Clone Wars Season 2

On Friday, at : p.m. ET/PT, Cartoon Network presents the STAR WARS: THE CLONE WARS premiere of "Bounty Hunters: Rise of the Bounty Hunters," as a pair of can't-miss episodes where ruthless bounty hunter Cad Bane and his team of cutthroat mercenaries steal the show in this season's special hour-long Clone Wars event (with commercial breaks). Making his first appearance since the shocking Season Finale, Bane is back to cause more destruction and mayhem. Armed with his signature weapons, he's out to put pressure on the heart of the Republic by infiltrating the Jedi Temple to steal a valuable holorecorder, an ancient memory storage device. And Ahsoka's assignment to guard the Jedi Archives as punishment for her failure to follow orders will place her directly in Bane's path to achieving his goal. If you watched last season's finale, you know that Cad doesn't shy away from a challenge – he's brave and fearless, and it gives the Jedi quite a bit of trouble. "These episodes really capture the adventurous spirit of Star Wars, which is one of the parts I've always loved," says Dave Filoni, Supervising Director of STAR WARS: THE CLONE WARS. "There's a big battle going on outside, but the conflict becomes much more personal. When you throw someone like Cad into the mix, the stakes are raised and it makes the story much more intense and entertaining." The character of Cad Bane allowed the staff of THE CLONE WARS to revisit the original films they love, and the concept for Bane traces its origins back to George Lucas' original STAR WARS. "The concept of Cad Bane does go all the way back to the first movie," says Lucas, creator and executive producer of STAR WARS: THE CLONE WARS. "It draws from a lot of different types of films, including Westerns." When it came time to introduce a bounty hunter character for the series, he fit naturally into the world Lucas had created. He's a top-notch marksman who is mysterious and emotionless. From the very beginning, bounty hunters were a part of the theme of STAR WARS – ruthless bounty hunter Cad Bane contemplates his next evil move in this all-new episode of STAR WARS: THE CLONE WARS, premiering Friday, , at : p.m. ET/PT on Cartoon Network. Following the classic trajectory established by the original trilogy, Season Two of STAR WARS: THE CLONE WARS will deepen the story of the conflict itself while exploring the previously unseen face of war. Just as THE EMPIRE STRIKES BACK was able to take the archetypes established in A NEW HOPE and amplify their depth and complexity, "Bounty Hunters: Rise of the Bounty Hunters" peels back the layers to reveal the complexity and intensity hinted at in Season One of the series. Cad Bane and his core group of bounty hunters will up the ante, and the artists at Lucasfilm Animation are happy to oblige.