Battle of Teth

In the wake of the First Battle of Geonosis, Count Dooku's Separatist Droid Army managed to gain dominance over the primary hyperspace lanes, effectively isolating the Galactic Republic from a significant portion of its recently established clone army. Seeking to fortify routes within the Outer Rim Territories, Dooku, acting upon the instructions of Darth Sidious, forged an agreement with Ziro the Hutt, the uncle of Jabba the Hutt. This agreement involved the abduction of Jabba's son, Rotta, with the ultimate goal of positioning him as the head of the Hutt Clans. Consequently, Dooku dispatched Admiral Trench, General Whorm Loathsom, and Sith assassin Asajj Ventress with the task of impeding the progress of Jedi Generals Anakin Skywalker and Obi-Wan Kenobi on the planet Christophsis. Following Ventress's fought engagement with Skywalker and Kenobi, Loathsom, accompanied by a T-series tactical droid, introduced reinforcements to prolong the delay of the Jedi, while Ventress proceeded to the subsequent phase of Dooku's scheme.

Ventress then journeyed to Tatooine, where she launched an assault on the Khetanna, Jabba's personal sail barge, resulting in Rotta's abduction. She transported him to a monastery situated on Teth. Jabba's security personnel boarded a skiffs and proceeded to Jabba's Palace to relay the news. Jabba then issued a plea for assistance, directing it towards the Republic, the Confederacy, and his network of bounty hunters. Supreme Chancellor Sheev Palpatine made the determination that the Jedi should extend aid to Jabba, with the aim of securing access to the Hutt's space lanes within the Outer Rim for the purpose of troop deployment. Despite Jedi Master Mace Windu's misgivings regarding dealings with the Hutts, Windu held the belief that there were underlying motives behind the abduction. Windu, aware that General Grievous had stretched their forces thin, could only afford to dispatch Kenobi and Skywalker.

Grand Master Yoda dispatched Padawan Ahsoka Tano to Christophsis bearing directives for Kenobi and Skywalker to establish contact with them. Subsequently, Yoda and Windu received intelligence indicating that two scouts had located Jabba's bounty hunters at a deserted monastery on Teth, under the guard of two battle droid battalions. Yoda then arrived with reinforcements, bringing an end to the battle on Christophsis. He assigned Kenobi to negotiate a treaty with Jabba while Skywalker and his new apprentice, Ahsoka Tano, undertook the rescue of his son. Despite Skywalker's reservations about Jabba, Skywalker, Tano, and Captain Rex organized their troops and set course for Teth.

Jabba's bounty hunters were beheaded and had their heads returned to him at his palace. Kenobi traveled to Tatooine, where he assured Jabba that Skywalker would retrieve his son. However, Jabba cautioned that failure to do so would result in Dooku and his droid army taking action. He granted Kenobi a single planetary rotation to ensure his son's safe return. Following Kenobi's departure, Dooku engaged in a conversation with Jabba, alleging that the Jedi were deceiving him and were, in fact, responsible for his son's abduction. Initially, Jabba dismissed Dooku's claims and demanded proof. Dooku assured Jabba that he would provide it, instructing Ventress and the RA-7 protocol droid 4-A7 to acquire the necessary data.

Skywalker arrived on Teth, where he received information from Windu's scouts indicating the presence of at least two battle droid battalions entrenched at the monastery. Skywalker, Tano, Rex, and the rest of Torrent Company, a military unit composed of [clone troopers](/article/clone_trooper], utilized LAAT/i gunships and AT-TEs to land on Teth. They were compelled to land below the monastery to evade the dwarf spider droids' artillery fire. Skywalker and his forces employed their ascension cables to ascend the cliffside. During their ascent, Skywalker and his men successfully neutralized the battle droids' external defenses. Upon reaching the monastery, they encountered a caretaker droid, 4-A7, who disclosed the location where the battle droids were holding their prisoner. Skywalker and Tano navigated through the Separatist defenses and located Rotta, who was sick. Ventress and 4-A7 managed to capture footage of Skywalker and Tano placing Rotta in a backpack, with Skywalker expressing his dislike for Hutts. Ventress transmitted the recording to Dooku, who then ordered her to rescue the Huttlet. Dooku subsequently presented the recording to Jabba, convincing him that the Jedi had abducted his son. Dooku informed him that his droid army was planning to rescue his son. When Jabba inquired about Dooku's motives, Dooku proposed the possibility of the Hutt Clans allying with the Confederacy.

A clone sergeant reported to Rex that all remaining battle droids had been destroyed. Skywalker then communicated with Master Kenobi regarding Rotta, informing him of Rotta's medical condition and the Separatist involvement. However, Skywalker, his R2 series astromech droid R2-D2, and his forces came under attack by Ventress' reinforcements. Kenobi informed them that he would dispatch Republic reinforcements to the planet. Skywalker, Tano, Rex, and their forces retreated into the monastery, sealing the doors. Tano persuaded her master that they needed to ensure Rotta's safe return to his father by finding a means of escape. Skywalker departed with Ahsoka and Rotta, while Rex and his men remained behind to impede the enemy forces. After Ventress breached the locks, the droids stormed the monastery, subduing the clones. As Ventress instructed her troops to secure the monastery, Rex attempted to shoot her but was thwarted. Ventress then Force choked Rex and demanded that he reveal Skywalker's whereabouts. When Rex refused, Ventress employed a mind trick to compel him to contact the Jedi Knight. However, Rex resisted and alerted Skywalker by using his first name during the call. Skywalker then became convinced that Ventress intended to kill Rotta.

As Skywalker and Tano moved to rejoin Rex, Rotta spotted a ship at another landing platform. Skywalker decided they would go for it, using a can-cell to get there. Tano briefly dueled with Ventress before her master came back for her. Once there, they found 4-A7, who exposed himself as a Separatist spy. Skywalker and Tano took the ship and left. Following this, Kenobi, Clone Marshal Commander Cody and their reinforcements arrived and rescued Captain Rex and Torrent Company from Ventress' battle droids. Kenobi confronted Ventress, engaging her in a lightsaber duel, fighting through the monastery. During that time, Skywalker attempted to land on Admiral Wullf Yularen's Venator-class Star Destroyer. However, Separatist vulture droids destroyed the Star Destroyer's hangars, forcing Skywalker to take the ship to Tatooine. Kenobi and Ventress sensed that Skywalker was gone. Kenobi offered Ventress a chance to surrender, but instead, she escaped onto a vulture droid. Following this, Kenobi rejoined Rex and his forces in finishing the battle.

After escaping, Ventress contacted Dooku and Jabba, telling them that the battle was lost and lying that Skywalker had killed Rotta. Despite this, Dooku convinced Jabba to let him take of care of Skywalker. Due to Dooku's lies, Jabba refused to accept any communications from Chancellor Palpatine and the Jedi. Naboo Senator Padmé Amidala tried to broker a treaty with the Hutts through Jabba's uncle, Ziro. However, Amidala learned that Ziro was conspiring with Dooku in order to take control of the Hutt clans. Ziro took her prisoner, but she was saved by her protocol droid, C-3PO, who alerted Commander Fox and his Coruscant Guard. As Skywalker and Tano prepared to land on Tatooine, they came under attack by MagnaGuards in Rogue-class Porax-38 starfighters. Despite destroying them, Skywalker and Tano were forced to crash-land in the Dune Sea.

Skywalker sensed that Dooku was coming to finish the job, so he sent Ahsoka and R2 to take Rotta to Jabba's Palace. Skywalker was found by Dooku and dueled him in order to distract the Sith Lord. However, Dooku anticipated this and had prepared his MagnaGuards for it. Skywalker was able to subdue Dooku and leave him in order to rescue his Padawan before she was killed by Jabba. As Skywalker entered the palace, Jabba told him that his son was not there. Skywalker threatened Jabba, despite telling him that he would die. Fortunately, Tano arrived with his son, alive. Still furious, Jabba ordered them to be executed. As his henchmen pulled out their blasters, Jabba was contacted by his uncle Ziro, but it was actually Amidala who revealed Ziro's part in Dooku's scheme. Jabba, seeing he had been deceived, then allowed the Republic access to to his space lanes and asked that Dooku be brought to justice. Despite the setback, Darth Sidious assured Dooku that the engines of war had turned in their favor.

The Battle of Teth had ended as one of the first of many missions Skywalker and Tano undertook together. Together, the two formed a formidable team. In 19 BBY, however, Tano would end up leaving the Jedi Order after she was falsely accused of a terrorist bombing. She embarked on the path of a Force-Sensitive Outcast, while Skywalker later fell to the dark side of the Force as the Sith Lord Darth Vader.

During the Battle of Endor of 4 ABY, Skywalker would turn his back on the Sith and return to the light side of the Force to save his son, Luke Skywalker, from Sidious. Skywalker sacrificed himself in the effort and became a Force spirit. After her duel with former Jedi Baylan Skoll in 9 ABY, Tano found herself in the World Between Worlds with Skywalker, who promised to finish her training. As part of her final lesson, she relived the Battle of Teth as a teenager again. She was surprised to be back in the Clone Wars before rushing into combat, soon reliving the Battle of Ryloth and the Siege of Mandalore as well.

The Battle of Teth appeared in the 2008 Star Wars: The Clone Wars film. The events of Rotta the Huttlet's capture were originally a three-episode story arc in the 2008 Star Wars: The Clone Wars television series' first season, but after producer George Lucas decided to debut the series with a theatrical release, the episodes were combined with another first-season episode entitled "The New Padawan" to form The Clone Wars film.

Three notable parts of the battle were cut from the final movie, despite being shown in the promotional material for the film: the duel in the monastery rancor pit, Skywalker and Tano's fight with the Vulture droid on the monastery's outer platform, and Tano's emptying of the Twilight's cargo hold. Director Dave Filoni later commented that he removed the rancor sequence as he had wanted to tell new stories that "feel" like Star Wars without repeating the original Star Wars itself.

The identity of what battle Ahsoka Tano first relived in "Part Five: Shadow Warrior" was left unconfirmed in the episode. When the Databank was updated with information from Ahsoka in late 2023, it was confirmed the engagement was the Battle of Teth.