Cat and Mouse
"Cat and Mouse"
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- "A wise leader knows when to follow."
- ―Moral[6]
"Cat and Mouse" is the sixteenth episode ofSeason Two of theStar Wars: The Clone Wars television series. It aired onMarch 20, 2010 in the UK and onMarch 26 in the US. It serves as a prequel to all the other episodes, and is chronologically followed bySeason One's sixteenth episode, "The Hidden Enemy."[7]
Official description[]
Obi-Wan and Anakin must deliver supplies to Christophsis while the planet is under Separatist control. They encounter Separatist Commander Admiral Trench and get more than they bargained for.
Opening crawl[]
| Episode 16 CAT AND MOUSE |
|---|
An impenetrable defense! Separatistships blockade the resource-richplanet of Christophsis, trappingSenator Bail Organa and his reliefeffort. Desperate to aid the esteemedSenator, a Republic task force underthe command of Jedi Knight, Anakin Skywalkermust break the impasse. But time runsshort for the Senator and the goodcitizens of Christophsis.... |
Plot summary[]
- "I appreciate your decision to face me, ship to ship, to play this little game."
- ―Admiral Trench, to Anakin Skywalker[6]
From the surface ofChristophsis,SenatorBail Organa conferences viahologram withAnakin Skywalker andAdmiralWullf Yularen on-board theStar DestroyerResolute.Separatist forces are on the verge of overrunning his position, and his supplies have all but run out. Skywalker and Yularen desperately try to salvage their own losing battle against the Separatistblockade around Christophsis, but the enemyflagshipInvincible under the command of Separatist AdmiralTrench bears down on the Republic supply fleet. As Skywalker prepares to charge the flagship, another Republic cruiser, theNegotiator commanded byObi-Wan Kenobi, emerges fromhyperspace behind them. At the insistence of Kenobi and Yularen, Skywalker reluctantly orders a retreat to behind Christophsis'smoon.
Obi-Wan introducing to Anakin a stealth ship.
Crossing over to Kenobi'scruiser, Anakin discovers hisMaster's new weapon: a prototypestealth ship equipped with a powerfulcloaking device. Skywalker is excited by the potential of thisship, but Kenobi insists his new mission is not to engage the Separatistfleet, but to sneak through the blockade and deliver supplies to Senator Organa. Meanwhile, Admiral Yularen, doing some research of his own, recognizesTrench's emblem on the Separatistships and joins Anakin as the Jedi is about to depart. He tells him about how Trench has supposedlyperished years ago in battle, and convinced that Trench is now in command of the blockade fleet, he joins Anakin as a volunteer advisor.
Meanwhile, Trench, wanting to add pressure to the Republic fleet, dispatches a squad ofbombers to attack Organa's command center. After narrowly avoiding an inadvertent collision with the bombers, and having received a message from Obi-Wan regarding Bail's peril, Anakin decides to attack Trench's ship directly, hoping to divert Trench's attention from the planet. The ploy is successful, but Anakin's attack is thwarted by theInvincible'sthermal shields, and after seeing Anakin in action, Trench surmises that his opponent is a Jedi. He transmits a message over an open frequency, commending Skywalker's bravery in challenging him, but warning he has faced and beaten ships armed with cloaking devices before.
Trench's ship explosion.
Skywalker contacts Kenobi, who explains that Trench's war record confirms his threat. In these previous cases, Trench usedtracking torpedoes to destroy the enemy whether or not their ship was cloaked, and Skywalker theorizes that Trench locks the torpedoes onto an enemy ship's magnetic signature. Sensing a way to use this against him, Skywalker attacks again. This time Trench is able to lock onto the stealth ship's magnetic signature and fires trackingtorpedoes, but is forced to lower his shields to do so. With the torpedoes locked onto them, Skywalker flies straight at theInvincible. Realizing his mistake too late, Trench orders the shields be raised, but their recycling time takes too long for that. As Trench watches in horror, Skywalker flies the stealth ship inches past theInvincible'sbridge, and seconds later the tracking torpedoes slam into the superstructure, destroying theInvincible.
With Trench's flagship destroyed, Kenobi andCommanderCody launch a new attack on the leaderless Separatist fleet while Anakin and Yularen pilot the stealth ship down to Christophsis to deliver the vital supplies to Organa and his men. Senator Organa gives his gratitude to Skywalker, and Yularen expresses both concern and admiration for Skywalker's daring, if unorthodox, tactics.
Continuity[]
The overall events of the episode, more specifically the usage and design of the stealth ship, were based on submarine warfare during World War II.[8]
The lower columns display text taken directly from theDreadnaught cruiser Wookieepedia article.
Almost the entirety of theDreadnaught cruiser article from the fan siteWookieepedia[9] was copied verbatim to adata screen visible in the episode. The text, transliterated intoAurebesh, and still containing a[1] reference number and an anachronistic use ofBBY, appears on a data screen entitled "Enemy Ship Profile," which is displayed on thebridge ofAnakin'scruiser, when anofficer reports that asupply ship had been hit. The screen seems to indicate thatTrench's ship, theInvincible, belongs to the Sith Dreadnaught class.
It is the sixteenth episode of Season Two. Likethe sixteenth episode of thefirst season, it is also a prequel to the series andtheClone Wars movie. Chronologically, it takes place before all previous episodes ofThe Clone Wars (followed by "The Hidden Enemy"), hence Skywalker and Yularen getting to know one another for the first time.
The end of Bail Organa's conversation with Obi-Wan is almost identical to the end ofhis daughter's recorded message for Obi-Wantwo decades later.
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Credits[]
 This media's Credits list is incomplete. You can help Wookieepedia byexpanding it. |
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Sources[]
Anakin Faces Off Against An Infamous Separatist Strategist onStarWars.com(original site is defunct)- Episode Preview #2.16: Cat and Mouse onStarWars.com(content obsolete and backup link not available)
- The Clone Wars Episode Guide: Cat and Mouse onStarWars.com(original site is defunct)
- "Cat and Mouse" Episode Guide | The Clone Wars onStarWars.com(backup link)
- The Clone Wars Rewatch: The Shroud of the Dark Side Falls in "Cat and Mouse" onStarWars.com(backup link)
Notes and references[]
- ↑1.01.11.21.31.4
The Clone Wars Episode Guide: Cat and Mouse onStarWars.com(original site is defunct) - ↑
EPG listings ontv.sky.com(content obsolete and backup link not available) - ↑3.03.1
"Launch Pad" —Star Wars Insider 116 - ↑Star Wars: Timelines dates the events of "Cat and Mouse" to22 BBY.
- ↑The Official Star Wars Fact File Part 11322 BBY 81-84: The War Deepens dates the events of "Cat and Mouse" to22 BBY.
- ↑6.06.1Star Wars: The Clone Wars — "Cat and Mouse"
- ↑ Leland Chee (@HolocronKeeper) onTwitter (post onMarch 10,2014):"216 116 T 301 303 101-115 117-121 201-203 217-219 204-214 220-222 305-307 302 304 308 122 309-311 215 312-322 S4 502-513 501 514-520 601-613"(original link is obsolete)
- ↑ From World War toStar Wars: Spaceships, Submarines and Seismic Charges onStarWars.com (April 15,2014):"Real stealth in the 1940s required diving below the water to avoid detection. Just like in "Cat and Mouse," submarine crews would often power down non-critical systems to improve their chances of hiding from ships on the surface. Staying as silent as possible increased the chance that enemy ships would pass safely overhead. And just like inThe Clone Wars, World War II submarine crews could give away their position by taking offensive action."(backup link) (original link is obsolete)
- ↑ January 23, 2010 revision of the "Dreadnaught cruiser" article onWookieepedia
External links[]
- "Cat and Mouse" on theAurebesh Wiki
