The Bad Batch is not a show I'm dying to love, but this week's episode, titled "Replacements," provided so much connectivity to the established lore of Star Wars that I couldn't help but dig deeply into it after picking up on Lucasfilm's attempt to connect the dots and provide more context to a universe that continues to have gaps filled in (whether that's necessary or the best thing is another discussion).
Two storylines carry the episode; the Empire's side of this story was far more interesting. Crosshair, the clone who defected from his Bad Batch unit in the premiere, now is a focal point of a much larger plan of the Empire's, and it has major implications.
We start by meeting Rampart, a high-ranking officer working directly under Tarkin (Rampart is voiced by Noshir Dalal, but man, I thought he sounded an awful lot like Tom Hiddleston). Tarkin and Rampart are working on a new project called War Mantle. This project is an effort to create an elite squad of troopers to work in tandem with the clones in the interim while the Empire tries to figure out the best long-term plan for growing its army.
Translation: Death Troopers! The Death Troopers left a fun impression on me. One Trooper immediately started trash talking Crosshair, saying that a change is in order because the clones failed at their job, suggesting it's time for soldiers to take over. But as we later hear from Tarkin, the idea of a hybrid army with clones and soldiers continues, as alluded to in many places, including The Force Awakens, several books, and even a video game or two. If you think about Kylo Ren's discussion in The Force Awakens when he's talking to General Hux as they're tracking down Finn and Poe (near the beginning of the movie), it appears even at that point that neither the clones nor the recruited soldiers perform ably enough to become the dominant force (no pun intended) within the Empire. The implication, of course, is that clones still have not died off completely.
With that in mind, it's interesting to hear what Nala Se (of Kamino) later suggests in this week's Bad Batch episode. The Kaminoans already are afraid of the degradation of the clones (as evidenced by the ones who resisted Order 66, among other signs). But Lama Su (the Prime Minister of Kamino) and Nala Se discuss plans to upgrade the formula somehow, implying that, since clones are still around during Kylo Ren's time, Lama and Nala do, indeed, come up with some other cloner who proves to be a worthy successor to Jango Fett; his DNA, of course, was used to create the original batch of clone troopers. It'll be interesting to learn whom they were referring to when planning the next phase of clones. This idea also supports the discoveries made during "The Siege" Season 2 episode of The Mandalorian. Din Djarin and his crew discover a science lab abandoned by the Empire on a remote facility, where the Empire clearly is still running experiments of some kind, potentially even the cloning kind. I remember thinking then that these experiments were hinting at a missing link to explain how the Emperor's clone appeared in Rise of Skywalker. After this week's Bad Batch episode, it seems clear that these experiments began much earlier than the era during which The Mandalorian takes place.
Tarkin wants to test his new toys by sending them to Alderaan to attack Saw Guerrera and avenge the clones troopers' previous defeat to him - all while under Crosshair's leadership. This fight turns out to be the most contentious scene of the episode, and as Omega has reminded me of Rey in The Force Awakens, so too did this scene with the Death Troopers remind me of someone. (Here's where the fun begins!):
As it was in the Season premiere, Saw's small militia is guarding a contingent of refugees looking for a safe haven, but the Death Troopers have other ideas. As they overtake Saw's forces, the Troopers try to extract information from them about Saw's whereabouts. One of Saw's fighters says she wouldn't tell Crosshair even if she knew where Saw was, and Crosshair slyly responds, "I believe you," then promptly kills her on the spot. The Death Troopers' oddly timed sense of morality suddenly kicks in as they are hesitant to act like an execution squad. Seeing this resistance and friendly fire drives home the point that these troopers are not mindless clones; they can think for themselves, and they can feel regret and remorse.
Crosshair makes an example of the defiant Death Trooper by shooting him on the spot, too, which compels the rest of the Troopers to comply with his methods and finish off the refugees. It's basically Finn's opening scene at the beginning of The Force Awakens all over again, when he hesitated to kill innocent villagers. Between these two similar scenes and some other scenes in The Mandalorian, as well as moments in the now-cannon books (such as Alphabet Squadron) and video games (such as Star Wars: Squadrons), Lucasfilm has delved into shedding some light on the Empire's side of the entire squad and showing their horrific action from their perspective.
Meanwhile, the Bad Batch and Omega have their own issues to handle. Their ship crash lands on a spooky planet (or moon?). Tech realizes they need to swap out capacitors, but a dragon monster steals their spare capacitor and runs off with it. Hunter and Omega are charged with tracking it down.
Later on, Hunter does find the stolen capacitor just lying around on the ground; too bad he doesn't realize it's a trap! The monster attacks him and incapacitates him, leaving Omega a convenient opportunity to prove her worth by tracking this monster and retrieving the capacitor.
It's at this point when Omega again harkens to another key scene of Rey's, this time from Rise of Skywalker. On the surface of this spooky moon is a network of connected holes. Omega jumps down one and finds where the dragon is hiding. She gives the dragon her flashlight, which seems to help it; it appears the dragon wasn't taking the capacitor out of hostility, but rather out of necessity, because the dragon feeds off the energy emanating from these devices. It's just like Rey's big moment in the cave under the sand pits on Pasaana (the planet where Lando was hiding) during Rise of Skywalker. Rey used the Force to heal the wounded serpent-like creature, which was the first "official" time we see the Force Heal ability used in the movies, though I maintain that Obi-Wan used it on Luke near the beginning of A New Hope. Baby Yoda actually was the first to use the ability in an official capacity in Season 1 of The Mandalorian. Though she didn't use Force Heal, Omega's scene was a clear homage to Rey's moment, which further perpetuates the idea that Omega's story will play out like Rey's story. They're both unknowns with untrained, unharnessed skills and force abilities, and their origins are unknown; yes, we know that Omega is a clone, but the writers clearly have a bigger reveal for her later. Of whom is she a clone? I'm sure we'll find out.
With only three episodes under its belt, The Bad Batch has a long way to go to earning its keep in the Star Wars pantheon, but this episode gives me a new hope (pun very much intended) that the show will achieve something worthwhile.
Notes:
-The Bad Batch's ship that crashes looks like an early form of a TIE Interceptor. I even have an X-Wing miniature of it.
-In the episode's final scene, Wrecker decorated a small room to let Omega keep for herself, helping her not feel so homesick and actually feel like a part of the gang. It was a touching moment.