#64 Season 3 Episode 20

“Without honor, victory is hollow.”

After their ship and only way off the planet is destroyed, Anakin and Obi-Wan must lead the escaped prisoners across Lola Sayu’s perilous landscape as Plo Koon commands a task force of four cruisers and their fighters through the Separatist defenses in a daring rescue. Even Piell is ravaged by anooba tracking beasts, but before he dies, he passes on his Nexus Routes coordinates to Ahsoka. When the survivors return to Coruscant, Ahsoka knows half the intel, and refuses to disclose it to anyone but the Jedi Council, while Tarkin refuses to hand over his half to anyone other than the Chancellor.

Citadel Rescue Commentary, Preview and starwars.com Episode Guide.

Original Airdate: 11 March 2011
Writer: Matt Michnovetz
Director: Steward Lee

Concept Art and Trivia

When escaping the crab droids, Commander Cody pulls a move that one of his clone troopers in Episode III will later do on Utapau — running atop a crab droid and gunning it down.

The anoobas are actually a concept designed for Episode I by concept artist Terryl Whitlatch, who explored the sharp-toothed hound as a possible creature on Tatooine.

The cage the anoobas are kept in was visually inspired by the velociraptor cages in Jurassic Park.

The Expanded Universe of Star Wars novels originally had Even Piell survive the Clone Wars only to be killed while as a fugitive in the early days of the Empire. Piell’s death in the Citadel Mission is the character’s true fate.

In the script for the last episode, Osi Sobeck was to have been killed by Tarkin. Tarkin would have shot an unarmed Sobeck in cold blood, causing the Jedi to further question his honor.

When Saesee Tiin refers to “the Old Republic,” he is talking about the government that predates the modern founding of the Galactic Republic 1,000 years ago. That is a time of great strife and conflict, when the Sith battled against the Jedi.

Saesee Tiin’s starfighter has the same pattern on it as Ahsoka Tano, but in a different color. Likewise, Adi Gallia’s fighter has the same pattern as Plo Koon’s starfighter, seen in earlier episodes.

During the space battle, a clone trooper aboard an exploding Republic vessel lets out a distinct, high-pitched scream. This scream, called the “Wilhelm,” is an old sound effect that dates back to the 1930s, and appears in all six of the live action Star Wars feature films.

The Plo’s Bros gunship that rescues the strike team from Lola Sayu is designated a “space gunship”, with a sealed cabin and search spotlights mounted in the gunnery sockets.