Ambush

"Great leaders inspire greatness in others."

- Moral

"Ambush" is the first episode of Season One of Star Wars: The Clone Wars. Before its television premiere, the episode was shown on the Television Critics Association press tour on July 11, 2008 and later at Dragon Con in Atlanta, Georgia in September. "Ambush" aired on Cartoon Network on October 3, 2008.

Official description
''Jedi Master Yoda is on a secret mission to forge a treaty with the King of the strategic system of Toydaria when his ship is ambushed by Count Dooku. Yoda and three clone troopers must face off against Count Dooku's dreaded assassin Ventress and her massive droid army to prove the Jedi are strong enough to protect the king and his people from the forces of the war.''

Plot summary
Jedi Master Yoda is dispatched to Rugosa to convince King Katuunko to allow the Republic to build a base in Toydarian territory. In orbit of the moon, two Banking Clan frigates ambush his ship, forcing him to take an escape pod and allow his ship and Captain Zak to retreat; three clones - Clone Lieutenant Thire, Jek and Rys - accompany him to the surface. However, when Yoda arrives, he finds that Asajj Ventress is already there, attempting to win Katuunko's support for the Separatists by saying that the Separatists can offer better protection than the Jedi can. She suggests a bet: if Yoda can escape her best troops, then Toydaria will aid the Republic. If he fails and the droids prevail, Toydaria will join the Separatists. Yoda and his men then face a large number of droids and several tanks, which march into the forest. The tanks find it difficult to penetrate the dense coral, forcing the droid commander OOM-224 to send his troops out on foot, which allows Yoda and his men to finish them off more easily. When Thire is wounded, the group retreats into a cave to rest, where Yoda gives the clone troopers a small lesson about them being individuals despite their origin as clones, and that it is their mind which makes them strong, not their numbers or weapons.

Yoda and his men make a final stand, with Yoda initially taking on - and defeating - the rest of Ventress' forces all by himself. Angered, Ventress sends out droidekas to deal with the Jedi Master. Upon sighting the droids, Thire launches a shoulder-fired rocket at the canyon wall opposite Yoda, causing an avalanche that crushes the droids. Katuunko is finally convinced to have Toydaria join the Republic. He states to Dooku that one Jedi is not worth a hundred battle droids, but more like a thousand. Furious about the outcome, Dooku orders Ventress to kill the king, saying that perhaps his successor would be more sympathetic to the Confederate cause. Ventress dispatches the king's Toydarian guard and prepares to deal a killing blow. Luckily for the king, Master Yoda arrives just in time, pulling Ventress' lightsabers away from Katuunko's throat. The clones dispatch Ventress' droid guards; outnumbered, Ventress quickly triggers an avalanche with pre-planted explosive charges, using it as a distraction to escape. Yoda manages to save the king and the clones, and he watches Ventress fly away in her ship, stating that only cowards follow the dark side. King Katuunko gladly accepts Yoda's offer to join the Republic, believing that it would be the best choice for his system. Republic gunships come to retrieve the group, and everyone leaves the moon.

Cast

 * Tom Kane - Yoda
 * Nika Futterman - Asajj Ventress
 * Dee Bradley Baker - All clone troopers
 * Matthew Wood - Battle droids
 * Brian George - Katuunko
 * Corey Burton - Count Dooku

Characters

 * Dooku
 * Jek
 * King Katuunko
 * OOM-224
 * Rys
 * Thire
 * Asajj Ventress
 * Yoda
 * Unidentified Toydarian royal guard 1
 * Unidentified Toydarian royal guard 2
 * Captain Zak

Creatures

 * Dog
 * Neebray
 * Rugosa land coral

Droid models

 * Battle droid
 * B-series battle droid
 * B1 battle droid
 * B2 super battle droid
 * B2 super battle droid commander
 * Droideka
 * Droid gunner
 * OOM-series battle droid
 * OOM command battle droid

Events

 * Clone Wars
 * Mission to Rugosa

Locations

 * Coruscant
 * Rugosa
 * Toydaria

Organizations and titles

 * Confederacy of Independent Systems
 * Separatist Droid Army
 * Count
 * Supreme Leader
 * Galactic Republic
 * Grand Army of the Republic
 * Clone trooper
 * Clone trooper lieutenant
 * Clone shock trooper
 * Jedi Order
 * Jedi High Council
 * Jedi Master
 * Order of the Sith Lords
 * Dark Acolyte
 * Toydarian royal delegation
 * King
 * Toydarian guard

Sentient species

 * Human
 * Clone
 * Rattataki
 * Toydarian
 * Yoda's species

Vehicles and vessels

 * Armored Assault Tank
 * C-9979 landing craft
 * Escape pod
 * Low Altitude Assault Transport/infantry
 * Munificent-class star frigate
 * Punworcca-class interstellar sloop
 * Consular-class cruiser (Charger c70 retrofit)
 * Thief's Eye
 * Venator-class Star Destroyer

Weapons and technology

 * Ammo
 * Blaster
 * DC-15A blaster rifle
 * DC-15S blaster
 * E-5 blaster rifle
 * Z-6 rotary blaster cannon
 * Electrobinoculars
 * Grenade
 * Hologram
 * Imagecaster
 * Lantern
 * Laser
 * Lightsaber
 * Macrobinoculars
 * Rocket launcher
 * Targeting display screen
 * Toydarian ceremonial sword
 * Turbolaser
 * Viewplate

Miscellanea

 * Armored column
 * Battalion
 * Clanker
 * Infrared mode
 * Squadron

Languages

 * Aurebesh
 * Basic

The Force

 * Dark Side of the Force
 * Force Jump
 * Force Sense
 * Telekinesis

Reception
"Ambush" marked the series' debut on October 3, 2008. It brought in 3.96 million viewers, and was the channel's most watched series premiere.

Behind the scenes
The episode's original name was "Ambush in the Outer Rim." Its title was first revealed by Henry Gilroy in an interview that featured in Star Wars Insider 103.

The original moral of this episode was supposed to be, "Great leadership comes in all sizes."

"Ambush" was originally not supposed to be aired as the first episode of Season One, but the episodes' order was changed very close to the series' premiere.