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Continuity & Analysis

Star Wars: The Clone Wars - Grievous Intrigue (2010) [S2E9]
For everything you gain, you lose something else.
"Diabolical defeat! Though Republic victories outnumber their losses, the Jedi have been unable
to stop Separatist advances in the Outer Rim. The ever-elusive General Grievous stays one step
ahead of his opponents. With thousands of droid armies at his command, the Jedi can never
predict where Grievous will strike next until now..."
Star Wars: The Clone Wars - The Deserter (2010) [S2E10]
It is the quest for honor that makes one honorable.
"Fugitive! Though the Republic has won many decisive battles against the Separatist army in
the Outer Rim, the Jedi have failed to capture the elusive General Grievous. After specifically
targeting members of the Jedi Council, a trap was set. But following a fierce confrontation,
the droid general managed to escape to the surface of the planet Saleucami. Now, the chase
is on as General Kenobi leads a squadron of clone troopers and closes in on his desperate target..."
Star Wars: The Clone Wars - Lightsaber Lost (2010) [S2E11]
Easy isn't always simple.
"War creates opportunity for the criminal underworld! Ruthless mercenaries conspire
with the Separatists to disrupt and exploit the unstable situation within the Republic.
Now, Anakin Skywalker and Ahsoka Tano descend into the treacherous gangster
havens in an effort to find a corrupt and vile arms dealer who is buying weapons
on the black market and selling them to the Republic's enemies..."




CONTINUITY
'Grievous Intrigue' and 'The Deserter' form a single storyline. 'Lightsaber Lost' is a standalone episode which is connected to the other
two episodes by chronological order, but only peripherally by themes, regarding loss and gain, patience and desire. The chronological
order of episodes is as given by Lucasfilm, and follows their release order. Two worlds are seen in these episodes:

The episode 'Lightsaber Lost' is another episode based on an Akira Kurosawa film, in this case Stray Dog.

- Grievous' message to Jedi is meant as a trap to lure in more Jedi, but also finally begins to reveal his philosophy and intentions. He tells the Jedi he doesn't care
about politics or the Republic, he only lives to see them die, and tells them he will enjoy making Koth suffer endlessly to torture him and his fellow Jedi. When he
confronts Obi-Wan, he again reiterates that he doesn't care about Dooku's politics of decentralized independent systems, only about his role as the leader of
the galaxy's most powerful droid army. As a super-enhanced cyborg, and among the galaxy's elite warriors, he wants a future without Jedi, who have abilities
which make it exceedingly difficult for any warrior to be considered a match for one Jedi, let alone the entire Order. His personal desire to prioritize the killing
of the Jedi is one of the primary reasons he has been made Supreme Commander of the Separatist military, and why Sidious values his leadership.


- The Jedi utilize a system of hand signal communication, similar to sign language, but using only one hand, ideal for emergency situations, or when silence is
important. It is unknown if this system is unique to the Jedi, or simply employed by them, but the considering the value of coded signals to the kind of work
the Jedi do, it is possible they use their own system to give them a tactical advantage.

- Master Koth's message indicates he is in the Saleucami system, Sector J-19, 08-05-29. Saleucami's galactic grid coordinates are S-8, within the Suolriep Sector.
As a result, supplementary material has since begun to suggest that the Suolriep Sector is also known as J-19. This does not make sense, as giving a sector
a name that conflicts with the galactic grid system would not only be confusing, it ignores the immense size of a sector, yet alone a galaxy. If the sector of
the galaxy were J-19, and the cube coordinates were 08-05-29, there would be no reason to bother spelling out Saleucami, or no reason to give the sector
and coordinates, either way one part of the information was needlessly redundant. What makes far more sense is that his message told them he can be
found within galactic grid coordinates S-8, in the Suolriep Sector, in the Saleucami star system, within the local grid coordinates of J-19, at cube coordinates
08-05-29. Star systems, and the interstellar space around them, are huge, and being precise gives the Jedi a starting point to search for Grievous.

- The first Battle of Saleucami ends in a Republic victory and the preservation of the planet's neutral status as the headquarters of the Corporate Alliance.
The droid army will again invade the planet less than two years later, as mentioned in 'The Jedi Who Knew Too Much' (S5E18). The second Battle of
Saleucami is a planetary-wide war which lasts for most of a year, and is mentioned and seen in Episode III.

- Anakin is able to jump to precise coordinates, coming out of hyperspace in orbit of a planet and in the midst of a battle involving large ships. This is possible
because the coordinates are relayed to him by ships which are already in the system, ensuring he won't collide with something upon entry. This also has
the tactical advantage of greatly reducing the time his ship will appear on enemy scanners.
Main Article: Hyperspace Travel

- Grievous' rivalry with General Kenobi continues to build. This time, Obi-Wan uses Grievous' fixation with defeating him as a distraction, a tactic Grievous predicts,
along with predicting correctly that Skywalker will be nearby. Once again Grievous does not meet Anakin, as they first meet in person in Episode III. Obi-Wan
defeats Grievous, but the General runs away as usual. He needs situations tipped in his advantage to defeat more powerful Jedi. Obi-Wan is developing a bit of
an obsession with defeating Grievous, all the more so now that he better understands the General's despicable motivations. After listening to Adi Gallia's counsel,
he keeps his desire to capture Grievous in check on the ship, but does let his frustration get the better of him for a moment on the planet. Koth also has developed
a strong dislike for the General, saying he would have gladly given his life to defeat "that monster." Having cornered Grievous in a situation where he has limited
support, the Jedi hope to win a significant victory by capturing him, but he once again proves how good he is at running away.


- Grievous' escape pod is somewhat buried and may be too damaged to take off, so he declares they need to find another escape pod to take off in. In his next
scene, he tells the droids to contact the fleet, and one reports the transmitter in their pod is damaged, and that their scans have picked up only one pod which
survived landing. Grievous now wants to reach the pod to escape in, and hopefully also contact his fleet. This is not a continuity error, as some have suggested.

- Saleucami is a terrestrial planet located in the Suolriep Sector, in the Slice region of the Outer Rim, first seen in Episode III during the Order 66 montage.
The planet features an agreeable climate, and an environment that features forests, plains, deserts, swamps, small seas, and lakes. Its unique trees and
plant formations may represent a unique planetary biome, or are the result of the importation of non-native plants which adapted over time, or were
artificially adapted. At least some areas of the planet are suitable for farming. The planet was first colonized by Humans, but also has a diverse population,
especially in its towns and cities. It is also an important center for the Commerce Guild, as well as hosting some facilities of the Techno Union.


- Droid power limitations restrict field deployment the same way food supply limitations restrict an organic army. Although they do not need to rest or sleep,
battle droids need power to function, and without a ship or base or even a building to recharge, power supplies must be transported and distributed to
locations in the field or the army will only be able to operate for a finite amount of time. Another advantage of organic soldiers is that they can operate
on reduced or even no rations for extended periods, whereas once a droid goes 'hungry', it is essentially taken out of the battle. On the other hand,
organic troops require both food fuel and water, and an army without water is as short on time as an army of droids with no spare power cells.

- Anakin and Ahsoka once again have an opportunity to do some honest Jedi work, trying to shut down a black market weapons dealer, but likely only
have time for this because he is selling them to the Separatists. The Clone Wars so consume the Jedi in the darkness of war, that not only are they
betraying their own spiritual existence, they aren't able to perform their vital role in suppressing organized crime, piracy, and slavery.

- The theft of lightsaber is both a literal story device, and a metaphor for power. A lightsaber is a powerful object, which channels power, holds power,
and extends one's power, which if fallen into the wrong hands will lead to chaos, suffering, and evil. Power is protection, but it is also responsibility.
For a Jedi to lose their lightsaber is to lose responsibility over how that power is used. While not always able to live up to their ideals, on the whole,
the Jedi desire to maintain their power is out of concern for what others will do with power if they don't wield it.

- Jedi Master Tera Sinube is a wise, elder Jedi, and a good friend of Yoda. He specializes in the Coruscant criminal underworld and training Younglings.
He teaches the value of patience and the wisdom of winning by preparation, research, and out thinking one's opponent. Like Jocasta, he is afforded
great respect for his wisdom and experience, and like Yoda, he is well-known by a greater part of the Order due to his role in training the young. He is
the first Jedi seen in canon with a white saber. It is not known if this was a red crystal that was 'bled' of the dark side using the Force, or if an ordinary
crystal can be returned to white, or if Sinube's personal nature with the Force was so strongly connected to the light side, his crystal took no color.


ANALYSIS
Republic victories outnumber their losses in the Outer Rim, and despite their overall success, their ability to gain traction is limited by the thousands of armies
deployed against them. Separatist forces vastly outnumber the Republic in terms of troops, which is relatively balanced by the immense superiority of clones to
droids. Locating Grievous and his fleets is a difficult challenge, made all the more difficult by his unpredictable strategy and expanding front lines. Grievous has
now been engaged by Horn company serving under Eeth Koth, although it is unknown which side located the other. Grievous clearly seems to have the initiative
once again, both in the struggle for the Outer Rim, and in the mutual hunt, as he has now captured a leading member of the Jedi Council.

Intelligence indicates Grievous has no fleets in the vicinity of Saleucami, although Yoda laments their intelligence regarding Separatist movements are so often
inaccurate. In one of his typically unpredictable assaults, Grievous intends to invade the planet, and yet also intends to use Koth as bait for a trap. As a relatively
remote and undefended world, Grievous likely intends to score a quick and easy victory and consolidate territory while waiting for the Jedi to come to the rescue.
A Jedi task force is assembled to rescue Master Koth. This armada looks very much like a prewar Republic fleet sent to handle a serious engagement somewhere
in the galaxy, with capital ships supporting a force of frigates and light cruisers, and necessary transports. Missions such as this, to rescue a hostage from a fleet
led by of murderous pirates who threaten a star system, are the type of conflicts which arose far more often than regional wars during the largely peaceful ages
of the Republic. Without the collected might of the Separatist state, Grievous is little more than a powerful pirate leader with a crew of battle droids.

The Battle of Saleucami is primarily a naval battle, as Grievous is unable to successfully land most of his forces. The Jedi are far less concerned about mustering
a defense for the planet than they are in freeing Master Koth and capturing Grievous. Anakin and Adi Gallia go after Koth, and Obi-Wan will face off with
the General once again. Grievous knows of plan because his experience has taught him that the Jedi can be predictable in their motivations and tactics.
The result of the battle is a very one-sided, as the Republic is victorious in space and on the planet's surface, with Grievous losing most of this battle group.

The deserter clone Cut Lawquane shows that no amount of programming can stop some clones from making choices based on experience which are
contrary to that programming. Cut decides to choose the life he wants. Rex also faces a crisis of choice, yet his experience has bonded him to his friends
and allies, which he sees as his family. Rex's choice emphasizes honor, Cut's choice emphasizes pride, or at least truth of self. Cut is also a man of honor,
and Rex a man of pride, but both have chosen to contextualize that based on their own personal priorities. Cut mentions another aspect that wasn't
accounted for by the Kaminoans, that being one clone among millions creates a desire for individuality, even a need for it, which is destined to conflict
with their programming for obedience and military regulation. Deep down, they are all still Jango Fett, a truly unique and individual person.


FURTHER ANALYSIS
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