is to simply and quietly ask her if it is true.
• Even Evil Has Standards: Tarkin is perfectly okay with sentencing Ahsoka to death — but only as long as she's guilty, and he's appalled when Anakin proves Ahsoka's innocence. Mind you, this is the same Tarkin who would later have no problem annihilating innocent children by the millions along with the rest of Alderaan's population.
• The Extremist Was Right: Despite how extreme Barriss' actions are during the Fugitive arc, she has a very good point about the increasing militarization of the Jedi Order.
• Force-Choke: Anakin does this first to Ventress and later to Barriss. With Ventress, he pulls her towards him and begins physically choking her.
• Foreshadowing: Unusually for him, Anakin goes after Ventress in full Jedi robes... looking like his fully unveiled Lord Vader.
• Guilty Until Someone Else Is Guilty: Aside from her closest friends, everyone believes Ahsoka is the mastermind behind the bombing, using Letta to orchestrate it and then killing her when she was no longer needed. Once Anakin captures Barriss Offee and makes her confess that she was responsible for the crimes, everyone is finally convinced of Ahsoka's innocence.
• Hypocrite: Tarkin demands that the Council expel Ahsoka from the Order so she can receive an impartial judgement from the Senate tribunal. Needless to say, nothing is impartial in that trial, especially not him.
• Innocuously Important Episode: While important in its own right, Ahsoka leaving the Jedi — and all the events surrounding it — play a major role in weakening Anakin's faith in the Jedi, playing a role in his eventual turn. It also helps set up important story arcs in season 7 — and, by extension, Star Wars Rebels.
• Jerkass Ball: Mace grabs it hard during Ahsoka's hearing, very much throwing accusations at her while the other Jedi Masters simply ask questions. Even Master Ki-Adi-Mundi, usually the one to stand by strict logic, at least has the decency to the ask Ashoka for an explanation to his own accusations.
• Kangaroo Court:
  • The freaking Jedi Council has decided in advance that Ahsoka is guilty of the crimes she's been accused of, without even hearing her out first! (Obi-Wan is the most vocal dissenter during the council meeting beforehand, but is overruled.) Anakin even lampshades it:
    Anakin: You've already made your decision, haven't you?! This meeting is just a formality!
  • The Senate Trial is very biased as well, although we don't learn their actual decision as they were interrupted before they could pronounce her guilty.
• The Main Characters Do Everything: Padmé serves as Ahsoka's defense while Anakin sets out to find the real traitor.
• Motive Rant: Barriss gets two: one during her fight with Anakin, and a second, longer one after she's brought before the Senate to confess.
• Musical Nod: As Ahsoka leaves the Jedi temple for the last time, the Force theme is mixed into the score, to signify just what a significant moment her departure from the Jedi is for Anakin, the Force, and the galaxy as a whole.
• My God, What Have I Done?: A lot of Jedi experience this as Ahsoka is repeatedly abandoned and betrayed by the Jedi Order.
• Mythology Gag: Anakin's duel with Barriss mirrors the duel between Ventress and Anakin in Star Wars: Clone Wars, down to Barriss being a female force-wielder Dual Wielding red lightsabers (which are Ventress' own, to boot) and Anakin taking an aggressive fighting stance midway through the fight and clearly drawing the Dark Side of the Force in order to best his opponent, foreshadowing his upcoming Face–Heel Turn to becoming Darth Vader.
• Never My Fault: Rather than apologize or at least admit he was wrong, Mace rationalizes Ahsoka's tribulations as the Force's way of testing her worthiness to become a Jedi Knight. Ahsoka, very understandably, doesn't feel the same way and looks upset.
• Nice Job Breaking It, Hero:
  • The Council being forced to cut Ahsoka loose to save face along with her departure from the Jedi Order both leave Anakin without a confidant that he can trust, and ends up being one of the biggest factors behind his turn to the Dark Side. The fact that the Jedi Council were indeed right about a fellow Jedi being the perpetrator doesn't help matters.
  • The Council (with Plo's sole exception) not apologizing for throwing Ahsoka to the wolves and effectively acting like they weren't at fault for the whole thing didn't help matters either. The fact they didn't bother to conduct a full investigation into the matter of who really was the perpetrator (as all the evidence they had was entirely circumstantial) and just caved to Republic pressure not only drove Ahsoka to leaving, but gave Palpatine the perfect opportunity to help lay the seeds for when the Jedi would "betray" the Republic.
• No, You: Tarkin proves just how childish he is when his only retort to Ahsoka declaring she is not the traitor is that no, she is.
• Nothing Is the Same Anymore: Ahsoka leaves the Jedi Order at the end of this episode.
• Not Me This Time: Anakin, like Ahsoka, assumes Ventress must be the perpetrator and goes straight after her. Anakin is reluctant to believe her claim that she was helping Ahsoka, and had her lightsabers stolen by the real culprit, but when she mentions Ahsoka has spoken to Barriss, Anakin goes to investigate just in case.
• Papa Wolf: Anakin goes to great lengths to prove Ahsoka's innocence, in his usual unhealthy manner. Almost killing Ventress when he initially belives her responsible.
• Put on a Prison Bus: After Barriss confesses her crimes before the court, she is taken way to prison by the order of Palpatine. Barriss wouldn't be seen again for 11 years until Star Wars: Tales of the Empire where it's revealed she is transferred to the Inquisitorius to be trained as an Inquisitor for the Empire.
• The Reveal: It turns out Barriss is the traitor who is responsible for bombing the Jedi Temple hangar and framed Ahsoka.
• Rule of Symbolism: After the Jedi Council disowns Ahsoka, we cut to a shot of a Republic avenue, full of fluttering vertical red flags...much like the Nazi flag. In other words, it's reminiscent of the Weimar Republic collapsing, allowing the Third Reich to take control of things.
• Screw This, I'm Outta Here: Despite being cleared of all charges and invited back to the Jedi Order, Ahsoka leaves them for good, feeling disillusioned by the whole affair.
• Secret Secret-Keeper: During Anakin's final conversation with Ahsoka, it's implied that she knows about Anakin and Padmé's relationship. This was later confirmed by Word of God.invoked
• Series Fauxnale: Even before the cancellation of the series, many fans opined that this episode could've easily served as the Downer Ending of the series that still profoundly informs Anakin's state of mind to the viewer going into Revenge of the Sith, also seemingly confirming why Ahsoka is not present during that film.
• Significant Name Shift: After Ahsoka abandons the Jedi Order that abandoned her she no longer refers to Anakin as "Master", but by his name.
• Special Edition Title: The end credits play a mournful version of Ahsoka's leitmotif instead of the usual Clone Wars theme.
• This Is Something She's Got to Do Herself: Ahsoka's decision to leave the Order.
  Anakin: Ahsoka, you are making a mistake!
  Ahsoka: Maybe, but I have to sort this out on my own, without the Council and without you.
• Title Drop: During Padmé's opening remarks as Ahsoka's defense in the court-martial.
  Padmé: A Jedi might be behind the attack, but that Jedi is not Ahsoka Tano. Members of the Court, you're prosecuting the wrong Jedi.
• Tranquil Fury: Anakin starts out his confrontations with both Ventress and Barriss this way, but the "tranquil" part doesn't last long in either case.
• Unstoppable Rage: Anakin is so outraged and desperate to save Ahsoka that he easily overpowers both Ventress and Barriss, the latter in particular in a Roaring Rampage of Revenge.
• Well-Intentioned Extremist: Barriss Offee reveals that she was the one who bombed the Jedi Temple hangar because she feels the Jedi have failed in their duty as peacekeepers. Underscored when Anakin tells her she should have gotten rid of Ventress' lightsabers, and Barriss responds that they suit her (not that she has fallen to the Dark Side per se, but that she can see a commonality between herself and a Sith, who is by definition an extremist).
• What the Hell, Hero?:
  • Ventress delivers an indirect one through Anakin by comparing how the Council abandoned and effectively betrayed Ahsoka to how Dooku did the same to her. Anakin is outright horrified when he realizes she's right.
  • Anakin calls out Barriss on betraying Ahsoka's trust.
  • Barriss justifies her attack on the Order as a stand against the growing corruption of its principles, claiming that they've become the very menace they are supposed to be fighting. She's right, too, even if none of them realize why.
  • While Ahsoka doesn't call them out on it directly after she's been cleared of the charges, her expression speaks volumes of her opinion when the same men who praise her strength and resilience had given her up to the Senate Court as a traitor not long before.
• Would Hurt a Child: Tarkin is outright gleeful when he states he'll ask the Court to sentence Ahsoka to death. His only saving grace is that he's fully convinced she's guilty. Considering this is the same Tarkin who later killed millions of innocent children courtesy of the Death Star, this should surprise no one.
• You Called Me "X"; It Must Be Serious: After Ahsoka refuses to come back to the order, she calls Anakin by name, rather than "master".
  Ahsoka: I know you believe in me, Anakin, and I'm grateful for that, but this isn't about you.
• Your Approval Fills Me with Shame: Rather than admit their error in rushing to judgment, the Jedi Council (with Plo Koon's notable exception) simply Hand Wave the hell they put Ahsoka through as the Force's way of testing her resilience and praise her fortitude through it all instead. Ahsoka won't have any of it and resigns from the Order.

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"I understand. More than you realize, I 'understand' wanting to walk away from the Order."
"I know."

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