Duel of the Droids

"You hold onto friends by keeping your heart a little softer than your head."

- Jedi Fortune Cookie

"Duel of the Droids" is the seventh episode of the first season of Star Wars: The Clone Wars. It is the seventh episode of the series overall. It was released on November 14, 2008 on Cartoon Network.

Synopsis
Anakin heads a rescue mission to save Artoo before his secrets fall into Separatist hands, as well as plant a bomb. At the station, Anakin separates from Ahsoka and the clones, heading out alone to find Artoo. Unbeknownst to them, R3-S6 is actually a spy for the Separatists, and alerts General Grievous to their presence. Tano and the clones infiltrated the reactor control room, but they had to confront and eliminate the security battle droids.

Anakin has succeeded in finding R2-D2, and duels Grievous' MagnaGuards. Once they are defeated, he and Artoo order everyone to rendezvous in the south hangar. Unfortunately, Ahsoka does not hear them, as Grievous has engaged her and her clones. The general kills all clones but Rex and Denal. Ahsoka defends herself against Grievous's blows and retreats to a room filled with spare droid parts. She hides from the general, but R3 gives her away. Grievous destroys her comlink, and she manages to escape through a vent.

Meanwhile, R2 manages to open the hangar doors, but R3 moves to intercept him, and the two droids face each other in combat. R2 pushes his Separatist counterpart over the edge, but R3 grabs him with a suction cup. Artoo succeeds in cutting the cable, and R3-S6 is sent flying into the air, and he is destroyed by flying debris. R2-D2 is then rescued by Anakin.

As they leave the system, Anakin contacts Obi-Wan. While they succeeded, Obi-Wan disapproves of Anakin's choice to risk the mission and all their lives to save a droid. While Ahsoka is happy they got R2 back, she agrees with Obi-Wan. But Anakin says R2 is more than a droid: he is a friend.

Cast
Starring
 * Matt Lanter as Anakin Skywalker
 * Ashley Eckstein as Ahsoka Tano
 * Dee Bradley Baker as Clone Troopers
 * Matthew Wood as General Grievous / Battle Droids
 * Ron Perlman as Gha' Nachkt
 * James Arnold Taylor as Obi-Wan Kenobi
 * Tom Kane as Narrator

Crew
Created and Executive Produced by
 * George Lucas

Produced by
 * Catherine Winder

Supervising Director
 * Dave Filoni

Directed by
 * Rob Coleman

Written by
 * Kevin Campbell
 * Henry Gilroy

Score by
 * Kevin Kiner

Original Star Wars Themes and Score by
 * John Williams

Characters

 * Rex
 * Denal
 * General Grievous
 * Obi-Wan Kenobi
 * Gha Nachkt
 * R2-D2
 * R3-S6
 * Anakin Skywalker
 * Ahsoka Tano
 * Unidentified Aqualish technician
 * Unidentified clone trooper pilot

Droid models

 * Astromech Droid
 * B1 Battle Droid
 * B2 Super Battle Droid

Locations

 * Ruusan
 * Skytop Station

Events

 * Clone Wars
 * Mission to Skytop Station

Behind the scenes

 * In the original broadcast version, there is a scene where after Ahsoka says to Anakin, "I hope you find Artoo in one piece.", in which Anakin replies "Get going, Snips.", after which Ahsoka says to Rex and the rest of the clone troopers, "Looks like it's up to us to complete the mission, as usual." and walk off as the scene fades out to the commercials. The scene however was cut from the DVD release of Season One and goes right to the scene where Gha Nachkt ripping R2-D2 apart to plunder Republic info for General Grievous after the commercials.
 * An IG-100 MagnaGuard is decapitated and does not continue fighting.