Credit: LucasfilmThe first part of this two-part Star Wars: The Bad Batch finale recap left our heroes dangling precariously in peril, as Stormtroopers descended upon them. With seemingly no way out, the Bad Batch (all voiced by Dee Bradley Baker, with the exception of Michelle Ang’s Omega), looked set to meet their doom…
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The Clones force open the rail car door as they begin to take fire from the other ongoing, Stormtrooper filled one. They need to try and route some power to get themselves moving again. Tech makes a perilous leap to the power box and plugs in while the others hold off the enemy.
Back in Tarkin’s (Stephen Stanton) conference room, he orders air support to shoot down their cable car, despite the danger to his forces also on the line. Three ships are incoming and cause severe damage to the car just as Tech manages to get the power back online.
The damage causes Tech to fall out of the damaged car as he tries to climb back up via his grapple. The car’s been ripped from the track and they can’t shift. As Wrecker tries to get him onboard, the shifting weight puts everyone in danger. The ships send more reverberations through, and to save everyone else, Tech enacts plan 99 — sacrificing himself to save the rest. He disappears in a fall, down into the depths of the fog. The car accelerates too fast to safety, and everyone ends up dazed in the crash.
We see from Omega’s POV as the Bad Batch get her to safety and away from the Stormtroopers. She wakes on Ord Mantell and the memory of Tech’s loss returns to her. She’s in denial but Hunter explains his sacrifice was for the squad. It means they have to change, and put being soldiers behind them for good.
He intends to make Pabu their new home. In the bar, we see Cid (Rhea Perlman) mourning Tech’s loss with a wounded Wrecker. On The Marauder, Gonky tells Echo about the Empire’s arrival. A cruiser is overhead and ships are being dispatched. Inside, Cid reveals she has sold them out to make the ‘best of a bad situation’.
Clone Commandos are here. Hunter tells Omega and AZI to take the tunnels to the Spaceport while he heads for Wrecker. Inside the bar, Dr Hemlock (Jimmi Simpson) has Wrecker and his commandos. He tells Cid to leave while Hunter watches on. He wants Omega for their lives. He tosses Hunter Tech’s goggles, all he salvaged from the planet floor.
Hunter lowers his pistol to save his brother, and is taken into custody. He tells Hemlock Omega is long gone, despite the fact she currently watches on from an air vent.
Omega tells aZI to find Echo, then opens fire on Hemlock and his entourage as they march through the street. He tries to convince her to come in willingly by telling her Nala Se is alive and under his care. It’s a distraction as a Commando stuns her from behind.
Echo and AZI forgo stealth to commandeer a walker and take charge of the streets with superior firepower. Wrecker and Hunter overcome their guards in the chaos, and make to rescue Omega from Hemlock’s shuttle. Despite their best efforts, they’re too late: Hemlock has left with her. They race to the Marauder and jump to hyperspace, with no way to track him. She is lost… but Hunter is determined to get her back.
At Mt. Tantiss, we see Nala Se (Gwendoline Yeo) watching Omega’s return. Despite this, she still tells Hemlock that what the Emperor seeks from their science is not possible.
Omega finds an incapacitated Crosshair on a table as Emerie Karr (Keisha Castle-Hughes) greets her. She tries to tell Omega that she can trust her, and Omega says she doesn’t know her. But Emerie insists she does: they’re sisters.
Clone Force For Thought:
I raised my suspicions about Emerie earlier in the season, and it turns out the pay off was actually the final scene. I have to admit, The Bad Batch’s highs are very high. This finale left me very interested in more, especially as Hunter set up a safe end point for them with their Pabu retreat only for Hemlock to snatch it away.
The next season is going to have a lot of interesting threads to pick up, as Omega no doubt learns more about herself, as well as who she is when she isn’t under the arm of Clone Force 99. Hemlock is also just a fantastic villain, isn’t he? Softly spoken, quietly menacing, and radiating power and maniacal confidence. Tech’s loss only cemented it.
The season may have had a couple of dips but my goodness — it ends on a downbeat but exceptional high.
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About The Bad Batch:
From showrunner Dave Filoni and Lucasfilm Animation comes a new animated Star Wars sensation. Created as clones of bounty hunter Jango Fett, Clone Force 99 — ‘The Bad Batch’ — are an elite force of Clone Troopers who turned their back on the Galactic Empire’s regime to carve their own path through the galaxy. Alongside young ward Omega (Michelle Ang), they embark on adventures during a time of great turmoil in the galaxy.