A Necessary Bond

"General Grievous initiates a large-scale assault on Florrum's pirate stronghold, forcing Ahsoka and the young Jedi initiates to collaborate with Hondo and his pirate crew to repel the Separatist invasion."

Ahsoka, accompanied by the youngling team she rescued, urgently tries to get back to the Crucible. They are joined by a group of Weequay pirates belonging to Hondo Ohanka's crew, all riding in a speeder tank, while being chased intensely. After several failed tries, Petro finally gets in touch with R2-D2 and Ganodi who are on their cruiser. They have just brought Huyang back online (though without his arms). Immediately, the trio heads out to help their friends, attempting to pick them up mid-chase using the cruiser's boarding ramp. However, during the extraction, their speeder approaches a deep ravine, causing Petro to swerve, leaving Byph and Gungi hanging dangerously from the ramp. During a subsequent attempt, the pirates manage to inflict critical damage to the cruiser's engines, leading to an immediate evacuation of the Crucible before it crashes onto the Florrum plains, destroying the Jedi's transport. Consequently, they are all captured and imprisoned on the pirate's tank.

With the Jedi now in restraints, the pirates make their way back to their base, only to be unpleasantly surprised by the arrival of a Separatist droid army led by General Grievous himself. Catching the pirates off guard, Grievous establishes a holo-communication link, through which Count Dooku gets in touch with Ohnaka. The Count, remembering Hondo's less-than-ideal hospitality during their initial meeting, declares his intention to seize control of the planet and dismantle Ohnaka's weaponry. When Ohnaka objects, he is promptly imprisoned.

Faced with a shared predicament and the necessity to escape the Separatists, Ahsoka begins to reason with her captors. She suggests that the pirates must have hidden ships somewhere, and the pirate leader reveals that Hondo indeed possesses a secret fleet, but only he knows its location. Ahsoka argues that her knowledge of Grievous, like Hondo's knowledge of the fleet, could be valuable, prompting the pirates to release her and the younglings. Ahsoka then formulates a plan to use R2 and the pirate's tank as a distraction for the droids, while she and a select group infiltrate the pirate base to locate Hondo's cell. After some debate, Hondo insists that the younglings display their lightsabers to prove their readiness for the upcoming battle. The younglings activate their sabers, except for Katooni, who is still struggling to assemble hers correctly. With encouragement from Huyang and Hondo, Katooni finally manages to properly assemble her weapon and free Hondo from his electronic restraints.

The allied Jedi and pirates then work to free the rest of Hondo's crew, but a droid manages to alert Grievous to their presence. Grievous decides to eliminate the problem by ordering the prison section to be destroyed by his tanks. However, the group manages to escape and flee the base in their remaining vehicles, prompting Grievous and several STAPs to pursue them. Barely avoiding their pursuers, who continue to chase Ahsoka and the other Jedi, Katooni, Hondo, and his pirates reach a hidden hangar where Hondo's secret ships are stored. Initially, Hondo intends to flee the battle, but Katooni manages to appeal to his sense of honor.

Meanwhile, Grievous engages Ahsoka in combat and prepares to board the Jedi Initiates' speeder tank, which forces R2 to perform risky maneuvers in an attempt to dislodge him. However, this action results in the tank crashing. The stunned Jedi recover as Grievous reappears, ready to continue the fight as the younglings unite behind Ahsoka, ready to battle. Grievous moves in for the kill when Ohnaka's escape ship, the rebuilt Slave I, arrives to rescue Ahsoka and the Jedi Initiates. Ahsoka directs the younglings to board the ship and engages Grievous in combat to cover their escape. Despite Ahsoka's acrobatic maneuvers and Force abilities, Grievous proves to be a formidable opponent, overpowering the Padawan with his multiple limbs and clawed feet. Their lightsabers clash until Grievous grabs Ahsoka with his clawed feet, throws her into the air, and slams her down as he charges, his blades spinning rapidly as she rolls before leaping onto her feet and their blades meet. An exhausted Ahsoka shoved Grievous hard enough, then jumped over him and fled. She manages to escape onto the ship, and before Hondo can retaliate against Grievous, a squad of AATs forces them to retreat, leaving Grievous to laugh in victory.

After encountering a Republic rescue team that has already rescued Obi-Wan Kenobi and the surviving members of his forces following their near-fatal defeat at the hands of Grievous, Ohnaka attempts to excuse his actions by claiming that his attack on the Crucible was merely a "rescue mission." Due to amusement and Hondo's aid to the younglings, Obi-Wan decides to let the matter drop. Hondo departs, but not before giving Katooni a nod of appreciation. Obi-Wan approaches Ahsoka, expressing his relief at seeing her and the younglings safe. Ahsoka's response prompts Huyang to comment that their mission was as eventful as when Master Yoda went to retrieve his kyber crystal. After praising the younglings for their success in the liberation mission, Obi-Wan invites them to form a circle with their ignited lightsabers, formally inducting the younglings into the Jedi Order.

"A Necessary Bond" concludes a four-part narrative arc, known as "Young Jedi," which was previewed as an 80-minute feature at Celebration VI in August 2012 for family audiences. It replaced "Secret Weapons," initially reported by Star Wars Insider 137, as the ninth episode of Season Five. Some concepts in this story originated from a discarded pilot script for a spin-off TV series.