The Cavalry Has Arrived
The cavalry arrived to help the Bad Batch rescue Omega from Mount Tantiss in the series finale of the first Lucasfilm Original Animated Series for Disney Plus, Star Wars: The Bad Batch.
The Bad Batch has been on the run ever since Order 66 was executed. As the defective clones weren’t controlled by the command chip, they were able to think freely. But now their sister clone has willingly turned herself over to the Empire to save others, and they will do anything to save her and other clones that have been held at the Imperial facility.
Heroes to the End
Echo manages to find Omega and the rest of the children being held hostage. He sends them with Emerie who has had a change of heart since taking over for Nala Se as Chief Scientist on Project Necromancer. Meanwhile, Omega stays with Echo and they work to save all the clones including Hunter, Wrecker and Crosshair who were overwhelmed by the elite clone force squad brainwashed into serving as Dr. Hemlock’s personal security.
This ends up being their strength and their weakness as they are able to get the other clones held captive to help them, but Hemlock knows they’re loyal to a fault. This allows him to overwhelm almost everyone, that is until Nala Se’s final acts to stop the Empire.
Nala Se and Rampart
Nala Se has been held imprisoned ever since Hemlock discovered she was not actually submitting Omega’s blood samples for testing. Once Echo and Omega free her, Nala Se makes her way to the main hub of the facility to destroy her research. Rampart, also captured by the Empire after joining with the Bad Batch, follows her. Here’s where their paths diverge.
Nala Se is a good Kaminoan who believes in her science but doesn’t want it in the wrong hands. Rampart is a former Imperial officer who is only out for himself. Once Rampart understands her science, he kills her to not let her destroy it. However, his arrival caused her to activate a grenade. When he kills her, she drops the grenade destroying her research and killing Rampart in the process. She dies a hero even though her research has led to war and suffering for others. He dies the same villain he was at the beginning of the series.
Pros
The Bad Batch is able to overcome Hemlock and escape back to Pabu. After years of fighting in the Clone Wars and then being on the run from the Empire, the Bad Batch finally gets some peace. Clone Force 99 deserved this break from war even though the timeframe wasn’t really a peaceful time for the galaxy. While we know other clones will help the Rebellion during the time of Rebels and the Original Trilogy, this group got the chance to rest and raise Omega. That’s why it’s fitting that it ends with Omega leaving the older Hunter, Wrecker and Crosshair while going off to join the Rebellion. She’s a fighter like them and now she’s old enough to fight while they are old enough to rest.
Another pro is the fact that not everyone came to their rescue. With a name like The Cavalry Has Arrived, it would be easy to fill this episode with Dave Filoni’s favorite characters and let them help the Bad Batch complete the mission. However, I like the fact “the cavalry” here is the clones on hand at the base. Cameos would’ve been nice but ultimately unnecessary to make this series finale work.
Cons
The major con hanging over this series remains its connections to Rise of Skywalker. Project Necromancer is clearly connected to the cloning program that leads to Emperor Palpatine’s return. However, this series ends with all the research being destroyed and two of the main scientists involved killed. It’s a major problem with setting things at different points on the timeline. Yes, this can just be a small obstacle for the Empire, but it’s set up to where it should be a major one based on what we know happens later. This series was never able to set itself apart from the specter of that final film of the Skywalker Saga.
How did the series do?
It had its highs and lows, but overall, this series is a nice addition to the Star Wars animated content. It didn’t have the strengths of The Clone Wars or Rebels, but delivered much stronger results than Resistance. I probably won’t rush out to rewatch this series, but I liked more of it than I hated. It could've been better, but it was still a mostly satisfying series.
You can watch all episodes of Star Wars: The Bad Batch on Disney Plus.
Article Written By: Jeremy Brown for Stelmach Brown Media 2024
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