Senate Murders

"Searching for the truth is easy. Accepting the truth is hard."

- Moral

"Senate Murders" is the fifteenth episode of Season Two of the Star Wars: The Clone Wars television series. It aired on March 12, 2010 in Canada, March 13 in the UK, and March 19 in the US.

Official description
"When Senator Onaconda Farr dies under suspicious circumstances, Padmé sets out to find the person responsible for the death of her favorite &#39;uncle.

Plot summary
Padmé's party loses another Senator's support, who was worried about public opinion. However, Onaconda Farr is optimistic that they win this matter. When Padmé goes on the floor of the Grand Convocation Chamber in the Senate, she reasons that increasing clone production would only strain the Republic's finances and only lead to more bloodshed. She advocates that if they put a stop this, then they can return to the use of diplomacy. Everyone applauds her speech as a result. However, when she exits her hover platform, Senator Mee Deechi comments on her performance, though not as a compliment, just considering it unpatriotic. Padmé retorts that the only unpatriotic thing she finds is his advocation of war.

Padmé, Bail Organa, Farr, Lolo Purs and Mon Mothma celebrate with drinks. However, their celebration is rudely interrupted by Senator Halle Burtoni, who accuses them of being Separatist supporters for opposing the production bill. Padmé and Lolo protest that they were only trying to return to the use of diplomacy, to which Burtoni claims had failed the Republic long ago. Farr ushers her out, reminding her that though the Kaminoans' contribution with the clones may have gotten them into the Republic, it does not give her free reign around the Senate. Burtoni leaves anyway, but not before warning that the war will not end soon. As the Senators toast, Farr suddenly has trouble breathing before collapsing.

Later, Farr is a given a funeral, before being transported back to Rodia. Padmé tries comforting Lolo, who was Farr's protege, before they are summoned to Chancellor Palpatine's office, where multiple police droids are. Inspector Tan Divo explains to them that Farr was murdered, instantly killed by poison. He believes that some secret of his came out and one of his political opponents decided to eliminate him. Padmé and Organa insist that Farr had no secrets and even his enemies respected him. Divo states that he will carry out this investigation his way.

Padmé and her group try speculating who would want to kill Farr and if they are next. However, Padmé decides to investigate this alone, though Mothma advises that Organa accompany her, while the bill is delayed. They both go the most likely suspects: Deechi and Burtoni. However, their opposition denies doing so, as they respectively respected Farr and considered his words a cause for more credits. Deechi lets slip that the night before Farr died, he had a clandestine meeting at the docks; when asked how he knew, Deechi states that though he respects Farr, it doesn't mean he will have him followed.

Padmé and Organa arrive at the docks, only to be attacked by a hooded figure, who shoots at them atop cargo containers. Their attacker escapes by releasing a container right by them after a chase, knocking Organa off and left him hanging on the edge. Padmé is forced to help him, just before Coruscant Security Force arrives. Divo isn't happy that they took matters into their own hands, and tells them that they should've come to him first, for they've now alerted the killer. Padmé then realizes that Deechi must have set them up. But when they returned to the Senate, they find Deechi's corpse, stabbed in the chest.

Divo puts the Senators under protective custody, in case the killer is after them. Lolo however, refuses to cooperate and walks out. Divo then asks the others who else knew that they were at the docks. When Padmé answers that it is Burtoni, Divo goes to her office, only for his droids to inform him that she had already left. When he returns to the Senators, Lolo comes rushing in, stating that Burtoni had attacked her. CSF arrests Burtoni, who denies murdering Farr or attacking Lolo. Divo attempts to trick her into confessing, putting together that she conveniently was in Padmé and Deechi's office and may have been at the docks. He further presents a datapad detailing that Farr was killed by a Kaminoan-made poison that only affects Rodians. Despite Burtoni's protests, Divo orders her to be taken away. Padmé, however, realizes that the poison must have been in all their drinks earlier and Lolo might've been poisoned too. Found out, Lolo pulls out her blaster and takes Padmé hostage. She reveals that she hated Farr for bringing the war to Rodia, so she had to kill him after failing to frighten him at the docks and Deechi too, since he learned about it. Divo summons police droids to surprise her from behind, before Padmé knocks the blaster out of her hand and delivers a jaw breaking knock out punch.

Later, the bill for clone production has been passed. Padmé runs into Palpatine in the halls of the Senate, who tells her that the reinforcements will help further their way to peace.

Cast

 * Catherine Taber as Padmé Amidala
 * Phil LaMarr as Bail Prestor Organa, Senate Guard
 * Tom Kenny as Lt. Tan Divo, Silood
 * Jennifer Hale as Lolo Purs
 * Jameelah McMillan as Halle Burtoni
 * Kath Soucie as Mon Mothma
 * Dee Bradley Baker as Onaconda Farr, police droid
 * Gideon Emery as Mee Deechi
 * Ian Abercrombie as Chancellor Palpatine
 * Tom Kane as Narrator

Behind the scenes
The episode aired in both Canada and the United Kingdom a week before it was scheduled to air in the United States. However, the American iTunes Store released "Senate Murders" for download a week before the American air date as well. It was taken down from iTunes a short while after being posted.

About 8 months after this episode aired, two prequel episodes to "Senate Murders" aired on Cartoon Network. The first aired, Heroes on Both Sides, depicted the events that would up cause the Senate to create a bill proposing more troop production. The following episode, Pursuit of Peace, introduced the bill and the opposition, as well as how the opposing Senators were threatened by outside forces.