“When we rescue others, we rescue ourselves.”

Ahsoka Tano (Ashley Eckstein) and the Jedi Younglings have all sorts of trouble to handle in Bound For Rescue. Written by Christian Taylor this episode debuted on 17 November, 2012 and continues the Youngling story arc that began with their journey to Ilum to find kyber crystals for their lightsabers.

Hondo (Jim Cummings) attacked their ship in an attempt to steal their crystals, but instead came away with Ahsoka as his prize.

The Younglings concoct a plan to infiltrate the pirate base on Florrum and rescue Ahsoka.

Obi-Wan Kenobi (James Arnold Taylor) and some nearby Republic forces are on their way to recover the Younglings when their fleet comes under Separatist attack, so it looks like it’s all going to come down to this group of children to take on Hondo and his pirates and save Ahsoka.

While Kenobi battles Grievous (Matthew Wood) the Younglings infiltrate Hondo’s base, and effect a rescue by posing as a circus act. It’s not the most original idea, and I’m not sure why Hondo doesn’t see through their ruse right away, but it’s still a fun episode, and shows that there are other stories to tell in this universe besides those of the series’ main characters.

“Choose your enemies wisely, as they may be your last hope.”

Taylor also pens the next episode, A Necessary Bond, that wraps up the Youngling story arc. It debuted on 24 November, 2012.

Before Ahsoka and the Younglings can escape Florrum and return to the Republic, the planet, specifically Hondo’s base, comes under attack by General Grievous. This forces the young Jedi Padawans to form a temporary alliance with the pirates, especially if any of them plan to survive the attack.

Even working together, Grievous proves a difficult opponent, and his duel with Ahsoka hints at how brutal he can be, but happily Tano is able to elude him, and make an escape.

We also see that Hondo is in possession of Slave One, after Boba Fett (Daniel Logan) crashed it on Florrum previously. It serves him and the young Jedi very well in this episode.

Just goes to show you how layered the series is, and how much the showrunners pay attention to continuity.

The Younglings return to the Republic, older, wiser, and in possession of their new lightsabers. They’ve taken their first steps into a larger world.

“Humility is the only defense against humiliation.”

Brent V. Friedman starts a new story arc with the episode, Secret Weapons. First airing on 1 December, 2012, this story shone a light on R2-D2 as the astromech joins other Republic droids in something known as D-Squad.

They’ve been given their first mission: slip aboard a Separatist dreadnought and steal an encryption module.

All well and good, and I do love me an R2 story, he’s my favourite robotic creation, but the inclusion of a moronic WAC droid (Ben Diskin) and an untested leader, Gascon (Stephen Stanton) not only undermines the series efforts to portray the seriousness of the war, but also makes both sides in the conflict look a little foolish.

Humour totally works in the Star Wars universe, but when it devolves into silly, that’s a little bothersome. And this one does it several times. I’ll always want Artoo-Detoo to be the hero, and have a story or two of his own, but paired with some of these other characters, I couldn’t wait for this episode to be done.

The Clone Wars wage on next week as I explore more of the series with another trio of episodes. Until then, may the Force be with you.