Rising Malevolence

"Belief is not a matter of choice, but of conviction."

- Jedi Fortune Cookie

"Rising Malevolence" is the second episode of the first season of Star Wars: The Clone Wars. It is the second episode of the series overall. It was released in tandem with "Ambush" on October 3, 2008 on Cartoon Network.

Synopsis
Jedi Master Plo Koon locates a new Separatist warship in the Abregado System and commands his Republic fleet to attack it, after contacting Anakin Skywalker and Ahsoka Tano. Unaware of the power this ship possesses, Plo Koon's fleet is quickly taken down, with most of the crew dead or helpless inside of an Escape Pod.

General Grievous, who is commanding the new CIS flagship known as the Malevolence, gives the order to kill any remaining Republic forces. With Plo Koon and several Clones inside of an escape pod, they wait hopeful for a rescue while Anakin and Ahsoka search for them.

Cast
Starring
 * Matt Lanter as Anakin Skywalker
 * Ashley Eckstein as Ahsoka Tano
 * James Arnold Taylor as Obi-Wan Kenobi / 4-A7 / Plo Koon
 * Dee Bradley Baker as Clone Troopers
 * Tom Kane as Yoda / Admiral Yularen / Narrator
 * Corey Burton as Count Dooku
 * Terrence 'TC' Carson as Mace Windu
 * Ian Abercrombie as Chancellor Palpatine
 * Tim Brock as Medical Droid
 * Matthew Wood as General Grievous / Battle Droids

Crew
Created and Executive Produced by
 * George Lucas

Produced by
 * Catherine Winder

Supervising Director
 * Dave Filoni

Directed by
 * Dave Filoni

Assistant Director
 * Justin Ridge

Written by
 * Steven Melching

Story Editor
 * Henry Gilroy

Score by
 * Kevin Kiner

Original Star Wars Themes and Score by
 * John Williams

Characters

 * Boost
 * Cody DVD extended version
 * Dooku
 * Grievous
 * Obi-Wan Kenobi
 * Plo Koon
 * Palpatine
 * R2-D2
 * Rex DVD extended version
 * Sinker
 * Anakin Skywalker
 * Ahsoka Tano
 * TB-2
 * Mace Windu
 * Wolffe
 * Yoda
 * Wullf Yularen

Droid models

 * Rocket Battle Droid
 * Astromech Droid
 * Medical Droid

Locations

 * Abregado-rae
 * Anza

Events

 * Clone Wars
 * Battle of Abregado
 * Battle of Bothawui

Behind the scenes

 * Two actors reprise their roles from previous Star Wars media.
 * Terrence 'TC' Carson (Mace Windu) reprises his role from Star Wars: Clone Wars.
 * Matthew Wood (General Grievous) reprises his role from Star Wars: Episode III Revenge of the Sith.
 * Commander Wolffe's clone troopers have stylized wolf muzzles painted on their helmets.
 * The entry hatchways to the escape pods aboard the Triumphant have the Republic "cog" logo on it.
 * Booster and Sinker's attempt to restart the escape pod's power grid uses dialogue directly lifted from The Empire Strikes Back when Han Solo and Chewbacca are trying to fix the Millennium Falcon.
 * The second escape pod, Pod 1977, is named after the release year of the original Star Wars.
 * The firing channel shot of the ion cannon is a nod to the shot design of the Death Star firing in Episode IV.
 * In the credits, James Arnold Taylor is erroneously listed as portraying 4-A7, who does not appear in this episode.