The Clone Wars: Season 4 -- speculation/discussion/spoilers

[Cold Fuzz]

At a guess--and I do mean guess, what I posted above is all that I know about the upcoming episodes--I would suggest that the "unlikely ally" is

Spoiler:

either Ventress or Dooku.

Ventress makes sense, because she'd be battling her traitorous apprentice/tool while Obi-Wan battles his old enemy. Dooku makes sense too, I imagine he'd want revenge for his apprentice (Savage) betraying him.

Or I could be completely out to lunch and it could be someone completely unexpected like Boba Fett or Salacious Crumb

Spoiler:

I loved how Ventress addressed Boba in the trailer for "Bounty"--especially calling him "kid" and making comments about his "stature" and "obvious lack of experience." Priceless moment.

[DigiFluid]

I didnt think of

Spoiler:

Dooku, but now you mention him, he was betrayed by his apprentice, and also, he may see them as a threat as in the trailer, Dooku says something sinister is rising, so maybe he just wants to destory another part of the opposition

Spoiler:

That, and Maul was his predecessor as Sith apprentice!

[DigiFluid]

Spoiler:

I loved how Ventress addressed Boba in the trailer for "Bounty"--especially calling him "kid" and making comments about his "stature" and "obvious lack of experience." Priceless moment.

Spoiler:

I enjoyed that too

It's kind of neat to see the evolution of the character on screen. From being a useless kid in Episode II, to a hesitating vengeance quest at the end of Season 2, picking a fight with someone twice his size in prison just a couple episodes ago, and now it seems leading a group of bounty hunters. Nice development on the way to ESB.

[Teddybrown]

Im quite glad I recognised the Defoliator tank from Series 1 in last weeks episode.

[mandogater]

Spoiler:

I enjoyed that too

It's kind of neat to see the evolution of the character on screen. From being a useless kid in Episode II, to a hesitating vengeance quest at the end of Season 2, picking a fight with someone twice his size in prison just a couple episodes ago, and now it seems leading a group of bounty hunters. Nice development on the way to ESB.

Spoiler:

I like how Boba is really developing as a character each time we see him. I can't wait to see how he and Ventress get along for the rest of the episode.

[DigiFluid]

Well it seems for Friday's episode, Bounty, we'll be seeing Dengar--a bounty hunter who first appeared in The Empire Strikes Back:

Well, it seems that for TCW, none other than Simon Pegg, of Shaun of the Dead and Hot Fuzz fame, provided the voiceover!

[Cold Fuzz]

Simon Pegg! Awesomeness.

[Teddybrown]

Well it seems for Friday's episode, Bounty, we'll be seeing Dengar--a bounty hunter who first appeared in The Empire Strikes Back:

Well, it seems that for TCW, none other than Simon Pegg, of Shaun of the Dead and Hot Fuzz fame, provided the voiceover!

I saw an article about this, and it said we would see him, and I was trying to work out if we had seen him yet.
Now thats why I couldnt rememebr seeing him lol.
Will be interesting to hear Simon Pegg do voice work.

[DigiFluid]

Well....

I didn't really care for the ending, but the episode up to the last couple minutes was a pretty fun (and GORGEOUS) romp.

[DigiFluid]

Trivia on 4.20 Bounty, from the TCW site:

Spoiler:

VENTRESS REDEFINED
Asajj Ventress's bounty hunting look is accented with leggings with a pattern that somewhat resembles the red piping on Han Solo's trousers. The shoulder plate has an illustration of a twisted black snake, chosen since snakes are an often misunderstood creature that are assumed to be dangerous or evil when in fact they are not.

DENGAR'S PRIME
This episode features a young Dengar (voiced by Simon Pegg from Star Trek and Shaun of the Dead). Dengar is seen in his prime, in relatively intact armor, suggesting that time had really taken its toll on the hunter by the time we see him again in Star Wars: Episode V The Empire Strikes Back.

AND INTRODUCING AS LATTS RAZZI...
Latts Razzi is voiced by Clare Grant, whom Star Wars fans know as an actress, model, fellow fan, avid cosplayer as well as wife of Seth Green.

OBI-WAN TO KRISMO
The design for Krismo Pluma dates back to early illustrations of Obi-Wan Kenobi done by Iain McCaig during the development of Star Wars: Episode I The Phantom Menace.

KRISMO AND PLUMA'S EVOLUTION
Krismo and Pluma were not originally brother and sister. They were both humans, and Krismo Sodi was boyfriend to the kidnapped Pluma Sweet. The idea that they were siblings was introduced during editorial.

WHALE OF A MOUTH
The four-part mouth of the Belugans is, quite appropriately, based on the mouth structure and baleen of a whale.

EMBO'S SIDEKICK
Seen briefly in this episode was Embo's pet and hunting partner, Marrok. Expect to see more of him in Season Five. Illustration by Dave Filoni.. Marrok's name is based on the Arthurian knight who was transformed into a wolf as seen in the book, The Tale of Sir Marrok by Allen French.

TRANSPORT AREA
The turbolift transport area which takes the bounty hunters down to the surface of Quarzite is a reworking of the carbon-freezing chamber seen in the Jedi Temple in "The Citadel," from the third season.

IT'S A WRAP, NOT A HEADACHE
For years, many assumed that Dengar's headwrap was some sort of inexplicably badly tended dressing on a head injury -- a belief fueled by an Expanded Universe backstory given to Dengar in 1989. According to George Lucas, the headwrap was more of a turban. To make that clear, Lucas had the show's artists design a more elaborately decorated wrap for Dengar in his younger days.

BOBA FETT'S ARMOR
"We decided not to put Boba Fett in his iconic Mandalorian armor in this episode," explains Dave Filoni. "Rather than use his father's armor, which would still be a tad big for him, we gave him his own unique helmet and armor. It's a step towards who he will become, but to get to the final famous look from the classic films, he will need to get some help..."

[DigiFluid]

Preview material for 4.21 Brothers:

Synopsis:

Spoiler:

"A fallen enemy may rise again, but the reconciled one is truly vanquished."

The dark warrior Savage Opress is on a quest to find his long-lost brother. Could Darth Maul truly be alive, after more than a decade since his gruesome bisection at the blade of Obi-Wan Kenobi? Savage voyages into the depths of a twisted planet to find whatever became of the fallen Sith Lord.

Preview clip

[DigiFluid]

Season 4 trivia from the TCW site....because I haven't been posting it for most of the season:


4.01 Water War

Spoiler:

OCEANIC ORIGINS
The Mon Calamari and Quarren species were created for Return of the Jedi. The Mon Calamari design was developed by Phil Tippett for Admiral Ackbar and his fleet officers, and he named it after a lunch of calamari salad he had one day. The Quarren was originally a single alien for the background of Jabba's palace called "Squid Head." It was designed in a series of sketches by Chris Walas and Nilo Rodis Jamero.

A LONG WAR
The first source to establish that the Mon Calamari and the Quarren shared a planet was The Star Wars Sourcebook, published in 1987 by West End Games. Since then, stories of tensions between the two cultures have appeared many times in the Expanded Universe, quite memorably in the 2003 Clone Wars animated micro-series.

TRAP-DETECTOR
Captain Ackbar's declaration "It's an attack!" is an homage to his much quoted and parodied line in Return of the Jedi, "it's a trap!"

NOT SO DRY-DOCK
The design of the Mon Cala city is meant to remind viewers of the Mon Calamari cruisers seen in Return of the Jedi. In fact, the Mon Cala towers are essentially landed and docked starship designs.

LEE-CHAR'S NAME
Prince Lee-Char's name derives from "Charlie," a nod to the famous animated mascot for a certain brand of tuna.

SERVICE WITH A SMILE
Kit Fisto's gunship nose art features a cartoon of a bomb with Kit's face on it, and written in Aurebesh underneath that, "Service with a smile," a reference to Kit's famous grin in Star Wars: Episode II Attack of the Clones.

4.02 Gungan Attack

Spoiler:

SOMETHING FISHY
Meena Tills was previously depicted on action figure packaging and in Expanded Universe storytelling as a male character, based on the fact that the extra performing Tills was a man...

FEMALE FINS
... However, there are many instances where the gender of the performer is opposite the gender of the character. Most of the male cantina aliens are, in fact, played by women. When it came time to include Meena in The Clone Wars, her feminine sounding name and the fact she was named after a female Lucasfilm staffer dictated her being female.

UNDERWATER TECH
The designs of Quarren and Mon Calamari armor and technology differ from what was seen in previous depictions of the underwater people. Earlier Expanded Universe sources showed a very archaic design, with both species favoring tridents, lances, buckler-shields, and other such medieval devices despite the fact that both species were established as high-tech space travelers. Some of that old influence is still present, though, when Lee-Char uses a conch shell to rally his forces.

UNDERWATER LIGHTSABERS
Although lightsabers would, theoretically, boil up the water surrounding it, the resources to produce the show were already strained to the limits realizing an entire underwater conflict between thousands of combatants. Thus, to keep the production on track, the lightsabers only create a turbulence effect upon contact.

THE ONLY THING IN COMMON WITH TATOOINE
The arrival of the Jedi cruiser over Mon Cala reveals that the planet is in a binary star system.

4.03 Prisoners

Spoiler:

BATTLE BATON
The baton that Captain Ackbar carries is an homage to his original 1983 action figure that came with such an accessory. It was not originally intended to be a weapon -- more of a pointing stick used in demonstrations and briefings. However, episodic director Danny Keller so vividly remembered using the stick as a blaster when playing with his Ackbar toy that it was worked into the show.

SWIM SOFTLY...
Brother Lemcke has what at first seems an odd choice of accessory: a walking staff. To make sense of such a prop for an underwater people, the staff was animated to be sinewy like an eel, suggesting it might be some sort of swimming aid.

RECYCLED PRISON
The Mon Cala prison is the convert of Mon Calamari legislative chamber. This not only saves the expense of creating a new environment, it's very telling of Riff Tamson's sensibilities that he turns a democratic office into a dungeon.

NOT SO FAST, TIKKES
Representative Tikkes -- the Quarren Senator in Episode I, and a Separatist Senator in Episodes II and III, almost made an appearance in this episode. He was designed in concept art, but ultimately not included, since his placement in the Quarren power structure and his whereabouts in the war at this time would raise too many questions than could be comfortably answered in this already packed episode.

YOU GO FIRST
Kit Fisto's line, "Eels. Very dangerous," is a nod to Raiders of the Lost Ark, when Sallah says to Indiana Jones, "Asps. Very dangerous."

SMILE, YOU SON OF A KARKARODON
Riff Tamson's explosive death is an homage to the 1975 movie Jaws, when (spoilers!) Chief Martin Brody (Roy Scheider) explosively kills the shark by shooting an air tank crammed in its jaws.

LEE ROMAY
Marine exobiologists take note: the enormous clam that holds the crown that Brother Lemcke presents is a lee romay, a name whose origin shouldn't be too difficult to figure out.

4.04 Shadow Warrior

Spoiler:

SHADOW WARRIOR
Confused about who the "Shadow Warrior" is or what the title means? It's a nod to Akira Kurosawa, one of the most influential directors that George Lucas greatly admires. The original Star Wars movie was greatly shaped by Kurosawa's work, especially the film The Hidden Fortress. Shadow Warrior is the English translation of Kagemusha, a 1980 Kurosawa film produced by Lucas about a lowly criminal impersonating a dying war lord.

ORIGIN OF BOSS LYONIE
Boss Lyonie was specifically created to resemble Jar Jar Binks -- they are built upon the same animation model. For the story to work, Boss Nass was written out of the series -- he's alive and well, but retired. In early development, Boss Lyonie's name was "Boss Nat," but that proved too confusingly similar to Nass's name.

LYONIE'S LOYALTIES
For those wondering what might have occurred to transform a perfectly loyal Boss Lyonie to a traitor -- beyond the influence the Rish Loo, that is -- here's a bit of explanation: "Shadow Warrior" is intended to take place before the Mon Cala trilogy. It was moved after those three episodes in order to have a more epic, action-packed premiere for Season 4. [[Aha, another timeline mis-sorted episode! -- Digi]]

SITH HEADQUARTERS
Count Dooku and talks to Darth Sidious via hologram from within a secret command center. This is intended to suggest a long-standing Sith presence secreted on Naboo, most likely used by Sidious himself long ago, when Naboo centered into his plans for galactic conquest. There was some idea given to having Darth Maul's Sith Infiltrator parked in this facility, since his ship was never accounted for in Episode I. It is not the first secret facility revealed on Naboo.

GRIEVOUS AND SKYWALKER
This episode again continues to tradition of General Grievous and Anakin Skywalker barely encountering each other. Anakin is unconscious and Grievous is in shackles when they cross paths. Because of the dialogue they exchange in Episode III, it's clear that Anakin and Grievous never meet face-to-face during The Clone Wars.

4.05 Mercy Mission

Spoiler:

WOLFFE REDESIGN
Supervising Director Dave Filoni, an aficionado of wolves, created Clone Commander Wolffe's new armor deco. He opted for a helmet with a visor similar to that worn by Clone Commander Neyo in Episode III because it best suited the design of the wolf emblem. Wolffe has had a different look each season.

SINKER AND BOOST
For those who need a hand figuring out which clone is Boost, and which one is Sinker: Boost's helmet has the ragged gray markings under the visor. Sinker has the gray chin and "cheeks."

TINY JAWS
Speaking of chins, one of the design cues that help differentiate the female and male Aleena aliens is the relative size of their jawbones.

BUG-RIDERS
Sharp-eyed viewers will have spotted Aleena riding atop dragonfly-like can-cells before this episode. They're in Star Wars: Episode III Revenge of the Sith, flying next to the Wookiee catamarans on Kashyyyk. Can-cells have been seen in the series on Teth (in The Clone Wars movie) and on Rodia and Ryloth in Season One.

TONGUE-TIED
Orphne's frog-like tongue has a suction-cup tip, and can extend up to 10 feet.

ANCIENT ALEENA ART
The huge excavation site seal that leads into the underworld is inlaid with intricate carvings. It features three Aleena standing amid vines, one wearing a crown. Underneath a ribbon-like line that bisects the disc, there are roots, beetles, and what appears to be stairs descending into the underworld.

CITY PLANNING
A map of the Aleena city shows northern and southern sections divided by a relatively empty field that houses the city's main landing pads. An excavation site is the epicenter of the quake. The refugee camps are based on landing pads.

4.06 Nomad Droids

Spoiler:

K0-5D'S CHATTER
K0-5D's design is based on the worker droids wandering Mos Eisley seen in the Special Edition release of Star Wars: Episode IV A New Hope. The droid's chatter may sound familiar: it's the same dialogue spouted by the Gold Insect Droid seen inside the Jawa sandcrawler in that movie.

PATITITE ROLL-CALL
Though the Patitites aren't named in the episode, the principal green female is Jimba, while the male blue Patitite is Tagoo.

ILL-FATED DROIDS
The astromech droid that R2-D2 bumps out of the way to get to the Y-wing fighter is named R5-L26. The morose servant droid who laments, "Soon it will be us" above the gladiator pit is CS-321. He's also the first droid incinerated.

THERE'S SOMETHING FAMILIAR ABOUT ALL THIS...
C-3PO and R2-D2 being tied up by the tiny Patitites should seem familiar to those who have read Gulliver's Travels or seen any of the many cinematic incarnations thereof. Lucasfilm has previously depicted similar scenes, such as Willow Ufgood being tied up by brownies in Willow, or more obscurely, Wicket W. Warrick tied up by Mimphs in The All New Ewoks animated series.

PLANET OF THE BALNAB MONKEYS
The primates seen on Balnab, which are very similar to the momongs of Wasskah, are called hesten. Given that beast-riding hunters try to snatch them up with nets in manner not too unlike that seen in Planet of the Apes, that name seems very appropriate.

CAST-AWAYS
When the camera pulls away from the exploding Balnab camp, we get some ideas of their origins. They are castaways, and their Gozanti cruiser has crashed into the canyons.

MARAUDER DETAILS
The pirate ship Marauder has the same type of engines as the Tantive IV blockade runner seen in the episode "Sphere of Influence." The Marauder's wings can split apart, like S-foils, offering its laser cannons a greater field of fire.

[DigiFluid]

4.07 Darkness on Umbara

Spoiler:

REX'S NEW BUCKET
Rex's new helmet is a mix of his old helmet and the newer Episode III-style clone helmet. His T-visor retains its Episode II proportions, requiring a lowering of the rounded chin pieces to fit. Rex's body armor is an upgrade to the Episode III version.

PADAWAN CAMEOS
Blink and you'll miss them: Barriss Offee and Ahsoka Tano are part of the Umbaran campaign, and are briefly seen in the space battle during the opening narration in this episode.

PROUD NUMBER
The AT-RTs the clone troopers ride into battle on Umbara have the legion number "501" stenciled onto its side.

RISHI REMINDER
ARC Trooper Fives's helmet has a stylized Rishi eel painted on it, in tribute to the creature that attacked his unit on the Rishi moon during his very first assignment, in the episode "Rookies."

PILOT LIDS
This episode introduces a new helmet type for the clone gunship pilots, which are very reminiscent of combat helicopter pilots in the modern military.

NARGLATCH GUNSHIP
The gunship that Obi-Wan stands next to during the trooper briefing has a painted narglatch as its nose art. These hardy cat-like creatures were seen on Orto Plutonia in "Trespass."

4.08 The General

Spoiler:

BREATHING UNEASY
Inspiration for the pressure-suited Umbaran soldiers include the Zentraedi from Robotech and the Sardaukar from David Lynch's Dune. The helmets feed the Umbarans a potent gas mixture that keeps them amped up for combat, increasing their reflexes and aggression. From a production point of a view, such a helmet allowed a single animation model to be created for the military, while keeping the soldiers living, breathing non-droid opponents for the clones.

UMBARAN PRECEDENTS
We've seen Umbarans in the movies and series before. In previous episodes of The Clone Wars, we've met Mee Deechi. In Episode II and III, Palpatine's aide is Sly Moore, an Umbaran.

GENERAL PLUN KIL
Pong Krell was not the first Besalisk Jedi Master designed for the series. For the second season of The Clone Wars, artwork exists by Kilian Plunkett of Master Plun Kil, a character who was ultimately not seen in the show.

SERGEANT APPO
Sergeant Appo's name derives from the Clone Commander that accompanies Anakin Skywalker on the march on the Jedi Temple during Order 66, as seen in Episode III. This is the same character earlier in the timeline, prior to a promotion to commander. The arrow shape on his helmet is a nod to the character Appa from Avatar: The Last Airbender, a show series supervising director Dave Filoni previously worked on.

INSIDE THE HOVER TANK
Though not seen in the final, an interior to an Umbaran hover tank was fully detailed in concept illustrations for this episode.

4.09 Plan of Dissent

Spoiler:

RESURRECTED SHIP
A dirigible-shaped Separatist starship seen over Umbara is actually an abandoned Episode III starship design, given new life here after some detail modifications and a change in orientation.

HEADHUNTER ORIGINS
The clone Z-95 Headhunters are indeed a salute to the Expanded Universe fighters first introduced in Han Solo at Stars' End in 1979, and visually depicted for the first time in 1988's Tatooine Manhunt using Joe Johnston's early X-wing fighter art. This animated version pulls the design back a bit from the X-wing (especially since the ARC-170 visually fits this bill), and in many ways resembles Colin Cantwell's original concept model of the X-wing.

FLEXIBLE FIGHTERS
Though there are no visible mechanics to allow for the configuration change, the Umbaran starfighters change shape when landed on in flight. Such flexible wing struts are meant to suggest the beyond-galactic-standard technology levels of the Umbarans.

RECYCLED SUPPLIES
The cluttered interior of the Separatist support ship makes great use of existing assets created for other episodes, such as cargo containers from the Coruscant shipping docks from "Senate Murders," fuel pipe conduits from "The Zillo Beast," and spot lamps from the Republic laboratories in "The Zillo Beast Strikes Back."

BORING CONVERSATION ANYWAY
Fives's harried conversation with Krell via comlink while Hardcase accidentally blasts apart the airbase hangar is a nod to Han Solo's attempt to stall an incoming call to Detention Block AA-23 in Star Wars: Episode IV A New Hope. Though the scenes are clearly the same in tone, they do not share any of the same dialogue. The closest it gets is Krell's demand for Fives' CT number, rather than "operating number."

4.10 Carnage of Krell

Spoiler:

NEW PILOT GEAR
Clone pilots Hawk and Odd Ball underwent redesigns for this episode, though they are not clearly seen in the final.

NUMA ART
As tribute to the young Twi'lek girl he met on Ryloth in "Innocents of Ryloth," Waxer has a cartoon of young Numa on his helmet.

U IS FOR UMBARAN
An entire Umbara alphabet was designed for use in these episodes.

KRELL'S LIGHTSABERS
Pong Krell lightsaber design introduces something new to the Jedi arsenal. Though double-ended lightsabers had been seen before -- most famously wielded by Darth Maul -- Krell's are hinged, allowing him to more easily stow them on his belt.

4.11 Kidnapped

Spoiler:

COMIC BOOK ORIGINS
"Kidnapped" is the first installment of a three-part arc that adapts the comic series Slaves of the Republic, originally published as six issues by Dark Horse Comics in 2008, and collected as a digest-sized paperback. The comics came out as the television series first launched, and as such, take place earlier in time than the episodes. Ahsoka is younger in the comic, and Rex, Anakin and Obi-Wan have their Season One looks.

XERIUS UGG
In the comic version of the events, Obi-Wan brawls with Separatist commander Xerius Ugg as Anakin defuses the bombs set on Kiros. In the television series, Uggwas was replaced by Darts D'Nar. This helped expedite the story -- involving the Zygerrian element from the start meant it didn't need to be introduced later. It also avoided the re-use of a Besalisk villain so soon after the memorable Umbaran episodes featuring Pong Krell.

THE KIROS BIRD IS THE WORD
This episode sees the return of an animation model seen previously in "Padawan Lost." On Wasskah, viewers were treated to owl-like creatures named convoree. This episode features a similar creature, with different colored plumage. It is known only (so far) as a Kiros bird.

TECORA MARKINGS
The Tecora has its name written on its hull in Aurebesh type, as well as the words "DELTA S-9" on the trailing edge of its wings. This Zygerrian ship shares a name with a Portuguese slave ship from the early 1800s.

1970s ELECTRONICS
The interior controls of the Tecora are heavily influenced by the computer interfaces seen in Star Wars: Episode IV A New Hope. Attentive fans no doubt noticed the hexagram patterns also seen in Luke Skywalker's garage.

4.12 Slaves of the Republic

Spoiler:

The design of the Kadavo slave processing facility -- suspended above a volcanic caldera -- was an idea originally developed but left out of the Ryloth episodes in Season One.

RETURN OF THE JEDI
Of course, you all should have spotted the visual and music nod to Return of the Jedi, when Luke Skywalker gives a jaunty salute to R2-D2 -- mirrored here by Anakin Skywalker.

PLANTS FROM BEYOND
The plants in the floating planters in the Queen's throne room and verandah are actually sourced from some of the vegetation seen on Mortis in Season Three.

NIX CARD
Also from Season Three is the deceitful Banking Clan executive, Nix Card, seen in this episode at the Zygerrian slave markets.

4.13 Escape from Kadavo

Spoiler:

The chairs seen in the Kadavo control room are a fitting re-use of those found aboard the Trandoshan slave ship.

The Aurebesh found on some of the display screens developed for the Zygerrian facility reads "FACILITY OPERATIONS ARE RUNNING AT MAXIMUM CAPACITY / TRANSPORT OF SLAVES IS STRICTLY PROHIBITED WITHOUT PROPER IDENTIFICATION"

... and "HOLDING CELL BAY DOOR ACTIVATED" ...

...and: "Zygerrian News... This afternoon two tourists from Alderaan died in a speed-bike accident. Obviously they spent too much time in the cantina in Mos Eisley."

The HH-87 Starhopper design used by the Zygerrians is based on an original concept illustration for the Imperial shuttle developed for Return of the Jedi.

[DigiFluid]

4.14 A Friend in Need

Spoiler:

HELMET CANNONS
The barrels on the sides of Pre Vizsla's new helmet design is partially inspired by an unused Doug Chiang drawing for a clone trooper helmet made for Episode II, as well as the head cannons found on the Veritech fighter seen in the Robotech/Macross series. It serves to make Vizsla stand out even more as Death Watch leader.

ALMOST YAK FACE'S BIG CHANCE
In the very first draft of the script, the alien village was to be a made up of Yak Face aliens (Yarkorans... some pieces of concept art bare the name "Yakoran"), but the story and the role of the villagers underwent significant revisions. When they were turned into much more sympathetic and relatable characters, the villagers were turned into the Ming Po people.

RISE OF THE PHOENIX
The design of the Phoenix comes from an early concept of the Imperial shuttle by Nilo Rodis-Jamero first illustrated in 1981. That design became the basis of the Long Shot, the featured starship in 1988's Star Wars Campaign Pack, a roleplaying supplement featuring a poster-sized 21" x 33" map of the ship design. It is described in the Expanded Universe as a Lantillian short hauler. An early script called it the Nuncio.

MEET BO-KATAN
The character Bo-Katan did not appear in the original outline or script, save for a vague mention of a "Death Watch lieutenant." When Dave Filoni took on directing duties, he thought the character should be female, and should be the first Mandalorian to meet Lux upon his arrival on Carlac. Though her role is small here, she will return in Season Five.

THE NIGHT OWLS, THAT'S WHO
Bo-Katan's soldiers are called the Night Owls. Indeed, her helmet shape is inspired by the shape of a barn owl's face, sketched by Filoni on an airline napkin on a flight back from a recording session. Bo-Katan's name is a nod from the director to his wife's nickname for her pet cat. Anne's cat "the boogie," becomes "boogie-cat-anne," which becomes "Bo-Katan."

BLOSSOMING ENVIRONMENT
The early script described the environment as a desert, but rather than have another variation on a terrain so distinctly connected to Tatooine, Filoni suggested Carlac have "Japanese cherry blossoms" as its predominant look.

HAIL TO THE CHIEF
Chieftain Pieter's name was inspired by the character Piter de Vries, from Dune.

MANDALORIAN EVOLUTION
This episode represented a chance for the Death Watch to evolve. "They were no longer going to be such a crisp, clean army," says director Dave Filoni. "We wanted to have different types of soldiers, different rocket packs and gear. There are Airborne Troopers, Grappling Troopers and Flame Thrower troopers. Each has a different unit logo. George Lucas described them in the story meeting as having more of a 'biker gang' feel."

4.15 Deception

Spoiler:

RETURN TO ZIRO'S
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.

SOMBER ROBES
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.

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

UNDERWORLD POSTER ART
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.

ONLY THE BEST
One of the posters in the bar mentions that "Trueping's" offers "The Best Drink in Town."

BEHOLD THE PANOPTICON
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.

CANTINA CREATURE
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.

BEN (OBI-WAN) KENOBI
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 HEADGEAR
Hardeen's helmet design seen in this episode is based on an old Rebel trooper concept from Return of the Jedi.

CLONE OFFICER HEADGEAR
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."

BY THE NUMBERS
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...

4.16 Friends and Enemies

Spoiler:

PROTO FETT HELMET
Rako Hardeen's new helmet design that he picks up in Pablo's pawnshop is based on an early Ralph McQuarrie Boba Fett concept. The helmet design was included in the McQuarrie Signature Series Boba Fett action figure released by Hasbro in 2007.

THE MAN WITH THE (PAWNED) HAT
Also found in that pawn shop is a suspiciously-familiar looking rumpled fedora.

EMPIRE ARMOR
Moralo Eval's armored chest-piece is the same design seen on General Veers, snowtroopers and Dengar in The Empire Strikes Back.

LUCK BE A LADY TONIGHT
The Luxury 3000 space yacht that Hardeen uses is based on a design developed for Lando Calrissian's Expanded Universe ship, Lady Luck. Though the ship model is very faithful to the illustrations, the cockpit interior had to be re-scaled to read better on the screen than it did in printed floorplans. Also, unlike Lando's ship, this yacht does not have a hot tub.

NAL HUTTA CAMEOS
Seen briefly shuffling their way through Bilbousa Bazaar is Gorga the Hutt, the monocle-wearing Hutt Council member. Later, a very tipsy Sy Snootles can be spotted being carried out of the saloon.

RELEASE THE HOUND'S TOOTH
The design of the junker is based on the Hound's Tooth design, created for Shadows of the Empire products back in 1996. "This suggestion actually came from George Lucas, who had evidently seen a die-cast toy of the vehicle," says Dave Filoni. "As with most ship designs we inherit there is always the question of, 'how do they get in and out of this vehicle, and where is the landing gear?'"

SALOON DIPLOMACY
As Anakin and Ahsoka stroll into the saloon, in the patio in plain sight is a Trandoshan throttling a Bith.

GOOD TO SEE HE'S GETTING WORK
Inside the saloon (right next to the Gotal that narrowly misses getting hit by a flying ax) is a poster advertising that Sebulba will be signing autographs on "Saturday at 10am."

ITHORIAN TRANSLATOR
In the script, the salooon bartender was only identified as an alien. Bosco Ng wanted to use an Ithorian in the role, but that created a complication in that Ithorians are not depicted speaking English. "Rather than re-shoot the scene, I designed a translator which the Ithorian wears," says Filoni. "In the final sound design you can actually hear the Ithorian dialog in its native tongue, underneath the device's translation."

LONELY DEPOT
The Orondia station design is a type of location Dave Filoni has imagined since he was a child. "I always wondered where Vader went after the Death Star blew up. I pictured him flying to a remote moon where he landed on the surface and was greeted by Stormtroopers. It was a very gray bleak image in my mind." Another inspiration cue was the truck stop/gas station from Toy Story.

WHEN AT ORONDIA...
Signage at the fueling station includes: Eat at Koe's, Bounty Emporium: Always Open, Bounty Never Sleeps; Security Services; Speeder Sales; The Pilot's Lounge (Live Band Every Night); Craft Repair and Maintenance; Repair Rack Droid Services; Orondia Tours; and Meteor Cafe.

4.17 The Box

Spoiler:

YODA'S COUNSEL
Yoda's warning advice to Anakin, "If you leave, help him you could... but his future uncertain is" very much mirrors something he tells Luke in Episode V. "If you leave now, help them you could... but you would destroy all for which they have fought and suffered."

A PIRATE'S LIFE FOR HER
Kiera Swan is a nod to Keira Knightley's Elizabeth Swan character from The Pirates of the Caribbean movies. Her accolade, "two-time winner of the Obsidian Sphere" is presumably a championship, but the name actually derives from the Black Pearl, Jack Sparrow's pirate ship.

COBBLED DESIGN
Derrown's design stems back to a piece of artwork done by Ron Cobb for an odd and colorful cantina alien for Episode IV that was never created. The original piece describes the alien as a tropical, ambulatory plant, while the final alien is more of a sentient gasbag.

BOUNTY HUNTER ORIGINS
Many of the supporting bounty hunters are customizations of existing character models from previous episodes. Sixtat, Sinrich and Mantu were based on prey running through the underbrush in "Padawan Lost," Jakoli is based on Greedo from "Sphere of Influence," Twazzi is a re-do of Rumi Paramita from "Bounty Hunters."

SPARED A WATERY DEATH
Water, not gas, was supposed to fill the chamber in the first challenge. "At the point when we wrote this story, which was the same group of stories as 'ARC Troopers,' we had yet to solve water," explains Dave Filoni. "Thus the water idea was dropped in favor or gas." Even though the team would eventually solve for water, the constrained FX budget for "The Box" necessitated sticking with dioxis gas.

HIDING HARDEEN
A cut storyline would have had Anakin search for the real Hardeen once he discovered Obi-Wan was alive. The Council still tries to deny Hardeen's existence, but when Anakin intercepts Rex transferring Hardeen off-world, they have no choice but to divulge the truth. This thread was cut for time, clarity, and character focus. It also seemed very unlikely that Rex would keep something like this from Anakin.

EMBO VS. SINRICH
If you look carefully, just as Rako Hardeen begins his sprint past the second challenge of the Box, in the background it looks as if Embo is about to pound a lesson into Sinrich.

[DigiFluid]

4.18 Crisis on Naboo

Spoiler:

THE SECRET OF THE BOX REVEALED
The outcome of this episode illuminates the intent and reality of "The Box." Dooku's plan was never about getting bounty hunters to successfully kidnap the Chancellor. It was about diverting the Jedi from his real kidnapping attempt. That means Dooku suspected a Jedi would infiltrate his conspiracy, and the Box exercise was about flushing that Jedi out, which is why Dooku took such interest in Rako Hardeen's actions and abilities.

THE HISTORY OF NABOO
The fireworks and holographic display was meant to describe the history of Naboo. Images symbolize the crash of the Grizmallt colony ship on Naboo, Kwilaan's discovery of the world, and a nomadic tribe venturing into the Gallo mountains.

THE HISTORY OF NABOO, PART II
The next images show the nomadic tribe arriving at the Dee'ja peak, settling there and developing a farming community on that land. The next image shows the growth of Theed.

FIREWORK SYMBOLS
Also mixed into the fireworks display is a Republic cog, and yellow receding text that resembles the opening scrolling text that starts off the Star Wars movies.

NEW NABOO CITIZENS
With each return trip to Naboo, its assortment of characters expands. This visit allowed for the creation of Sio Bibble, and the mustard-colored Naboo foot soldier.

THEED CITYSCAPE
The holographic map of Theed seen in the Jedi Council briefing (illustrated by Polina Hristova) referenced a detailed architecture/landscape model created for Star Wars: Episode I The Phantom Menace.

4.19 Massacre

Spoiler:

AN ECHO OF THE SITH
Dooku's order to Grievous ("Wipe the witches out. All of them.") closely echoes Darth Sidious's command prior to the Battle of Naboo. "Wipe them out. All of them."

DATHOMIR GRAVEYARD
The graveyard of the Nightsisters is meant to resemble the trees found in the forests. The actual structures are built from branches, bones, animal skins and shells. The Nightsisters hang their mummified dead in a pod of animal skins that resemble the pods that hang from the living trees.

NIGHTSISTERS INCANTATION
Be careful with the following incantation, because you might just raise an army of the undead: "Choono slalem denni tay'lori olee-ay. Lucheno vadem klavlane. Blenay vedi nalem koreem. Blenay vedi nalem koreem. Villos susko kono lamal! Vlemon tagoo!"

DROID VICTORY
In a reversal of what happens in Episode I, the battle droids look around as their opposing army -- the undead Nightsisters -- drop to the ground, no longer animated by a central controlling influence.

RETURN OF THE DEFOLIATOR
Longtime viewers of The Clone Wars will recognize the Defoliator tank, an experimental vehicle first seen in "Defenders of Peace," an episode from the first season.

4.20 Bounty

Spoiler:

VENTRESS REDEFINED
Asajj Ventress's bounty hunting look is accented with leggings with a pattern that somewhat resembles the red piping on Han Solo's trousers. The shoulder plate has an illustration of a twisted black snake, chosen since snakes are an often misunderstood creature that are assumed to be dangerous or evil when in fact they are not.

DENGAR'S PRIME
This episode features a young Dengar (voiced by Simon Pegg from Star Trek and Shaun of the Dead). Dengar is seen in his prime, in relatively intact armor, suggesting that time had really taken its toll on the hunter by the time we see him again in Star Wars: Episode V The Empire Strikes Back.

AND INTRODUCING AS LATTS RAZZI...
Latts Razzi is voiced by Clare Grant, whom Star Wars fans know as an actress, model, fellow fan, avid cosplayer as well as wife of Seth Green.

OBI-WAN TO KRISMO
The design for Krismo Pluma dates back to early illustrations of Obi-Wan Kenobi done by Iain McCaig during the development of Star Wars: Episode I The Phantom Menace.

KRISMO AND PLUMA'S EVOLUTION
Krismo and Pluma were not originally brother and sister. They were both humans, and Krismo Sodi was boyfriend to the kidnapped Pluma Sweet. The idea that they were siblings was introduced during editorial.

WHALE OF A MOUTH
The four-part mouth of the Belugans is, quite appropriately, based on the mouth structure and baleen of a whale.

EMBO'S SIDEKICK
Seen briefly in this episode was Embo's pet and hunting partner, Marrok. Expect to see more of him in Season Five. Illustration by Dave Filoni.. Marrok's name is based on the Arthurian knight who was transformed into a wolf as seen in the book, The Tale of Sir Marrok by Allen French.

TRANSPORT AREA
The turbolift transport area which takes the bounty hunters down to the surface of Quarzite is a reworking of the carbon-freezing chamber seen in the Jedi Temple in "The Citadel," from the third season.

IT'S A WRAP, NOT A HEADACHE
For years, many assumed that Dengar's headwrap was some sort of inexplicably badly tended dressing on a head injury -- a belief fueled by an Expanded Universe backstory given to Dengar in 1989. According to George Lucas, the headwrap was more of a turban. To make that clear, Lucas had the show's artists design a more elaborately decorated wrap for Dengar in his younger days.

BOBA FETT'S ARMOR
"We decided not to put Boba Fett in his iconic Mandalorian armor in this episode," explains Dave Filoni. "Rather than use his father's armor, which would still be a tad big for him, we gave him his own unique helmet and armor. It's a step towards who he will become, but to get to the final famous look from the classic films, he will need to get some help..."