On Coruscant, Dr. Shina finds herself perplexed by Padmé Amidala's fading life signs as she is giving birth and flatly refuses to believe a medical droid's prognosis that Padmé has lost the will to live. Shina also discovers that Padmé is pregnant with Anakin's children. Unable to find a scientific explanation for why Padmé is dying, she reluctantly decides to contact the Jedi in the hopes that they can help save Padmé's life.
On Tatooine, Ciaphas Cain has sent Boba Fett and a pack of Space Wolves ahead on motor bikes to secure an abandoned Republic terraforming station currently being used as a resupply outpost by Jabba's thugs. However, upon their arrival, they find the outpost decimated with the parts for the terraforming machine stolen. Boba learns from an injured spice runner that Tusken Raiders attacked the station while one of Jabba's spice trains had stopped by to resupply. After slaughtering almost everyone there, the Tuskens left to pursue the fleeing spice train. The injured spice runner then perishes from his wounds before he can tell Boba and the Space Wolves anything more, although Boba notices that the spice runner's injuries suggest one of the Tuskens was using a lightsaber.
Meanwhile Utapau is being razed by Davik Thune and his Crimson Razors, who take sadistic pleasure in terrorizing and cannibalizing the natives after destroying the droid factory on the planet.
Back on Coruscant, Yoda has been brought to the dying Padmé by Dr. Shina, but is initially hesitant to use the Force to heal the senator as he views that as interfering in the natural cycle of life and death. Out of desperation, Shina spills the beans about Padmé carrying Anakin's unborn children and Yoda deduces that a powerful Sith Lord (Sidious) is using a remote Force drain technique to slowly kill Padmé. In order to save Padmé, Yoda transfers part of his own life force to the senator after initially making it seem as though Padmé has perished in order to fool Sidious. Yoda is successful and Padmé's life is saved as she gives birth to a familiar twin boy and girl.
Returning to Tatooine, Boba and the Space Wolves have caught up to Jabba's spice train, which is currently in the process of being hijacked by a band of unusually well-organized Tusken Raiders using a mysterious sandstorm to mask their approach. As Boba (joined shortly afterwards by a Swiftclaw named Yannik) board the repulsorlift train and battle the Tusken Raiders aboard, they come face to face with the leader of these Tuskens: the rogue Jedi Master A'Sharad Hett.
Tropes in this episode include:
- Alliterative Title: "Shifting Sands".
- Buried in a Pile of Corpses: In this episode, we're shown the viewpoint of a Pau'an named Ron'on as his homeworld of Utapau is attacked by the Crimson Razors. During the attack, Ron'on gets knocked out by an explosion while fleeing from the Space Marines and when he comes to, he finds himself half-buried beneath a pile of dead Pau'ans while the Razors feast on his kin nearby. Ron'on tries to stay hidden beneath the mountain of corpses, but is quickly found out once the Razors start burning the piles of bodies they've gathered, forcing Ron'on to run out in the open to escape the flames where he gets caught and killed.
- The Bus Came Back:
- After being absent for twenty episodes (even more if one also counts the specials), Master Yoda makes his return here when Dr. Shina brings him in to try to heal Padmé of her fading life.
- This episode also has Davik Thune make a physical reappearance as a cameo during the Crimson Razors' genocide on Utapau after last being seen in the "Davik Thune and the Droids" mini episode released very early in Season 2.
- Cassandra Truth: Played with. When Boba Fett and the Space Wolves arrive at Arnthout's Lookout as part of an Imperial scouting mission, they find the outpost massacred from a recent Tusken Raider attack with only a single almost dead spice runner as the sole survivor. Boba introduces himself as one of Jabba's bounty hunters and claims he was sent to check-up on the station, but leaves out the part where it was Ciaphas Cain who sent him and not Jabba. Considering that the first thing the Space Wolves did upon finding the spice runner was crush his arms (because he had shot at them first after initially mistaking them for Tuskens), the dying spice runner doesn't believe Boba is one of Jabba's bounty hunters. Nevertheless, he does tell Boba what happened to the outpost before biting the dust.
- Cast from Lifespan: To save Padmé, Yoda draws from the pool of what little vitality his old withered body has left and transfers some of it into Padmé's body though his Healing Hands, reducing Yoda's lifespan in the process.
- Cliffhanger: The episode ends with Boba Fett and Yannik boarding the hijacked spice train and preparing to battle the leader of the Tusken Raiders responsible for the heist, who is revealed to be rogue Jedi Master A'Sharad Hett.
- Death Faked for You: Yoda uses the ancient Jedi technique monichro to slow Padmé's bodily functions to near-death to make it seem as though Sidious's remote Force drain had succeeded in killing her. This causes Sidious to assume Padmé's dead and stop draining her life, allowing Yoda to then save her life by transferring some of his life essence into her.
- Dramatic Ammo Depletion: During Boba's firefight with the Tuskens aboard Jabba's hijacked spice train, he uses a slugthrower stolen from one of the Tuskens, only for the rifle to run out of ammo at the worst possible moment, leading Boba to angrily yell "Damn slugthrowers!"
- Entertainingly Wrong: With Dr. Shina's assistance, Yoda determines that Padmé isn't dying from childbirth, but is instead the victim of a remote Force Drain, a Dark Side technique favored by the Sith. Shina had just discovered that the father of Padmé's unborn children was Anakin Skywalker, who the Galactic Senate had recently voted to make Supreme Commander of their military. Additionally, Padmé herself is one of the Republic's most influential political figures, second only to Supreme Chancellor Palpatine. Shina concludes that Dooku is the Sith behind this in an effort to demoralize the Republic's new Supreme Commander by killing his wife, and destabilize the Senate with the death of a leading senator. Shina's conclusion, while logically sound, is wrong as Palpatine is actually the Sith responsible for draining Padmé's life away, intending to drive Anakin to the Dark Side with her death, as well as remove his biggest obstacle to gaining total control over the Senate.
- Evil Versus Evil: This episode has Boba Fett and the Space Wolves fighting the Tusken Raiders.
- Onboard the hijacked spice train, you also have the Tuskens vs. Jabba's criminal enforcers. The Tuskens win.
- Flash Forward: The episode's YouTube description contains several quotes alongside purple prose about how these lines come from scenes of future episodes."Dying of a broken heart?! Can you imagine that?!"
"Demons. Humans are demons! Every! Last! One!"
"Boba Fett is a cold-hearted killer who works for the Imperium." - Internal Reveal: Shina learns from a medical scan that Anakin is the father of Padmé's children. She passes this on to Yoda in order to convince him to use the Force to heal Padmé when she is seemingly dying from childbirth (really Sidious using a remote life draining technique).
- Late to the Tragedy: Boba Fett and a squad of Space Wolves arrive at a desert outpost belonging to Jabba, only to discover that said outpost had fallen victim to an attack by Tusken Raiders some time ago. They find nearly all the outpost's inhabitants dead with the exception of an Almost Dead Guy who tells Boba what happened before succumbing to his wounds.
- The Reveal: Padmé wasn't dying from childbirth, but was instead the victim of an insidious Sith technique Sidious had been subtly using to remotely ebb her life away over the course of weeks if not months.
- Sequel Episode: To Episode 24. This episode largely picks up exactly where that episode had left off, continuing its subplots.
- Suddenly Shouting: This exchange between Dr. Shina and a medical droid in Episode 32 as Shina tries to figure out who the father of Padmé's children is.Dr. Shina: Tell me who the father is so we can start piecing this together!
Medical droid: We cannot, we do not have the authority to-
Shina: [throws her datapad at the droid] I HAVE THE AUTHORITY! - You Have GOT to Be Kidding Me!: When Dr. Shina has Yoda brought to a dying Padmé to see if he can heal her, Yoda's initial response is to basically say "Death is a natural part of the cycle of life, so it is not my place to interfere in it." Upon hearing Yoda claim that the best he can do is to ease Padmé's passing, Shina appropriately has this reaction.
