Senate hostage crisis / Legends The Senate hostage crisis occurred in 21 BBY during the Clone Wars when the Hutt Grand Council hired the bounty hunter Cad Bane to organize a raid on the Republic Executive Building aimed at capturing members of the Galactic Senate . Bane sought to force Supreme Chancellor Palpatine to issue a pardon for the Hutt crime lord Ziro Desilijic Tiure , who had previously been arrested and imprisoned in the Republic Judiciary Central Detention Center for his role in the Confederacy of Independent Systems ' kidnapping of his great - nephew , Rotta . Bane formed a team of bounty hunters that included the Jedi hunter Aurra Sing , the Weequay Shahan Alama , and the Patrolian technician Robonino , along with several Confederate droids . After testing his team by pitting them against fellow bounty hunter Davtokk , Bane deemed his accomplices ready for their mission . Infiltrating the Executive Building and disposing of multiple Senate Commando guards along the way , the team took a small group of senators hostage . Bane trapped Palpatine and Senator Orn Free Taa in the Chancellor ' s office by having Robonino shut down the building ' s power . Bane then issued an ultimatum to the Supreme Chancellor : Ziro was to be released , or the senators would be executed . Jedi Knight Anakin Skywalker was still in the building , though unarmed , and was knocked out and captured by the hunters . To secure the Hutt ' s release in exchange for the senators ' lives , Bane ordered Taa to take a pardon disc to the Detention Center to release Ziro . Taa reluctantly complied and was escorted to the prison by the sentinel droid HELIOS - 3D . As final leverage against Palpatine , the bounty hunters set up a system of lasers around the senators that would trigger explosives with the slightest touch before leaving the building . Clone troopers of the Coruscant Guard led by Clone Commander CC - 1010 arrived to apprehend Bane ' s team on the landing platform , but the still - trapped senators allowed the bounty hunters to escape with Ziro . Although Bane remotely activated the explosives as payback for the indignities the Hutt had suffered in prison , a revived Skywalker was able to cut a hole around the senators , and all of them dropped into the room below seconds before the explosives went off . Prelude . The hiring of a bounty hunter . In 22 BBY , during the Clone Wars , Ziro Desilijic Tiure , a Hutt crime lord and the uncle to fellow crime lord Jabba Desilijic Tiure , participated in a plot orchestrated by the Confederate Head of State , Count Dooku , to kidnap Jabba ' s son , Rotta , and frame the Jedi Order for the crime . However , Senator Padmé Amidala discovered the plot and had Ziro arrested in his palace on the galactic capital of Coruscant by Clone Commander CC - 1010 , nicknamed " Fox , " and clone troopers from the Coruscant Guard . Ziro was subsequently incarcerated by the Galactic Republic in the Republic Judiciary Central Detention Center on Coruscant , a heavily guarded prison . Though initially happy to let Ziro rot in prison , the Hutt clans later reconsidered in 21 BBY , when it was discovered that Ziro had hidden a holodiary record of all criminal dealings of the Hutt Grand Council dating back generations . To that end , Jabba the Hutt and his colleagues on the Grand Council decided that it would be better for Ziro to be transferred into their custody . Jabba initially hired the renowned bounty hunter Cad Bane to gain access to the plans to the Republic Executive Building . Following Bane ' s success with that assignment , Jabba gained the Hutt Council ' s approval to contract the bounty hunter to free Ziro . Instead of a straightforward prison break , Bane was to use the plans of the Republic Executive Building to organize a raid on the Galactic Senate . With members of the Senate taken hostage , Supreme Chancellor Palpatine would be forced to issue a pardon for Ziro . Furthermore , the Hutts — remembering Count Dooku ' s manipulations of them surrounding the kidnapping of Rotta — schemed to frame the Separatists for breaking Ziro out of prison . Bane assembled a team of bounty hunters and infiltration specialists consisting of the Weequay mercenary Shahan Alama and the Patrolian slicer Robonino , backed up by several Confederate BX - series droid commandos and IG - 86 sentinel droids . He even broke the Jedi hunter Aurra Sing out of prison so that she could add her sniper abilities to the team . As the organic members of the group usually operated alone , Bane organized a test for them . Knowing that rival bounty hunter Davtokk intended to kill him for the bounty on his head , Bane lured Davtokk to the planet Keyorin under the pretense that he was seeking recruits . There , Robonino , Alama , and Sing succeeded in crippling Davtokk , earning Bane ' s trust that they would be able to function together as a team . After disposing of Davtokk , Bane took his team to Coruscant to free Ziro . A secret meeting . While he was supposed to be on a meditative retreat , Jedi Knight Anakin Skywalker visited his secret wife , Senator Padmé Amidala , in her office in the Republic Executive Building on Coruscant . During their discussion , Skywalker asserted that there was nothing more important to him than his love for her , and he gave Amidala his lightsaber to symbolize his faith in her . However , Senator Bail Organa , followed by C - 3PO , then entered the room , seeking Amidala ' s presence for a meeting organized by Senator Philo to discuss the Enhanced Privacy Invasion Bill , a piece of Senate legislation . Skywalker hid behind Amidala ' s desk , and Amidala , hiding Skywalker ' s lightsaber in her sleeves , followed Organa to the meeting and took the lightsaber with her , unable to return it to the Jedi . The operation . Entering and taking hostages . Arriving on Coruscant , Bane ' s team split up to gain entrance to the Executive Building . Bane , Alama , a sentinel droid , and two droid commandos for assistance in protecting Bane arrived at the building in an airspeeder , where they were confronted by a squad of Senate Commando guards . From an adjacent tower , Sing distracted the guards with covering sniper fire , taking out most of the Commandos by herself , while Alama and the droids also engaged the Senate Guards . Bane eliminated the guards ' captain , Jayfon , and the commando droids dressed up in the Senate Guards ' armor to ensure that the brawl would go undiscovered . Sing , Robonino , and the sentinel droids HELIOS - 3D and HELIOS - 3E arrived at the scene in a second airspeeder . Leaving both BX units outside to clear the platform of the dead Senate Commandos , the team of bounty hunters made their way into the complex . HELIOS - 3D also remained behind with the airspeeder . Disposing of a guard stationed at the Executive Building ' s power control room , the group also destroyed an assistant droid , the protocol droid D - 0T , a WED - 15 Treadwell , and the astromech droid R5 - S9 in the room . Leaving Robonino to sabotage the building ' s power distribution network , the rest of the team headed to the meeting of senators . On the way to the East Wing of the building where the senators had gathered , Bane — having planning his operation during Senate Guard shifts — eliminated most of the active Senate security by tossing a thermal detonator into the Senate Commandos ' barracks when two shifts were assembled there . Sing eliminated the only survivor with a shot to the head . The group then entered the Annex Dome , surrounding and taking prisoner Senators Organa , Amidala , Philo , Dantum Roohd , Zinn Paulness , Onaconda Farr , Riyo Chuchi , Jakker - Sun , Kin Robb , and a Christophsian senator , as well as C - 3PO . After Philo objected to being taken hostage , attempting to leave while refusing to " listen to insolence , " Bane shot him in the back and ordered the rest of the senators to hand over any communication devices in their possession . Bane made contact with Palpatine in his office and demanded the release of Ziro from the Detention Center . After Palpatine objected , Robonino shut down the building ' s power , activating its emergency lockdown and leaving Palpatine and Senator Orn Free Taa trapped in the office with external communications disabled . However , Bane was unaware that Skywalker was still inside the building . Noticing that the building ' s red backup lights had activated , Skywalker left Amidala ' s office to find out what was happening . Upon arriving above the atrium where the senators were being held , the Jedi noticed the bounty hunters surrounding their hostages and spied on the events taking place . Securing the Hutt and escape . When Bane spotted Skywalker above the lobby , he fired at him before sending Alama and a sentinel droid after the fleeing Jedi . Contacting Palpatine — who had been trapped in his office with Senator Taa for two hours — by plugging his comlink into a communications outpost , Skywalker learned that it was up to him to turn the power back on so that reinforcements could be summoned . As Alama and the droid approached the room where Skywalker was speaking with Palpatine , the Jedi quickly unplugged his comlink and hid right before the two hunters entered the room . Skywalker used a mind trick on Alama to get the two off his trail , and Alama and the droid separated . Sneaking up on the sentinel droid , Skywalker attacked but was forced to engage it in close combat without a lightsaber . Alama returned to find the destroyed droid , but by examining its remains , Alama deduced that the Jedi was unarmed . After reporting this new information to Bane , Alama continued the hunt with the added aid of Sing . Outside the power control room , Skywalker stumbled across Robonino , and the technician quickly retreated back into the room . As Skywalker attempted to break into the room , Alama found him , and the Jedi pulled Alama ' s blaster out of his hand with the Force . However , Sing took aim at Skywalker from behind the Weequay , and as Alama ducked , Sing shot the blaster out of Skywalker ' s hand . With Skywalker backed against the door of the power control room , Robonino joined the fray and shocked the Jedi . The unconscious Skywalker was brought to Bane in handcuffs , and Bane instructed Palpatine to make a pardon disc and to give it to Senator Taa , who would deliver the disc to the prison so that Ziro could be released . HELIOS - 3D escorted Taa to the landing platform , where a speeder was parked with a transport attached for the large Hutt . Upon arrival at the Detention Center , Taa released Ziro , whom 3D took back to the Executive Building , while Taa remained in the safety of the Coruscant Guard at the prison . In the atrium , Bane ' s team set up their " parting gifts " around the senators : a system of lasers that would trigger explosives upon the slightest touch . The bounty hunters sought to use the hostages as final leverage if Palpatine attempted to apprehend them while they were still on Coruscant . Wishing the senators and Jedi a " most respectful farewell , " Bane left the building with his team . On Taa ' s orders , the Coruscant Guard broke through the transparisteel window of Palpatine ' s office and ensured that the Chancellor was safe . Outside on a landing platform , a pair of LAAT / i gunships arrived , and Coruscant Guard troopers led by Commander Fox piled out and cornered the bounty hunters . Palpatine contacted Bane and ordered him to surrender , but the bounty hunter revealed the still - trapped senators , and in order to keep them safe , Palpatine reluctantly relinquished his attempts to apprehend Bane . Commander Fox ordered his clone forces to stand down , allowing Bane and his team to leave . Back in the East Wing , Skywalker awoke , and Amidala cut Skywalker ' s binders off with his lightsaber . Once he and his team were a safe distance away from the Executive Building , Bane remotely activated the explosives as payback for the indignities Ziro had suffered in prison . However , Skywalker was able to cut a hole in the floor around the senators , allowing all of them to drop into the room below seconds before the explosives went off . Aftermath . Following their escape , Bane transferred the reward to his comrades ' accounts and ordered them to flee separately , escaping from the eyes of the Republic . However , Alama was ambushed by a Confederate " Munificent " - class frigate and a Republic LAAT / i gunship over the planet Florrum . Similarly , Robonino was attacked at his underwater headquarters on the planet Rodia by Republic forces , and HELIOS - 3D ' s battle droid encampment in the Thicket of the planet Iego was destroyed by the Jedi Anakin Skywalker and Obi - Wan Kenobi . Meanwhile , Jedi Master Quinlan Vos pursued Bane and Ziro the Hutt across Coruscant ' s skylanes as they escaped in an airspeeder , but Vos was unable to stop Bane from delivering Ziro to the Hutt Council ' s headquarters on the planet Nal Hutta . After Ziro abstained from revealing the location of his holodiary record , he managed to escape from the Hutts ' custody with the singer Sy Snootles , who , unbeknownst to Ziro , had secretly been hired by Jabba to retrieve the holodiary . Ziro ' s pursuers soon grew to include Bane , whom the Hutt Council contracted to track down the fugitive crime lord , and Master Kenobi and Vos , whom the Jedi High Council had dispatched to apprehend Ziro and Bane , the latter for his hostage takeover of the Senate . Bane ' s and the Jedi ' s manhunt for Ziro culminated in a confrontation on the planet Teth . On a HoloNet News broadcast that followed Bane ' s raid on the Senate , the young Gran Salo swore vengeance on Bane for murdering Senator Philo — whom Salo had greatly admired — during the raid . Nevertheless , the audacity of Bane ' s raid on the Senate ensured that he would have plenty of clients in the future . Behind the scenes . The Senate hostage crisis was featured in the 2009 finale , " Hostage Crisis . " The " " led into " Hostage Crisis " and depicted Bane ' s test of his team against Davtokk . The raid notably featured the debut of bounty hunters in the series , as well as one of the first appearances of Cad Bane , a bounty hunter featured more throughout the series ' . The event was officially named in the " " magazine . The party that employed Bane for his raid on the Senate was not clarified for quite some time , as " Hostage Crisis " did not identify the party . Although some first season publicity materials stated that Bane had been hired by the leaders of the Separatists — Darth Sidious and Count Dooku — Bane ' s clients were revised to be the Hutts with the publication of the bounty hunter ' s StarWars . com Databank entry in 2009 . Despite this change , the later - published " " further complicated the matter by claiming that Bane ' s employer had yet to be identified in the television series ' second season . The issue was finally resolved in the 2010 episode " Evil Plans , " which served as a prequel to " Hostage Crisis " and solidified the Databank ' s claim that Bane had been hired by the Hutts . The third season episode " Hunt for Ziro " served as a sequel to " Hostage Crisis " and depicted the aftermath of the hostage crisis , as did StarWars . com ' s trio of " Hunting the Hunters " webcomic s , which transitioned between the television series ' first and second seasons . Furthermore , an in - universe explanation for the employer inconsistency came in 2012 with the publication " " , which stated that the Hutts had framed the Separatists for the hostage crisis in retribution for Count Dooku ' s earlier kidnapping of Rotta the Huttlet . Although the raid took place entirely in the Republic Executive Building , several of the episode ' s dialogue sequences indicated otherwise , implying that the senators were being held in the Senate Building . To further complicate matters , the smoke from Bane ' s explosives was seen coming from the Senate Building instead of the Executive Building , an animation error that the series ' crew noticed but did not fix in time . The 2011 non - canonical " " video game depicted the Senate hostage crisis in its adaptation of " Hostage Crisis . " In addition to presenting more humorous and comical depictions of the hostage crisis , the game also modified the event ' s storyline . In the game , Ziro the Hutt directly hires Bane to free him from prison , without the involvement of the Hutt Council . The level featuring the hostage crisis ends after the Republic Executive Building ' s power generator is shut down .