"Sabotage," an episode from the fifth season of the animated series Star Wars: The Clone Wars television series', marks its seventeenth installment. It was originally broadcast on February 9, 2013.
The Jedi High Council dispatches Anakin Skywalker and Ahsoka Tano to Cato Neimoidia to liberate the planet from a Separatists invasion at a battle. Buzz droids attack Anakin's starfighter, inflicting significant damage. The damage causes a powerful shock that knocks Anakin unconscious, leaving R2-D2 to pilot the ship. Ahsoka directs R2-D2 to land, and she extracts Anakin from the damaged fighter. Soon after, Yoda contacts them, ordering their return to the Jedi Temple to investigate a bombing incident. Rumors suggest a Jedi may have been responsible, so Anakin and Ahsoka, being off-world at the time of the incident, are chosen to lead the inquiry. They are assisted by the droid Russo-ISC, who accompanies Tano to interview the bombing's survivors. During the interviews, they identify a potential suspect named Jackar Bowmani.
Anakin locates Bowmani's wife, Letta Turmond, participating in a protest outside the Temple, where she asserts her husband's innocence. While analyzing the explosion site, they pinpoint its origin to a transport and discover traces of explosive Nano-droids. They also recover Jackar's hand, the sole surviving part of him, and detect Nano-droids in his bloodstream, leading them to conclude that he "was the bomb."
Subsequently, Anakin and Ahsoka search Jackar's residence for additional nano-droids, finding them in the food supply. They suspect someone poisoned Jackar with the droids, but their investigation is interrupted by Letta's arrival. They decide to take her back to the temple for further questioning, believing she possesses more information than she is revealing.
Letta attempts to escape, prompting the two Jedi to pursue her through the city streets. They eventually corner her in an alleyway. Convinced of her culpability in the bombing, Anakin confronts her, and she confesses. The Jedi then return her to the temple for interrogation. However, they still remain in the dark regarding her motives.
Upon their return to the Jedi Temple, Russo informs Anakin and Ahsoka that his investigation has ruled out any Jedi involvement in the bombing. Mace Windu expresses his belief that the bombing's intent was to incite public distrust towards the Jedi and the Clone Wars. Anakin and Ahsoka discuss their earlier fears that a Jedi might have been responsible; Anakin comments that while some Jedi may falter, the majority fighting for justice will ultimately prevail.
The episode's title is a reference to Alfred Hitchcock's 1936 movie titled Sabotage. Each of the four episodes comprising the story arc draws its title from a Hitchcock film.
Anakin Skywalker's statement to Ahsoka Tano, "I'm afraid one can eventually become the other," references past instances of Jedi betrayal by political idealists, such as Count Dooku and General Pong Krell from Season 4.
Russo-ISC's characteristics and name are an allusion to David Caruso's character in the crime drama series CSI Miami.
The Lucky Lekku is the gunship that transports Captain Rex to Cato Neimoidia. The presence of clone jetpack troopers on the gunship marks the first appearance of this type of trooper in canon.
The guards observed at the temple during Anakin's interaction with Cin Drallig, known as Temple Guards, were confirmed to have more appearances throughout the arc.
The signs displayed by the temple protest groups featured a clone trooper with a line through it, along with Aurebesh phrases reading "The Jedi are Corrupt" and "Stop Cloning Violence."
Despite its destruction in the episode, Anakin's Eta-2 interceptor makes its debut appearance in the series.