Sando and his men search for a rumored undercover Jedi. Aayla and Aquila Squad have a harrowing encounter with Jackal while on their way to search for Quinlan's missing Jedi strike force. Kombirr meets Jenova's brother. Ahsoka reunites with Mace Windu; Mace holds a meeting with the Axum Resistance that gets crashed by the Tempestus Scions.
Tropes in this episode include:
- Advertised Extra: Clone troopers sporting the colors of the 501st Legion are featured prominently in the episode cover thumbnail. In the episode itself, the 501st only appear as supporting extras for Mace Windu and Ahsoka Tano's storyline, and are otherwise absent from the rest of the episode.
- Alliterative Title: "Hidden Hunters".
- And Show It to You: During the Tempestus Scions' attack on the Republic command center, the Genestealer leader Jolsop is able to kill one Scion by using his claws to tear into their chest and rip out their heart.
- Antagonist Title: The "hidden hunters" referred to by the episode's title are Samael and his Inquisitorial retinue, who are on Axum hunting for Genestealers among the planet's populace. Starting with this episode, Samael steps up as a major antagonist for Season 3.
- Blinded by the Light: Prior to their Crash in Through the Ceiling moment, the Tempestus Scions cave in the roof of the Republic's command center on Axum and drop in flash grenades which were cooked to detonate right as they reached the halfway point between the ceiling and the floor, blinding those Jedi and clones who were unprepared.
- Bring Help Back: Farnus wakes up and finds himself and a comatose Nerva trapped inside the disabled Imperial Knight Faithful Flame, unable to exit the mech due to the only access hatch having been damaged from Ahsoka crashing Trench's Confederate dreadnought right on top of the Knight. Farnus is eventually found by Nerva's servo-skull Bofin-337, and Farnus asks Bofin to go find and bring back help.
- Broken Faceplate: While in a Gun Struggle with a Karkosan Untouchable, Kombirr repeatedly elbows the Karkosan in their One-Way Visor with his armored arm, cracking and eventually shattering the Karkosan's faceplate to reveal the Karkosan's reddened, monstrous eyes.
- Driving Up a Wall: The Tempestus Scions that launch a surprise attack on the Republic's Axum command center make their escape by jumping out a high window and landing in four Taurox Primes that were parked on the side of the building using magnetic wheels. The Taurox Primes then drive away across the side of the building.
- Entertainingly Wrong: Many of the Axum rebels have mistaken Samael for being an undercover Jedi due to him possessing Psychic Powers, wielding a Laser Sword of his own, and being a charismatic leader who clearly has prior military experience.
- Foreshadowing: There are a few moments which foreshadow what kind of weapon Samael uses.
- At the start of the episode, Sando and his men were sent out by Obi-Wan to search for Samael due to hearing rumors from the Axum freedom fighters that he was supposedly an undercover Jedi.
- Near the end of the episode, Mace notes that Jolsop was killed using what appears to have been a lightsaber based off the marks on his corpse. This foreshadows the eventual revelation that Samael wields a Sollex-Aegis energy blade (the 40K equivalent of a lightsaber).
- Gun Struggle: Kombirr gets into one with a Karkosan Untouchable. The two men wrestle each other for control over Kombirr's blaster pistol with the Karkosan slowly overpowering Kombirr until he smashes their faceplate with his armored elbow, causing the Karkosan to panic. This allows Kombirr to let go of his blaster and steal the Karkosan's laspistol from their holster, shooting the mutated Imperial in the face with their own sidearm.
- Ignored Epiphany: Upon meeting back up with Ahsoka in this episode, Mace suddenly experiences remorse as he is reminded of how Ahsoka is no longer a Jedi and feels guilt for having driven her away from the Jedi Order in the first place by not supporting her when she was framed for the Temple bombings, internally acknowledging that Ahsoka's departure was a larger loss for the Jedi than most would have been willing to admit and wishing that she will eventually choose to return to the Jedi Order one day. This unfortunately doesn't last; as soon as the two start discussing strategies, their Idealist vs. Pragmatist clash leads to Mace reverting to his usual Jerkass personality as he verbally lashes out at Ahsoka with a That's an Order! when she questions his orders to take no prisoners, likely pushing her even further away from the Jedi Order than she already was.
- Mistakenly Attacked Mole: Mace's meeting with the Axum rebel leaders gets cut short by an Assassination Attempt from the Tempestus Scions, who had infiltrated the Republic command center on Axum as part of an Imperial Guard mission to eliminate their enemy's leadership in one fell swoop. Unbeknownst to the Scions, one of the rebel leaders at the meeting that they try to kill (Samael) is actually an undercover Inquisitor, who had been infiltrating the ranks of the Axum Resistance as part of an entirely separate mission by the Inquisition to assassinate the Genestealer Jolsop, who was attending the meeting. Surprisingly, the Scions' unexpected interference actually helps Samael in his own mission as he's skilled enough to avoid getting shot and uses the chaos of the attack to covertly kill his target and escape unnoticed.
- Mythology Gag:
- As Aayla prepares to meditate aboard Aquila Squad's gunship to finally reckon with the traumatic memories of the Battle of Axum that she previously repressed with the Force, she mutters Yoda's saying "Do, or do not. There is no try" from The Empire Strikes Back.
- Jolsop mispronouncing Jedi as "Jeedai" is a nod to the Star Wars Legends continuity where that was what various species (most notably the Yuuzhan Vong) commonly called the Jedi.
- Screw the War, We're Partying: At the start of the episode, the people of Axum are partying in the streets and prematurely celebrating the supposed liberation of their planet from the Imperium's tyranny, even though the battle between the Republic and the Imperium over control of Axum is still ongoing and has yet to be decided.
- Super Window Jump: Near the end of the fight inside the Republic command center on Axum, the Tempestus Scions are being boxed in by Mace Windu and his clone troopers with their backs to the windows. They make their escape by jumping out the window, shattering the window's glass with their armored bodies, and landing in some Taurox Primes which were waiting on the side of the wall.
- That's an Order!: Mace Windu to Ahsoka Tano when he loses his temper after she disapproves of his orders to take no prisoners.Mace: This is not a debate! You have your orders, Commander, I expect you to follow them!
