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In the Clone Wars episode "Darkness on Umbara", Anakin Skywalker is told by Pong Krell that Palpatine has summoned him to Coruscant. Krell further states that the Jedi Council thought it was important enough to agree with Palpatine, which they never do.

At first, I thought it was a ruse by Krell to get Anakin off Umbara, so he could mistreat/kill members of the 501st Legion, but Wookieepedia (the Star Wars Wiki) says that Palpatine actually did summon Anakin then. So my question is: Why was Anakin summoned to Coruscant, and was this mentioned in another episode, directly or indirectly?

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    Wookieepedia is user-moderated, so take everything it says with a pinch of salt.
    – Rogue Jedi
    May 2, 2016 at 23:36
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    @RogueJedi: While what you say about Wookieepedia is true, there's probably merit to that statement. A Jedi Master would need a compelling reason to relieve a Knight from command of his troops. If Anakin shows up to Coruscant and and Palpatine says, "No, I didn't call for you," then the rest of the Jedi Council is going to be interested pretty quickly into what Krell is up to. So, Palpatine either did call Anakin back, or Palpatine is willing to cover for Krell for some unknown (and presumably dark) reason, or Krell is exposing himself to a large amount of unnecessary risk.
    – Ellesedil
    May 2, 2016 at 23:42
  • @Ellesedil True. That why I said "take it with a grain of salt" and not "it's probably wrong."
    – Rogue Jedi
    May 2, 2016 at 23:44
  • Sure. Sometimes, people say the former and really mean the latter, so I thought I'd be clear. :)
    – Ellesedil
    May 2, 2016 at 23:46
  • This is speculation, but perhaps Palpatine knew what Krell was doing and was just helping it along? So he leaned on the Council for his favorite Anakin's help? I don't remember anything before or after this episode arc that would have involved Anakin and Palpatine.
    – Joshua
    Aug 1, 2016 at 4:52

2 Answers 2

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Starwars.com has this synopsis

When Anakin is forced to temporarily turn over command of his clone troopers to a new commander, the Jedi Pong Krell, tensions begin to run high as the clones are assigned with a very deadly mission to take the capital of Umbara.

IMDB has this synopsis

During an assault on the shadowy world of Umbara, General Skywalker is called back to Coruscant. He has to relinquish command of the 501st legion to legendary Jedi Master Krell, who turns out to have a low opinion of Clones.

Both indicate that this is something Anakin has to do. If it were a ruse, I would expect it to be a plot point (i.e. When Anakin is tricked into relinquishing command...)

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I disagree with the point Machavity makes in his answer. Just because it's never explicitly stated that Palpatine is being duplicitous, that doesn't mean he isn't being duplicitous. The show tends to portray Palpatine's double-agent nature in a subtle manner, showing him undermining the Jedi's efforts without telling you that he's doing so.

For example, at the end of Season 3's "Citadel" arc, Ahsoka and Captain Tarkin return to Coruscant, each carrying one half of the coordinates for a secret hyperspace lane that could turn the tide of the war. Ahsoka intends to tell the Jedi Council the coordinates, but she and Tarkin are told to deliver them to Palpatine instead. While it's never stated, and we never see him do it, the obvious implication is that once Palpatine learns the coordinates, he's then going to turn them over to the Separatists, so that both sides have them.

Similarly, the obvious implication of the Umbaran arc is that Palpatine recalled Anakin in a deliberate attempt to sabotage the invasion, and made up some kind of excuse so that the Jedi Council would agree to it. This was my immediate instinct upon watching the arc, and while it's never confirmed, it's never contradicted either.

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  • 1. Rule 1: Sidious is always duplicitous. Rule 2: If there is ever any question about Sidious’ duplicitousness, see Rule 1.
    – Silly but True
    Jan 3, 2022 at 16:21

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