The seventh episode of the television program Star Wars: The Clone Wars, titled "A Test of Strength," constitutes the fifth season. It was broadcasted on November 10th, 2012.
Ahsoka Tano gets ready to take the younglings back to the Jedi Temple located on Coruscant after their successful test that took place on Ilum. Meanwhile, as part of their learning experience, the younglings are scheduled to receive instruction from Huyang, the Jedi's foremost engineer and designer of lightsabers, regarding the proper construction of their lightsabers. Huyang makes a remark about Gungi being a Wookiee, mentioning the rarity of Wookiees joining the Jedi Order. He then quickly proceeds to introduce the younglings to the fundamental aspects of deciding on the style for their individual lightsabers. Ganodi expresses her doubts due to Huyang being a droid, but Huyang gives them the instructions needed to assemble their lightsabers using the parts he provides.
Regrettably, Hondo Ohnaka and his pirate crew intercept the Jedi training cruiser, with the intention of selling the younglings' crystals for a quick profit on the black market. They launch an assault on the ship, crippling its engines before R2-D2 can manage to escape. Subsequently, they board the vessel to capture the younglings and seize their valuable crystals. Upon boarding, Huyang requests that the younglings hand over their crystals for safekeeping, and they all comply, with the exception of Petro, who deceives Huyang by pretending to drop his crystal into the canister, while secretly keeping it in his possession.
Ahsoka successfully evacuates Huyang and the younglings into the ship's ventilation system just before the pirates are able to locate them. Now temporarily secure, Ahsoka dispatches Zatt and Ganodi to assist Artoo in securing the cockpit, while instructing Huyang and the remaining younglings to lock themselves inside the hold. Ahsoka's initial plan involves rerouting power to the engines, which would enable them to detach from the pirates' boarding tube connecting the two ships, thereby ejecting the intruders into the vacuum of space. While Ahsoka, Zatt, and Ganodi succeed in accomplishing their respective objectives, Huyang and the other younglings are forced out of the ventilation system by smoke and are cornered by the pirates. Petro cleverly utilizes his crystal and lightsaber, which he had assembled with a reversed emitter matrix, and tricks one of the pirates into activating it, causing it to explode and incapacitate them.
Following this event, the younglings opt to hinder the pirates by employing their lightsaber training drones as part of a well-thought-out trap. They successfully eliminate two pirates in this manner, but they encounter Ohnaka himself just before reaching the safety of the hold. Alerted by Zatt and Ganodi, Ahsoka arrives at the crucial moment to engage the pirates in combat, allowing the younglings and a damaged Huyang to escape to safety. While still outside the secure confines of the hold, Ahsoka instructs Zatt to carry out the final stage of the plan. As the Jedi cruiser breaks free, the docking tube's sealing is compromised and pulled away from the ship, managing to latch onto the pirate ship. However, as Ahsoka is closing the outer hatch, a remaining pirate knocks her into the tube. Consequently, she becomes Ohnaka's captive. Blaming her for his defeat, Hondo intends to find a way to profit from Ahsoka, leaving the younglings to deliver this grave news to the Jedi High Council.
"A Test of Strength" is the second part of a story arc consisting of four episodes, which was given the title "Young Jedi." A full-length 80-minute version was previewed at Celebration VI in August 2012 for families. It took the place of "The Rise of Clovis," which was originally reported in Star Wars Insider 134 as the seventh episode of Season Five. Some concepts presented in this story originated from a discarded pilot script for a spin-off TV series.
The lightsaber move executed by Petro, known as "the Whirlwind of Destiny," was created by a Star Wars fan named Brendon Lake and submitted as an entry in Hasbro's "Join the Jedi" competition.