– Spoiler Review –
The Bad Batch’s “Decommissioned” finds the clones roped into another job for Cid, though they run into some exciting and familiar faces from The Clone Wars!
With funds still low to fuel their new lifestyle, Clone Force 99 sticks around on Ord Mantell, where Cid ropes them into another mission on her behalf. This one hits a little closer to home, as it involves tracking down a Separatist Tactical Droid from a decommissioning factory on Corellia; the droids learned with every conflict, finding better tactics to defeating the clones, now valuable information for anyone looking to fight the Empire, as its armies are still clone-filled now. This opens up an interesting new thread to the story unfolding on Kamino throughout the show so far, the Empire debating the longevity of using clones over beginning to recruit from its member-worlds. Whoever is after this tactical droid, which I’ll dive into a little more below, might be making their fight harder by procuring the droid’s data, as while it might be helpful for the fight now against the Empire, such victories by ‘insurgents’ could be used against the Kaminoans by the Empire to show the failure rate of the clones is too high compared to its attempts at these special forces squads. It’s a Catch-22, as either force to fight will be formidable, but I guess in the long run it’ll work out for whomever is fighting the Empire, as the eventual recruits will often defect to the Rebellion and other causes in the future, giving them vital intel and helping them win the fight against the Empire. It’s a fun new wrinkle to the evolving story of this show and era, as we’re exploring the repercussions of the early fight back and the Empire’s takeover of Republic infrastructure, while having the long-term results in mind helps put it all into perspective. The Bad Batch themselves don’t dig too deeply into the mission and what it might mean for the larger galaxy, something they’ve never had to concern themselves with much since they were always fighting under those who told them what was right or wrong, but by the end of the episode they finally consider it as Hunter and crew have to make a choice with where the information from the droid goes: Cid or…THE MARTEZ SISTERS!!!
I really couldn’t hold back on shouting about the return of the MARTEZ SISTERS for much longer! Rafa and Trace Martez were first introduced in the second arc of The Clone Wars’ final season, part of Ahsoka Tano’s trip to the Coruscant Underworld as she’s looking for purpose after leaving the Jedi Order. They have a complicated past with the Jedi, as essentially the Order left the two sisters to fend for themselves, signaling they’d already begun losing sight of who and what they stood for, leading Rafa and Trace to get caught up with some less than savory crowds to survive. Ahsoka showed them there were still good Force-users out there and helped Rafa see she should trust her younger sister Trace more, leaving the two on Coruscant as she got swept into the fateful Siege of Mandalore. I’ve been anxious to see Rafa and Trace since, as they were the first characters since Doctor Chelli Aphra that truly endeared themselves to me so quickly, though now a whole slew of The High Republic characters have as well. Regardless, it was a real blast to see Rafa pull off the factory worker’s mask, revealing they were alive and well and still making a living, even it was getting involved with such missions. Trace definitely takes more charge now, with Rafa willing to defer to her though she’ll complain about it the whole time, and I love their dynamic has changed just enough, while they are still all about looking out for one another. Trace helps save Omega at point, after leaving her behind to make claim on the tactical droid’s head, while she also gets the process started to hack into the head and use it to turn the remaining droids against the police droids; though it’s Rafa who helps the Bad Batch question what they’re fighting for and just where all the droid’s information should go towards, which was a little unexpected from her but nice to see since it means her time with Ahsoka did change her and overall changed them both for the better.
Once Rafa and Trace mix up the Bad Batch’s mission, the entire sequence from then on is a blast to watch, not only because it’s a compelling, multi-layered choreographed scene, but with how well it shows off each characters’ capabilities throughout. Echo tapping into the system and using it to their advantage, Tech finishing off the work to get the tactical droid to take over all the droids, Wrecker being the distraction they needed, and Hunter coordinating those efforts and being the protector, coming to Trace’s aid in rescuing Omega as she nearly gets roasted alive. Rafa strikes a deal, as she does, with the clones to worry about the droid’s head until after they survive, and as I mentioned earlier Trace hacks into the droid, while Omega gets to come into her own with her laser bow and start showing off those impressive marksmanship skills from the premiere again. Throughout it all, the growing headache Wrecker’s experiencing, which I haven’t mentioned in my reviews but have noticed, almost gets the most of him. As someone who throws his head around a lot, and maybe not always being the brightest of brutes, it’s no surprise the chip might still have a chance of warping Wrecker and it was far too close of a call here. Of course Wrecker doesn’t tell anyone what happened, which means if Tech doesn’t consider it that much of a concern, it might be too late for him to implement a fix he’s been working and they might have to contend with Wrecker sooner than later. Here’s hoping it’s not when Crosshair catches up with them, if he does, because the two of them against Hunter, Echo, Omega, and Tech might be too tough of a fight for those remaining. This ticking time bomb with Wrecker and his chip definitely adds more tension to the Batch’s situation and the show going forward.
By the end of the episode, Hunter recognizes the truth of Rafa’s words and acknowledges the Batch’s naivety when it comes to this new era, giving her and Trace the droid’s data since they’re gathering it for someone who is fighting back against the Empire, which is likely more beneficial outcome for the galaxy than whomever Cid’s client was…or is it? There are a lot of unknowns in The Bad Batch right now and it all involves those working behind-the-scenes: Who hired Fennec Shand to go after Omega? Who gave Cid this mission, as I don’t believe it would be Jabba by way of Bib Fortuna again? And who do Trace and Rafa work for, who appears in a hologram off-screen at the end? The show has been very coy with these players so far and “Decommissioned” adds another shadowy figure to the mix…but what if they are all the same person!? I highly doubt it, but it’s fun idea, especially if it’s someone like Maul and his Crimson Dawn syndicate (or maybe it’s the Collective still at this point, but let’s call it the Dawn for now), and since it’s unlikely he knows about Omega, he theoretically could be the one Cid and the Martez sisters are both reporting to…but if I was a betting man, if Maul is involved with this show at all, he’s only behind one of them. I’m hoping it’s not the Martez sisters, but Rafa does have a history of getting them involved with the wrong people, and he, or one of his associates like Dryden, could’ve been the person in the hologram, selling them a lie, from a certain point of view, about fighting the Empire. Otherwise, Crimson Dawn* working through Cid makes a lot of sense, she just showed she’s not to be messed with and likely won’t enjoy their failure here, and her dealing with Maul would only compound that. Regardless, I believe it’ll be some criminal organization we already know behind Cid and potentially, as much I shot it down before, the Kaminoans behind Fennec to capture Omega, though Saw Gerrera is always a wildcard already out there for any option. In the end, I honestly hope the Martez sisters are working for Bail Organa or, since we know he’ll be in the show, Commander Rex (more evidence for him here due to R7†), as he’d definitely be interested in knowing they were clones who the sisters ran into. No matter the outcome, here’s hoping the show doesn’t lead us along too much longer and begin revealing some of these mmysteries.
UPDATE 6/7: With the episode guide confirming the droid is Ahsoka’s R7, and the little hint that Rex puts him back together, the “he” Trace and Rafa chat with is all but confirmed to be Rex.
Here are a few other things:
- If the original excuse for the whitewashing of the Bad Batch was lighting, as if it was hiding their darker melatonin, why does Hunter’s face, when caught in some bright light, become starkly clear he’s not even a hint darker than white? This continues to be the only disappointing and unnecessary aspect to what’s quickly becoming a great show. For more information on the controversy, please visit here!
- †
The droid with the Martez’s is R7 and that’s the same designation as Ahsoka’s droid from TCW, which has led many viewers to think the person could be her, despite the Martez’s saying “him,” but the droid’s coloring doesn’t line up with Ahsoka’s…unless he got a paint job for clandestine purposes, this might just be the Martez’s droid. - Kiner and his sons’ music strikes again, as I particularly enjoyed how they used a similar musical note from The Mandalorian’s track for the Dark Troopers for the droid police here, or at least to me it had a synth-y, ‘whomp-whomp’ sound for the droid police that was eerily similar. Likewise, it was cool to see Corellia again, as it’s obvious they borrowed from how Solo depicts it, and part of me wondered if it was going to be Han and Qi’ra we saw running into the Batch, but I don’t think the timeline would line up well/would’ve felt too forced.
- Want an amazing Omega pin by the fantastic Lorna_Ka? Get to pre-ordering it now!
- Also with the Martez sisters, loved seeing the Silver Angel fly again!
- Speaking of Crimson Dawn, they just made a very interesting and unforgettable return in the big War of the Bounty Hunters crossover, so that’s why I’m thinking they could feature here, beyond all The Clone Wars connections already.
Viewers won’t want The Bad Batch “Decommissioned” after another solid episode featuring the return of the Martez sisters and deepening other mysteries.
+ MARTEZ SISTERS ARE BACK!!!
+ More mystery with shadowy figures
+ Everyone has their moment again/Wrecker’s headaches worsen…
– Skin-tone problem persists, though I don’t think it’ll change
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 One: 1.1 Aftermath | 1.2 Cut and Run | 1.3 Replacements | 1.4 Cornered | 1.5 Rampage