Ambush " Ambush " is the first episode of of " " . It is the first episode of the series overall . Before its television premiere , the episode was shown on the press tour on July 11 , 2008 and later at in in September . " Ambush " aired on Cartoon Network on October 3 , 2008 . Though it is the first episode of the series , " Ambush " is the sixth episode chronologically , being preceded by the later episode " Supply Lines " . Official description . " Jedi Master Yoda is on a secret mission to forge a treaty with the King of the strategic system of Toydaria when his ship is ambushed by Count Dooku . Yoda and three Clone trooper s must face off against Count Dooku ' s dreaded assassin Ventress and her massive droid army to prove the Jedi are strong enough to protect the king and his people from the forces of the war . " Plot summary . Jedi Master Yoda is dispatched to the dried coral moon of Rugosa to convince King Katuunko to allow the Republic to build a base in Toydarian territory . As the Toydarian monarch King Katuunko and his retinue await the arrival of their Jedi envoy , Asajj Ventress arrives and presents Katuunko with a hologram of Count Dooku , who attempts to express the Jedi ' s supposed incapability to protect Toydaria in hopes of swaying the king to his cause . In orbit of the Rugosa moon , two Banking Clan frigates ambush Yoda ' s ship , forcing him to take an escape pod while his ship escapes the system . Three clones — Lieutenant Thire , Jek and Rys — accompany him to the surface . The Republic frigate leaves the system , a move that Asajj Ventress spins to the king as a sign of weakness . Her attempts at persuasion are interrupted however by a holographic call from Yoda , in which the Jedi Master offers his greetings . Ventress then suggests a deal : if Yoda can escape her best troops , then Toydaria will be free to join the Republic . But if he should fail and the droids prevail , Toydaria will join the Separatists . Agreeing to Ventress ' proposal , Yoda and his troops march through the coral forest as a Separatist landing ship carrying a full battalion of droids arrives . Yoda and his men then face off against a large number of droids and several tanks . The tanks find it difficult to penetrate the dense coral forest , forcing the droid commander 224 to send his troops out on foot , which allows the clones to ambush them in small groups . Eventually , Thire is wounded , and the group is forced to retreat . Yoda and the clones make their way to a dried gulch lined with caves , to rest and recover . Inside a cave , the clones are less than enthusiastic about their current situation , as they find themselves outnumbered and outgunned . To raise spirits , Yoda gives his troopers a small lesson about them being individuals despite their origin as clones , and that it is their mind which makes them strong , not their numbers or weapons . As the droid forces approach , Master Yoda decides to face them alone , ordering his troops to stay out of sight until their help is truly needed . The droids report the current situation to Ventress , who in turn orders them to open fire . Yoda ends up cutting the whole battalion to pieces , and angered , Ventress sends out ten droideka s to deal with the Jedi Master . Just before the droidekas can finish the Jedi Master , Thire launches their last rocket at an overhanging bluff , sending an avalanche of rock crashing down on the droideka reinforcements . Katuunko is impressed by the display , and opts to have Toydaria join the Republic . Furious about the outcome , Dooku orders Ventress to kill the king . Ventress knocks the king ' s Toydarian royal guard s unconscious and prepares to deal the killing blow , but Master Yoda arrives just in time , stopping Ventress mid - swing . Rather than surrender , Ventress quickly triggers an avalanche with pre - planted explosive charges , using it as a distraction to escape in her solar sailer . King Katuunko gladly accepts Yoda ' s offer to join the Republic , and Republic gunships come to retrieve the group . Reception . " Ambush " marked the series ' debut on October 3 , 2008 . It brought in 3 . 96 million viewers , and was Cartoon Network ' s most watched series premiere . Behind the scenes . The episode ' s original name was " Ambush in the Outer Rim . " Its title was first revealed by Henry Gilroy in an interview that featured in " Star Wars Insider 103 " . The original moral of this episode was supposed to be , " " Great leadership comes in all sizes . " " " Ambush " was originally not supposed to be aired as the first episode of , but the episodes ' order was changed very close to the series ' premiere . Almost two years after the original airing of " Ambush " , a prequel episode titled " Supply Lines " aired on September 24 , 2010 as part of . It revealed the Republic ' s original purpose to use Toydaria as a staging ground to help the Twi ' leks and supply them with food and medical supplies , which intertwined with the Ryloth Trilogy of episodes which aired later on in Season One .