Ten years have passed since the invasion of Naboo,
and the Galactic
Republic is in turmoil. Former Jedi Master Count
Dooku has organized a Separatist movement against the Republic,
making it difficult for the Jedi to maintain the peace. The Republic
contemplates creating an army to assist the Jedi, prompting Senator Padmé Amidala, former Queen of Naboo, to
return to Coruscant to vote on the matter. Upon her arrival,
she narrowly escapes an assassination attempt. Supreme Chancellor Palpatine
assigns Jedi Knight Obi-Wan Kenobi and his apprentice Anakin Skywalker to protect her. That night, another
attempt is made on the Senator's life, although Obi-Wan and Anakin foil
the plot and subdue the assassin, who is murdered by her mysterious
employer as she is about to reveal vital information. The murder weapon
is discovered to be a poisonous dart manufactured on the planet Kamino.
Returning to the Jedi Temple, Obi-Wan is assigned to investigate the
identity of the assassin's killer, along with R4-P17, while Anakin is assigned to escort and
accompany Senator Amidala to her home planet of Naboo.
Anakin, who has fallen in love with Padmé, relishes the opportunity to
spend time with her, although Padmé resists her feelings toward him, as
it goes against the morality of their respective careers as a Jedi and a
senator. In investigating the remote ocean
planet of Kamino, Obi-Wan discovers that it has been removed from
the navigation maps of the Jedi archives. Yoda reveals
that such a thing could only have been done by a Jedi, suggesting that a
conspiracy is afoot.
Obi-Wan heads to Kamino, where he discovers that an army of clone
troopers is being secretly produced for the Republic, using a bounty
hunter named Jango Fett as their genetic template. Obi-Wan
tries to capture Jango after deducing that he is the killer he has been
looking for, and he tracks Jango and his son Boba
to the planet Geonosis after they escape from Kamino. Anakin,
meanwhile, has grown troubled with recurring nightmares about his mother
Shmi in grave danger; he left her behind on Tatooine
when he set off to become a Jedi. In defiance of Obi-Wan's orders,
Anakin convinces Padmé to accompany him to Tatooine to save his mother.
There he finds her mortally injured by Tusken Raiders, and she dies in his arms. Succumbing to a
murderous rage, Anakin massacres the entire Tusken tribe. After burying
his mother, Anakin tearfully confesses his crime to Padmé, who comforts
him.
On Geonosis, Obi-Wan learns that Count Dooku authorized the
assassination attempt on Padmé, and that the Separatists are developing a
new battle droid army. Obi-Wan relays this information via hologram to Anakin, who transmits it to the Jedi
Council; however, Obi-Wan is captured mid-transmission. While he
holds Obi-Wan hostage, Dooku reveals that the Republic is in fact
controlled by a Sith
Lord named Darth Sidious. While Anakin and Padmé head to
Geonosis to rescue Obi-Wan, Chancellor Palpatine is granted emergency
powers to organize the clone army and send them into battle. Shortly
after arriving on Geonosis, Anakin and Padmé are captured and sentenced
to death
along with Obi-Wan. Preparing for what could be their final moments
alive, Padmé finally confesses her own feelings for Anakin. The three
are pitted against savage beasts, but manage to survive until Jedi
Master Mace Windu arrives with a team of Jedi to assist them,
engaging and killing Jango in a brief battle. After a heated struggle,
in which most of the Jedi are slain, Yoda arrives with the clone army
and rescues the survivors of the battle.
As a large battle erupts between the Republic's clone army and the
Separatist's droid forces, Count Dooku attempts to escape. Obi-Wan and
Anakin corner him in a hangar and engage him in a lightsaber
duel, but he outmatches and defeats them with his mastery of the dark side of the Force, severing
Anakin's arm in the process. Yoda engages Dooku in a duel until Dooku
escapes, taking the plans for a new "ultimate
weapon" to his Sith master, Sidious, on Coruscant.
The Jedi are now uncertain of what will become of the Republic, now
that the Clone Wars have begun. Chancellor
Palpatine oversees the launching of massive clone
trooper forces. Meanwhile, Anakin (with a new cybernetic arm) and Padmé marry clandestinely on
Naboo, with droids C-3PO and R2-D2 as witnesses.