Legacy of Terror

"Sometimes, accepting help is harder than offering it."

- Moral

"Legacy of Terror" is the seventh episode in Season Two of the Star Wars: The Clone Wars television series. It aired on November 20, 2009 and the fourth in a five part storyline.

Official description
"When Luminara goes missing, Obi-Wan and Anakin lead a platoon of clones in search of her. When the search leads to a mysterious lair, the Jedi are faced with a horde of undead warriors."

Plot summary
Ahsoka and Barriss both leave the battlefield to recuperate. Up on a cliff, Luminara and Obi-Wan note the high casualties taken during the battle. The former sets out on a speeder to find Poggle the Lesser, as his capture, along with any information he has, would prove useful against the Separatists.

Meanwhile, Poggle's AAT is dragging a number of crates with the use of tractor beams. A sandstorm begins, and one crate falls off, but Poggle tells his droids to leave it. Luminara and her clone companion Buzz follow Poggle's trail, as they brave through the sandstorm. They track Poggle to the Progate Temple.

In one of the Republic Acclamator ships, Obi-Wan arrives on the bridge, only to be surprised to see Master Ki-Adi-Mundi, fresh out of the bacta tank. Moments later, Luminara holographically calls them, reporting that she has found what seemed to be a munitions container. She is advised by Obi-Wan via hologram to wait for support. Suddenly, after Buzz pushes a rock that shows a hole into the catacombs beneath, he is heard screaming and contact with Luminara is lost. Anakin eagerly wants to go help, but the other Masters advise to wait until the storm is over.

After the storm, Anakin and Obi-Wan bring a squad to the temple. Cody finds Buzz's body and Obi-Wan finds Luminara's lightsaber. They then see a statue of what seems to be a Geonosian queen's head above the archway of a dark tunnel. Obi-Wan mentions that there are legends of Geonosian queens, but no proof has been found of their existence. They go through the archway, entering a strange maze.

Elsewhere, the Geonosians drag the unconscious body of Luminara. She wakes up and tries fighting them off, but notices that the Geonosians aren't feeling pain—almost undead-like. She contacts Obi-Wan, telling them not to enter the temple, before she is subdued. Then, Obi-Wan and Anakin are attacked by the undead Geonosians, who are able to move even if shot or hacked; there is also something worm-like moving through their face openings. They manage to save themselves by going down a tunnel. Obi-Wan remembers rumors of a hive mind able to control Geonosians, even after they are dead. Because they are too deep underground to contact Mundi, Obi-Wan sends two clones to head back to the surface and call for help. Unfortunately, they are killed by the zombies before they can do so. Obi-Wan thus suggests that the rest of them should stick together.

They eventually find Luminara, held in energy bonds before the Geonosian Queen. Anakin prepares to charge in, but Obi-Wan has a different strategy. He tells Cody to have his men surround the place, before blinding the zombies and burying them. The Jedi approach the queen, her thralls letting them pass. Obi-Wan diplomatically tells her to surrender, but the queen refuses, intending on controlling the Jedi with her brain worms, catching Obi Wan's interest about the way the queen's mind control works. Poggle the Lesser approaches Luminara with a worm, but before it can snake its way up her nose, Obi-Wan gives the signal, and Cody and his men surprise the Geonosians, projecting light on the zombies and confusing them. They save Luminara and take Poggle prisoner. The undead tried to pursue the Jedi and the clones, but the clones blasted the cave supports, causing the ceiling of the cave to collapse. Obi-Wan intends to study the worm that was going to be used on Luminara, but Anakin squishes it with his boot, saying they should get out. They attempt to escape the collapsing temple, with the zombies after them. As they make their way up the hole that leads to the surface, a few zombies follow. Then, a rush of dust, and air pushes them up. They escape before the entire temple caves in, probably burying the queen.

Cast

 * Olivia d'Abo as Luminara Unduli
 * James Arnold Taylor as Obi-Wan Kenobi
 * Matt Lanter as Anakin Skywalker
 * Dee Bradley Baker as the clone troopers, Queen Karina
 * Brian George as Ki-Adi-Mundi
 * Tom Kane as narrator
 * Matthew Wood as the battle droids, Poggle the Lesser
 * Meredith Salenger as Barriss Offee
 * Ashley Eckstein as Ahsoka Tano

Behind the scenes
Though developed completely independently, this is the second zombie story in Star Wars. The first was the adult horror novel, Death Troopers, released by Del Rey in October.

Upon realizing that the Geonosians they were battling were already dead, Anakin said "That can't be true; that's impossible!" This may be a reference to when his son, Luke, says "That's not true... That's impossible!" in The Empire Strikes Back upon realizing Darth Vader is his father.

After the attack there are 3 clones besides Commander Cody but when Obi-Wan Kenobi tells two clones to go to the surface there are more.

The Geonosian queen says (about Luminara Unduli) "her thoughts will become my thoughts, her mind, my mind". This is the line spoken in Star Trek when performing a mind-meld, often heard from various Vulcans on the show. The reference is likely intentional.

Obi-Wan says the zombies keep moving after they cut them up. However, one stops moving after he cuts its head off.

The episode makes numerous references to the 1986 sci-fi/action movie  Aliens