#81 Season 4 Episode 15

“All warfare is based on deception.”

When the Jedi learn of a Separatist plot to kidnap Chancellor Palpatine, one of them must go deep undercover as a hardened criminal to extract information from the conspirators.

Deception Preview and starwars.com Episode Guide. Commentary for episodes 4:15 – 4:18.

Original Airdate: 20 January 2012

Writer: Brent Friedman

Director: Kyle Dunlevy

Concept Art and Trivia

The seedy Coruscant bar is a design that dates back to The Clone Wars movie — it’s a very re-decorated interior of Ziro’s Throne Room.

The robes of the mourning Senators are existing outfits but colored in black. Amidala is wearing a dark version of her ambassadorial robes seen in “A Friend in Need,” Satine is wearing her Senate gown, but in black. Mon Mothma’s dress is sourced from the same white one she has worn previously.

The alien bartender in the Coruscant underworld is identified in concept art as an Anacondan.

Among the posters seen in the bar’s back room where Hardeen sleeps is one for DJ Rangthang, one for Sy Snootles, a Felucian pin-up, and a travel poster for Pantora. In the corridor leading to the room is a poster for a “Miss Theelin” beauty pageant. Illustrations by Randy Bantog

One of the posters in the bar mentions that “Trueping’s” offers “The Best Drink in Town”

The interior architecture of the Republic prison — first seen in the Season Three episode “Assassin” — is a Star Wars take on the Panopticon, a proposed prison design from the 18th century built around the concept that all prisoners could be monitored at a given time, without knowing when they were being monitored.

Included in the prison population are Lutrillian aliens. This species design was first created as a cantina character for Star Wars: Episode IV A New Hope.

Obi-Wan uses the code name Ben while undercover. Now that’s a name we’ve not heard in a long time. A long time. In the script for “Voyage of Temptation”, Satine was to refer to Obi-Wan as “Ben,” however, actor Anna Graves and Dave Filoni felt it didn’t fit as an affectionate nickname. Writer Brent Friedmen asked if he could use “Ben” as a code-name in this episode, which seemed to make much more sense.

Hardeen’s helmet design seen in this episode is based on an old Rebel trooper concept from Return of the Jedi.

This is the first episode in which clone officers wear hats. “I was testing Clone Wars Adventures online and noticed that the game developers there had put the hats on the clones in the game,” said Dave Filoni. “I immediately thought, ‘Wow! I can’t believe we haven’t done that!’, so I went in to work and had the hats made for the show. I think they really tie in nicely to the original trilogy now.”

While not all prisoner numbers have significance, in the case of Cad Bane and Boba Fett, they do. Cad Bane is #22, because his Hasbro action figure was #22 in a particular assortment. Likewise, Boba is #32. In case it was unclear to viewers, Fett was definitely working for Bane in this episode. This will not be the last time you see the two working together.