The Clone Wars Episode Guide: Hunt for Ziro

"Love comes in all shapes and sizes."

Written by Steve Mitchell & Craig Van Sickle
Directed by Steward Lee

Cast:
Corey Burton as Ziro the Hutt and Cad Bane
James Arnold Taylor as Obi-Wan Kenobi
Nika Futterman as Sy Snootles and Gardulla the Hutt
Al Rodrigo as Quinlan Vos
Angelique Perrin as Mama the Hutt, MF-80 and chorus girl
Dee Bradley Baker as Clone Commander Cody and Arok the Hutt
Seth Green as Todo 360
Kevin Michael Richardson as Jabba the Hutt and Marlo the Hutt
Tom Kane as the narrator

Synopsis: Cad Bane has broken Ziro the Hutt out of prison and the Hutt Council demands that Ziro tell them where he's hidden vital -- and incriminating -- information: a journal detailing the criminal activities of the five Hutt families. Ziro makes another daring escape with the help of his estranged (and strange) lover, Sy Snootles. Bane is back on the Hutt's trail -- but he's not the only one. The Jedi Obi-Wan Kenobi and Quinlan Vos need to find him too.

A chase through the swamps of Nal Hutta leads the pursuers to Ziro's enormous mother, Mama the Hutt, who points them to the direction of Teth. It is here, in the secret grave of Ziro's father, that the fugitive Hutt has hidden the diary. When he retrieves it, Snooty reveals her true spots. She's a deadly woman scorned and a bounty hunter for hire. She kills Ziro, and returns the journal to her client: Jabba the Hutt.

Returning Characters: Cad Bane, Ziro the Hutt, Obi-Wan Kenobi, Clone Commander Cody, Arok the Hutt, Marlo the Hutt, Gorga the Hutt, Jabba the Hutt, Oruba the Hutt, Todo 360

New Characters: Sy Snootles, Quinlan Vos, Rang Thang, Mama the Hutt, Gardulla the Hutt, MF-80, house droid Ran-D, Gamorrean Guards, chorus girls

Newsreel:

The Jedi Council has assigned Obi-Wan Kenobi to retrieve Ziro the Hutt with the help of Jedi Knight Quinlan Vos. Unknown to the Jedi, we find Ziro in the clutches of the five Hutt families on the distant world of Nal Hutta....

Secrets Revealed

• The character of Quinlan Vos is known to many Star Wars fans from his appearances in comic books published by Dark Horse Comics. The design of Vos stems from a background extra barely glimpsed in Mos Espa in Star Wars: Episode I The Phantom Menace. Dark Horse applied this design to a new character featured in the Star Wars: Republic comics, Quinlan Vos. George Lucas took such an interest in the look and personality of Quinlan that he included him in the script to Star Wars: Episode III Revenge of the Sith. Obi-Wan Kenobi mentions a "Master Vos", and there was a plan to include Vos on Kashyyyk during the Order 66 sequence, though that was never photographed. This is Vos' first appearance in The Clone Wars.

• In the comic book, Quinlan Vos is depicted as a rather unorthodox Jedi -- one prone to bending rules and spending much time in deep undercover in dangerous, seedy parts of the galaxy. He has a unique Force talent of psychometry -- the ability to read impressions off of objects so he can see who had previously handled them. In this episode, he uses this ability to detect Ziro's presence from a discarded drinking vessel. In the script, he was to use it again while tracking down Ziro in the swamps of Nal Hutta.

• The five Hutt family leaders are are Oruba, Marlo, Arok, Gorga and Jabba. As Jabba is not present on Nal Hutta, Gardulla serves as his representative. This was a change made relatively late in production. Jabba's protocol droid, TC-30, was changed to Gardulla's, MF-80.

• Among the sources of inspiration for the enormous Mama the Hutt was Pearl, the obese vampire in Blade (1998).

• The small hovering droids in Mama's house -- the Ran-D housekeeper droids -- are an homage to to the tiny robots built by ILM in *batteries not included (1987).

• The dance number in the episode was inspired by the opening scene of Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom (1984), where Willie Scott and a troupe of chorus girls entertain gangster Lao Che and his henchmen.

• For those who like to inventory such things: the creatures on Nal Hutta included a slightly redesigned peko peko bird, different in appearance from those found on Naboo; a dragonsnake; and a type of fish first spotted in Duchess Satine's aquarium earlier this season. The DJ at the Hutt gathering is named Rang Thang.

• If you listen closely when Ziro dies, he mutters "What a World, what a world!", a nod to the death of the Wicked Witch in The Wizard of Oz (1939).

• Marlo the Hutt wears a Sha'rellian toop, a small creature that lives on his head giving him the appearance of having hair. Mama the Hutt has a stack of these as well.