#74 Season 4 Episode 8

“The path of ignorance is guided by fear.”

General Krell orders Captain Rex and the clone troopers of the 501st Legion to conquer a heavily fortified Umbaran airbase, and will not accept anything less than victory. It is an almost certain suicide mission, unless the clones can use their ingenuity to defeat their new enemy.

The General Preview and starwars.com Episode Guide.

Original Airdate: 4 November 2011
Writer: Matt Michnovetz
Director: Walter Murch

Concept Art and Trivia

Inspiration for the pressure-suited Umbaran soldiers include the Zentraedi from Robotech and the Sardaukar from David Lynch’s Dune.The helmets feed the Umbarans a potent gas mixture that keeps them amped up for combat, increasing their reflexes and aggression. From a production point of a view, such a helmet allowed a single animation model to be created for the military, while keeping the soldiers living, breathing non-droid opponents for the clones.

We’ve seen Umbarans in the movies and series before. In previous episodes of The Clone Wars, we’ve met Mee Deechi. In Episode II and III, Palpatine’s aide is Sly Moore, an Umbaran.

Pong Krell was not the first Besalisk Jedi Master designed for the series. For the second season of The Clone Wars, artwork exists by Kilian Plunkett of Master Plun Kil, a character who was ultimately not seen in the show.

Sergeant Appo’s name derives from the Clone Commander that accompanies Anakin Skywalker on the march on the Jedi Temple during Order 66, as seen in Episode III. This is the same character earlier in the timeline, prior to a promotion to commander. The arrow shape on his helmet is a nod to the character Appa from Avatar: The Last Airbender, a show series supervising director Dave Filoni previously worked on.

Though not seen in the final, an interior to an Umbaran hover tank was fully detailed in concept illustrations for this episode.