Without honour, victory is hollow.
Having escaped from the Separatist prison known as the Citadel, Even Piell, Captain Tarkin, and the team that rescued them must navigate the desolate landscape of the planet Lola Sayu in time to rendezvous with Master Plo Koon and leave the prison planet.
Tropes:
- All for Nothing: In the end, despite all the effort the Jedi put into rescuing Master Piell and getting the Nexus Route, all of it accomplished nothing. Since Master Piell died during the escape, and since Ahsoka and Tarkin are only willing to share the two parts of the code with different people (Ahsoka with the Jedi Order and Tarkin with the Chancellor) nobody can get access to the full code, rendering it completely useless. And even if Ahsoka had been willing to give her part to the Chancellor along with Tarkin, Palpatine obviously would have shared it with Dooku so that neither side would retain an advantage. The only thing they really accomplished was to save Tarkin, which ended up doing more harm than good.
- Bloodless Carnage: An anooba wounds Even Piell with its fangs, but there isn't a single drop of blood on him.
- Bring News Back: With Tarkin and Piell openly out of the prison, the Jedi must protect their lives at all costs to make sure the two survive so that their crucial information makes it back to the Republic. Then, after Piell dies, Ahsoka takes on the information and becomes part of the mission's focus.
- Call-Forward: A brief snippet of the Imperial March plays as Anakin and Tarkin shake hands at the end of the episode.
- Complaining About Rescues They Don't Like: Once again, Tarkin, all throughout the arc.
- Convection, Schmonvection: Zig-zagged.
- Characters hang mere meters over the lava with no problem in one scene, yet the burial cloak for a Jedi burns before it even touches it. Animals die instantly, yet said Jedi's wrapped corpse somehow floats downstream and the worst that happens is it is still on fire.
- During the air evacuation from an island in the middle of a lava lake, Separatist crab droids can be seen crawling up from all sides of the island unharmed, implying that they were built with heat shields. This also lines up with lore of crab droids being designed to operate in nasty environments.
- Cruel and Unusual Death: Even Piell gets mauled by an anooba, and it’s made clear it nearly tore out his throat.
- Disney Villain Death: Two Clone Troopers die when they fall down a cliff after the rope they used to climb down is shot loose by a Battle Droid.
- Dramatic Irony: Dooku tells Sobeck that if the Nexxus Route coordinates are reobtained, they can launch a surprise attack on Coruscant, striking a crippling blow to the Republic and the Jedi. Little does he realize...
- Due to the Dead: The group pause to honor Piell's sacrifice and give him a burial at lava.
- Even Evil Has Standards: Tarkin may be the Token Evil Teammate, but he doesn't complain about briefly stopping to hold a funeral for Master Piell, and makes a point to thank Ahsoka for saving his life, remarking that she has been trained well.
- Eye Twitch: Sobeck's left eye can be seen twitching quite violently after Dooku threatens his life and then hangs up on him. It's still twitching at the start of his next scene, but stops after that.
- He Who Fights Monsters: Discussed at the end of the episode. Anakin reiterates his belief that the Jedi need to be more ruthless, or else risk losing the war, but Obi-Wan counters that losing their honor would be even worse.
- Hoist Hero over Head: Osi Sobeck does this to Captain Tarkin as he prepares to throw him into the lava. Ahsoka impales him from behind before he can do so.
- Impaled with Extreme Prejudice: Ahsoka kills Sobeck this way to save Tarkin.
- It Has Been an Honor: The three battle droids R2 reprogrammed say this to their commander before trying to slow down the Separatist droids. Sadly, they don't get very far in holding the line.
- Leitmotif: Vader's Imperial March plays briefly when Anakin and Tarkin shake hands at the end.
- No MacGuffin, No Winner: Osi Sobeck attempts to kill Tarkin at the end of the story so that if he can't have the Nexus Route coordinates, than neither can the Republic. Naturally, since he's around twenty years in the future, Tarkin makes it out of this one, and Sobeck doesn't.
- "Not So Different" Remark: Captain Tarkin's actions in the Clone Wars remind Anakin of his own and the two relate to each other on the need for a separation of strategy and morality.
- Savage Wolves: The anoobas. Osi Sobeck, the warden of the prison, releases a whole pack of them to try to track the rescue party that broke Master Even Piell out. They prove to be rather formidable, and one of them even kills Master Piell while he was distracted by fighting droids.
- Senseless Sacrifice: The three droids stay behind to buy time. They last for about five seconds and don't buy any time at all.
- What Measure Is a Mook?: Clone troopers have died throughout the Citadel arc, note but the Jedi and other clone troopers continue onwards. However, when Jedi Master Even Piell dies in this episode, the entire group pauses for a brief funeral.
- You Shall Not Pass!: The three battle droids R2-D2 reprogrammed stay behind to fight off the wave of Separatist droids while the remaining survivors climb down a cliffside. The battle droids die almost immediately and don't slow any of the enemies down.
