Star Wars: The Bad Batch S2 Ep. 5 Review
A few years back, I got my hands on a copy of Jedi: Fallen Order and managed to dive heavily into the setting. One of the key plot points to the episode was the exploration of ancient ruins of a long-vanished species called the Zeffo. The whole experience was very Indiana Jones, National Treasure-esque, and required a lot of problem-solving and puzzles that you had to get past. This week on The Bad Batch, we get a similar premise and a glimpse into the ancient history of a galaxy far, far away.
At least in the new canon. In the old Expanded Universe, there was plenty of ancient history.
Ancient Treasure Located
While Wrecker and Omega are combing a junkyard in search of useful parts, Omega comes across this weird-looking object she likes. Upon returning to Cid’s, she shows her find to Phee Genoa, the pirate who told them about Dooku’s fortune. According to her, Omega’s new trinket’s a compass with coordinates to an uncharted system home to ancient treasure. The Bad Batch decides to hunt for this lost treasure at Omega’s insistence (and because they got no jobs).
When people think of Star Wars, treasure hunting is not the first thing to come to mind. However, upon closer inspection, there’s a ton of treasure hunting in Star Wars. In the old Expanded Universe, the Galaxy was filled with lost secrets and ancient ruins, the oldest of which predated even the Republic, Jedi, and Sith. Of particular interest to treasure hunters were sites of great importance to the Jedi and Sith. Korriban, the ancient Sith homeworld, was filled with tombs dedicated to Sith Lords and valuable artifacts that would sell for high prices on the black market.
While there are no Force-related artifacts found on this treasure hunt, it does call back to the game I mentioned, Fallen Order.
Omega Jones and the Temple of the Ancients
Much of the plot of Fallen Order revolves around the protagonist, a Jedi survivor of Order 66, trying to unlock a Holocron with a list of all the known Force-Sensitive children in the Galaxy. Players must traverse the ruins of this ancient, long-vanished species known as the Zeffo across multiple worlds. The entire process is intensive, involves a lot of puzzle-solving and exploration, and fighting the occasional monsters and super-powered droids.
After watching the episode over and hearing thoughts from Star Wars YouTubers, this episode borrows a lot from the premise of Fallen Order. The ruins Phee and the Bad Batch explore include a lot of puzzles as well as monsters to fight. It’s very eerie, but it does lead to an interesting climax. The treasure they were after was the only thing stopping this massive alien mech from running rampant. It’s got an energy beam weapon that would put blasters and turbo lasers to shame, and the group’s barely able to shut it down before it wrecks their ship.
It might not seem important in the grand scheme of things, but this mech reminds us that there are other powers out there besides the Jedi and Sith. Odds are, some of them have technology and resources more advanced than the modern galaxy knows. Knowing this, it’s for the best that the mech breaks in the end. If some warlord or Force helped us, the Empire found something like that; they’d wreak untold havoc. Imagine Darth Sidious controlling a giant mech with a doomsday laser!
An Interesting Filler Episode
Overall, this episode didn’t do much to advance the season’s overall plot. We’re still in the dark about where Cody is, what’s happening to the remaining Clones, or Cid’s past. However, I think it’s these one-off adventures that people will end up rewatching the most when the series ends. They don’t need a lot of prior knowledge about the plot to enjoy, and that’s good for the long term.
I did enjoy the reveal about the giant mech, though, and I do hope we’ll get to see more ancient tech and ruins as Star Wars continues to re-flesh itself out under Disney. Just don’t expect any trips to Korriban anytime soon. I know Disney changed it to “Moraband,” but I don’t care. It’s Korriban!
