Liberty on Ryloth " Liberty on Ryloth " is the twenty - first episode in of the " " television series . It is the twenty - first episode of the series overall . Official description . " With his forces stretched thin , Mace Windu must convince Twi ' lek freedom fighter Cham Syndulla to help him save the capital city from the droids ' destruction . " Plot summary . As Mace Windu and his forces head to Lessu along a cliffside path with AT - TE walkers , they are ambushed by several AATs . The tanks incapacitate the first walker in the line and then target the rear walkers , seeking to trap and destroy the Republic forces . Mace saves the gunner , and then Commander Ponds comes up to him and informs Windu that they ' re pinned down . Windu and Ponds orders Lightning Squadron to the front while Windu Force - pushes the first fallen walker off the cliff , clearing the path . Lightning squadron is deployed from the AT - TEs and moves up to the front . Mace , Commander Ponds and the rest of Lighting Squadron then overrun the tanks and the droids using AT - RTs and grenades . Afterwards Ponds tells Windu that they have lost thirty - two men along with command crews of three walkers . A recon droid spies on Windu and Ponds , discovering that the Republic forces will reach Lessu sooner than expected and that they will need help to take Lessu . Watching the stream at his command center in Lessu , Emir Wat Tambor confers with his Tactical droid , TA - 175 , refusing to retreat , despite the odds being against him . Tambor states that Windu doesn ' t have the troops to take the city . Tambor orders that all droids to be brought into the city and to secure the bridge . In a holographic conference aboard Windu ' s lead AT - TE in his column , Anakin Skywalker informs Mace , Supreme Chancellor Palpatine , Yoda , Admiral Yularen and Senator Orn Free Taa that his fighters have the space around Ryloth secured . Mace mentions that Obi - Wan has taken the Jixuan desert , and that the southern hemisphere of Ryloth is secure ; the only thing that remains is to retake Lessu . Republic spies are certain that Tambor has his command center there . Yoda asserts that when they have taken the city , they must capture Tambor , but Mace is unsure if that is possible : Tambor has chosen his stronghold well , and with the only way in or out of Lessu being a plasma bridge , a siege could drag on indefinitely . With republic forces stretched thin , Mace decides to enlist the help of the Twi ' lek Resistance under the command of Cham Syndulla . Chancellor Palpatine states that Syndulla was a radical before the war and can be very unpredictable . Senator Taa mentions that before the War , they were political rivals , and still are . Senator Taa states that Syndulla seeks to gain power . Windu will leave the politics to Senator Taa , but Windu will do what he must to help his people . Palpatine requests reinforcements to be sent instead , but Admiral Yularen informs him that none are available . Mace states the Republic can ' t win without Syndulla ' s help . Mace and two members of Lightning Squadron discovered the site of a massacre , accompanied by Twi ' lek graves . Mace discovers fresh animal tracks , and they hear the sound of one of the animals . Mace heads along with troopers Razor and Stak . Meanwhile , Count Dooku informs Tambor that his tactical droid has informed him of the " pitiful job " he has done . Tambor insists that the droid has exaggerated , and asserts that he has not lost ; Dooku states that Tambor is no match for Windu and orders him to retreat with what valuables he can and destroy everything else . Tambor is rather alarmed , but Dooku explains : Ryloth ' s fate will demonstrate to the galaxy the cost of a " Republic victory " . Mace and the two troopers come across a patrol of battle droids looking for another lost patrol , but instead of defeating them , Mace allows the rebels to attack them . They come across the freedom fighters , but Cham Syndulla is rather adamant against giving his help to the Republic . TA - 175 notifies Tambor that their bombers are ready for launch and states he will ready Tambor ' s ship for evacuation . However , Tambor is not yet ready to leave . Mace , Razor and Stak accompany Cham to his hideout under a wrecked C - 9979 landing craft . Mace mentions that they can stop another massacre from happening , but Cham states that when the droids invaded , the Republic was unable to help , and they were forced to surrender . Then the Separatists brought tanks to exterminate them . Stak examines a blurrg , but after it snaps at him , Tae Boon chuckles and mentions that his blurrg is faster than their riding machines , though Stak is doubtful . Despite his misgivings about the Republic , Cham displays the tradition of the Twi ' leks to give their guests whatever food and drink they still have . The Separatist bombers launch , and Tambor targets all the villages with in range , starting with the inhabited ones . Ponds leads his troops and the AT - TEs to a village where he plans to spare some of their rations to the hungry Twi ' lek women and children in the village , but the village is suddenly blasted to bits by the bombers . Cham tells Mace that he doesn ' t trust Senator Taa . Despite the fact that the clone troopers will stay for a while after the war to ensure security and keep the peace , Cham insists that another armed occupation is not a free Ryloth . Syndulla asks how long will it be before he ' s fighting the Republic and the Jedi . As the two receive a report from Ponds about the destroyed villages , Cham decides that he will speak to Taa . Tambor oversees the loading of valuables onto his shuttle by Twi ' lek slaves . A droid tells Tambor that two more transports are still coming in from the south sector , thus Tambor decides to wait for the last of the valuables of the world to arrive and be loaded onto his shuttle , much to the fury of Dooku , who wants him out of the city before the Republic arrives : once Windu has invaded the city , Dooku orders it to be bombed from afar . TA - 175 will do so , despite what Tambor wants . Cham and Senator Taa engage in a holographic conference and begin to verbally spar ; Mace regulates the conference , and Anakin reports that his fighters are trying to destroy the bombers , but there are too many . Mace instructs him to destroy the bombers and then meet him at the capital , and Anakin continues to engage the bombers with assistance from his Padawan Ahsoka Tano . With assistance from Mace , Cham and Taa reach an agreement : Taa will not let Ryloth fall to another armed occupation , while Cham promises he will not seek power , and rallies his men . Meanwhile , battle droids escort the civilians of Lessu to the outer wall to slow Windu down . As Mace and Cham discover this , they spot two MTTs making their way toward the city . Cham reports that his spies say that they are filled with stolen treasure , and they decide to use them to get across and activate the bridge despite the chance of being scanned . Mace , Razor and Stak slice a battle droid on a STAP and enter the rear transport , while Cham prepares to lead the attack . Mace orders Ponds to create a diversion and get Lightning squadron ready . The plasma bridge is activated for the transports , and they begin to cross ; Tambor prepares to leave with the last of the treasures . However , the battle droids scan the transports , and they pick up an anomaly in the second transport . As the droids open the transport ' s doors , Mace and the troopers exit the transport and destroy the two battle droids , while the Republic forces begin to open fire . The bridge is deactivated , and Mace uses the Force to push Razor and Stak across . Mace uses an STAP to get to the other side , and battle droids begin to attack the three . Mace orders the troopers to get the bridge back up while he holds the droids off , and Cham begins his charge . Mace takes out an entire droid squad and a tank on his own , while Razor and Stak get the bridge up just in time for Cham , Ponds and their forces to cross . The citizens of Lessu wave happily at the passing freedom fighters ; Mace instructs Cham to take care of the droids while he finds Tambor . The freedom fighters and Lightning Squadron take out the AATs and the droids quickly . In the control room , Razor and Stak are ambushed by several battle droids and two commando droids but they defeat them . TA - 175 lifts off in the shuttle without waiting for Tambor , much to the latter ' s surprise . TA - 175 reports to Dooku regarding Tambor ' s refusal to retreat in time . Despite this unfortunate setback , Dooku gives the order for the bombers to destroy the city immediately . Mace subdues Tambor ' s two super battle droid guards and holds Tambor at bay . Tambor tries to reason with the Jedi but Windu refuses since he has the upper hand . Tambor then states that a surrender is unnecessary since the bombers are coming and they both will perish for the glory of the Separatist Alliance . While the bombers approach , Anakin and Ahsoka attack and destroy them . Freedom fighters and clone troopers surround Tambor . Tambor then asks Cham for his terms of surrender ; Cham states that they are unconditional , and Tambor reluctantly agrees . Syndulla thanks Windu for freeing his world . Later , Cham and Senator Taa wave to the people in a parade with both the freedom fighters and the clone forces with Windu and Ponds watching in satisfaction . Ryloth is free . Behind the scenes . The episode guide reveals a quote from a deleted scene , introducing the character of RB - 551 . The scene was later reinserted into the " " of the episode on the DVD and Blu - Ray releases of the first season . The Ark of the Covenant , a very famous ancient biblical artifact ( as seen in " Indiana Jones and the Raiders of the Lost Ark " , written and produced by George Lucas ) , can be seen being loaded onto Tambor ' s shuttle with other treasures from Ryloth . The only difference is that the golden cherubs have been replaced by golden Twi ' leks . Blurrg s make an appearance , creatures first seen in " " . The original plan was to have Mace Windu using his lightsaber to cut open the fallen walker ' s canopy , but this was changed to showcase his talent for finding and using shatterpoints . An earlier version of the story had Mace rescuing captive Twi ' leks from a prison suspended over a volcano ; however , early designs ended up looking too much like Mustafar , and the story was changed . This episode marks the second appearance of the BX - series droid commando so far ; the droids first appeared in " Rookies " . Cham Syndulla was originally to be allied with the Separatists , working for Wat Tambor and lying to the Twi ' lek people . He was to escape with the Separatists on the shuttle . However , due to plot complications , Syndulla was changed to a " freedom fighter " .