Last week’s episode of Star Wars: The Bad Batch brought back a fan-favorite monster from season two of Star Wars: The Clone Wars while simultaneously resurrecting a huge plot thread. It also appears that the Empire will attempt to coerce Nala Se into helping with their mad science projects by trying to kidnap Omega.
This week, we shift our focus to another episode centered on Crosshair…and once again, it’s an emotional gut punch.
As always, the recap portion of this review will contain plenty of spoilers along with some brief explorations of Star Wars lore.
New Orders
Star Wars: The Bad Batch (Disney+)
The episode opens with Crosshair watching as a trio of clone troopers are callously brushed off following their forced retirement from service. He’s interrupted when a Lieutenant (Nolan) approaches and admonishes him for being out of uniform.
After Crosshair puts his helmet on, Nolan explains that he will be the commanding officer during their mission to an Imperial supply depot on the icy/inhospitable planet Barton-4. Their objective is to guard some valuable cargo from local insurgents until it can be transferred by week’s end.
Nolan then notices some other clone troopers on the transport and scoffs at their presence. When Crosshair asks if there’s a problem, Nolan responds that he doesn’t like “used equipment.”
Star Wars: The Bad Batch (Disney+)
When they arrive on Barton-4, Nolan gets off to a great start by admonishing one of the clone troopers for running into him after he stops in front of the ramp. He then enters the depot, which only has three clones left: Hexx, Veetch, and their leader, Commander Mayday.
When Mayday mentions that they’re long overdue for reinforcements, Nolan chastizes him for speaking out of turn. He even goes so far as to blame Mayday for the supplies that have been stolen and getting his ridiculously unsupported troops killed by insurgents The two verbally spar a bit before Nolan is finally escorted off to see the rest of the base.
Once he’s gone, Mayday begins talking to Crosshair. The sniper initially tries to shut him out, but relents and deigns to communicate with him. Mayday takes Crosshair outside, where he reveals that the depot’s sensors are malfunctioning, making it much easier for raiders to attack without warning. He’s requested that they be repaired, but to no avail. Instead, the Empire simply instructs him to protect the crates — the contents of which are a complete mystery — at all costs.
Mayday also warns Crosshair not to head out alone lest he becomes food for the circling ice vultures. Despite how vicious the creatures are, Mayday respects them for their ability to survive.
Star Wars: The Bad Batch (Disney+)
The pair are interrupted when a call comes in over the radio about raiders attacking the depot. Crosshair is able to tag one of them with a non-fatal wound, but not before the raiders kill Hexx and Veetch and blow up the transport. He follows the blood trail to a hidden cavern, revealing how the raiders were able to sneak onto the depot so easily.
After he’s joined by Mayday, the pair head back to base, where they’re chastised by Nolan for allowing two crates of cargo to be taken. He then tasks them with recovering it, which Mayday says will require manpower that they don’t have due to Hexx and Veetch being killed in the raid — especially to recover just two crates.
Nolan haughtily retorts that it isn’t his place to determine a mission’s value before demanding that he and Crosshair take on the mission themselves.
Star Wars: The Bad Batch (Disney+)
As the pair head back through the hidden cave, they find a dead raider wearing some of the clone troopers’ decrepit gear. When Mayday expresses disgust that they would leave one of their own behind, Crosshair responds that it was likely a matter of not wanting to carry dead weight. Mayday sarcastically retorts by asking to be reminded not to die on Crosshair’s watch.
Later, Crosshair steps on a pressure mine, which Mayday is able to disarm with improvised tools (and despite his unit’s lack of resources). While he’s working, the clone commander expresses his uneasiness at how their ranks are being treated by the Empire now that the Clone Wars are over.
Buried Feelings
Star Wars: The Bad Batch (Disney+)
Mayday and Crosshair find the raider’s base and attack. Despite being unequivocally better fighters, they’re eventually overwhelmed by the opposition’s numbers. Before the pair can be overrun, Crosshair shoots at an unguarded explosive, wiping the rest of their attackers out while causing a cave-in that seals off the base.
After diving out of the way, the pair find the two missing cargo crates (which one of the raiders tried to escape with), which have popped open. Inside are brand new sets of stormtrooper armor — armor that Mayday and his troops badly needed, but were forced to sacrifice themselves to protect. Upon making this discovery, the commander drops a heavy quote:
We’re good soldiers. We followed orders. And for what?
Star Wars: The Bad Batch (Disney+)
Before Crosshair can respond, an avalanche from the previous explosion rumbles toward them. As they run for their lives, Mayday pushes Crosshair so he won’t be trapped behind a rock. Both soldiers end up getting buried, but Crosshair manages to pull himself out. He makes his way over to where Mayday was submerged and digs him out. He then tells the commander to get up, who responds by insisting Crosshair go on without him since he won’t make it.
Hearing this causes something inside Crosshair to break. Instead of leaving the “dead weight,” he puts Mayday’s helmet back on, puts his arm over his soldier, and begins carrying him back to base.
*Side Note: Facial expressions don’t always get the recognition they deserve when it comes to animation. Crosshair’s visible emotions during this scene were utterly heartbreaking.
Star Wars: The Bad Batch (Disney+)
After a long and brutally exhausting journey, Crosshair and Mayday arrive at the base to see that it’s now filled with transports and stormtroopers. Upon seeing them, Nolan admonishes the pair for being gone so long. When Crosshair tells him that Mayday needs a medic, Nolan only criticizes them for not returning with the crates. As far as he’s concerned, medical care for a dying clone trooper would be a waste of the Empire’s resources.
Once Mayday passes, Nolan twists the knife further, explaining that Mayday was expendable while promising to make Crosshair meet a similar fate if he continues to be insubordinate. He then orders the sharpshooter to get on his feet and back to work. As ice vultures circle overhead, Crosshair breaks again. This time, however, he decides to take a life and fatally guns down Nolan. He then drops to the ground and passes out as stormtroopers surround him.
Sometime later, Crosshair awakens in the Mount Tantiss cloning/mad science facility. He’s injected with a substance by Dr. Scalder, who assures him that he might have a chance at survival if he cooperates.
The Verdict
Star Wars: The Bad Batch (Disney+)
Once again, we get a great episode centered around Crosshair. This time, however, we see both his and the clone troopers’ resolve truly get broken down.
With regards to Crosshair, his respect for Mayday transformed into a genuine bond. He clearly didn’t want to feel anything for the “reg,” but seeing how the commander continued trying to do his impossible job while refusing to take crap from an Imperial bureaucrat won him over — even more than when he saved Crosshair’s life.
From there, Crosshair was once again faced with the cutting reality that the Empire was actively working against everything he previously took pride in. His highly capable brothers (who were born and bred to kill like him) are being replaced by mass quantities of low-quality imposters — and the Empire is more than willing to kill him and anyone like him to make it happen.
It doesn’t matter to the Empire how good of a soldier Crosshair is. He’s a damaged product that no longer fits with their future plans. The best he can hope for is to be used up and discarded as quickly as possible. That’s a fate that will even make a sociopath long for a family to run to.
Meanwhile, Mayday joins a growing list of clone troopers who show why Order 66 and the inhibitor chips weren’t foolproof. Good soldiers may follow orders, but that becomes increasingly difficult when the end goal of those orders is a result that goes against what’s clearly the right outcome.
Other examples we’ve seen include:
- The mutiny against Jedi General Pong Krell during the Umbara campaign in the Clone Wars.
- Captain Howzer and many of his troops refusing to back the Empire’s occupation of Ryloth.
- Captain Wilco refusing to falsify a report, resulting in his murder by Vice-Admiral Rampart.
When you add in Mayday, three of those four examples happened after Order 66. The clones are obviously fine with clear objectives (i.e. the Jedi have betrayed the Republic and must be eliminated), but many can still think for themselves enough to have a line between right and wrong — something the Empire is clearly on the wrong side of.
As good as this episode was, it could have been much better if Lieutenant Nolan wasn’t such a ridiculous caricature. I’m not saying he needed countless layers of subtlety, but he makes Vice-Admiral Rampart look like the definition of nuance by comparison.
Beyond that, though, this episode was yet another solid entry in a very uneven season for Star Wars: The Bad Batch. I’ve often praised the animation, but this time it went well beyond the landscapes and action sequences. The emotions we saw across Crosshair and Mayday’s faces were more powerful than any of the explosions that occurred during the thrilling firefight.
Hopefully “The Outpost” and the episode that preceded it are a sign that the Bad Batch‘s second season is going to finish much stronger than it started.
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