Warning: There will be spoilers for the Bad Batch Season 2, episodes 7 and 8, titled “The
Clone Conspiracy” and Truth and Consequences” respectively.
If you haven’t seen them, proceed with caution.
You have been warned.
The latest Star Wars series, the Bad Batch, released the 7th and 8th episodes at the same
time on Wednesday.
And there is so much to discuss in these two episodes.
I have to admit, these are two of my favorite episodes of the Bad Batch, so far.
Not that the others were bad, but THIS is the arc I was hoping they would return to.
The side adventures are fun, but they leave us with a lot of questions.
But I guess that happens when there are more than a few episodes in a season.
And not everything can be adrenaline fueled like the uprising on Ferrix in the Cassian
Andor series, nor the final confrontation between Obi-Wan Kenobi and Darth Vader in
the Kenobi series.
There has to be a slowdown period, where we give the story time to breathe and expand.
But the latest two episodes of the Bad Batch are moving the story forward.
Not just the story of the group known as Clone Force 99, but the story of the changing galaxy,
as a whole.
And instead of taking us to each world individually, we get to see how the worlds are suffering
through their representatives in the Imperial Senate.
And that’s something very important to remember.
The Senate is no longer the Republic Senate, looking to maintain peace.
They are under the Imperial brand, and it specifies that by showing us the Imperial
symbol on the Senate floor.
And we may get into that more in a bit.
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Now…back to today’s topic.
Episode 7, titled “the Clone Conspiracy” begins with two clones sitting in a familiar
place.
It’s the same bar that Fives retreated to, when he discovered the plot against the Jedi.
So, it seems fitting that these two clones known as Cade and Slip.
Slip’s the one with the beard.
Which is also a first in Star Wars, active clone troopers with beards.
Or if they have shown it, I just missed it somehow.
But Cade tells how something is wrong with what they did to Kamino, and that he sent
a message to Admiral Rampart to come clean or be exposed.
And, as we know, Imperials don’t take kindly to blackmail.
In turn.
this leads to Cade’s death…leaving Slip as the one with the message.
Then…he too his killed by the same assassin who killed Cade.
In the meantime, Senator Tuchi is investigating the matter on her own, after Slip revealed
what he knew about the destruction of Kamino.
And this is where the Bad Batch come in.
Senator Tuchi needs them to retrieve data stored on Admiral Rampart’s Venator in order
to provide proof to the Senate that Rampart lied.
That the security of the galaxy was compromised by Rampart to further his agenda of conscripting
soldiers, rather than using the clones.
Another aspect of Senator Tuchi is that she is fighting for rights for the clones, who
will one day reach retirement age.
But this is thwarted when she provides the evidence that Rampart destroyed Kamino, and
it wasn’t annihilated by a storm.
Then…Emperor Palpatine appears in the Senate.
Denouncing the actions of Admiral Rampart and vowing to replace the clones with Stormtroopers.
Some are calling this a genius move.
But it’s really just caused plausible deniability.
But what is genius, is that this was his plan all along.
And now, with Rampart in custody, and likely about to meet his end, the knowledge of the
survival of Clone Force 99 will go with him.
Meaning, as long as the Bad Batch can stay out of sight, they will be free to live the
rest of their days in peace.
And that can go one of two ways.
The first way, and the most likely, is that they won’t lay low.
They will continue to do side missions for Cid and develop Omega along the way.
And, as we have already seen in the first episode, some of those Cid missions will likely
take them into contact with the Empire.
But Hunter seems annoyed with these petty missions.
And I’ll talk more about Omega in just a bit.
The second scenario is that the Bad Batch actually does retire.
With Echo leaving the team to join Rex in fighting the Empire, I think this scenario
is a possibility, as Echo was one trying to push the Bad Bath into doing more to fight
the Empire.
Now he’s gone, they won’t have Echo to push them.
But we should have seen this move coming, before it actually did.
In the beginning of the episode he was telling Omega how if it weren’t for Hunter and company,
he’d still be on Skako Minor…or worse.
But he joined them because this WAS where he fit.
Where he WAS needed.
Meaning, he had already made up his mind and he is no longer needed, and he no longer fits.
He used the past tense for both statements.
Whichever scenario plays out for the team, I would imagine they won’t want to hide
for long.
But they will have the option.
With Crosshair already showing that he isn’t ready to turn them in to the Empire, Admiral
Rampart was the only one who knew they had survived the attack on Kamino…no one is
looking for them.
Crosshair may be looking for them, but not to hunt them…rather he may want to join
them after his encounter with Commander Cody.
And with Echo gone, Crosshair’s spot is open again.
Now, on to Omega.
I know I’ve said in the past that I think she’s Force sensitive.
Does her meditation arc confirm this?
Not exactly.
But let’s look at it for fun.
She says Gunji taught her to meditate.
Why would he do that unless he sensed something in her.
This type of meditation wasn’t meant for non-Force sensitives.
It’s a way to focus and get insight into the will of the Force.
We have never seen a non-Force sensitive meditate in the Star Wars universe.
That’s just my take on it.
But ask yourself, why show Omega meditate, at all, if she weren’t Force sensitive?
One thing I’m really curious about though is why we have only seen Crosshair in one
episode out of the 8 that have been released.
I know we will again, at some point but he’s arguably the most interesting character of
Clone Force 99.
But there was a twist to the show that most of us didn’t even realize.
In the days of the Republic, it was Padme who went head on against policies.
She wasn’t afraid to fight for what she believed.
And she did it without care of repercussions.
Once Padme Amidala died, we all thought Bail Organa would continue her efforts.
But we see he really didn’t.
Not in the way Padme did.
Sure, he helped lead the rebellion, but he wasn’t a strong opposing voice in the Senate.
Even in the Clone Wars he operated in the shadows, giving information to those unafraid
to fight.
And he’s continuing this in the Bad Batch.
Instead, it is Senator Tuchi who has taken Padme’s fight and ran with it.
Bail Organa still being the one in the background lurking in the shadows.
One thing I really like about these two episodes is that they are showing Emperor Palpatine
becoming more and more reclusive.
This is something the novels have stated.
He doesn’t go into public much…or at all later in the timeline, and he allows Mas Amedda
to handle his business in the Senate.
I still have mixed feelings about the show.
It isn’t bad by any means, but I’m still very curious about where it’s going.
When I criticized the 6th episode, Tribe, I was met with those saying it was good seeing
what the Empire was doing to the rest of the galaxy.
And this is true…but didn’t we already know what they were doing?
Didn’t we know they were steeling natural resources and enslaving different races?
But I will agree, it was nice to see Kashyyyk again…and Gunji.
But the further we go into Star Wars storytelling, the more Jedi we see that survived Order 66.
And how many of those Jedi are the Bad Batch going to “accidentally” come across?
The galaxy is huge.
The chances of The Bad Batch helping so many scattered Jedi are stacked against them…astronomically.
Luckily, in episodes 7 and 8 we didn’t see that happen.
And to date, we have only seen it happen with two Jedi.
So, my fears are unsubstantiated.
Let me know what you think in the comments.
I do read all of them, and I try to respond to as many as I can.
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But that’s all I have for today.
Until the next video, this is Gerald, a Star Wars Fanatic signing off.
Wishing you all great health, happiness, and peace.
Thank you all for watching and remember, this is the way…and positivity in the Star Wars
fandom is the only way!