The recapture of Tythe took place on the planet Tythe in the third year of the Clone Wars, as part of the Outer Rim Sieges campaign. Four days after the Battle of Nelvaan, High Jedi General Obi-Wan Kenobi and Jedi General Anakin Skywalker were dispatched by Supreme Chancellor Palpatine, Jedi Master Mace Windu, and Jedi Master Yoda to the Outer Rim planet in an attempt to capture CIS Count Dooku. However, the whole engagement was, in truth, conducted by Palpatine (under the guise of Darth Sidious) to draw the Jedi away from the Core in advance of the Separatist invasion of Coruscant.
In an attempt to throw Republic Intelligence off his trail, Darth Sidious instructed General Grievous to send a small flotilla of warships to crush a Republic garrison on Tythe and occupy the world. As the former headquarters of LiMerge Power, a company connected to a secret Sith meeting area discovered in The Works, Sidious knew that the Jedi would think that he was trying to erase the trail they had been following. As an added bonus, he had Count Dooku remain on Tythe as bait for Obi-Wan Kenobi and Anakin Skywalker. Ultimately, the entire engagement at Tythe was a diversion to draw Jedi away from the Core in advance of a massive Separatist invasion of Coruscant.
Onboard a MedStar-class frigate orbiting Belderone, Kenobi and Skywalker (who had rescued the planet Nelvaan four days earlier) received word from Supreme Chancellor Palpatine, who stated that Dooku should be captured, and arranged for Kenobi and Skywalker, along with a full Republic battle group, to retake Tythe.
The Separatists had quickly placed mines at several hyperspace entry points, forcing the Republic ships to revert to realspace in a narrow window in front of the Confederacy fleet. Both sides quickly deployed their starfighters and then closed in on each other. The Republic battle group moved first, breaking to port and delivering a long range broadside to the Separatist vessels, which responded with their own barrage. The opposing starfighter squadrons regrouped and attempted to reach the enemy capital ships before they could restore their shields.
All this maneuvering by the Republic was a diversion, allowing Red Squadron to reach the surface of Tythe in order to capture Dooku alive. As a backup plan, it was deemed that saturation bombardment and limited starfighter engagement would send Dooku fleeing deeper into the Outer Rim. Anakin Skywalker led Red Squadron through the Separatist fleet, managing to destroy a Techno Union starship on the way. Once they reached the lower atmosphere, defending Hailfire droids, STAPs, and battle droids assailed the incoming starfighters, managing to destroy all but the interceptors flown by the two Jedi.
Kenobi and Skywalker piloted their starfighters through the roof of the largest containment dome at the LiMerge Power facility, and then set off on foot to confront Dooku. Inside the enormous ruined archive hall, they encountered a life-sized holoimage of the Count, but before they could locate him, hundreds of infantry droids surrounded them and opened fire. Unable to reach Dooku, Skywalker called upon the Force with such ferocity that it brought down the ceiling of the vast hall. The Sith Lord managed to escape to his solar sailer before the two Jedi could dig themselves out of the rubble, and ordered a Separatist retreat. Through the Force, however, Skywalker realized that Tythe was a trap to lure Jedi away from Coruscant.
After the battle, the Separatist forces fled Tythe, with most ships jumping Rimward and others (led by Dooku) headed for the planet Nelvaan in the Koobi system in an attempt to ward off Republic pursuit. The Count then set course for Coruscant to join General Grievous, who had just managed to abduct Supreme Chancellor Palpatine. Upon returning to the Integrity, Skywalker and Kenobi were welcomed back by the ship's crew, who had begun to suspect that both were killed in the battle by the CIS forces. Afterwards, from inside a private hangar, Skywalker and his astromech droid R2-D2 made a number of modifications to the former's gold and black prosthetic arm. Kenobi then appeared (pointing out how his former Padawan wasn't "in the med lab"), just as Skywalker was "finishing up" on tweaking his arm (which he described as "good as new"). Kenobi, sensing that his former Padawan was feeling emotional about their Nelvaan journey, relinquished to the young Jedi that the Trial of Spirit (where one would "look inside [themselves]") was the most difficult trial a Jedi must face, and while what a Jedi saw inside themselves was almost never pleasant, it was their decisions that shaped their destinies.
Suddenly, R2 began to jolt and spasm. A message from Mace Windu was projected, stating that the Chancellor had been kidnapped by Grievous during the Battle of Coruscant. Skywalker, realizing the situation had worsened, ordered the crew to refuel their star fighters and prepare to jump to hyperspace. The two Jedi then set course for Coruscant and jumped to the Core ahead of their battle group. After the two reached Coruscant, they joined the battle against the Separatists, leading an assault on Grievous' flagship the Invisible Hand.
Behind the scenesEdit
The Third Battle of Tythe first appeared in the novel Labyrinth of Evil by James Luceno, published January 5, 2005. Both the animated series Star Wars: Clone Wars and the novel contradict each other. In the novel, Skywalker and Kenobi search for Darth Sidious and pursue Dooku on Tythe, yet in the series, they investigate a possible base for Grievous on frigid Nelvaan (which Dooku only pauses at in the novel). Initially, Leland Chee retconned this by stating that the Nelvaan events occurred after Tythe, but this was overwritten by The New Essential Chronology, which fixed the events the other way around. This article goes by the New Essential Chronology fix, integrating details from both Labyrinth of Evil and Clone Wars wherever possible.
Notes and referencesEdit
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 The New Essential Chronology
- ↑ A Hero Seeks Not Vengeance
- ↑ Star Wars Battlefront: Elite Squadron
- ↑ 4.0 4.1 Order 66: A Republic Commando Novel
- ↑ 5.0 5.1 5.2 Star Wars: Episode III Revenge of the Sith
- ↑ 6.0 6.1 6.2 6.3 6.4 6.5 6.6 Labyrinth of Evil
- ↑ 7.0 7.1 Star Wars: Clone Wars – "Chapter 25"
- ↑ Leland Chee explains differences between the cartoon and novel
- ↑ Leland Chee confirms placement of the Nelvaan and Thythe battles