Star Wars: the Bad Batch S3 Ep 12 Review
So, let’s recap the last two episodes: the Empire is holding Force-Sensitive kids captive as part of a plan to make a clone body for Darth Sidious to become immortal. Said Empire managed to track down the Bad Batch’s hiding place on Pabu and blow up their ship. And to save everyone, Omega had to turn herself in without the squad being able to track her. In summary, the Bad Batch is shipless, leadless, and Omega-less. Well, not quite. They do have one lead, but no one is going to like it.
Desperate times call for desperate measures. Even if it means working with people you hate. Like Rampart
Proud of Crosshair
After opening up on Omega’s return to Tantiss, the episode cuts back to Pabu as the Bad Batch regroups. The good news is that they’re all in one piece, and with the arrival of Phee, they now have a means of getting off-planet. However, none of that matters if they can’t find Tantiss. That’s when Crosshair reveals that he hasn’t been wholly honest with his brothers: he does have a possible lead. He just didn’t want to go back.
On a surface level, withholding this information paints Crosshair in a bad light once more. However, the episode demonstrates that this was done not out of malice, but because Crosshair is kriffing scared. What happened to him at Tantiss gave him PTSD, and even if he didn’t admit that, the tremor in his hand tells his brothers all they need to know. It takes a lot for someone who’s gone through a traumatic experience to open and be vulnerable about it. The fact that he’s doing so when, at one point, he never would’ve, shows Crosshair is trying to change for the better.
That still doesn’t make his lead any less desirable: it’s Admiral Rampart.
Rampart is Back
After the Bad Batch outed Rampart for destroying Tipoca City and being used as a scapegoat by the Emperor, I hoped we’d never see Rampart again. Yet the Bad Batch and Phee have no choice but to spring him out of an Imperial prison camp to find a way to get to Tantiss. And no one is happy about this, especially since serving hard time has not humbled him in the slightest. However, that feels like the point.
Everyone likes to think of Star Wars as this black and white story, but it has plenty of shades of gray. Shows like Andor demonstrated how, to get on their feet, the nascent rebellion had to do some unsavory things. They had to make moral compromises to destroy a greater evil. And if that means working with a former enemy like Rampart for Omega’s sake, then so be it.
The actual prison break isn’t the most exciting thing. Seeing the squad steal the Juggernaut transport and outrun Imperials was fun, but not one of the better escapes I’ve seen. In addition, the already bitter experience gets worse when Rampart reveals even he doesn’t know where Tantiss is. No one not working there (besides the Emperor) does. Which means they’ve got to work together. Given who Rampart is, he’ll sell out the Bad Batch if it means getting his job back, so he’ll have to be kept on a tight leash.
I Still Have Hope for Omega
The one bright spot to all of this is that my prediction regarding Omega is coming true. After confirming the findings about her blood and Midichlorians, Hemlock throws Omega into the Vault. With the other children her age. All of whom are Force-Sensitive.
Hemlock may think Omega is powerless to escape without Nala Se, but he’s underestimating her, and I stand by what I said in the last review. With the training she’s gotten from the Bad Batch and the children’s connection to the Force, they could stage another prison break. One that could bring about an end to Mount Tantiss, or at least set it back for years. Fingers crossed, that’s how the series finale plays out.
This episode was pretty lackluster when compared to what we got last week. However, with the show now in the endgame, things can only pick up from here. The big question is just who will live to see the end of the series, and who will we have to say goodbye to? Everyone is on the chopping block, and the stakes are higher than ever!
