TCW Episode The Obi-Wan Undercover Arc

So I finished rewatching this story arc from season 4 today (definitely a solid arc and a lot of fun to watch) and I was thinking some more about the last act of the final episode 'Crisis On Naboo'; what was really Dooku's (and Palpatine's, assuming he was in on it) plan?

The wrap-up was pretty quick and maybe sort of simple after all the build-up to it and the intent of the whole intricate kidnapping scheme is not too easy to understand completely; my main guess it was to test the Jedi but I might be wrong, what do you others think?

I like this. I figured Palpatine knew Obi Wan was undercover after sardine Hardeen escaped.

@Seerow Very true. The Jedi Council must not get out of that spire much.

The plan was to exchange Palpatine for all the imprisoned Separatists.

Maybe they ought to kidnap Padme or something. They do need to free some of the separatist leaders they captured in past episodes.

I would be fine with that if they kept her for a very long time. (So we don't have to watch any more political episodes.)

Anybody else notice that the episode "The Box" of this arc was basically just a Star Wars remake of "Cube" but with less gore / Nicole deBoer?

Since humanocentricism is back in TCW with the Jedi younglings' wannabe leader and all-round arrogant git Petro somehow being rewarded for his duplicity, here's something to consider:

In Crisis On Naboo, Obi-Wan says of his disguise (ie. Rako Hardeen): "This is the face that saved the Republic." It's strongly implied that Hardeen is rewarded by the Republic, getting credit for Obi-Wan's actions during the arc. The optics of the situation as it gets publicised to the Galaxy at large are interesting. The only human in the group of mercenaries is working for the Republic and foils the plot, with the alien mercenaries being the antagonists.

No doubt Rako Hardeen is given some lucrative rewards to keep him quiet, perhaps contracts with the Republic and Jedi Order. I hope to see him again at some point in future TCW episodes. If the CIS has its cadre of regularly contracted mercenaries and bounty hunters, the Republic could do with at least one.

I know right!

It was quite evident.

This arc was one of the worst and unfocused arcs from the show.
Disapointing anticlimax, no actual payoff, the arc was full of mostly filler and reuse of elements like the boring duel between Anakin vs Dooku.

I like Seerow's theory in the first reply and regarding the plan of using Palpatine to free the imprisoned Separatist leaders to me felt like something of a ruse or a means to an end; it was not the main intent of the whole thing so I think said theory feels the most believable.

As for Sidious and Dooku's grand scheme in this arc, it was more "Let's screw around with Skywalker's head". Sidious will move planets and armies to push that boy closer to the darkside, or test him against his apprentice, and if Skywalker can't hack it then Dooku will hack his head off. If anything, it'll distance Anakin from the Jedi, even if it's just a small nudge.

That, and it was an entire episode that was just "Cube". not that I minded, I dig Cube so even a rip off I'll take it.

The overarching ppoint of it all was to pit Ankain against Dooku as a further test of Skywalker's abilities and loyalties, with the added bonus of inserting the wedge of mistrust between Anakin and the Jedi Council (and even Obi-Wan). This was stated explicitly by Filoni in the blu ray segment dedicated to the 'Undercover' arc, but I think it was demonstrated pretty well during the episodes, in such a manner to make it all fairly clear during the final act, anyway.

I think that had the Jedi agreed to the trade of Separtist leaders for Palpatine (and somehow pulled it off in spite of what would have been strenuous refusals by the Chancellor), Sidious and Dooku would have taken it as a win to get the leaders back into the fold and still managed to find a way to make the Dooku / Skywalker showdown a reality.

I figured the real Hardeen was kept quiet during the mission, only to later serve out a sentence for attempting to kill Obi-Wan Kenobi. Maybe in an off-world prison, if the Jedi felt the need to keep more of a lid on matters.

Is this in the deleted scenes?

I didn't know that! Thanks for the heads-up, See.

But I have to ask - Rex sneaks Hardeen off of Coruscant, but to what end? Is this even remotely addressed?

Should it even be Rex?!

Power to the Cody!