Star Wars: The Bad Batch S3 Ep 14 Review
The Bad Batch is down to the wire with only a week left before the series ends. The good news is that the squad (and Rampart) managed to hitch a ride on a supply ship heading to Mount Tantiss. However, that was the easy part. The hard part is getting inside the base, and finding Omega and the other Clones. They’re not even aware of the other captive children, which could only make things more complicated. However, while they don’t know this, they have a trump card of their own: Omega. She has a plan; if it works, it could shut Tantiss down for good.
Hemlock Knows What He’s Doing…
Even though the Bad Batch managed to attach itself to a ship headed for Tantiss, they’re going there at a significant disadvantage. They don’t have time to call Rex or any other allies to help them, leaving the chance of them pulling a cavalry charge up in the air. In addition, unlike many Imperial Officers in later years, Hemlock’s competent at his job. He knows what they’re up to once he hears they were spotted above Coruscant and scrambles his forces. The squad doesn’t even get close to Tantiss before abandoning their ship and hoofing it on foot, leaving Echo to enter the base alone. By the time the episode ends, they’re nowhere near getting in, while Rampart gets captured, making him a potential security risk.
During this time, a lot of focus goes on Crosshair in particular. He’s the only one who knows how terrible Tantiss is, his trembling hand a reminder of how scared he is of the place, yet, for all his fear, Crosshair’s willing to go back for Omega’s sake. When first introduced in the final season of The Clone Wars, Crosshair only cared about himself and his brothers, to leave them behind in favor of the Empire. It took some time, but he realized how big a mistake that was, and while he can still act cold, he’s learned to care about other people. In a discussion with Rampart, Crosshair makes it a point to state how, despite both being betrayed by the Empire, he’s loyal to his brothers. Rampart doesn’t buy it, but Crosshair will likely prove him wrong, hopefully without dying. In fact, none of the protagonists may die if Omega’s plan works.
…But So Does Omega
Omega has put her time in captivity to good use by finding ways out of the vault she’s trapped in. Once she realizes that her brothers have arrived to look for her, she uses the opportunity to do some recon while the other kids distract the scientists. And she discovers something big, literally. Besides Project Necromancer, Mount Tantiss serves as the prison for a captive Zillo Beast. AKA the kaiju-sized reptile with lightsaber-proof armor that rampaged through Coruscant and almost killed Palpatine before dying, only to get cloned. When Omega gets back to the kids, she confidently tells them she has a plan, and while she doesn’t say it aloud, it should be obvious what she’s thinking. She’s going to set the Zillo Beast free.
This is a potentially great plan. The last time she saw one of the Zillo Beast clones, the Empire had a hard time trying to recapture it. If one were to get loose inside Mount Tantiss, it could cripple its many projects. With luck, it would even shut Tantiss down altogether. And with the Empire trying to contain it, it would be the perfect chance for the Bad Batch to swoop in, and save Omega, the kids, and the Clones in one, fell swoop. There’s a chance that some of the heroes may die, but the Bad Batch has another trump card they don’t know about: Dr. Karr.
Karr Better Get Her Act Together
Dr. Karr’s character arc has seen her begin to wake up to how evil the Empire is, and how willingly working with them could make her just as bad. Thus, when she catches a disguised Echo and tries to justify her actions as following orders, he refuses to hear it. Considering how he lost his original squad in the Clone Wars, he has a right to be mad, and Karr seems willing to help Echo save Omega and the other prisoners, something that not even Hemlock may know about.
Next Week is the End
We are now down to the series finale next week, and there’s still no telling how this will end. Will Rex and the other Clones come in to save the day? Will Omega’s plan succeed in shutting Tantiss down? Will any more of the Bad Batch die? Given how this is the finale, it would take an hour or more to wrap this up. Hopefully, Disney will deliver the goods. Sadly, though, it seems I must wait on my dream to see the debut of the first TIE Fighters.
