The Zillo Beast

"Choose what is right, not what is easy."

- Moral

"The Zillo Beast" is the eighteenth episode of Season Two of the Star Wars: The Clone Wars television series. It aired on April 3, 2010 in the UK and on April 9 in the US.

Official description
''The Republic's new super-weapon awakens the fearsome Zillo Beast of Malastare. Now the Jedi must devise a way to contain the deadly creature.''

Plot summary
In hopes of obtaining fuel from Malastare, Mace Windu, Palpatine and Anakin Skywalker discuss the potential effects of the bomb, worried that the bomb could affect their troops as well as the droid army. Dr.Sionver Boll, the scientist who constructed the bomb confirms that it will not harm any Republic forces. Its effects will only work on droids and all the probabilities have been assumed. However, Windu is skeptical of the "improbable".

Windu and Anakin observe the outnumbered Republic forces as they march toward the ominous Sepratist forces. At the Sepratist side, the tactical droid gives the order to attack. Captain Rex, clone troopers and Dug soldiers struggled to hold their ground, even as Hyena bombers soared overhead.

Eventually the Republic orders the Electro-Proton bomb to be dropped on the massive Sepratist force. The pilot drops the bomb, annihilating the Sepratist forces with a massive blast, followed by an EMP which cuts off Palpatine's transmission and short-circuits Anakin's prosthetic arm. However, the clone force and the Dug soldiers are unharmed.

Suddenly the ground starts breaking off and sinking. The clones and Dugs flee with Rex barely making it onto the ledge. However, some clones fell into the sinkhole, Anakin dispatches rescue teams to locate the trapped soldiers. After losing contact with the rescuers, Mace Windu decides to investigate and look for the missing troops, while Anakin ratifies the Treaty to authorize fuel purchase from Malastare. Dug leader, Nahka Urus exclaims his happiness for their alliance while they wait for the rest of the council to arrive and ratify the treaty.

Meanwhile Windu finds handmarks and a clone helmet in the sinkhole when the clones find the rescue team and some of the troops that fell in the hole. Windu, Ponds and other troops begin searching elsewhere. Windu asks Anakin to come down and help, which Anakin preps his fighter and excuses himself. Windu and the troopers feel the ground shaking as the massive head of the Zillo Beast turns and roars at them. The clones fire at the beast with no effect. It shakes them off and chases them until Anakin shows up distracting it by flying in circles, allowing Windu and the clones to escape.

Anakin is surprised by it and is caught off guard when the Zillo Beast hits his fighter and he crashes, ejecting just in time. He strikes the Zillo Beast only to find the armor is virtually impervious to even his lightsaber. He leaps on the top and notices gaps in the armor which a well placed shot could penetrate it before jumping on R2-D2 and rocketing out of the pit. After making his surprise exit, Urus arrives and explains that the Zillo Beast was the dominant life form on Malastare and claims that they are extinct until now. The Dugs happily bomb the Zillo Beast fruitlessly while Mace and Anakin find Urus and the council observing the ancient script showing the weaknesses of the Zillo Beast.

Windu and Skywalker argue that they will exterminate an innocent life form if they continue. Urus threatens to cancel the treaty if they ever tried to intervene in protecting it. A talk with Palpatine showed he supported the extermination of the Zillo Beast while Mace Windu opposed it. Dr. Sinover Boll and Anakin additionally support the idea to preserve it for replicating its seemingly impenetrable armor for military use and propose an idea to stun it in the gaps of its armor using Stun Tanks. When it is fully stunned and weakened, it would appear dead, but still be alive in stasis. The Dugs would assume it is dead and sign the treaty and the Republic could study the creature and possibly copy the armor.

The Stun Tanks roll out to the pit where Urus is glad to see the Jedi saw the things this way, but his method was already working. He ordered the Dugs to empty fuel lines into the pit. Urus explains the fuel is lethal to the Zillo Beast and will only make it angry and crawl out of the pit. Windu urged Urus to stop and then threatens to kill him unless he stops, yet he continues to oppose Windu until the Zillo Beast begins to crawl out of the hole. It climbs up and the Stun Tanks open fire, seemingly to no avail. It swipes and destroys several tanks, causing Anakin to order backing up to avoid it. After a rampage, it starts weakening and eventually falls over, incapacitated and appearing to be dead.

Urus signs the treaty and Malastare joins the Republic. Palpatine orders the Zillo Beast to be shipped to Coruscant for study which Windu expresses concern. The episode ends with four LAAT/c's picking up the Zillo Beast to bring to Coruscant for study.

Cast

 * Terrence Carson as Mace Windu
 * Matt Lanter as Anakin Skywalker
 * Greg Baldwin as Doge Urus, Dugs
 * Ian Abercrombie as Chancellor Palpatine
 * Dee Bradley Baker as Captain Rex, Clone troopers
 * Cara Pifko as Dr. Sionver Boll
 * Tom Kane as Narrator
 * Matthew Wood as Battle droids, Tactical Droid

Notes and references
The Zillo Beast The Zillo Beast The Zillo Beast