– Spoiler Review –
Most of my nieces and nephews, and some of my friends’ kids, ask for Chewbacca because I’ve trained myself to put on a decent enough impression of the fearsome Wookiee. So as you can imagine the howls I had for The Bad Batch’s season two latest, “Tribe,” as Wookiee youth Gungi makes a triumphant return which sees him stumble into a fateful crossing with Clone Force 99.
Kashyyyk and the Wookiees have always held a unique fascination for me, but I can’t totally describe why. Is it because Chewie has always been such a loyal friend of Han Solo and family, Legends and canon? Is it because Spaceballs equated their version of Chewie, Mutt, to man’s best friend, and I’ve always had a dog in my life, even one named Chewie? Is it because Yoda can climb on Chewie and be best friends with them despite their…height differences? Is it because they give good hugs?!? Regardless, any time Wookiees are involved, I’m all in, so knowing Gungi was going to return thanks to the first season two trailer, I’ve been highly anticipating this episode. “Tribe” lived up to the hype throughout most of the episode, but it left me wanting more, as it felt too short for all the interesting mysticism introduced and shrugged off to be deep dived elsewhere.
In the middle of a mission delivering forged chain codes, the IDs of the Empire’s reign, to a group of droid gangsters known as the Axios Collective, Omega overhears a being in pain and rushes to help. She sees a Wookiee, Gungi, trying to fight against his captors, and without hesitation she rescues him, which brings the rest of the base after them. Omega’s brothers try to take Gungi without force, but the droids won’t let him go without a fight. Gungi, despite being fearful of the clones, grabs his lightsaber from the droid leader and joins them in the escape, successfully fleeing the base. After Omega and Hunter helps Gungi come to trust them, they decide to help him reunite with his people on Kashyyyk. It’s quickly clear the situation on Kashyyyk isn’t great, as much of it is being burned down in a joint venture between the Trandoshans and Empire. Finding some survivors, the team joins them to fight back the convoy, leaving Gungi on Kashyyyk once they restore a temporary peace on the planet.
I imagine most people watching The Bad Batch have watched The Clone Wars to some extent, and likely already know and have attachments to Gungi and the other younglings originally featured in the latter show’s fifth season, but I’m curious how people who have only tuned into The Bad Batch felt about the young Wookiee’s quick appearance. As a TCW fan myself, I knew we were dealing with Gungi from the moment he appeared, though his name’s not mentioned until they rescue him from the droids. There’s a lot to love about him here in this appearance, but without much context for his history I can see TBB fans maybe not finding this episode landing as well, though all the Wookiee-related goodness, it might help pique their interest to learn more. Gungi’s still quite adorable here, especially with his softer howl than older Wookiees, while his Jedi ways mean he’s quick to try to dispel threats without violence first, as we see him make peace with the spooky spiders the team encounters on their walk through the forest. In all his scenes, he’s knocking out the Trandoshans he faces instead of killing them, and even in the final battle with their leader, despite clearly getting frustrated and wanting to kill him, lets go of any anger and lets the spiders have him when they come. I liked this commitment from him and the show itself, making sure he remains as Jedi-like as possible despite the situation, though I’m still very curious to learn what’s happened to him since Order 66 (like, was he with or near the other younglings from TCW?), as I’d love to learn more and see how else he remained faithful to the Order despite having to be on the run. I felt like his fear and anger towards the clones was dealt with rather quickly, but in a half hour, they only have so much time, so I understand, combined with Omega and the team’s actions, how he might quickly make peace with them (maybe he’s an empath like Burryaga before him as well, which could help).
The small glimpses we got of Kashyyyk were a delight and yet such a tease for the much larger and intriguing symbiotic nature of the Wookiees and their planet. It’s most recently been featured in canon via the Aftermath Trilogy, which sees the liberation of Kashyyyk from the Empire, and Jedi: Fallen Order, hinting at the darker fight ahead for Gungi and this tribe he’s been accepted into. What “Tribe” does show us is the Wookiee’s reverence for their planet and the nature around them, evident in how they build their cities into the planet’s trees and what not, ensuring they live with it, not in opposition to it, though even by Fallen Order we see the Empire doing its best to upset the natural balance they stive for. How they commune with the trees is fascinating but not dug into enough here to truly satisfy, as I only know the monkey-like creatures they ride into battle are technically like tree-gods of some type, while the episode only sort of hints at it. And the significance of their leader Yanna and her place in the story are nice to have showing a female member is such a revered post, and gives me hope more Wookiee stories can find a better mix of the species to explore. This overall surface scratching of Kashyyyk and Wookiee mysticism is both my favorite part of the episode and one of my disappointments, as it sort of introduces these things without much fanfare and without any hint we’ll see it again anytime soon.
Also, since Gungi wasn’t in either Kashyyyk set story after this, not even mentioned in passing, what is he up to after this? Does he survive through the Imperial occupation? Does he help in the fight? Does he find himself off-world somehow, fighting for other Jedi or his youngling pals? As much as his fate since Order 66 has been of great interest, this appearance ends up feeling like another way point leaving us with more questions than answers, so I’m left hopeful we’ll get to see more of him in this show alone, but I’m not going to bet on it.
As for Clone Force 99, Wrecker’s interactions and mimicking of the Wookiees was very fitting, as it makes a lot of sense there would be a lot of similarities between them, and gave me a few good laughs. It’s not a big surprise Hunter knows some Wookiee, but I’m glad Tech was there to fill in the gaps with his translation technology. As for Omega, her willingness to instantly help Gungi was no surprise, but I liked how quickly the rest of the team decided to support her decision, rushing to help the Wookiee as well because Omega said so. Hunter is still focused on giving Omega a normal life, a life without war, as he tells Yanna as he watches her and Gungi communing with the trees at the end, despite her instinctual desire to help others. There’s no way she’s going to like Hunter’s plans for her so I’m curious when the eventual schism is going to come…and if Hunter will wake up to needing to join the fight, not hide out.
While there’s some darker lighting that helps Clone Force 99 look more like their brothers, it’s still not a permanent fix for the prominent issues explored deeply by the #UnwhitewashTBB campaign. You can read more up on the campaign via their Carrd, and this great article on Gizmodo, but it’s simply pointing out how the special clones of a character played by a Māori actor are whiter than any other clone, unintentionally implying superiority and uniqueness are inherent in those who are white versus their darker-skinned brethren. I find it hard to cover this show without mentioning it each episode, as not acknowledging it would be ignoring the problem. They’ve reportedly darkened the characters, but it’s still not been enough to fix the issue, so hopefully by the show’s eventual third season they can maybe get it right.
The Bad Batch’s “Tribe” gets a *enthusiastic Wookiee noises* for bringing Gungi a satisfying new stop on his story.
+ Gungi’s return!
+ Wookiee insight and mysticism
– Unwhitewash the Bad Batch
Ryan is Mynock Manor’s Head Butler. You can follow him on Twitter @BrushYourTeeth. You can follow the website on Twitter @MynockManor and Instagram @mynockmanor.
THE BAD BATCH REVIEWS
Season Two: 1.1/1.2 Spoils of War & Ruins of War | 1.3 The Solitary Clone | 1.4 Faster | 1.5 Entombed
Season One: 1.1 Aftermath | 1.2 Cut and Run | 1.3 Replacements | 1.4 Cornered | 1.5 Rampage | 1.6 Decommissioned | 1.7 Battle Scars | 1.8 Reunion | 1.9 Bounty Lost | 1.10 Common Ground | 1.11 Devil’s Deal | 1.12 Rescue on Ryloth | 1.13 Infested | 1.14 War-Mantle | 1.15 Return to Kamino | 1.16 Kamino Lost