Confined, Paths unknown and shadows of Tantiss these three episodes were dropped together for the premier of the bad batch third and final season.
And at first I was like... So what's the point? Like the first one did a good job of setting up the structure and the horror of the facility that omega and crosshair are currently being kept in, Episode two is filler(at first glance) and episode three is when Omega and Crosshair actually start to escape.
Through all of these, there are scenes which refer to a successful transfer of M-count, or as Star Wars buffs have no doubt guessed it, a successful Midichlorian transfer, meaning a successful transfer of force powers from one body to another.
No points for Guessing that this is the emperor looking to Clone his body in order to survive past his Death and secure the future of the Empire, so... we are still going strong on the Sequel story line then? Great.
No see the point is, this story line on itself is great and all, the idea of the Emperor trying to create Clones of himself to survive past his Death is not only Fascinating, it makes total sense, given that he has Cloning Tech right on his hand.
It's just that we know that all of this ends with unnecessary Reylo...
Oh Star Wars, what have you become?
But after about more than a week of ruminating(which is why this article is late), I realised something important, the first two episodes are important. In order to establish the true fear of the Empire.
The Empire's straight hatred and disdain for Free will and individuality.
We know the Emperor is evil, but what of the Greater Empire?
People like Governor Tarkin, often clearly state their Disdain for individuality and the problems it creates, whereas people like Dr. Hemlock just have selfish needs that are hindered by those pesky ethical standards.
Every single Clone is kept in worse than worst condition, well I mean not every clone, Dr. Karr, who is assisting Dr. Hemlock, is also one, and she is pretty much the right hand woman of the main man running this operation.
Which highlights more complexity in Dr. Hemlock than just, evil man do evil, because he knows that Dr. Karr is a clone and still keeps her around and doesn't treat her as "property" ... at least that's what is implied... it could still be that she keeps the Glasses on at all times because she doesn't want to reveal that she is a clone... but that is stupid, but then so is the sequel trilogy, and I'll never let you stop hearing about it.
But unnecessary digression aside, this place is extra cruel because it just straight up sees animal domestication as making them a liability, and therefore plans to kill the Lurca hound that Omega domesticates.
And going back to the digression, the working of the empire is also emphasized on as Dr. Karr, who should be on the side of the clones, is just so dedicated to her work that she freely sees and helps in the torture of her brothers, it just goes to show the complacency and the need for personal comfort will always lead to a free path for tyranny.
But by the end, Omega's Idealism and innocence, begins to affect Dr. Karr, as she breaks her own established rules and gives Omega her toy, which is a "personal item"... those are banned.
But that is the first episode, what of the second episode? that seems more like filler?
Well... yes and no... keep in mind, every season of the Bad Batch must work on its own, and so must the show as a whole work on its own, the brutality and disdain of the empire towards normal lives and to the lives of the clones is established in other shows such as Andor, and the previous seasons of Bad Batch, anyone jumping in must have some context, or someone may need a reminder.
So on a whole, this episode doesn't necessarily serve a purpose on its own, that is unique to it, it just repeats some of what we already know, so in that sense, yes, it is filler, unless for something that comes later it is important that we see how clone force 99 got the info that lead them to the main compound, or some introduced characters will play a larger role later.
But on the other hand this episode needs to be there for some.
And so what is this episode? It leads the Bad Batch(clone force 99) to a previous experimentation compound used by Doctor Hemlock that has since been abandoned and bombed, seemingly to keep the intel a secret?
And the force meets two young clones... wait that's clone force 99, not... the force... but whatever... who attack them. These clones along with a third slightly older one have been surviving in the jungle on their own since their survival of the bombing.
The whole place is overtaken by nature, and that plays a large part in the main plot of the episode.
It shows that these clones have become Jaded and apathetic to others pain as they prepare to leave not only Clone force 99 but also one of their own when Danger comes calling, and they see what must have looked like their only chance to escape from their point of view, being taken from them.
But they do all escape together Regardless.
And then we have the third Episode.
Part of what this episode establishes is something I have already covered, that is setting up the Emperor wanting to clone himself and his M-count and the fact that Omega is the only one whose blood registers a successful M-count transfer.
But this episode also goes over the Storm Troopers general attitude towards Clone troopers, as they think that they are the upgrade, where as in reality, the emperor just wanted a larger force and the clone troopers are just too expensive, there is also the fact that, the troopers have a high amount of individuality due to the Jedi's philosophies.
which as you know... the Empire hates.
But on a whole this episode focuses on one thing, Omega and Crosshair's escape attempt, which almost failed but the reason for her escape, i.e. the empire finding out that Omega is the droids they are looking for... uh sorry, that she is the clone that can give a successful M-count transfer for the Emperor.
And Crosshair is traumatized as all hell, his hand is shaking, making his only specialty as a Clone Trooper... kinda redundant...
Honestly this could be the fate of all of Clone force 99, they are too much of a wild card to leave lying around and not have help in the original Trilogy. They are either going to have to be dead or put out of commission in some other way.
All in all, the third episode is what sets into motion the main narrative of this season, And while it could have very much been the first episode of the Season, it seems the other two episodes were also important and in any other place in between the season, these would have felt like unnecessary digressions, so its better to get them out of the way first, if they have to be there.
And then kick the season off with this third episode.
Maybe, these two could have been squeezed into one episode, but I generally welcome more fleshing out of the plot, and these three episodes do fulfill that condition, and never really felt like unnecessary bloat, so all's fine... till now.
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