It’s new Star Wars week thanks to the arrival of The Bad Batch Season 2 on Disney Plus, so we’ve dusted off our holiday break rust and reviewed the two-part premiere, which consisted of “Spoils of War” and “Ruin of War” respectively.
Head on down below to watch or view the review of The Bad Batch Season 2 premiere.
Script
Bad Batch season 2 has returned with a two episode premiere to give Star Wars fans something to chew on before Mando S3 hits in March. While the premiere was devoid of any water cooler moments, it did a fine job in re-introducing the batch and setting up Season 2’s main narratives, which seem to be the group’s struggle with how to confront the Empire problem and its ever growing footprint of pain and control, Omega’s need to give her bros the life they deserve, Ramparts desire to advance in rank, and ultimately Crosshair and why he didn’t tell Rampart that Clone Force 99 survived.
So yeah, nothing super twisty or revelatory, but for a premiere, Spoils of War and Ruins of War did their job in getting fans caught up with the heroes while also laying the groundwork for the 14 episodes to come.
Honestly though, these episodes shined the most in their use of Tech and Echo, who got ample screen time for the first time in the series. Tech especially was given a lot of attention and more of his quirky nerdy persona was allowed to shine. He began to feel more like an actual clone versus a protocol droid, and it seemed he’s developed a bit more of a personality since last we saw him.
Echo on the other hand has become the voice for change and justice. He sees exactly what is going on with the Empire and wants Hunter and the rest to commit to fighting it, but thanks to their situation as a quasi-family with a little kid, the rest of the team is hesitant to get involved more than pulling off the heists they’ve been doing for Cid.
The Empire problem will be a very intriguing narrative to follow this season, and I like that Echo, not Hunter is taking the lead on addressing it. It’ll be interesting to see what ordeal will push the full team towards open rebellion against the Empire. Will the Empire commit an atrocity too far, will crosshair motivate them to fight back, or will something happen to one of their own to entice them to enter the fray in earnest? Either way, it seems Echo will be the driver for Clone Force 99 to do what must be done.
The other aspect of the premiere that was notable was getting another look at how citizens of the galaxy are responding to the Empire’s dominance. It was very interesting to see how people even at the center of the Clone Wars, such as Romar who lived on Dooku’s home world, have been deeply affected by war, and how everyone thinks everyone else is the bad guy.
Palp’s plan really was brilliant, because he effectively turned the republic into the enemy of the CIS and vice versa, essentially creating a loop of hate and blame between factions who ultimately are being persecuted by the same dude. This episode, namely through Romar, is just a great reminder of Palpatine’s con, and how in war the citizens and soldiers are usually of the same mindset, yet their leaders convince them otherwise and to kill the other side blindly.
Where the premiere faltered a bit was in its lack of Imperial storylines. Outside of Rampart showing up to be a goon at the end, the first two episodes completely ignored Crosshair and anything of note from the Empire. It would have been appreciated to get a brief check-on on the Imperials, but it looks like that may take place in episode 3.
How about some top moments?
The only real standout from the first episode was the scene between Echo and Hunter about fighting the empire. Like mentioned previously, Echo has a very clear mindset on this matter, but the rest do not share his opinion. With Hunter being the leader Echo must win him over first, so these heated conversations on what they should really be doing will only continue throughout the season until the batch are forced to face the Empire and embrace their destinies.
For episode 2, the first top moment is undoubtedly Wrecker becoming a literal tank. If this show were a class-based shooter, Wrecker is definitely the team’s tank, but after commandeering a canon from an AAT, he truly is a tank now, as in literally. The weapon just fits Wrecker perfectly, and I hope it remains a companion of his for the rest of the season. It’s like he got a new puppy, gotta love the big guy.
Finally, in what has to be the most shocking moment of the premiere, Ramparts murder of wilco rounds out the list. Dude was ice cold and very Imperial career progression-like. Waxing the Captain to ensure you don’t look bad in front of Tarkin is vintage bad guy stuff, and it added an even darker edge to Rampart’s career aspirations.
The fact that the captain’s name was wilco shouldn’t go under the radar either. Wilco means will comply, which is a great name for a clone all things considered, but the exchange also showed that Clones are able to think for themselves and still mostly know what is right. This is not behavior the Empire will tolerate for too long, so it will be interesting to see if there is some form of clone revolt down the road which leads to their extinction.
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Nick and I will talk more about this premiere on this week’s episode of the SWTS, so don’t forget to tune into the Star Wars Time Show on a weekly basis via our podcast platforms or via YouTube if you prefer the livestream angle.
