Cloak of Darkness

"Ignore your instincts at your peril."

- Moral

"Cloak of Darkness" is the ninth episode in Season One of the Star Wars: The Clone Wars television series. It is the ninth episode of the series overall.

Official description
Ahsoka and Jedi Master Luminara escort captured Viceroy Nute Gunray to trial, unaware that Count Dooku has dispatched his deadly apprentice assassin Asajj Ventress to free the prisoner and eliminate the Jedi.

Plot summary
Viceroy Gunray has been transferred to the Tranquility under Luminara Unduli where he was to be carefully taken to Coruscant to face trial for war crimes. Ahsoka and a number of Senate Commandoes under Captain Argyus had also been transferred. Ahsoka does not think that all the extra security is necessary, but Master Unduli assures her that the Neimoidian is more dangerous than he looks. Unduli suggests that his allies could be conspiring against them.

Elsewhere, Darth Sidious informs Count Dooku that Gunray poses a significant danger to them and their plans if he is interrogated. Dooku tells him that he has already put a plan into motion. Dooku is sending his assassin and best agent Asajj Ventress, despite her previous failures, to either rescue or silence Gunray. Once Sidious is gone, Dooku impresses on Ventress the fact that failure is not an option.

Back on the Tranquility, Unduli and Ahsoka interrogate the Viceroy. When they are getting nowhere and the Viceroy refuses to answer their questions, Ahsoka threatens him only to be chastised by Unduli. Nonetheless, the threats coerce Gunray to start talking. Unfortunately for the two Jedi, a swarm of Vulture Droids escorting three Separatist boarding ships attack the Tranquility. Super battle droids assault the Cruiser and hold off the clones, allowing Ventress to slip inside undetected. Commander Gree, a squad of Green Company, and Unduli goes off to deal with the droids, leaving Ahsoka to guard Gunray. Ventress infiltrates the engine room and plants a number of thermal charges on the cruiser's generators before going to the brig. The Super Battle Droids are destroyed, leaving Ventress the last enemy on board. She duels Ahsoka for a short while before ironically locking her in Gunray's cell. Luckily, Unduli's timely arrival prevents Ventress from rescuing Gunray. Unfortunately, the assassin detonates the charges, rocking the ship before fleeing down the elevator shaft. Unduli goes after Ventress, confident that she can defeat the assassin, leaving Ahsoka again, in spite of the Padawan's insistence that Ventress is too dangerous for any one Jedi to combat. Argyus advises Ahsoka to do what she thinks is right.

In the generator room, Ventress and Unduli duel: Unduli is swiftly outmatched as Ventress, outraged because Unduli is taunting her fighting style as a sloppy and amateurish imitation of Dooku's, overpowers Unduli and traps her under a number of collapsed pipes. Ahsoka makes a timely save only for Ventress to escape again. Back in the brig, Argyus betrays his fellow commandos and frees Gunray, revealing that he was bribed by Dooku to help rescue the viceroy. Commander Gree manages to overpower him after a brief fight. Tree asks Argyus why he's doing this. Argyus tells him he doesn't expect a clone like him to understand but he wanted a life filled with more than empty servitude. A disgusted Gree snarls "And for that you'd betray the Republic". Argyus states that it's like he told Ahsoka: "Sometimes being a good solider means doing what you think is right" and dives for his blaster. Gree intercepts him and knocks him out. Gree snarls "You and I disagree on what makes a good solider" and prepares to kill the turncoat only to be knocked out by Gunray. They make their escape on the docked Republic ship in the lower hangar, joined by Ventress, who uses an escape pod. Argyus gloats that he will take most of the glory in his report to Count Dooku, but Ventress impaled him, killing the turncoat.

Later, Unduli and Ahsoka report to Yoda and Anakin Skywalker about the loss. They are told that they may be able to track the stolen ship. Ahsoka leaves to join Skywalker with Kit Fisto's fleet, but not before receiving an apology from Unduli for not having listened to her monition about Ventress.

Cast

 * Ian Abercrombie as Darth Sidious
 * Corey Burton as Count Dooku, Senate Guard
 * Dee Bradley Baker as Clone troopers
 * Ashley Eckstein as Ahsoka Tano
 * Nika Futterman as Asajj Ventress
 * Olivia d'Abo as Luminara Unduli
 * Tom Kane as Yoda, Narrator
 * Tom Kenny as Nute Gunray
 * Matt Lanter as Anakin Skywalker
 * James Marsters as Captain Argyus