"A Necessary Bond" Episode Guide | The Clone Wars - Season 5, Episode 9

Former Jedi Knight Ahsoka Tano once served as the Padawan learner to the Jedi Anakin Skywalker during the Clone Wars. A respected leader and warrior attuned to the light side of the Force, Ahsoka grew into a formidable fighter before the Empire’s reign changed the course of galactic history. Although she walked away from the Jedi Order, she continued to stand up for those fighting for peace and justice in the galaxy long after the fall of the Republic.

A tough, pragmatic Weequay, Hondo Ohnaka led a notorious Outer Rim pirate gang from his headquarters on Florrum. A former colleague of Jango Fett and a former lover of Aurra Sing, Ohnaka won fame during the Clone Wars when he kidnapped Count Dooku, Obi-Wan Kenobi, and Anakin Skywalker and tried to ransom all three for a big payout. Since that incident, Ohnaka continues to serve himself, not being above robbing, blinding, or betraying his friends and foes. Decades later, he started Ohnaka Transport Solutions on Black Spire Outpost to run contraband throughout the galaxy. Chewbacca has reluctantly partnered with the charming pirate to fund refurbishment of the Millennium Falcon.

General Grievous was a brilliant Separatist military strategist and a feared Jedi hunter, known for his ruthlessness and hacking cough. His body itself was a weapon, allowing him lightning quick strikes and devastating blows. But he was also quick to run from a fight, a tactic that worked until one final meeting with Obi-Wan Kenobi.

An ancient droid, but still quick of mind, Huyang oversaw the construction of lightsabers in the Jedi Order for centuries. After the fall of the Republic and the Jedi, his databanks remain a repository of ancient Jedi lore, including an exacting record of every lightsaber constructed under his supervision. A storied architect and professor, during the Clone Wars Huyang was based out of the training vessel Crucible, where he guided younglings in the art of saber construction as part of their journey to become Padawans. He continues to be operational after the end of the Jedi Order, surviving through the rise and fall of the Empire, to see the dawn of the New Republic.

A starry-eyed Rodian girl, Ganodi was a bright student in the Jedi Temple during the Clone Wars. She underwent an important rite of passage called The Gathering, which required her to enter the heart of the Crystal Cave on Ilum, and discover the crystal that was perfectly attuned to her through the Force. This gem would become the heart of her lightsaber, but first, she needed to overcome despair at the overwhelming nature of the challenge before her.

The Crucible was an ancient Jedi vessel, dating back to the days of the Old Republic. For centuries, it ferried Jedi students from Coruscant to the sacred world of Ilum, where the pupils would undergo the Jedi ritual known as The Gathering. Once a Jedi youngling uncovered a kyber crystal on Ilum, he or she would spend the return trip learning how to assemble a lightsaber. The children would learn from the ancient, wise architect droid, Huyang.