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Continuity & Analysis

Star Wars: The Clone Wars - Rising Malevolence (2008) [S1E2]
Belief is not a matter of choice, but of conviction.
"The clone star fleet is under siege! Dozens of Republic warships have been destroyed
in merciless surprise attacks that leave no survivors. Rumors spread of a terrible new
Separatist weapon. In the face of growing fear, the Jedi Council sends Master Plo Koon
to hunt down the menace before it strikes again..."
Star Wars: The Clone Wars - Shadow of Malevolence (2008) [S1E3]
Easy is the path to wisdom for those not blinded by themselves.
"A deadly weapon, unleashed! The Separatist battleship Malevolence advances
unopposed through Republic space, tearing apart any ship that stands in its path.
After a daring rescue and narrow escape, Anakin Skywalker prepares a counterattack
on the enemy ship and its diabolical droid commander, General Grievous..."
Star Wars: The Clone Wars - Destroy Malevolence (2008) [S1E4]
A plan is only as good as those who see it through.
"Grievous in retreat! Before the battleship Malevolence could destroy
an Outer Rim clone medical base, a Republic strike force, under the command of
Jedi General Anakin Skywalker, crippled the warship, disabling its dreaded ion cannon.
Now the Jedi relentlessly pursue the Malevolence..."




CONTINUITY
These three episodes form a single storyline about the battleship Malevolence. The chronological order of episodes is as given by Lucasfilm,
and follows their release order. The Abregado and Ryndellia starsystems are seen, although the habitable planets, Abregado-Rae
and Ryndellia, are not seen, even from space. Coruscant is the only world seen in these episodes:


- The Abregado starsystem is located in a thus far unidentified sector in the Southern Core, and is the northernmost terminus of the important Rimma Trade
Route, which runs from Abregado to the Western Reaches of the Outer Rim. The system's primary is known as Anza, a red giant star which is orbited by
an unknown number of planets. At least one planet in the system is habitable, Abregado-Rae, which is an important center for trade.

- The Separatist development of the Mega-Ion Cannon is cutting edge technology. Ion weapons are a relatively new concept on a large scale, and an ion
weapon of this size, in this time period, requires the kind of power generation only a massive starship or planet-based generator could provide.
Some of this expertise in ion technology will be inherited from the Separatist Alliance by the Rebel Alliance. Many honest Separatists, and the worlds
they represent, will decades later become components of the Rebel Alliance, and this example of Separatist ion technology is meant to foreshadow this.

- Master Plo and Ahsoka are good friends and solidly connected in the Force. He was the one who located her as an older child and brought her to the Jedi.
Since Plo's homeworld of Dorin and Ahsoka's homeworld of Shili, are in the same galactic neighborhood, it is possible this had something to do with why
he was in the area and sensed her, or was assigned in some way to the area. Since we learn in Episode I that the Republic has a system to locate children
early, the implication here seems to be that for whatever reason, Ahsoka was not identified, unless the Jedi use Force sense and visions from the Force
to search for Force sensitive individuals, either as a primary method for locating them, or to find those that have been missed.


- Anakin is already teaching Ahsoka how to disobey the Jedi Council, while still mostly following their orders. Ahsoka seemed to share Anakin's preference for
prioritizing what they believe is right over Jedi procedure and strategic priorities. Anakin may be often selfish or self-centered, but is paradoxically also
an extremely selfless person, in that he places high value on saving lives and helping others, most of all those he considers to be his friends and allies. Anakin
brings along the Twilight when deployed to a fleet, which facilitates his adventures. Technically he is not diverting Republic military resources when he
takes it out. In this story arc he uses it to save Master Plo and his fellow survivors, and again to save Padme and C-3P0, over the prior objections of others.


Obi-Wan is able to call Anakin on the Twilight and ask him where he is. This suggests that the communications
system is able to find someone's location in the galaxy. Obi-Wan's comments don't definitively tell us whether
the system tells the caller where the person is, but either way, one part of the system has to be able to locate
the intended recipient. Whoever is in charge of this system should be able to locate any ship in the galaxy that has its
communication system turned on, even if just receiving prerecorded messages. This is never explained in canon, but
supplementary material suggests the Republic runs the HoloNet, which handles the messages. Why do the central
authorities in any time period not know where every ship is? How do illegal messages get transmitted without being
monitored by the system, which we see all the time in SW? It is not impossible to believe the Republic didn't snoop
in practice, and the Separatists are known to use their own system run by the Hyper-Com Cartel out of concern for
the Republic using the system against them. This does not address the fundamental question of how and when ships
are located to send a message, and why this can't be used to track ships in the galaxy under most circumstances.
Main Article: Hyperspace Communications


- Kel Dors like Plo Koon can go into the extreme low pressure and cold of space for functional periods of time. This is likely due to the biology of Kel Dors,
the product of the conditions on their homeworld of Dorin, which has a helium-based atmosphere, and dense clouds which allow much less light to reach
the surface than most worlds which support life. As a result, a Kel Dor must wear light filtering devices on their eyes and a breathing device in order to
function on worlds friendly to oxygen-breathers. Plo's ability to withstand space suggests their bodies are cold-resistant and outer layer non-porous.

- The Separatist flagship, the Subjugator-class battleship Malevolence, is the first of a rare type of super heavy cruiser built by the Separatist affiliated Free Dac
Volunteers Engineering Corps, the ship builders of the Quarren Isolation League. This massive vessel, almost 5 kilometers long, hosted hundreds of cannons,
a large compliment of crew and droid starfighters, an internal train system, and the massive emitters for its experimental ion weapon. The most impressive
feature of the ship was its huge and resilient hull which could take extreme battle damage without compromising structural integrity or armament magazines.


- The Ryndellia starsystem is located in Ryndellian Sector, in the Trailing Sectors of the Mid Rim, near the boundry of the Outer Rim. The system contains at
least one habitable planet, Ryndellia, which has not yet been seen in canon. It is the capital planet of the sector which takes its name.

- The Kaminoan Nala Se is the chief scientist at Kaliida Shoals medical station. She shows her noble character when she elects not to evacuate while wounded
clones will be left behind. This level of respect for the value of the lives of the clones certainly isn't shared by many in the Republic, or on Kamino. She is
identified in 'Conspiracy' (S6E2) as one of the primary designers of the clones.

- Grievous and the Malevolence have to travel a "complex course around the nebula", which appears to take enough time for Anakin's squadron to catch up
with him without traveling through hypserspace. Given how long it takes to cross the galaxy in hyperspace, Grievous' complex course shouldn't have taken
enough time to allow him to catch up, ordinarily. This nebula must be particularly wide but also thin. These types of navigational anomalies show why travel
across the galaxy to places that are on clear hyperspace routes is relatively fast, while other times shorter journeys off of the main routes can take longer.
Main Article: Hyperspace Travel

- The Balmorra run which runs through the Kaliida Nebula, is located nowhere near the planet Balmorra. This route was used by smugglers because the huge
creatures that live within, the giant nebray mantas, pose a great danger to navigation, making it unlikely that authorities or pirates will follow. These large
lifeforms live off of the concentration of gas in dense nebulas, like most macroscopic lifeforms which live in space thus far seen in the SW galaxy.


- Anakin is a bit obsessed with killing Grievous, driven by his hate for the General, and his self-centered desire to achieve what he considers the most ideal result.
As often, Ahsoka gets him to focus back on saving life, and sacrificing what he wants for the good of others. Anakin is is sometimes too emotionally caught up to
remember to place these Jedi values before his own desires, and easily gets caught up in trying to achieve victory no matter the cost. After the battle, he is too
hung up about the deaths of his men, and those clones that did not survive, to feel joy in their success. Anakin's mindset is usually governed by his emotions.

- Sidious and Dooku lure Padme to be captured with promise of secret meeting with Banking Clan executives still part of the Separatist Alliance. Despite the capture
of Muunilinst and San Hill, there is obviously still a contingent of Clan leaders involved in the Separatist leadership. The only other meaning of what she says would
be that she was going to a secret meeting with the intent of negotiating with the Banking Clan to stop providing financing for the Separatists, which would be
an underhanded move in violation of their corporate neutrality. It is more likely the new Banking Clan head she mentions is still part of the Separatist Alliance.

- Having detected Obi-Wan on board by monitoring communications, Grievous sets a trap for him. Having sprung the trap, he leaps down from above and says
"Hello there!" to Obi-Wan in a show of superiority at their first meeting. When Obi-Wan does the same in reverse in Episode III at their final meeting, he is
saying to Grievous that he is superior even when surrounded by droids and the General himself, the same thing he demonstrates at this time with his quick
escape. This is also a reference to the first line Obi-Wan ever speaks in SW, when he says "Hello there!" to R2 on Tatooine in Episode IV.


- Grievous boards the Soulless One, his personal Belbullab-22 heavy starfighter, which is seen again in four other episodes, and was first seen in Episode III,
first being piloted by Grievous, and later appropriated for escape by Obi-Wan after Grievous' death.

- Anakin sabotages the Malevolence's hyperdrive by rigging the navicomputer to fly it into a nearby moon. This tactic succeeds in destroying the battleship, which
prevented its escape and eventual repair. While non-canon sources suggest a few more were eventually built, they are not seen again in canon thus far.

ANALYSIS
Plo Koon's task force sent to hunt down the mystery weapon consists of three destroyers, which seems a generous allowance considering fleet resources.
Palpatine suggests the Republic cannot afford to lose any more ships, which indicates that production of large ships has not yet caught up with the rate
of losses, and that the size of the Venator-class fleet held by the Republic Navy prior to the war was smaller than that of all Separatist navies put together.
Mace says that all battlecruisers are being reassigned to guard Republic supply convoys, which we can assume refers to all cruisers not being used to
protect the most sensitive strategic locations. This seems to be confirmed later in this story arc, when Admiral Yularen explains the bulk of Republic fleet
is engaged on the front lines. Naval battles are important at every stage of the war, but these early battles are more decisive, as they set the mold for
the shape the war will take. While the Republic Navy is victorious in many key engagements, they are still struggling to contain the Separatist Fleet.

The Jedi tell the Chancellor that Dooku is always one step ahead of them, which is ironic in that Palpatine is the one informing Dooku of their plans.
The Separatists began the war with the initiative on their side, and are getting inside information on top-level Republic strategy. Sidious will control
the galaxy no matter who wins the war, and is willing to collapse the Republic if it comes to it, but prefers to transform the Republic to preserve its might
for his uses. This strategic tilt against the Republic is intended to make the Separatist threat so dire the Republic massively escalates the war, and to magnify
the climate of fear and selfish concern among Republic worlds and citizens, to hasten his transformation of the Republic into a military-security state.
The Separatists' new battleship is hoping to ensnare a leading Jedi, and appears to have succeeded in eliminating Master Plo, one of a small number of Jedi
whose power with the Force poses a serious threat to Sidious. Out of concern for the possibility that Plo might not be dead, and a desire to keep the nature of
their new weapon a secret for as long as possible, Palpatine tries twice to discourage any rescue operation. Having convinced the Council they cannot spare
any more ships, he calls Anakin to manipulate him as his fatherly mentor. Only Ahsoka's strong connection to Master Plo keeps Sidious from succeeding.

The Republic's secret Outer Rim medical station, Kaliida Shoals Medical Center, is an incredibly vital and vulnerable facility. The lack of fleet resources is
clear if a facility treating over 60,000 wounded clones is not protected by any capital ships. The Ryndellia system is an ideal location, positioned in
the Trailing Sectors at a mid point between the highly contested Corellian trade run, and the equally contested trade routes of the Western Reaches.
Its proximity to friendly Republic worlds and a large, nearly unnavigable Nebula provides a measure of security. The staggering casualties the Republic
has already endured in the Outer Rim. Even though we have already seen that more troops have graduated from Kamino than the original 200,000
clones, the number of clones at this one facility suggest the battles, which have mostly been in the Outer Rim, have been costly.

Luminara is twice contacted for reinforcements, but is not available the first time, having been busy with a fleet of Separatist warships elsewhere in the area.
It seems the Republic is concentrating its naval forces towards the Southern regions of the Outer Rim, which makes sense considering that three vital hyperspace
routes are being contested there. The Separatists appear to be pressing the Republic in the Trailing Sectors, which lie in between the two regions most contested.
This is an attempt to stretch and isolate limited Republic resources and destroy as many of them as possible before the Republic's massive war machine is in full gear.


FURTHER ANALYSIS
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