The Clone Wars Episode Guide: Counterattack

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Counterattack jumps straight into the chaos of the Citadel arc’s midpoint, where every move feels like a scramble for survival. Anakin, Obi‑Wan, Ahsoka and the rescue team push deeper into enemy territory, and the episode keeps a tight grip on tension as they try to outmaneuver traps, droids and the Citadel’s brutal design. It’s fast, punchy and full of that “we’re not out yet” energy that makes this arc so fun to revisit.

Zooming out, the episode adds a great sense of momentum to the larger storyline. The Citadel’s oppressive atmosphere, the rising stakes and the constant pressure on the characters give this chapter a gritty edge. It’s one of those entries where teamwork, desperation and clever strategy all collide, making it a strong and memorable piece of the Holocron archive.

The Clone Wars Episode Guide: Counterattack

Episode No.: 63 (Season 3, Episode 19)
Production No.: 315 (Season 3, Episode 15)
Original Air Date: March 4, 2011

“Anything that can go wrong will.”

Written by Matt Michnovetz
Directed by Brian Kalin O’Connell

Cast:
James Arnold Taylor as Obi-Wan Kenobi – Osi Sobeck – Plo Koon
Matt Lanter as Anakin Skywalker
Matthew Wood as battle droids – commando droids
Ashley Eckstein as Ahsoka Tano – K2-B4
Stephen Stanton as Tarkin
Dee Bradley Baker as clone troopers
Blair Bess as Even Piell
Tom Kane as the narrator – Yoda
Corey Burton as Count Dooku
Terrence Carson as Mace Windu

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Synopsis: With freed prisoners in their possession and the brutal warden attempting desperately to thwart them, Obi-Wan and Anakin search for a way out of the Citadel and back to Coruscant. The prison, however, has more traps, perils and pitfalls in store for them than they had imagined and they must work past their differences if they are to escape. Their bid to board their shuttle fails when heavy weapons fire destroys the escape craft. Trooper Echo dies in the blast. The escapees then flee to the caves and call for rescue from the Jedi Temple on Coruscant.

Returning Characters: Anakin Skywalker, Obi-Wan Kenobi, Ahsoka Tano, R2-D2, Clone Captain Rex, Clone Commander Cody, Echo, Fives, OOM-10, K2-B4, Plo Koon, Mace Windu, Saesee Tiin,

Worlds Visited: Lola Sayu

Secrets Revealed

• Seen several times throughout the Citadel are mouse droids, the same little boxy droids seen as messengers aboard the Death Star and Star Destroyers in the original trilogy, and on Mustafar in Episode III.
• Anakin’s hopping on a STAP is an echo from way back in 2008, The Clone Wars animated story.
• The entire sequence where Obi-Wan and Even Piell try to sneak around the landing platform when they emerge from the ventilation duct was originally shot on top of the citadel tower. It was later moved with minimal pickups to the landing area behind the tower, on the ground.
• Obi-Wan’s line to Osi Sobeck, “I must say, you’re not at all what I pictured. Someone with such a soft voice,” is particularly ironic given that actor James Arnold Taylor voices both characters.
• The monitoring devices along the walls of the Citadel seen in these three episodes are designed after similar devices seen aboard the Death Star in Episode IV.
• The non-existent Separatist outpost that OOM-10 mentions as part of his bluff is Point Tarron.
• To differentiate Lola Sayu’s hellish conditions from the lava planet Mustafar, its molten rivers are colored a bright yellow, to suggest sulfur. Given what sulfurous deposits smell like, it’s understandable Tarkin and Anakin hold their noses.

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