1313 manages to overcome his mental indoctrination and turn the tables on Commissar-Captain Shadrick. Despite this setback, Shadrick succeeds in activating the Basilica of Salvation's Virus Bomb and escapes using a teleportation device. Samael gets Lazarus, Leahandra, and the newly-arrived Commissar Leerose up to speed on the truth behind the Axum occupation. Meanwhile, the Tempered Hands make their battlefield debut while Aayla, Quinlan, and the other Jedi face off against Tahr Whyler in a seemingly hopeless battle.
Tropes in this episode include:
- Alpha Strike: When Sebastian Vondrel of the Tempered Hands Chapter (piloting a Brutalis Dreadnought) walks out of the Basilica of Salvation to face off against Coleman Kcaj's army of Jedi and Clones, every single Republic tank and clone trooper present almost immediately opens fire, hitting the Astartes commander with thousands upon thousands of blaster bolts. Their attacks have little-to-no effect on Vondrel, thanks to his Dreadnought's unique Deflector Shield that absorbs all the energy from their blaster bolts.
- The Bus Came Back: Darth Sidious makes his big return to the story at the end of this episode after his last appearance in Episode 27.
- Call-Back: The events of the Siege of Saleucami from Star Wars: Republic are recounted during Oppo Rancisis's POV segment, including his apparent death at the hands of Sora Bulq, though this version of Rancisis managed to survive unlike his Legends counterpart.
- Cliffhanger: Aayla's subplot in this episode ends on a massive cliffhanger in the form of Darth Sidious himself arriving on the scene to personally confront Tahr Whyler.
- Connected All Along: A comment by Inquisitor Tahr Whyler near the end of the episode reveals that he and Warmaster Tyranus Macharion were in league with each other the whole time. In hindsight, this isn't that surprising seeing as how both practically had a similar Uriah Gambit to dispose of the Imperial forces occupying Axum so they could use their deaths to create false martyrs for the rest of the Imperium.
- Continuity Nod:
- When Lazarus meets Jane Leerose in Episode 43, he is surprised to learn that she's a colonel-commissar, admitting that he thought the rank was a myth since the only time he had previously heard of it was from the stories about Ibram Gaunt and his Ghosts.
- Captain Fordo from the 2003 Clone Wars series cameos in Episode 43 and is a viewpoint character-of-the-day in episode 44 during the Republic's battle against the Tempered Hands.
- In Episode 43, Darth Sidious makes his dramatic entrance into Tahr Whyler's Torture Cellar in a way that is reminiscent of his throne room confrontation with Maul and Savage in The Clone Wars episode "The Lawless"; he first makes his presence known by Force-choking Omni-Kraiden just like he did with the Death Watch super commandos guarding Maul's throne room, then enters the room and ignites both of his red lightsabers.
- Curb-Stomp Battle:
- The Tempered Hands Chapter annihilates an entire legion of clones along with their Jedi commanders during the Republic's second wave siege on the Basilica of Salvation.
- Tahr Whyler's battle against Aayla, Quinlan, and about 400 other Jedi is so one-sided in his favor that to call it a "battle" is being extremely generous to the Jedi. The closest the Jedi ever come to landing a hit on Tahr is when Aayla briefly pins him to a wall using her telekinesis boosted from a Traumatic Superpower Awakening moment caused by Tahr threatening Quinlan. Aside from that, Tahr doesn't even need his weapon to wipe the floor with his opponents.
- A Day in the Limelight: Coleman Kcaj and Oppo Rancisis are featured as viewpoint characters for this episode.
- Death from Above: The Tempered Hands deploy Whirlwind artillery tanks on top of various Axumite Spires from which they rain down heavy missiles on top of the Republic's forces sieging the Basilica of Salvation.
- Hopeless Boss Fight: Aayla and the other 400 Jedi vs. Tahr Whyler when he's not holding back his full power. No matter what techniques or Force powers they try, it has little-to-no effect on Tahr, who just brushes them off and laughs. Even Aayla unleashing her full might and potential as a Jedi through the Force is only able to briefly slow Tahr down. All of the Jedi are overpowered with only the unexpected arrival of Darth Sidious himself saving them from being captured by the Inquisition and becoming Tahr's newest lab rats.
- Internal Reveal: Saint Lazarus, Leahandra Ordane, and Jane Leerose all learn from Samael Whyler that the Imperial occupation of Axum was one big Uriah Gambit by Warmaster Macharion to purge the Imperial Guard of regiments which weren't loyal to him, and that they had all been set up to fail from the beginning. This is something that has been known to the audience since episode 19.
- Just Toying with Them: Alpha-Plus level psyker Tahr Whyler versus about 400 Jedi including Aayla Secura and Quinlan Vos. It's made abundantly clear early on that Tahr isn't giving it his all and is just messing with the Jedi. During the fight, Tahr looks like he's dancing around all of the Jedi's attacks and is clearly having a ball while the Jedi are desperately fighting for their lives.
- Killed Off for Real: After her fake-out death in Episode 36, Ishtara dies for real in this episode, sacrificing herself to be used as the God-Emperor's divine instrument to destroy the Basilica's Virus Bomb before it can go off in a Dying Moment of Awesome.
- Last Chance to Quit: Before the start of their battle, the Arch-Imbalancer of the Tempered Hands Chapter tells Jedi Master Coleman Kcaj that he is willing to spare the lives of the Jedi and clone troopers under Kcaj's command if he orders a full withdrawal of all Republic forces from the Basilica of Salvation. This is played with as Kcaj recognizes that the Arch-Imbalancer only made the offer because he knew Kcaj would reject it.
- Mythology Gag: While fighting Tahr Whyler at the start of her POV segment in Episode 43, Aayla mentally reminds herself of several famous historical Jedi Masters who had given their lives fighting the Sith.
- She first thinks of Ven Zallow, the Jedi Grandmaster who had been killed by Darth Malgus while defending the Jedi Temple during the Sacking of Coruscant in the backstory of Star Wars: The Old Republic.
- She next thinks of Valenthyne Farfalla, a Jedi Lord from the comic series Jedi vs. Sith and the Darth Bane trilogy, who met his end at the hands of Darth Bane.
- She finally thinks of Vodo-Siosk Baas, Exar Kun's former Jedi Master from Tales of the Jedi, who was killed in a duel by his former pupil.
- Nice Job Fixing It, Villain:
- By deploying the Basilica's Virus Bomb, Shadrick inadvertently forces Vondrel and the Tempered Hands (who had been dominating the battle against the Republic and Jedi up to that point) to call in a premature retreat and withdraw from Axum before they can finish off the Republic's forces or successfully evacuate the remainder of the Imperials holed up at the Basilica.
- Both Ishtara and the God-Emperor when they stop the Basilica's Virus Bomb from detonating and destroying Axum, foiling Tahr's plan to destroy all the thousands of Jedi who had gathered on the planet as part of the Republic counter-invasion.
- O.O.C. Is Serious Business: Lord General Macharion is renowned throughout Xek-Tek's Imperial Guard for being a tactical genius and strategic mastermind. Samael Whyler is able to figure out Macharion's entire Uriah Gambit simply by noticing how uncharacteristically incompetent Macharion was being when he only left a token garrison to defend Axum and sent no reinforcements to help them hold off the Republic's inevitable counterattack. Since Macharion isn't known for being a General Failure, Samael deduces that Macharion wants the Imperials defending Axum to all get killed.
- Parallel Conflict Sequence: While Sebastian Vondrel is slaughtering Coleman Kcaj's combined army of Jedi and clone troopers, Aayla Secura and the other Jedi are struggling against a fully-powered Tahr Whyler.
- Psychic Strangle: Darth Sidious makes his presence known to Tahr Whyler at the end of the episode by killing his servant Omni-Kraiden with a Force-choke.
- Spoiler Cover: If you look carefully, Darth Sidious can be seen in the background of this episode's thumbnail cover art, spoiling his appearance at the end of the episode.
- Summon to Hand: Near the end of the episode, Tahr uses his telekinesis to summon his rapier to his hand in preparation for his duel with Sidious.
- Un-Robotic Reveal: When Vondrel first exits the Basilica of Salvation and faces down the Republic army, Coleman Kcaj assumes that he's dealing with some sort of Imperial droid and is rather surprised when the Dreadnought verbally explains that he is, in fact, a Space Marine.
- Wham Shot: For Aayla and the audience, seeing Darth Sidious enter the room the Jedi had been fighting Tahr in and walking down the staircase to duel the Inquisitor Lord himself.
- What Happened to the Mouse?: It's never made clear what became of Coleman Kcaj nor if he survived the battle against Sebastian Vondrel.
