Last week’s episode of Star Wars: The Bad Batch concluded with the destruction of Tipoca City on Kamino. As if that weren’t shocking enough, we also learned that Crosshair had his chip removed a while ago and still chose to remain with the Empire. Unfortunately for him, Vice-Admiral Rampart had no qualms about leaving the clone sharpshooter for dead.
This week, Star Wars: The Bad Batch wraps up its first season as Clone Force 99 attempts to survive the destruction with their unconscious former teammate in tow. As always, the recap portion of this review will contain plenty of spoilers along with some brief explorations of Star Wars lore.
Gone and Forgotten
Star Wars: The Bad Batch (Disney+)
The episode opens with Rampart looking down from the bridge of his star destroyer as Tipoca City is blasted to smithereens.
While the Bad Batch and AZI-3 flee through the decimated capitol, a laser barrage knocks the structure they’re on from its support stilts, causing it to tumble into ocean. The destruction also causes a nearby control panel to short out, separating Omega, AZ, and the unconscious Crosshair from the rest of the group.
As the building sinks below the waves, a subtly crestfallen clone trooper informs Rampart that Tipoca City has been successfully destroyed. The vice-admiral expresses satisfaction at the news before ordering his star destroyer and the others near him to rendezvous with the rest of the Imperial fleet.
Flushed Out
Star Wars: The Bad Batch (Disney+)
After recovering from the blast, Omega and AZ discover that the room they’re trapped in is filling with water. Crosshair is still unconscious, but his body is trapped under debris and moments away from being submerged.
Despite Crosshair’s previous attempts to kill the Bad Batch, Omega immediately tries to rescue him. After unsuccessfully attempting to lift the debris, she radios Hunter and explains their dire situation.
Tech attempts to override the door’s controls, but is unsuccessful due to the facility’s catastrophic damage. Wrecker then takes out a knife and begins prying the door open via brute force.
Star Wars: The Bad Batch (Disney+)
Back in the other room, Crosshair awakens and proves himself to be a giant douche by demanding that Omega and AZ help him. They try again, but are still unable to lift the debris. As the water level rises over Crosshair’s head, Omega orders AZ to go beneath them and use his boosters to push the debris up. She then climbs a nearby piece of wreckage and begins shooting the debris with her energy bow.
This proves to be much more effective, allowing her to swim down and pull Crosshair to safety. Moments later, the rest of the Bad Batch are able to pry the door open far enough to get them out before quickly closing it again to keep their compartment from flooding.
Instead of being grateful, Crosshair immediately accuses his former teammates of causing the destruction that still threatens to kill them. Hunter tells him that it was actually the Empire who blew up Tipoca City and left him for dead. He also offers him the chance to escape with them, which Crosshair grudgingly accepts.
Bittersweet Memories
Star Wars: The Bad Batch (Disney+)
After a harrowing journey through the crumbling facility (which included a heartbreaking moment near the embryo/cloning chambers) the group is forced to stop when the section they’re in collapses and lands on the ocean floor. Tech is able to lead them to their old barracks, which is one of the few areas where water isn’t leaking in from all directions.
Their former living quarters have been significantly cleaned and decluttered since the last time they were there — although the count of successful missions Wrecker once scratched into the wall remains. Seeing this causes Hunter and Crosshair to get into yet another pissing match about which one of them is doing the right thing. When Crosshair points out that Hunter has led them all to their deaths, Omega excitedly counters that the barracks have landed next to the secret underwater tunnel they used to enter Tipoca City.
Crosshair takes this opportunity to snidely ask if Omega is calling the shots now. Hunter responds by asking if he has a better idea (which of course he doesn’t).
Star Wars: The Bad Batch (Disney+)
AZ manages to cut through an area that leads into the tunnel and is still sealed off from being flooded. As they move through it, however, Crosshair notices the glass around them starting to crack and demands they go back and find another way.
*Side Note: Crosshair may be a jerk, but I probably would have been on the same page with him about this one.
This leads Wrecker to chastise him for getting them into this mess in the first place, which leads to yet another pissing match. This time, however, Tech steps in to point out that Crosshair has always been “severe and unyielding” and cannot change who he is. When Crosshair expresses surprise at his former teammate sticking up for him, Tech counters that he’s simply pointing out that he understands him, which doesn’t mean he agrees with him at all.
Star Wars: The Bad Batch (Disney+)
As the group continues forward, a massive underwater creature (which I’m ashamed to say I couldn’t identify) attacks the tunnel. As you might imagine, this causes the already damaged structure to crack even more.
AZ runs ahead to restore the tunnel’s power and overload the system in an effort to deter the beast. It works, but not before the creature punctures the tunnel enough that water begins rushing in. Thankfully, the group manages to get into the connected portion of the facility (Nala Se‘s secret lab) and shut door the behind them.
Upon entering the lab, it becomes Hunter and Crosshair’s turn to learn that the location was where they and Omega were born — and that Omega is technically older than them.
The group also discovers that the tunnel leading from the lab to the platform where the Havoc Marauder was parked has been completely destroyed. As if that weren’t bad enough, AZ’s battery is about to run out, as well.
Crossed Lines
Star Wars: The Bad Batch (Disney+)
As the group tries to figure another way out of their predicament, Crosshair once again makes a snide remark about Omega, this time criticizing her plan that put them in this situation (which was also the only shot they had at survival).
Hunter points out that unlike the Empire, Omega came back for him and saved his life.
*Side Note: BURN!
Crosshair brushes this observation off, countering that Hunter takes things too personally. By destroying Tipoca City, the Empire was simply doing what needed to be done. As far as he’s concerned, the time of the Republic is over. He then declares that the Empire will control the entire galaxy and he plans to be a part of it.
*Side Note: …which won’t be for very long if you drown soon, but go off.
Crosshair ignores Hunter’s parting remarks and goes to sit by himself. Omega sits beside him and tries to connect, explaining that she’d been alone on Kamino for a long time until Nala Se created the Bad Batch. That’s why she’d been so determined to find them — they were the only family she had.
Crosshair mutters that just because she’s a clone doesn’t mean she’s part of the Bad Batch. Omega responds that she wanted to believe it was his inhibitor chip that made him the way he was, but now she knows better.
Star Wars: The Bad Batch (Disney+)
Meanwhile, Echo finds some empty cloning tubes and realizes they can be used to escape from the lab to the surface…if they can avoid the debris that’s floating everywhere. Crosshair points out that AZ should be able to direct them safely toward the platform, which the droid eagerly agrees to do.
Omega sets charges on the lab window while everyone else gets inside the tubes. She then gets inside one herself and pushes the detonator, which sends them all careening into the ocean.
The plan works perfectly at first, but hits an unexpected snag when AZ is unable to stop a piece of debris from slamming into Omega’s tube. With the other tubes almost to the surface, the droid dives down to save her.
He reaches the tube, removes the debris, and begins pushing Omega back to the surface. Just when it appears that disaster has been avoided, AZ’s power finally runs out. The droid tells Omega that her path is clear before shutting down and starting to sink.
Star Wars: The Bad Batch (Disney+)
Instead of allowing AZ to perish, Omega radios Hunter to tell him that she’s going after the droid before opening her tube and swimming toward him. She reaches AZ, but doesn’t have enough air or strength to swim back up.
Hunter declares that he’s going in after her, but stops when he turns to see Crosshair pointing in his direction. Instead of shooting his former squad leader, however, he fires a grappling line to the water. It attaches to AZ, who Omega grabs as Crosshair pulls them both up to safety.
As Hunter pulls Omega into his tube, Crosshair looks at his teammates (who had his weapons drawn on him) before tossing his gun to Wrecker and silently sitting back down.
Gone and Remembered
Star Wars: The Bad Batch (Disney+)
After paddling toward the Marauder and climbing the platform, Omega looks back at the burning wreckage of Tipoca City. She might not have wanted to ever come back, but it was still where she came from. Now it’s gone forever.
Tech points out that they should leave before any Imperial scouts show up. When Wrecker asks if Crosshair is coming with them, he responds that nothing about his decision to join the Empire has changed. Hunter makes one final overture for him to return to the team, but no avail.
As the rest of the Bad Batch board the Marauder, Omega thanks Crosshair for saving her and AZ. He coldly replies that she should consider them even now. Before turning to board the ship, she reminds him that he’s still his former teammates’ brother…and hers, too.
Meanwhile, Nala Se is taken to an Imperial facility, where she’s greeted by a medical officer along with a squad of clone commandos. The officer informs the despondent scientist that they have big plans for her before heading inside.
The Verdict
Star Wars: The Bad Batch (Disney+)
This wasn’t a bad episode by any means. After last week’s barn burner, however, “Kamino Lost” still felt like a bit of a letdown.
As always, the animation, musical score, and voice acting was superb. The action was also great — especially the scenes featuring Tipoca City crumbling into the ocean.
But considering everything we learned in the preceding chapter, the lack of revelations for a season finale is a bit odd. It did confirm Crosshair’s douchiness and showed the start of Nala Se’s fate, but those were things most of us already assumed.
Also, Crosshair’s insistence on joining the same Empire that abandoned him — especially after chastising Hunter for a perceived lack of loyalty — doesn’t feel very genuine. You could make the case that he simply enjoys being part of a military operation that gives him the opportunity to kill, but that doesn’t necessarily ring true, either. Not only is this new army inferior to the one he previously fought with, but they’ve proven themselves to be disloyal and somewhat dysfunctional.
Combine that with his decision to save Omega and AZ (proving there is a shred of humanity in him somewhere), and it would make more sense for him to become a freelance bounty hunter. I’m glad we’ll still have him as an adversary for season two, but I wish the path we took to get there felt more consistent.
Star Wars: The Bad Batch (Disney+)
That being said, the episode did have a lot of great character moments. While it was expected that Hunter and Omega would shine in this department, Tech’s verbal smackdown of Crosshair was fantastic. It was also heartbreaking to watch Wrecker struggle between hating his former teammate and wanting him to come back.
It did feel a bit weird to have Omega feel so attached/protective toward AZ, though. I get that there’s some history we might have not seen, but the interactions we saw still didn’t give their relationship the weight that was portrayed on screen — certainly not enough to have that scene where she nearly sacrificed herself to save him.
Or maybe Omega just truly has that big of a heart, which is part of the reason she’s had a much better start than other notable Star Wars children. Ahsoka Tano and Ezra Bridger ended up being fantastic characters, but they were selfish and insufferable when we first met them. Omega, on the other hand, consistently shows a degree of empathy that even a Jedi would be impressed by. Couple that with her smarts/resourcefulness, and I can’t wait to see what her and the Bad Batch get up to next season…
…which will hopefully involve a plotline featuring Commander Cody attempting to hunt them down.
Next Episode: ‘The Spoils of War’
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