The Soft War

"Struggles often begin and end with the truth."

- Moral

"The Soft War" is the fourth episode of the Star Wars: The Clone Wars television series' fifth season. It aired on October 20, 2012.

Official description
"After a rebel attempt to rescue Onderon's true king, Ramsis Dendup, an unexpected ally steps forward to halt Dendup's execution and aid the rebel cause."

Synopsis
The Onderon rebels continue their attacks on the Separatist droid forces occupying the capital, but despite their continued successes, they are once again hard-pressed to gain the people's trust and support. Sanjay Rash, the Separatists' puppet king, again accuses his predecessor and prisoner, Ramsis Dendup, of having triggered this terrorist movement, despite Dendup's protestations, and orders his execution the very next day in order to shatter the rebels' morale. At the same time, Ahsoka feels more and more torn between her duties as a Jedi and the orders of the Council and her sympathy for the rebels, but in the end she feels that she must follow orders and allow the rebel movement to gain strength on its own.

When one of the rebels, Dono, brings news of the impending execution, Steela decides to free King Dendup as he is brought to the executioner's block in order to use the publicity of this event to win the people's support. Her brother Saw, however, still disgruntled about not having been chosen as the rebel leader, decides to break out Dendup immediately, and sets off to the palace alone. He manages to find his way to the king and profess his movement's loyalty to him, but as he prepares to rescue his ruler, a one-way shield foils his attempt and he is captured. He is subsequently tortured by Kalani so that he should reveal whatever he knows about the rebels, but Saw holds firm, and General Tandin, commander of the Onderon military forces, stalls further torture before Saw is killed off. Later on, the two men have a private talk, where Tandin's desire to sit still in order to preserve his people's lives clash with Saw's dedication to his cause and loyalty to his king.

When Dono, who was sent by Steela to keep a watch on Saw, returns with the news that Saw has been captured, Lux and the other rebels prepare to mount a rescue, but Steela and Ahsoka hold them, pointing out that rescuing Dendup is paramount. The next morning, Steela, Lux, Ahsoka and a small troop of rebels go to the palace square where Dendup's execution is about to begin, along with Saw's. They manage to halt the execution, but before they can escape, a squad of super battle droids and destroyers appear and surround them, killing Dono in the process. Under the order of Dendup, the rebels lay down their arms and are forced to watch as Rash attempts to repeat the execution. But then an unexpected ally makes his move: Tandin, disgusted by the Separatists' and Rash's takeover of his homeworld and stirred by Saw's arguments, leads a squad of his soldiers, freeing Dendup and the rebels and allowing them to escape by taking Rash as a temporary hostage. Before he can be killed by the droids, Ahsoka, abandoning her orders to remain inactive, steps in and uses a Force wave against to knock out the droids over; when Rash orders the droids to go after them as they escape, the outraged spectators in the palace square rise against them, stemming themselves against the droid squad and thus allowing Ahsoka and Tandin to escape.

Later, in the rebels' hideout, both the rebels and the Onderon army, represented by Tandin, pledge their loyalty to their rightful king, and with renewed confidence a grateful Dendup decides that winning their people's trust is the best way to counter a retaliatory strike by Count Dooku for his liberation, making his loyalists, including a reconciled Saw, cheer. Later on, as Ahsoka reports to Obi-Wan and her master, she reveals that the involvement of the Jedi in the rebellion has now become public knowledge; and thus the Jedi are forced to decide whether they should now openly take sides in the impending battle ...

Cast

 * Andrew Kishino as Saw Gerrera, Rebel and Citizen
 * Dawn-Lyen Gardner as Steela Gerrera, Rebel and Citizen
 * David Kaye as General Tandin, Rebel and Citizen
 * Kirk Thornton as King Sanjay Rash, Rebel and Citizen
 * Barry Dennen as King Ramsis Dendup, Rebel and Citizen
 * Jason Spisak as Lux Bonteri, Rebel and Citizen
 * Ashley Eckstein as Ahsoka Tano
 * Gregg Berger as Kalani, Rebel and Citizen
 * Nika Futterman as Dono, Citizen and Rebel
 * Matthew Wood as Battle Droids
 * James Arnold Taylor as Obi-Wan Kenobi
 * Matt Lanter as Anakin Skywalker
 * Tom Kane as narrator