The costs of war can never truly be accounted for.
The Republic is beginning its invasion of Ryloth to free it from the Separatists. Obi-Wan Kenobi and his clone troopers are sent to deal with a gun emplacement in the city of Nabat that's causing difficulty for their ships. They can't just bomb it from on high because the tactical droid commanding it is holding the Twi'lek townspeople prisoner around the guns. Obi-Wan, Commander Cody, and the clone troopers enter the city to destroy the gun emplacement. Two clone troopers, Waxer and Boil, are sent to scout ahead and run into a young Twi'lek girl named Numa who avoids being captured by the Separatist droids. Waxer tries to befriend her, much to Boil's irritation.
Meanwhile, the tactical droid unleashes starving gutkurrs, a local predator on Ryloth, upon the Republic forces. Obi-Wan and Cody are also concerned that Waxer and Boil haven't reported in. And there are still those cannons to deal with...
Tropes:
- A Father to His Men: When Obi-Wan sees the gutkurrs racking up casualties amongst his clone troopers, he uses the Force to draw all of the creatures' attention on him in order to get them off his men.
- Affectionate Gesture to the Head: Waxer pats and rubs Numa's head to comfort her on several occasions.
- All According to Plan: When one of the battle droids tells the tactical droid that the gunships are still headed their way despite the barrage, the tactical droid responds with "Just as I calculated."
- All There in the Manual: At the end, Numa reunites with a man who turns out to be her uncle. On the official website's encyclopedia (the predecessor to the Databank), it was stated that Numa's parents died after their hometown was invaded by the Separatists.
- Ambiguous Robots: In-Universe, Waxer suggests that Numa's initial fear of him and Boil is because as a result of their armor, she thinks they're droids.
- Animal Lover: Obi-Wan doesn't kill the animals sent against him and his troops. They're dangerous, but they're not evil. They're just predators that have been deliberately starved to drive them to this moment.
- As You Know: Justified. Directly after Windu and the intro narration gives an overview of their intentions, Obi-Wan reminds the clone troopers on the gunship with him that they're there to help the Twi'leks, not destroy their home, bringing to light the different priorities the clone troopers bring with them and reminding them that Ryloth is occupied friendly ground, not enemy territory.
- Band of Brothers: Numa keeps calling Waxer and Boil a Twi'leki word once she warms up to them. When they ask Obi-Wan what it means, he reveals she's been calling them "brother", recognizing the strong bond between the clones.
- The Beastmaster: Obi-Wan provides the second on-screen demonstration of the Force ability to control animals in the canon (Anakin did it first on Geonosis back in Attack of the Clones), which he uses on the hungry gutkurrs the Separatists unleash.
- Bilingual Bonus: The episode's use of Twi'leki becomes more effective if you know some phrases. Namely, Numa calling Waxer and Boil, nerra, or "brothers", may initially seem like she's calling them her big brother figures, but notice that she only starts to call them that after they unmask themselves to show her that they're not Separatist droids — they're clones, so they're literal siblings.
- Call-Forward:
- Obi-Wan drops his lightsaber during the run-in with the gutkurrs and Cody returns it to him afterwards, which is exactly like what will happen on Utapau shortly before the execution of Order 66.
- The tactical droid when he is about to shoot Obi-Wan from his tank:TA-175: Haha. Ha. Haha. You lose, General Kenobi.
- Child Hater: While it is not outright hatred, Boil is irritated that Waxer insists on trying to look after the little Twi'lek girl they find in the city. He comes around at the end of the episode.
- Cover Innocent Eyes and Ears: Obi-Wan tries to cover Numa's eyes when the freed Twi'leks start tearing apart the tactical droid by hand, but she moves his hand out of the way.
- Devoured by the Horde: The tactical droid is ripped apart by the freed Twi'leks.
- Disapproving Look: Waxer shoots one to Boil when he suggests putting binders on Numa.
- The Dog Bites Back: When the Twi'lek prisoners are freed, they take the opportunity to tear the tactical droid to pieces.
- Dutch Angle: When Ghost Company is running to take on the outer wall, the camera angle is tilted and low as they run through the forest, accentuating their losses during the assault.
- Empathy Doll Shot: While Numa is still around, finding her abandoned tooka doll in the remains of her home drives home the fact that many others, including Numa's parents, did not survive.
- Exact Eavesdropping: The probe droid arrives just in time to hear the tail end of Cody's report to Obi-Wan, allowing it to record the entirety of Obi-Wan and Mace's responses and plans.
- Fantastic Racism: Boil is initially rather dismissive of the Twi'leks.
- Fantastic Slur: "Tailheads", courtesy of Boil. He slowly drops this over the course of the episode, as he slowly warms up to Numa.
- Fingore: In a very mild example, Numa bites Boil's finger when he initially reaches for her, which doesn't make him any happier about the situation.
- For Want Of A Nail: If Waxer hadn't gone out of his way to help Numa, they likely wouldn't have found their way into the tunnels that lead them to a back door in the Separatist droids' base in order to free the prisoners and take out the anti-aircraft cannons.
- Friend to All Children: Waxer, who goes out of his way to help Numa and comforts her when she starts crying.
- From Bad to Worse: Played for Laughs, with a B1 droid cleaning out cages that used to house gutkurrs. Then he sees a Jedi standing right next to him.Droid: This has got to be the worst job in the droid army. (Sees Obi-Wan Kenobi with ignited lightsaber in hand) And it just went into overtime.
- Heartwarming Orphan: Numa. Fortunately, she's not entirely without family, as she is later reunited with her uncle.
- Here We Go Again!: Obi-Wan asks his clone troopers "Who's up for a challenge? We're not getting any reinforcements until those guns are out of commission." Waxer says "Here we go again" in response to his Jedi general's usual actions.
- Human Shield: Or rather Twi'lek Shield. The tactical droid commanding the gun emplacement is holding the surviving townspeople prisoner in the square where the guns are located, so the Republic forces can't bombard them from orbit.
- It's Quiet… Too Quiet: When Cody, Wooley, Waxer, and Boil are scouting, Boil wonders where the inhabitants of Nabat are, as the place is entirely quiet and deserted. Cody pulls the segment of Ghost Company to a halt to split up and proceed with more caution.
- Jerk with a Heart of Gold: Despite his irritation at Waxer's befriending of Numa, Boil is the one who give her a ration bar when Waxer notes she looks hungry. He warms up to her eventually.
- Language Barrier: Numa doesn't speak Basic and Waxer and Boil don't speak Twi'leki. Obi-Wan, however, does.
- Off with His Head!: The tactical droid gets its head ripped off by one of the Twi'leks.
- Prequel: The tie-in webcomic strip "Curfew" (now considered Legends, although nothing in it currently contradicts canon) presented Numa wandering off into the underground shelters the night before the Separatist invasion and emerging to find her town being rounded up.
- Punishment Detail: When Waxer and Boil realize that they're late for reporting back as a result of being sidetracked by Numa, Boil suggests that they're going to wind up "polishing R2 units".
- Spanner in the Works: Numa. After befriending Waxer and Boil, she helps Obi-Wan and his men find a way through the tunnels beneath the city to free the Twi'lek prisoners. The tactical droid commanding the local garrison didn't account for her.
- Tastes Like Friendship: Waxer and Boil befriend Numa through giving her a ration bar.
- Torn Apart by the Mob: When Tactical droid TX-20 has Obi-Wan and a Twi'lek child, Numa, in sight, a mob of released Twi'lek prisoners charge at the droid and tear it into pieces.
- The Un-Hug: Boil's reaction when Numa hugs him must be seen to be believed.
- Vertigo Effect: Done when Obi-Wan sees the gutkurrs about to attack his men.
- Villainous Breakdown: When the Twi'Leks used as living shields swarm TX-20's tank (unnoticed by the droid due to its Evil Gloating), the previously smug, self-assured tactical droid is reduced to endlessly droning "Does not compute" as they rip him limb-from-limb.
- Wham Line: A heartwarming variant at the end:Numa: [waves goodbye to Waxer and Boil] Nerra! Nerra!
Waxer: Sir, what is that she keeps calling us?
Obi-Wan: Nerra. It means "brother".
