The Gathering

"He who faces himself, finds himself."

- Jedi Fortune Cookie

"The Gathering" is the sixth episode of the fifth season of Star Wars: The Clone Wars. It is the ninety-fourth episode of the series overall. It was released on November 3, 2012 on Cartoon Network.

Synopsis
6 Jedi youngling graduates, the top of their class, have been selected to participate in the Gathering, where they will build their own lightsabers. They are Katooni, a Tholothian; Petro, a Human;, Byph, an Ithorian; Ganodi, a Rodian; Gungi, a Wookiee; and Zatt, a Nautolan. Ahsoka Tano escorts them to the freezing world of Ilum, where Master Yoda presides over the Gathering. Yoda explains the Gathering to the younglings: They must enter the cave in front of them and find their crystal, and only they can know which crystal is theirs. However, as soon as the sun starts going down, the cave entrance will re-freeze, and anyone still in the cave will be trapped in there for one night rotation. On Ilum, however, one night rotation is equal to 19 days. The younglings then head into the cave.

Petro, eager to find his crystal as quickly as possible, separates from the group despite Katooni's urging for the group to stay together. The remaining five younglings head down a passage together, which opens up into three more passages. Katooni decides that each of them should trust their instincts and point to a passage while closing their eyes. However, Byph is the only one to choose the far-right tunnel, and the cowardly Ithorian must now go through the cave alone.

Meanwhile, Petro finds a crystal at the edge of a cliff, and excitedly races back outside. However, when Petro admits that he left the others behind, his crystal melts, and he is forced to go back into the caves, as half of the entrance is already frozen. Meanwhile, Byph walks down the cave passage, when he sees a red shape that looks like a monster. However, Byph sees his crystal inside the monster's mouth, and despite being extremely scared, Byph inches his way to the monster. Eventually, Byph reaches his crystal, and upon pulling it out the monster loses its red glow, revealing it just to be a rock formation.

Meanwhile, Katooni and Zatt walk down the passage looking for crystals, when Katooni sees one on the top of a rocky slope. She is at first unwilling to climb it, but Zatt reminds her that it's her crystal, and he continues on alone. Katooni gathers enough confidence to climb the slope, and after a while she finally makes it to the top, where her crystal is. Katooni then opts to take the passageway at the top rather than go back down. Meanwhile, Zatt finds himself unable to find a crystal despite his transmitter's help. Zatt angrily throws his transmitter down, but in the process several shards of ice fall, revealing a crystal behind a wall of ice. An excited Zatt uses his transmitter to blow up the wall of ice, and eagerly gets his crystal.

Meanwhile, Ganodi and Gungi find themselves in a shore of ice, and Gungi sees his crystal across a pool of water. However, GHumanungi cannot get across, and Ganodi implores him to wait for the pool to freeze over, as she continues on. An impatient Gungi is exasperated at having to wait, but then starts meditating until the pool freezes over. Gungi then races to his crystal, and retrieves it after slipping and sliding. Meanwhile, Ganodi continues on until she finds a cavern full of crystals. Unsure of which one to pick, Ganodi starts to break down. However, she eventually calms down and decides to trust her instincts and choose a crystal with her eyes closed. Ganodi is happy that she found the right one, and heads back.

All the younglings except Katooni and Petro make it outside, and start to worry for the two as the entrance is very close to freezing over completely. Meanwhile, while trying to find a way out, the ground gives from under Katooni, who finds herself trapped by a wall of ice. Petro, still looking for his crystal, finds Katooni, but doesn't help her because he is desperate for his crystal. However, as he turns the corner, Petro is stricken by his conscience and returns to help Katooni. Together, the two younglings shatter the ice, and Katooni implores Petro to return with her quickly. However, Petro stays behind, seeing a crystal in the rubble in the ice cavern. Katooni manages to get back outside, just as the entrance becomes completely frozen over. The younglings worry about Petro, but at that moment Petro breaks through the ice with his crystal. Yoda says that it was just ice that blocked the cave entrance, and that the younglings would only have been trapped in their minds. Yoda reflects on the lessons each youngling learned: Byph, courage, Katooni, confidence, Zatt, trust, Ganodi, hope, Gungi, patience, and Petro, selflessness. The younglings then rejoice as the Gathering officially concludes.

Cast
Starring
 * Olivia Hack as Katooni
 * Jeff Fischer as Petro
 * Tom Kane as Yoda / Narrator
 * Greg Cipes as Zatt
 * Georgina Cordova as Ganodi
 * Dee Bradley Baker as Byph
 * Ashley Eckstein as Ahsoka Tano

Crew
Created and Executive Produced by
 * George Lucas

Supervising Director
 * Dave Filoni

Produced by
 * Cary Silver

Directed by
 * Kyle Dunlevy

Written by
 * Christian Taylor

Score by
 * Kevin Kiner

Original Star Wars Themes and Score by
 * John Williams

Characters

 * Byph
 * Ganodi
 * Gungi
 * Kit Fisto
 * Adi Gallia
 * Steela Gerrera
 * Jesse
 * Obi-Wan Kenobi
 * Katooni
 * Plo Koon
 * Petro
 * R2-D2
 * Rex
 * Tera Sinube
 * Anakin Skywalker
 * Ahsoka Tano
 * Yoda
 * Zatt

Locations

 * Coruscant
 * Jedi Temple
 * Ilum
 * Onderon
 * Umbara

Events

 * Clone Wars
 * Battle of Patitite Pattuna
 * Battle of Umbara
 * Gathering

Behind the scenes

 * An 80-minute, four-part story arc titled "Young Jedi" was previewed at Celebration VI in August 2012 to family viewers.
 * Originally, "An Old Friend" was scheduled to be the sixth episode in Season Five, but Cartoon Network's online schedule listed "The Gathering" as the season's sixth episode instead.