I’ve just watched Cat and Mouse and I think using Trench with Malevolence would give us the best of both. The Trench scenes in C&M are either him being quite malicious and capable, or Yularen talking about how much of a threat he is. The stealth ship feels a bit out of place (especially early in the Clone Wars) and while it shows off Anakin’s tactical skill, that isn’t exactly new texture to his character.

I think the best use of these four episodes is basically to frame it as some new Separatist general who’s devastating Republic ships and taking no survivors. It’s believed Plo’s fleet has been hit the same way - we don’t see how (it’s implied to just be a regular battle against overwhelming odds/strategy), we just see Plo trying to save the lives of the clones, as Ahsoka (under Anakin’s wing) breaks the rules on a hunch to save him. After the save, Yularen goes back to his terminal and realises it was Trench. Yularen and Anakin agree immediate aggression is a good idea, at which they track and destroy his ship. I might see if I can do something to imply Trench’s survival so his presence can hang over the series.

This should pay off nicely later too, since ultimately he attacks more clones in the Order 66 arc, and then is killed face to face by Anakin in the Bad Batch arc.

I think the only thing left from those episodes which is any good is seeing Bail working on relief efforts, which doesn’t make an episode in itself. That might be able to work with Ahsoka’s intro episode, or the theoretical ‘return to Christophsis’ episode where we see the defector clone (which just doesn’t belong that early in the series either).

As a reminder, we really should crack through this one as quickly as possible if at all, because it looks like shit.