The planet Onderon has seceded from the Republic and joined the Separatist Alliance under a new king. Rebel forces have fled into the jungle and appeal to the Jedi for help. Oh wait, this happened at the start of the clone war by the legitimate government under a new king. The rebels claim he’s a traitor though so it’s totally fine.
Anakin, completely off the cuff, invents the School of the Americas to help the freedom fighters on Separatist planets ensure their liberty? The fact that Padme is a majority stakeholder in Space Chiquita Bananas is probably coincidental. Yoda is down to help, but Obi-Wan pegs this as enabling terrorism. Anakin, because he’s the worst, states that this is actually an insurgency and… points for vocab I guess.
The Jedi council is split between pragmatists and idealists with Yoda and Obi-Wan suggesting that terror should not be a means to an end. Anakin and Mace suggest that they’re merely helping Rebels, and Jedi Master Honru Kissingeru is getting real sweaty in the background. Anakin Ahsoka and Rex head to Onderon as ‘advisors’ with Obi Wan to keep an eye on them.
We meet Saw Gerrara for the first time riding a Tarakian mount. On a scale of Forest Whitaker, he’s a lot closer to Fast Times at Ridgemont High than Rogue One at this point in his life. We also meet Steela and, hey, it’s Lux Bonteri! Obi-Wan and Anakin hide behind polite fictions by stating that they aren’t here to fight the war for the Onderonians. Ahsoka and Lux start talking about old times and Steela gets jealous. If Ahsoka were Kit Fisto’s apprentice she’d already be engaging in some hands on training with them both, but she’s only got Anakin so she immediately gets confused and sulky. RSVP Nandor the Relentless.
The Rebels go through training and we see how much better at this Rex is than normal people. Shenanigans and training montages ensue. Lux and Saw apparently are rivals for leadership and all I can think of is the Bolshievek revolution. Trotsky lived a long and happy life right?
The rebels have had many successful missions with zero civilian casualties, but the local population is on edge.
The new King summons his predecessor and tells him to call off the attacks… which the old King denies he has a hand in since he is a prisoner and cannot leave the castle.
We cut to the rebels talking about earning the civilian’s trust, which they feel they can get if they hit one big target: A power station that powers all the droids. Saw Gerrara steals one of the B1’s heads to grab the layout of the power substations. They stage a small attack to lure out a tank they need. Destroyers are sent, and their “slow-roll” training proves successful. A tank shows up, and they manage to disable it, then move on to complete their plan and destroy the power station. Soon the droids will forever sleep.
The civilians are now cheering on the rebels. During the celebration, jealousy rears its ugly head again and Anakin tells Ahsoka to stay focused in a real “pot calling the kettle black” kind of moment. The Jedi, via Spacetime™, give an inspiring speech on how to proceed next.
The King gives an update to Dooku, who tells the King he’s sending more troops and a new general. We cut back to Steela, giving her own inspiring speech, being nominated as the leader… which rubs Saw the wrong way. He rushes out, Steela chases after him and reveals that Saw is her brother.
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