It is the quest for honour that makes one honourable.
Obi-Wan, Commander Cody, and Captain Rex land on Saleucami to chase after General Grievous. While on patrol with Jesse, Hardcase and Kix, Rex gets shot in the chest by a commando droid. Fortunately he's not dead, but Jesse and the others take him to a nearby farm to recover. The farmer, one Suu Lawquane, isn't initially happy about the clone troopers' presence, but eventually relents and tells Jesse they can leave Rex in the barn. As Rex discovers later that evening when Suu's husband Cut comes home, she has good reason to be reluctant about the presence of the Republic military: Cut Lawquane turns out to be a clone who deserted from the Grand Army, and Rex has to decide if he's going to report Cut's presence or not...
Tropes:
- All There in the Manual: The status and species of Shaeeah and Jek's biological father is only mentioned in supplementary materials.
- Armor Is Useless: Averted; Rex's armor saves his life, although it's noted that the shot would have been fatal if it had struck any closer to his heart.
- Arrow Cam: This is used when a commando droid snipes Rex.
- Bad Boss: General Grievous won't let any of the battle droids ride on the creatures that they commandeered to carry their supplies, so they keep running out of power. He cuts down the one droid who complains.
- Boom, Headshot!: Most of the commando droids attacking the Lawquane farm are killed this way.
- Both Sides Have a Point: Rex and Cut spend a fair bit of time debating the latter's desertion from the Army, and each of them make valid points; Rex points out that Cut swore an oath to the Republic, but Cut replies that he should have the right to make his own choice and has a responsibility to his new family. Cut later makes the point that he left the Army in search of a new life with meaning after he was basically left to die after a battle, while Rex says he stays in the Army because doing so is meaningful to him. Cut takes no issue with this point, saying "to each their own".
- Children Are Innocent: Shaeeah runs into the barn chasing a ball, sees Rex and informs him "You look like my daddy." The clone troopers assume that she just can't tell one male human from another. It is later revealed she meant it literally.
- Clones Are People, Too: Cut and Rex discuss the clones' individuality at length, debating about them adopting names and Cut exercising his free will to leave the Grand Army of the Republic. Indeed, the simple fact that Cut chose to leave the Army of his own volition supports his argument.
- Continuity Nod: Cut deserted from the army after the first Battle of Geonosis.
- Dangerous Deserter: Averted. Cut just wants to live a simple and quiet life, and protect his family.
- Dangerous Windows: During the commando droids' attack on the farmhouse, Cut makes the mistake of backing up against a window. When one of the Separatist droids smashes through the window and grabs him, he headbutts it to make it release him.
- Doctor's Orders: After waking up, Rex tells Kix to just patch him up so they can get back on patrol. Kix firmly tells him he's not going anywhere:Kix: Sir, as the team medic, when it comes to the health of the men — including you — I outrank everyone. So I respectfully order you, sir, to get some– [interrupted by Suu entering the barn]
- Dramatic Irony: While talking with Cut, Rex says that by staying in the army, he's protecting people like Cut's family because if the Republic loses, future generations might grow up under an evil he can't well imagine. Little does he know he won't have to...
- Early-Bird Cameo: This episode introduces Jesse and Hardcase, who only play a minor role in this episode. They won't come back until the Umbara arc, where they get much more characterization and become deeply involved in the plot.
- Electronic Speech Impediment: The droids losing power start talking wobbly.
- Faking Amnesia: Rex implies this is what he's going to do in order to avoid reporting Cut for desertion."...but in my condition, I'm probably not going to remember any of this."
- Fantastic Flora: Saleucami has a bunch of cake trees (which look like lopsided blue and green fluted helixes) and some knobby brown and grey things a bit taller than a grown man that seem to be fungi.
- Foregone Conclusion: The mission to capture Grievous is doomed to fail. Obi-Wan's frustration at Grievous' latest escape borders on a Lampshade Hanging.
- Foreshadowing: After getting a good look at his face, Shaeeah tells Rex "you look like my daddy". Turns out, she wasn't exaggerating; Rex looks exactly like Shaeeah's father because they're both Clone Troopers.
- Half-Human Hybrid: Suu's children Shaeeah and Jek are half-Twi'lek and half-human. Their father was Suu's first husband, who has since left her life.
- Happily Adopted: Cut isn't Jek and Shaeeah's biological father, but they happily accept him as their father and love him as such. In turn, he also views them as his own children and would lay down his life to protect them.
- Heart in the Wrong Place: Rex gets shot in the chest at a spot that appears to be too high to have hit his heart, but Hardcase (who, admittedly, is not a medic) tells him that if the shot had been only slightly to the left it would have gone through it.
- I Can Still Fight!: Rex insists on helping to defend the house when the command droids approach.
- I'll Pretend I Didn't Hear That: At the end of the episode, Rex mentions that he has a duty to report Cut... but he won't remember any of them "in [his] condition".
- Interspecies Romance: Suu is a Twi'lek and both Cut and her first husband are human.
- Mama Bear: We don't see her in action, but Suu greets Kix by pointing a rifle at him and demanding he state his business.
- The Metric System Is Here to Stay: A rare aversion, one of only two instances in The Clone Wars (the other being the season one episode "Jedi Crash") where Imperial measurements are used. What makes this one particularly odd is that metric units ("klicks", slang for kilometres) are also used in the episode.Hardcase: [to Rex] A droid took a potshot, that would have gone straight through your heart had it been two inches to the left.
- Ms. Fanservice: Suu is an attractive female Twi'lek with pink skin who's not wearing that much on her upper body.
- Navel-Deep Neckline: Suu's top consists of two strips of cloth that only cover her breasts, leaving her cleavage and stomach exposed.
- Neck Lift: The last commando droid does this to Rex before Cut kills it.
- Nice Guy: Cut Lawquane is an easygoing man who believes in helping anyone who needs it, even passing that belief on to his stepchildren. The only time he shows hostility to Rex is perfectly understandable (finding a strange man in your home, even a wounded one, when your spouse and children are also there and alone would make anybody defensive). In the end, he happily offers Rex the chance to stay with the family and says his home is always open to him.
- One-Man Army: Between them, Cut and Rex take out ten times as many commando droids. Cut takes out ten of them onscreen by himself.
- Papa Wolf: Cut is ferocious in his defense of his stepchildren when commando droids attack the house. He also says that, while Rex may deem him a coward for deserting, he would give his life for his family and protect them to his dying breath. He proves it, making Rex change his mind about him and declare that Cut is by no means a coward.
- Punch! Punch! Punch! Uh Oh...: Disarmed, Cut tries punching a Commando Droid. He just ends up hurting his hand.
- Rapid-Fire "No!": Rex, when shooing away a farm animal that woke him up by licking his face.
- Riding into the Sunset: The episode ends with Rex riding off into the sunrise to rejoin the army.
- Shell-Shocked Veteran: Cut deserted from the Grand Army of the Republic after the horrific experience of losing his entire squad shortly after the Battle of Geonosis. He admits the experience still haunts him.
- Shoot the Bullet: An AT-TE turret gunner manages to intercept an RPG fired at the tank by a battle droid, prompting the trooper who warned the gunner to compliment him on his shot.
- Sick Episode: Rex gets shot and has to recuperate at a farm.
- Single-Episode Handicap: Rex has his left arm in a sling for most of the episode due to nerve damage from getting shot.
- Straight for the Commander: What the commando droids who sniped Rex clearly intended.
- Stylistic Suck: Despite being rendered in CGI, the Dejarik holo-monsters are animated like they are using stop-motion, with Dave Filoni suggesting that's how the game looks
In-Universe. This aspect was carried over into later portrayals of Dejarik. - To Be Lawful or Good: Rex picks "Good" by not reporting Cut.
- Towering Flower: Towering Bith are flowers found on Saleucami that look like Joshua trees mixed with palms when flowering, and otherwise simply resemble tall, leafless trees topped with white bulbs.
- We Have Reserves: General Grievous destroys one of his mooks out of anger.
- Wham Shot: Rex wakes up when he realizes that someone is coming inside the barn with hostile intent, so he grabs a pistol... and when the face of the man confronting him is finally shown, he's another clone.
- You Are Number 6: Upon meeting Cut, Rex demands his "number and rank". Cut then flips it on him after his family turns up.Cut: I was just making our guest, Captain... what's your number?
Rex: Ah... Rex. I also have a name, believe it or not.
