Capture of Eeth Koth

Following the Galactic Republic's second invasion and capture of Geonosis during the Clone Wars against the Confederacy of Independent Systems in 21 BBY, a series of attacks targeted multiple hyperspace routes across the Outer Rim Territories. In response to these actions, Jedi General Eeth Koth and his Republic fleet set out to locate the individual responsible for these mysterious attacks. However, during that year, while the Jedi Master was traversing the deep Outer Rim space of the Saleucami system aboard his Venator-class Star Destroyer flagship, the Steadfast, Koth and his fleet were unexpectedly attacked by a Separatist fleet. This fleet consisted of a single Recusant-class light destroyer and three Munificent-class star frigates, commanded by General Grievous, who had chosen to target members of the Jedi High Council.

As Grievous's command ship and accompanying frigates ambushed Koth's fleet, with the frigates maintaining their distance, the Recusant-class light destroyer and the Steadfast engaged in a heavy exchange of turbolaser fire against each other's starboard hulls during broadside combat, resulting in significant damage to both ships. While under attack, Grievous's warship moved closer to the Steadfast's starboard side, preparing to connect an armored boarding tube to one of the Republic vessel's docking ports. As Grievous prepared to board the Star Destroyer, General Koth, on the command bridge, instructed his onboard unit of clone troopers, commanded by Clone Captain Lock, to prepare for Grievous's boarding. With Lock and several other clone troopers reinforcing the entry door, the Separatist general deployed multiple groups of B2-series super battle droids and BX-series droid commandos onto the Steadfast to engage the clone forces.

While the engagement unfolded on the warship's lower levels, Captain Lock received a communication from the Jedi General on the bridge, ordering him and his remaining clone troopers to proceed to the escape pods and evacuate the Steadfast. Although Koth intended to take on the responsibility of combating Grievous on the bridge himself, the Clone Captain attempted to reason with the Jedi, but Koth insisted on the evacuation. Following this command, Koth disabled communications with Lock as the Separatist commander arrived outside the blast doors leading to the bridge's command center. Outside the bridge, the Jedi Master and his accompanying clone troopers prepared defensive positions as Grievous breached the blast doors using his lightsabers. Cutting a circular opening in the doors, the Separatist commander forcefully entered the bridge, kicking the severed door pieces into an unsuspecting clone trooper.

Upon entering the command bridge, a squad of droid commandos followed through the opening and attacked the Jedi and his troopers. After killing several troopers and the two navigation officers on the bridge, the four battle droids focused their efforts on the Jedi Master, resulting in Koth being wounded when one of the droids shot his arm, causing him to drop his lightsaber, but not before he managed to destroy three of the droids. However, as the remaining droid attempted to eliminate the Jedi Master, a surviving clone trooper intervened, blasting the droid. With the commando droids destroyed, the surviving trooper was killed upon the arrival of a group of four IG-100 MagnaGuards, who surrounded Koth as Grievous leapt onto the communications table.

As Grievous began a conversation with Koth, the Separatist general expressed his desire to meet the Jedi Master in person, and Koth responded by criticizing Grievous for his reputation as a coward and murderer. In response to this criticism, the Separatist leader questioned whether the extermination of the Jedi Order could be considered murder, activating his lightsabers and kicking Koth backward, initiating a duel on the bridge. Grievous, closely followed by the MagnaGuards, forced Koth back toward the bridge's viewports with a series of parries and swings, creating distance between himself and the Jedi Master. The Jedi Master then used the Force to hurl the cyborg into the viewports.

However, as Grievous recovered and Koth attempted to strike at the cyborg, the general's MagnaGuards intervened, electrocuting the Jedi with their electrostaffs, allowing Grievous to engage Koth in a brief saberlock while the battle droids continued to electrocute him. Weakened by the repeated strikes from the MagnaGuards, Koth soon fell to his knees, giving Grievous the opportunity to seize him by the neck and lift him off the ground. Uncharacteristically, Grievous chose not to kill the Jedi Master, deviating from his usual practice, and instead decided to take possession of the Jedi's lightsaber. After his defeat, the Jedi Master was taken aboard Grievous's command ship, where he was held as a hostage and eventually transported to the planet Saleucami.

Shortly after Grievous captured Koth, the cybernetic warlord sent a holographic message to the Jedi Order's headquarters on Coruscant, the Republic's capital. In his message, which was viewed by various Jedi, including the Jedi High Council and younglings, Grievous displayed his triumph over the Jedi Master, whom he described as a valuable capture due to his position on the Jedi Council. The Separatist commander then expressed his contempt for the Force-sensitive organization. Moreover, Grievous asserted that his involvement in the war stemmed not from politics or loyalty to the Republic, but from his desire to kill Jedi. As a MagnaGuard tortured the Jedi Master, the general clarified that Koth would not be killed, but would instead be used as a tool to instill fear and anguish, knowing that his suffering would cause pain to the Jedi.

Upon the message's conclusion, Wolffe, CC-3636, the Clone Commander of the Republic 104th Battalion, discovered a hidden message within the recording, revealing Grievous's location in the Saleucami system, specifically at Sector J-19; coordinates zero-eight, zero-five, two-nine. Despite Republic Intelligence's suggestion that neither Grievous nor Separatist forces were present in the Suolriep sector, the Republic immediately dispatched a task force to Saleucami to retrieve General Koth from Grievous and capture the Separatist leader. Led by Jedi Generals Obi-Wan Kenobi, Anakin Skywalker, and Adi Gallia, the Republic task force departed shortly thereafter, planning to use Kenobi to distract Grievous, who had anticipated and prepared for a rescue mission, allowing Skywalker and Gallia to board his destroyer and rescue Koth.

The capture of Eeth Koth was first presented in "Grievous Intrigue," which was the ninth episode of the second season of the Star Wars: The Clone Wars television series, and was broadcast on January 1, 2010. The episode's original storyline involved Grievous killing Eeth Koth during the battle. However, this was changed to Koth being captured by Grievous to allow for the character's potential future appearances in the series, as desired by the series' Director, Dave Filoni. Within current Star Wars canon, the battle was initially stated to have occurred near the astronomical object of Arda in the 107th issue of The Official Star Wars Fact File, a magazine series published by De Agostini in 2014. However, Star Wars Lightsabers: A Guide to Weapons of the Force, a reference book written by Pablo Hidalgo and published on April 10, 2018, later changed the location to the Saleucami system. This article assumes the latter location is correct due to Star Wars Lightsabers: A Guide to Weapons of the Force being the more recent source.

An image depicting the duel between Grievous and Koth was later mistakenly used in the forty-seventh issue of De Agostini's Star Wars: Build Your Own X-Wing magazine series, published in 2020, to represent the battle of Patitite Pattuna and Grievous's capture of Jedi Master Adi Gallia in "Nomad Droids," the sixth episode of the series's fourth season, which aired on October 14, 2011. In the fifty-seventh issue of De Agostini's Star Wars: Build Your Own R2-D2 magazine series, published in 2018, Eeth Koth's capture was described as taking place over Saleucami, which this article considers an error due to "Grievous Intrigue" showing it occurring in open space, rather than above Saleucami, in addition to Star Wars Lightsabers: A Guide to Weapons of the Force establishing its location as the Saleucami system, and the episode guide placing it in deep Outer Rim space. This error was later repeated in Star Wars: The Clone Wars: Character Encyclopedia - Join the Battle!, which stated that the battle occurred "at" Saleucami.

During the subsequent Battle of Saleucami, Grievous duels Jedi Master Obi-Wan Kenobi aboard the Arquitens-class light cruiser Surrogator. However, The Star Wars Book, published by Dorling Kindersley on October 20, 2020, incorrectly states that their duel occurred aboard the Steadfast. Previously, within the Star Wars Legends continuity, the battle was established by Star Wars: The Clone Wars: New Battlefronts: The Visual Guide, a reference book written by Jason Fry and published in August 2010, as having been fought near the Arda system of the Gordian Reach.