In war, truth is the first casualty.
Duchess Satine has come to Coruscant to persuade the Republic that their intervention is not necessary in order to deal with the terrorist group Death Watch. But the rogue Mandalorian warriors, in league with the Separatists, are plotting against her as a Republic occupation will assist their plans. And when Satine is forced to go on the run after being framed for murder, it's up to her allies among the Jedi and the Senate to unmask the conspiracies swirling around her and prove she's innocent and the Republic does not need to occupy Mandalore.
Tropes:
- All There in the Manual: The script reveals that the Ithorian, to whom two Coruscant Guard clone troopers show an image of Satine and then assume can't understand them, actually did understand them and responded that she'd gone down an alleyway.
- Assassination Attempt: The Death Watch assassin sent after Satine makes a couple, most notably the first, planting a bomb on her speeder.
- Character Title: The "Duchess of Mandalore" is, of course, Satine.
- Dramatic Irony: Satine's insistence that the Republic cannot be relied upon is more correct than she or any of the protagonists know, given the whole Mole in Charge situation. At the end, she and Obi-Wan wonder who could have been behind some of the events, such as tampering with the recording, but the audience doesn't have to.
- External Combustion: The Death Watch assassin makes his first attempt on Satine by planting a bomb on her speeder that causes it to go out of control and crash, but not before her bodyguards get her out of the vehicle.
- Frame-Up: Satine is framed for murder when the assassin hunting her shoots the informant she's meeting with; recognizing her life is in danger, she draws a small blaster, but is spotted by a police droid that was responding to the sound of rifle fire and it wrongly identifies her as the shooter.
- Heroic Sacrifice: Aramis, one of Satine's guards, gives up his chance to escape from the sabotaged airspeeder so the other guards can safely get the duchess out, subsequently dying in the crash.
- In the Hood: Satine wears a long, red cloak with a hood when she goes to meet her informant. It comes in handy when she needs to go on the run after being framed for murder, and at one point she tricks the police searching for her into thinking a man in a similar cloak is her escaping in a speeder.
- Irony: Two Coruscant Guard clones assume that an Ithorian who can't speak Basic doesn't understand their questions. According to the script, he understands perfectly, answered the questions, and is confused about why they don't act on his information.
- Just Friends: Obi-Wan describes himself as Satine's "friend", much to the latter's subdued disappointment; despite their Love Confession in the previous episode, Obi-Wan remains a committed Jedi, and their relationship really can't go further than friendship.
- Killed Mid-Sentence: Satine's informant, Davu Golec, gets shot by the assassin:"You must show the Senate–"
- Mythology Gag: When two Coruscant Guard clone troopers see someone they think is Satine escaping on a speeder, one of them says she's escaping to sector "IG-44", referencing the name of a droid bounty hunter from the wider franchise, but with the number cut in half.
- The park where Obi-Wan and Satine meet is the top of Mt. Umate, the tallest mountain on Coruscant and the only part of the planet's surface still exposed to the sky.
- Not What It Looks Like: After Davu Golec is killed by a Death Watch sniper, Satine draws her disruptor pistol in self-defense... and is caught on-camera holding a weapon, standing over a dead body.
- Pragmatic Villainy: After the plot to provoke a Republic invasion of Mandalore fails, Dooku dissuades Vizsla from trying to take the planet by force, pointing out that without the Separatist army or support from the people, he has no chance of actually keeping Mandalore.
- Properly Paranoid: When Satine tells Obi-Wan she's going to turn herself in so he can get into the Senate unnoticed with the holodisc, he's incredulous:Obi-Wan: I'm a Jedi. They wouldn't dare [search me].
Satine: Times are changing, my dear. - Quote Mine: A recording from the deceased Deputy Minister Jerec is presented to the Senate as a call for aid from the Republic for Mandalore, which would help the plan the Death Watch and the Separatists have cooked up. Satine knows something is off about the recording because she knew Jerec, but she can't prove it since he's dead. When Padmé manages to present the original recording in the Senate, it turns out that Jerec was trying to make a case for why Mandalore doesn't need Republic intervention to deal with Death Watch.
- Rewatch Bonus: Viewing both versions of the recording of Jerec a second time, it's easy to see where the quote mined version was edited from.
- Scenery Porn: The park where Satine meets up with Obi-Wan at night on Coruscant is beautiful, with its odd illuminated architecture shown off from several angles as Satine avoids the police and the assassin.
- Traitor Shot: Palpatine briefly looks really pissed off when the unaltered recording of Deputy Minister Jerec is played in the Senate, before his "Chancellor" mask slips back on.
- Unwanted Assistance: Satine, trying to persuade Chancellor Palpatine to open an investigation into the sabotage of her speeder, is initially relieved when Mas Amedda agrees with her... but when he says it proves that Death Watch is out of control and the Republic needs to intervene, she's not happy.
- We Need a Distraction: Satine insists on turning herself in so Obi-Wan can enter the Senate unnoticed to deliver the disc with the real recording of Jerec to Padmé, despite his insistence that since he's a Jedi they wouldn't dare search him. She's not so sure.
- The X of Y: "Duchess of Mandalore".
