"The Mandalore Plot" is the twelfth installment of the Star Wars: The Clone Wars television program's second season. It was originally broadcast on January 29, 2010 and serves as the opening part of a story told across three episodes.
Obi-Wan's arrival takes place in Sundari on Mandalore, where he is transported via speeder to his meeting with Duchess Satine. He encounters Prime Minister Almec, who asserts that violence on Mandalore ended with the warriors' demise on Concordia, Mandalore's moon. Satine then arrives and engages in a brief, flirtatious exchange with Obi-Wan (also showing slight reluctance) before Obi-Wan presents her with a hologram depicting a figure clad in Mandalorian armor assaulting a Republic cruiser. Satine assures him that she is not responsible for the attack, and she and Obi-Wan embark on a tour of the city.
Their journey leads them to a garden, where Satine reveals to Obi-Wan the existence of a renegade Mandalorian faction known as Death Watch, which opposes her peaceful ideals. She states that she has been actively working to eradicate this group of criminals and has traced their activities to Concordia.
Simultaneously, on Concordia, a man in Mandalorian armor is in discussion via hologram with Count Dooku, who has pledged his support to Death Watch. They formulate a plan to gather more followers to their cause, with the ultimate goal of overthrowing the Duchess.
Returning to Mandalore, Satine and Obi-Wan are in the gardens when an explosion occurs. Satine and Obi-Wan quickly move to rescue the injured, and witness a hologram displaying the symbol of Death Watch. Obi-Wan notices a man fleeing the scene, and chases him through the gardens. Following a brief confrontation, the man leaps from a balcony, choosing suicide over capture and interrogation by the Jedi. However, Satine and Obi-Wan manage to reach the dying man on the lower floor just as the Mandalorian whispers his final words to the Duchess in the Concordia dialect.
Obi-Wan and Satine journey to the moon and are met by Governor Pre Vizsla. The Jedi then makes the decision to secretly investigate the situation on Concordia and equips Satine with an earpiece for communication. He rides a speeder bike to one of the moon's supposedly inactive mines where, after a brief fight, he is captured by two armed Mandalorians. He then contacts Satine, who is drinking with Vizsla, pretending Obi-Wan is meditating in his chamber and is going to join them in a few minutes. She excuses herself, and sets off on a speeder bike towards the mine, where she shuts down the mining machine which would have crushed Kenobi. They escape via a turbolift, but are intercepted by a group of Death Watch members in armor. The group's commander orders an evacuation of the mines, then reveals his face to be Governor Vizsla, who has been plotting against Satine and the Jedi. He returns Kenobi's lightsaber to him, and then brandishes his own Darksaber. They engage in duel, and Vizsla is defeated. He orders his warriors to kill Kenobi, who escapes with Satine down the turbolift shaft. They journey back to Sundari, where Obi-Wan tells Satine he believes the Separatists are aiding Death Watch. But despite the evidence, Satine vows to stay out of the war. Anakin arrives to report for duty, and he and Obi-Wan join Satine aboard her starship.
The extended form of the Mandalorian helmets seen in the episode were influenced by Boba Fett's design as seen in The Star Wars Holiday Special.
The hexagonal pattern displayed on the chest plate of Mandalorian armor is also present in aspects of Mandalorian architecture.
The planet of Mandalore is depicted in a way that is noticeably different from its previous appearances, which stems from its revised backstory involving a conflict with the Republic. The differing portrayals were reconciled through retcons presented in The Essential Atlas reference book, and later in Star Wars: The Clone Wars: New Battlefronts: The Visual Guide, which clarified that the vast white-sand desert shown in the episode represents only a portion of Mandalore's overall surface landscape.
The character design for Duchess Satine Kryze along with her royal guard was derived from unused character design concepts created for The Phantom Menace. Satine's design was based on an illustration of Queen Amidala by Iain McCaig, while the design for her royal guard originated from the same artist's explorations with Sith.
The Jedi Temple Archives feature on The Complete Season Two Blu-ray includes the deleted scene "Satine Saves Obi-Wan."