R2 Come Home

"Adversity is a friendship's truest test."

- Moral

"R2 Come Home" is the twenty-first episode of Season Two of the Star Wars: The Clone Wars television series. It first aired on April 24, 2010 in the UK, and on April 30 in the US as the first part of a doubleheader on that night.

Official description
When a band of bounty hunters leads Anakin and Mace into a deadly trap on Vanqor, it's up to R2-D2 to battle his way back to Coruscant and warn the Jedi.

Plot
The Venator-class Star Destroyer Endurance has crashed on the planet Vanqor after the sabotage caused by young Boba Fett in his quest to kill Jedi Master Mace Windu. Hoping that Admiral Killian, Commander Ponds and others may still be alive, Windu and Skywalker transfer the survivors to a Republic medical ship before heading down to the planet to look for survivors. Skywalker points out upon coming across the ship that, whilst it is in a terrible shape, the bridge appears to be in one piece. The two Jedi set down behind the ship, at which point R2-D2 beeps that he has a 'bad feeling about this place'. Windu chastises Skywalker for encouraging individuality in his droid. Windu, Skywalker, R2 and R8-B7 proceed to the ship, unaware of Gundarks following them.

Once inside the Jedi come across Clone Troopers killed not by the crash but by execution: Windu theorizes that those who tried to assassinate him may have come down looking for his body and killed the survivors. The droids are sent to search for survivors whilst the Jedi head to the bridge. In the process of their search R2 and R8 are attacked by a pair of gundarks: R8 is ripped apart and R2 is knocked across the floor as the two gundarks advance on him. In the bridge Windu and Skywalker come across several dead clones, but note there is no sign of the Admiral or Ponds. Windu reports this to the medical ship in orbit, which proceeds to leave for the nearest medical station.

Noticing a Mandalorian helmet sitting on a piece of rubble Skywalker advances. Windu, spotting the helmet, is reminded of Jango Fett, the template for the Clone army he killed on Geonosis, and then remembers his son, Boba, who watched his father die at Windu's hands. Too late Windu uses the Force to pull Skywalker away from the helmet, which explodes, severely damaging the bridge and causing debris to rain down on the gundarks that were advancing on R2. One is killed whilst the other flees. In the distance Aurra Sing, Bossk, Boba and another bounty hunter watch the explosion with satisfaction. Boba insists of finding Windu's body but their companion refuses, stating they have enough to sell Count Dooku with their three hostages: Admiral Killian, Commander Ponds and a navigational officer. In the end Aurra and Boba win out, leaving Bossk to guard the hostages as they head to the downed ship.

R2, now realising the Jedi may be in danger, heads to the bridge and finds Windu unconcious and Skywalker wounded, both trapped under rubble. As the droid tries to move the debris he causes the bridge to shudder, and Skywalker warns him against it. Instead he instructs his droid to head back to the Jedi starfighters and send a message to the Jedi Temple on Coruscant for help. R2 proceeds to leave the bridge but spots the bounty hunters approaching, and instead decides to try and halt their advance. He first pushes debris down a tunnel the bounty hunters are coming through, then closes the doors on them. When they come up another tunnel he pushes yet more debris and boxes at them, before detaching a grenade from a dead clone and dropping that down the tunnel. Deterred, Aurra declares that they will instead use Slave I to destroy the remains of the ship, thereby ensuring the Jedi's death.

R2 then proceeds to the starfighters, but is accosted on the way by the remaining gundark. Using quick thinking the droid attaches the gundark, via a cable, to one of the starfighters and activates the fighter's engines, crashing it some miles away and killing the gundark. Having witnessed the explosion, and realising that it came from near the Jedi starfighters, the bounty hunters believe Windu has survived and jam all communications before heading, in Slave I, to the location of the starfighters. R2 activates the remaining starfighter and pilots it away from Slave I, now shooting at it, and into the atmosphere. Seeing this, Windu states that his astromech was meant to get help, not abandon them, but Anakin returns his faith in R2.

Avoiding the shots from Slave I the astromech droid gets into space, but its communication device is destroyed: the only solution now is to use the hyperdrive rings and get to Coruscant. Realising the droid's plan Boba fires at the hypedrive rings but succeeds only in destroying one, allowing R2 to use the other to escape. Aurra states not to worry, as she can draw Windu to her using the hostages, before Slave I makes the jump to hyperspace. On Coruscant R2 replays Anakin's message and Plo Koon and Ashoka Tano make their way to Vanqor with a rescue ship, where they successfully rescue the two Jedi before the bridge collapses. Windu praises R2's skills and devotions before he and Skywalker are carted away for medical attention.

Cast

 * Matt Lanter as Anakin Skywalker
 * Terrence Carson as Mace Windu
 * Jaime King as Aurra Sing
 * Daniel Logan as Boba Fett
 * Robin Atkin Downes as Castas
 * Dee Bradley Baker as Clone Troopers and Bossk
 * Ashley Eckstein as Ahsoka Tano
 * James Arnold Taylor as Plo Koon
 * Tom Kane as the Narrator