In the latest ‘Bad Batch,’ we return to a world from ‘Jedi: Fallen Order’
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This week’s episode of The Bad Batch, “Battle Scars,” features fun callbacks to Star Wars video games, two very different kinds of monster sequences, and some great Omega moments. An old friend from The Clone Wars drops in to catch up, as well.
A lot of questions are still unanswered, but this remains a fun show week after week, and I’m excited to see where it’s all headed.
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What happens in this episode of ‘The Bad Batch’?
After finishing their most recent job for Cid, the Bad Batch crosses paths with a hooded figure in the bar back on Ord Mantell. (This is right out of Aragorn’s introduction in the Lord of the Rings films; creator Dave Filoni’s a big fan.)
While the Batch is chatting with Cid in her office, we hear blasterfire ring out in the cantina. Turns out the cloaked figure was scaring off some aggressive patrons trying to pick a fight. It also turns out he’s Clone Captain Rex, the fan-favorite ARC trooper we last saw fighting alongside Ahsoka Tano in the Clone Wars finale. “It’s been a while, boys,” he says. “I guess you could say I’ve been keeping a low profile.”
We learn that he’s been in contact with Trace and Rafa Martez; they’re how he managed to track down Squad 99. Rex has been listed as KIA by the Empire, so he’s been operating safely in the shadows since shortly after Order 66 went out. The captain is alarmed to hear that the Batch hasn’t removed the inhibitor chips in their heads yet, calling them “ticking time bombs” and lowering one hand to his blaster. He’s not just being paranoid, either—Wrecker’s headaches are intensifying.
“I don’t want to bury any more of our brothers,” says Rex. “It’s a risk you do not want to take.” Until the implants are removed, they’re susceptible to Emperor Palpatine’s sinister programming, and they could hurt someone they care about. They agree to meet up with Rex again on Bracca—a junk planet created for the video game Jedi: Fallen Order—and locate a medical bay in one of the countless Star Destroyers littering the world’s surface.
In a scene reminiscent of the 1996 game Shadows of the Empire, a giant, tentacled dianoga seizes Wrecker in the flooded belly of a downed starship, pulling him underwater till the Batch can rescue him with a little tug-of-war (and a lot of blasterfire). Once the clones manage to find a working Kaminoan surgical pod, Tech runs a scan of Wrecker’s skull. This triggers his inhibitor chip.
“You’re in direct violation of Order 66,” he says, suddenly a different person. He grabs Tech by the throat and slams him into the floor. Wrecker fires his rifle at Rex and the rest of his squad, calling them traitors. This is the same thing that happened to their old comrade Crosshair, only it’s happened to Wrecker in slow motion.
Once it’s down to a one-on-one between Wrecker and Hunter, the brainwashed clone puts both hands around Hunter’s neck, and Omega fires a warning shot with a heavy blaster. Wrecker chases the girl through the cruiser’s dim corridors, like a creature in a monster movie, seemingly prepared to kill.
“This isn’t you, Wrecker. It’s the inhibitor chip,” says Omega. “I don’t want to hurt you.” She says, “I’m your friend.”
“Good soldiers follow orders,” he replies, and Rex blasts him from behind.
While he’s stunned, Wrecker’s brothers surgically remove his chip. Eventually, he awakens with full knowledge of what he’s done, powerless to stop the commands in his head. Overcome with shame, he apologizes to Omega. She listens.
Then she offers him a snack. “Mission’s over,” she says. “Can’t break tradition.”
Like the husks of fallen starships around them, Hunter and Rex reflect on their station. They’re the last of the clone army, but the galaxy keeps on spinning. They’ll all be needed in the struggles ahead. “Captain. If you’re ever in a bind, you know how to reach us,” Hunter tells his brother-in-arms.
As Rex departs, we glimpse a couple masked salvage workers watching Hunter through macrobinoculars in the distance. (They’re in the same uniform worn by Cal, the hero of Jedi: Fallen Order, naturally.) “Intruders confirmed on the Jedi Cruiser,” one of them says. “Notify the Empire.”
Watch ‘The Bad Batch’ on Disney+
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This article originally appeared on Reviewed: The Bad Batch season one, episode seven recap: Battle Scars
