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The Clone Wars Episode Guide: Heroes on Both Sides
Episode No.: 54 (Season 3, Episode 10)
Original Air Date: November 19, 2010
Production No.: 306 (Season 3, Episode 6)
“Fear is a great motivator.”
Written by Daniel Arkin
Directed by Kyle Dunlevy
Cast:
Catherine Taber as Padmé Amidala | Voe Atell
Ashley Eckstein as Ahsoka Tano
Kath Soucie as Mina Bonteri, Mon Mothma, and maiden #1
Phil LaMarr as Gume Saam, Bail Organa, Orn Free Taa
Corey Burton as Nix Card, Count Dooku and engineer
Gideon Emery as Lott Dod and Kerch Kushi
Stephen Stanton as Mas Amedda and Senator
Dee Bradley Baker as clones, Mot Not Rab, and Onaconda Farr
Jason Spisak as Lux
Matt Lanter as Anakin Skywalker
Ian Abercrombie as Chancellor Palpatine
Jameelah McMillan as Halle Burtoni and maiden #2
Matthew Wood as General Grievous and battle droids
Tom Kane as narrator
Synopsis: When the Senate begins debating a bill that would eliminate government oversight of the Banking Clan’s activities in order to fund the war, Padmé and Ahsoka travel in secret to the capital of the Confederacy of Independent Systems. Amidala attempts to forge a peace agreement with the Separatists, while Ahsoka sees, for the first time, the people of the Confederacy. Padmé’s friend, Mina Bonteri, spearheads the peace initiative, and convinces the Separatist Congress to sue for peace.
Meanwhile, on Coruscant, Senators Lott Dod and Gume Saam conspire with Banking Clan representative Nix Card and Count Dooku to make the banking deregulation a reality. At Dooku’s command, General Grievous engineers an attack at the central power distribution grid on Coruscant, carried out by Separatist demolition droids. The chaos and panic spreads to the Senate, which vehemently rejects the Separatist peace initiative, and votes instead to deregulate the Banking Clan.
Returning Characters: Padmé Amidala, Ahsoka Tano, Bail Organa, Senator Lott Dod, Chancellor Palpatine, Mas Amedda, Anakin Skywalker, Count Dooku, General Grievous, Clone Commander Fox, Senator Halle Burtoni, Senator Mon Mothma, Senator Orn Free Taa, Captain Typho, Senator Zinn Paulness, Senator Stronk, battle droids, Eekar Oki
New Characters: Senator Mina Bonteri, Lux Bonteri, Bonteri’s maidens, Senator Gume Saam, Senator Mot Not Rab, Nix Card, demolition droids, engineering team, Senator Voe Atell, Senator Kerch Kusi, Senator By Bluss, Senator Punn Rimbaud, Senator Bec Lawise, Senator Amita Fonti
Key Locales: Coruscant, Raxus
Secrets Revealed
- During production, this episode was titled “Banking Conspiracy.” The new title, taken from a line in the opening crawl for Episode III, came much later.
- As previously reported, this episode unveils new models for several of the main characters, including upgrades to Anakin Skywalker and Ahsoka Tano, and a new wardrobe for Chancellor Palpatine. Ahsoka is now older; there is an unspecified passage of time between this episode and her last appearance. With the start of this arc, which continues in “Pursuit of Peace” and concludes in Season Two’s “Senate Murders,” the Clone Wars storyline advances to its furthest point in the timeline, and subsequent episodes should continue going forward without as much jumping back and forth.
- Since Season Two’s “Senate Murders” is actually, to date, the last episode in the chronology, it’s a good thing that scenes with Anakin Skywalker were cut from that episode, since he would have been sporting an outdated character model. These scenes can be seen in the Blu-Ray release of Star Wars: The Clone Wars The Complete Season Two.
- Whatever relation Raxus holds to Raxus Prime, the junk planet seen in several LucasArts video games, has yet to be defined, though it is clearly not intended to be the same planet, given the pastoral beauty of the Separatist capital.
- Senator Gume Saam, an Ishi Tib alien, is supposed to be the same alien seen beside Bail Organa at the parade ground balcony seen at the end of Episode II. The way Count Dooku addresses him strongly suggests he is getting kickbacks from the Techno Union.
- Lott Dod says Coruscant has not been directly attacked in over 1,000 years, which coincides with a chronology that had the last war between Sith and Jedi around that time as well.
- The transforming demolition droids have stenciled on their domes “CSD,” for “Coruscant Sanitation Department.”
- The starship that Padmé and Ahsoka take to Raxus is a Gozanti freighter, a vessel briefly seen in the background over Mos Espa in both Episodes I and II. The ship that delivers the demolition droids to the Coruscant docks is a Taylander shuttle, also seen in Episode II.
- The battle droids that deal with newcomers to Raxus are remarkably polite.
- Mina Bonteri mentions her husband died on Aargonar, a planet previously seen in the first run of Dark Horse comics’ version of The Clone Wars.
- Among the Separatist Senators seen in congress are Voe Atell, the green-skinned female with the double row of horns; Kerch Kusi, who disputes Atell’s stance on the Corporate Alliance; Punn Rimbaud, a deep-voiced female amphibian alien; By Bluss, who votes aye for opening peace negotiations; Amita Fonti, a Gossam alien; and Bec Lawise, a wide-bodied Brainee alien who serves as Separatist Congress Leader.
- Nix Card is extremely tall — eight feet! — as all Muuns are. When he sits down, he is the same height as Gume Saam and Lott Dod.
- The power generators are said to be on level 5000, presumably 5,000 levels down from the surface of Coruscant.
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