Lair of Grievous

"This is the lair of General Grievous!"

- Kit Fisto

"Lair of Grievous" is the tenth episode in Season One of the Star Wars: The Clone Wars television series, directed by Atsushi Takeuchi. It features the debut of Nautolan Jedi Master Kit Fisto in The Clone Wars series.

Official description
General Grievous must prove himself worthy of the Separatists when Count Dooku leads Jedi Master Kit Fisto and his former Padawan, the Mon Calamari Jedi Nahdar Vebb to Grievous' villainous enclave.

Plot summary
Once alerted of Nute Gunray's escape, Jedi Master Kit Fisto and his former apprentice Nahdar Vebb follow the tracking beacon of his stolen ship to Vassek. They find the ship outside a castle, but Gunray is not on board. The Jedi and their squad of clones find a secret door to the castle, and Fisto finds a way to open it. They attempt to sneak up on Nute Gunray, but all they find is a gloating hologram of the Neimoidian. It soon turns into a hologram of Dooku, who informs the party that although it can't get Gunray, he will offer an "alternative prize." Dooku soon contacts General Grievous and warns him that his ongoing stalemate in the war has become unacceptable and that Darth Sidious wants more dramatic results — more dead Jedi.

Upon discovering that the castle is the lair of Grievous, Fisto devises a plan to ambush Grievous as soon as he arrives. After landing his ship inside the castle, Grievous is confronted by the Jedi and the clones. A skirmish breaks out and Grievous' legs are chopped off above the knees. As Grievous escapes to his control room to undergo repairs from his medic droid, EV-A4-D, he orders his MagnaGuards to blow up the clones' transport to cut off their escape. They also attempt to destroy Fisto's starfighter and his droid, R6-H5, but the astromech manages to pilot the fighter away from danger.

Meanwhile, Fisto, Vebb and the remainder of their clone squad try to retreat from the castle, but Grievous locks it down. As they explore the fortress, a trapdoor on the floor opens beneath them and one of the clones is killed in the molten incinerator vat below. Fisto and Vebb jump in time to avoid it, and Clone Commander "Fil", uses a cable to cling to the side of the pit and climb up. After being taunted by an hologram of Grievous, they meet Grievous' pet roggwart, Gor. In a short battle, Fisto kills Gor, though Fil is also killed during the fight, an event that angers the young Vebb. While Grievous leaves the Jedi with Gor, he is contacted by Dooku. This time the Count confirms to Grievous that this is a test for him since his defeats by the Jedi has shaken Dooku's faith in the general. He decides to play along, and he and his guards go hunting.

Fisto and Vebb soon find the entrance to Grievous' control room, but as they try to sneak in, Vebb chooses to confront Grievous instead, despite Fisto trying to convince him otherwise. In the midst of their argument, EV-A4-D locks Fisto away from Vebb and the Mon Calamari Jedi skillfully defeats all five of Grievous' guards. Since Fisto is locked in the control room, unable to help Vebb, he finds EV-A4-D and cuts him in half. Vebb proceeds to attack Grievous, but the general shoots and kills the young Jedi. Fisto calls for R6-H5 to meet him at the south landing platform.

After an intense lightsaber duel with Grievous, Fisto starts to gain the upper hand, but some of Grievous' MagnaGuards arrive, which turns the odds against him. As R6-H5 arrives with his starfighter, Fisto escapes and returns to the Jedi Temple on Coruscant. There he reports to Yoda and Mace Windu the events of his mission. He tells them, "Nahdar's heart was in the right place, but he tried to match Grievous' power with his own." Yoda says that "in this war, a danger there is of losing who we are."

Meanwhile, Dooku contacts Grievous, who tells Dooku how he has beaten the Jedi. Dooku already expected victory over the young Jedi and the clones, but says to best a Jedi Master is a worthy accomplishment. Grievous then clarifies to Dooku that Fisto got away. Dooku, disappointed, tells Grievous that there is room for improvement on his part, angering Grievous.

Cast

 * Phil LaMarr as Kit Fisto
 * Matthew Wood as General Grievous, Battle droids
 * Tom Kenny as Nahdar Vebb, Nute Gunray
 * Dee Bradley Baker as Clone troopers
 * David Acord as EV-A4-D
 * Corey Burton as Count Dooku
 * Tom Kane as Yoda, Narrator
 * Ashley Eckstein as Ahsoka Tano
 * Terrence Carson as Mace Windu
 * Olivia d'Abo as Luminara Unduli

Behind the scenes
"Have you ever killed a Jedi?''" "No, never." ''"Me neither."

- A deleted battle droid joke from the episode TV broadcast version.

The Episode Guide reveals a couple of lines not shown in the episode's TV broadcast. In addition to aforementioned joke, another usage of the famous line "I have a bad feeling about this", this time by the Jedi Nahdar Vebb, was cut due to time constraints. These deleted scenes were restored for the "Director's Cut" version of the episode that appears on the Star Wars: The Clone Wars The Complete Season One DVD.

The captured lightsaber Kit Fisto examines in Grievous' castle belonged to Jedi Master Neebo.

During the scene where Grievous is being repair, when his mask is being removed, his death scream from the Revenge of the Sith can be heard.

Awards
This episode won a Golden Reel Award for best sound editing in television animation.