– Spoiler Review –
As expected (and I totally forgot we knew this episode was titled “Rescue on Ryloth”), The Bad Batch returns to the situation unfolding on Ryloth, picking up several interesting threads for compelling resolutions and set up for the final few episodes of season one.
I imagined Rex or someone else would’ve been made aware of the Syndullas’ capture on Ryloth and expected them to contact Clone Force 99 to assist, but I’m glad it was Hera Syndulla, still on the run after escaping Imperial clutches when her parents were arrested. It makes it a harder sell for Hunter and the Batch, as it’s seemingly a personal problem and something they weren’t explicitly hired to do; they only rescued the Separatist Senator Singh from the Empire because Cid gave them the job after all, so can they be expected to put their lives on the line for everyone who needs help? Omega has an excellent counter that gets reinforcement later in the episode: isn’t that what soldiers do though, all the time? It shouldn’t be about what’s best for them, but it should be what’s best for the galaxy, a question and debate that’s been weaving through the first season so far and the Batch’s decisions, and it feels like we might finally have them making a choice by the end of “Rescue on Ryloth,” or at least ready to commit to something other than their survival.
Last episode, I hoped for more scenes between Omega and Hera because their short little interaction was precious and it was refreshing to have two female characters connect, which was always a highlight of Star Wars Rebels with Hera, Sabine, and the other women they met, and “Rescue on Ryloth” didn’t disappoint in the slightest. With this episode written by Jennifer Corbett, she builds on the foundations of their friendship in “Devil’s Deal” and heaps mounds more on top to the point I was sad to see the two part. When Hunter and the group find out the full scope of the situation on Ryloth, that Hera’s parents are deep within the capital, with Imperial forces matching the size of those on Raxus, and Crosshair’s there, they’re ready to consider the mission a lost cause. Hera makes an emotional plea, but this falls on deaf ears to the soldiers, drawing a strong rebuke by Omega, which leaves Hunter flummoxed. Omega comforts Hera, explaining how they can reach Hunter, not with emotions but with strategy, trusting Hera and encouraging her to think the rescue through instead of letting her emotions dictate an unplanned response. Shortly after, Hera, with help from Omega, presents their plan to rescue her parents and it’s a good enough one that the Batch decides they’ll help. When things go sideways, Chopper unable to complete his end of the plan and caught by Imperials, Omega supports Hera’s dream of flying to make the plan work, asking her to pilot a shuttle and destroy the control panel to begin the distraction needed for Hunter and Echo to sneak in and free the Syndullas. Hera laying out a strategic plan to take a base and save friends and family is familiar for fans of the character so it was neat to see that really begin here, thanks to Omega trusting in her and supporting her, something she hasn’t quite gotten from her parents yet as they’ve kept her at arm’s length from the conflict for fear of her safety/living a normal life. And Hera pulling off some slick flying, albeit with a rough start, is also familiar though also fun to see her come into her own a little here, while having her upstaged by the Tech, flying somehow like a madman despite so clearly planning his moves, was a hilarious delight; she’ll be flying circles around him before long, though! When the mission is complete and the Syndullas off to find a way to return to Ryloth and start the Free Ryloth movement, Omega and Hera must part, which pains Omega a ton, as she doesn’t want Hera to leave since it’s finally someone closer to her age who trusts her and works with her so well. Hera thanks Omega for trusting in her and tells the younger girl to look after her brothers, as they need her. It’s a sweet exchange and their hug just about brought me to tears, as Omega’s face ranges from sadness at their parting to contentment at their bond, with them sharing a wave goodbye. Their time together this episode was refreshing for TBB, as Omega’s been without someone her age to really bond with and “Rescue on Ryloth” shows her maturity yet highlights how she’s still a child at heart, while it builds up Hera’s backstory and early inspirations to follow her dreams. Once again, I hope these two can have more scenes together in the future, be it TBB, another show, or books/comics, as they have great chemistry, it lends some variety to the cast, and it’s a friendship I’d love to see expanded.
Joining my always growing list of “happy to be wrong” moments is my assumption in my “Devil’s Deal” review that if the show returned to Ryloth for the Syndullas’ rescue, it would probably feature Eleni Syndulla’s death, as it happens between this timeframe and the novel Lords of the Sith; thankfully, it doesn’t actually happen in the show! We do get her name spoken aloud, finally, after it once again frustratingly was not used besides in the credits last week, though it’s only once. I get it would be weird if her name’s constantly uttered all of a sudden, but once is still not enough, though I’ll take it as a start. While Cham and Eleni take a backseat this episode, she has an excellent moment when Rampart calls on her to be rational, and she proves it by simply pointing she’d rather be his enemy after seeing how he treats his allies. It also proves we don’t have enough time with Eleni, as her quiet fierceness is riveting, thanks especially to voice actress Ferelith Young’s performance.
Clone Captain Howzer’s unaffected mindset despite still having an inhibitor chip was rife for exploration last week and “Rescue on Ryloth” pays it off in spades. Howzer confronts Rampart about the ‘assassination attempt’ on Orn Free Taa, pointing out he knows it wasn’t from Cham or from any of Cham’s supporters, and the Admiral basically asks him to call his bluff, with the exchange losing him any chance of leading the efforts of locating Hera. Howzer cares about the Syndullas and their time together fighting for the planet’s freedom from the Separatists, so he’s trying to keep track of Crosshair and team’s hunt for Hera, going so far as to appeal to Cham and Eleni to help him help them. Understandably they don’t trust him in the moment, but we see his struggles with the Imperial orders and his desire to help them and it’s easy for us to want them to trust him, but being on the other side of the jail cell certainly makes it hard to see those little tells. The why of Howzer’s unaffectedness to the inhibitor doesn’t really matter, as it’s clear he’s still a good soldier and maybe sometimes that’s just enough to avoid its influence—though then you’d think Rex wouldn’t have been affected, so it’s far more complicated than that—but what really matters is who sees it and learns from it, mainly Hunter. He’s largely avoided confronting the debate lobbed his way from multiple people, be it the Martez sisters, Rex, or even Echo, asking why they aren’t fighting for a larger purpose and only for themselves, for survival, when they’re soldiers and fighting for those who can’t is what they do. Refusing to commit to anything but survival for his team quite yet, this is why Hunter initially shoots down even responding to Hera’s distress call and later declines to rescue her parents until she presents the plan, but watching Howzer making the choice he does at the end of the episode seems to leave its mark. When Howzer notices Crosshair and his team haven’t left with other troopers to respond to the diversion, he knows what’s really happening, and he stops the rescue attempt before they walk into Crosshair’s sights. He makes his final plea to the Syndullas to let him help them, to try and make things right and maybe save some of his fellow troopers as well, offering to be the final distraction as they make their way to Taa’s private shuttle instead. Hunter’s there for the entire exchange between Howzer and the Syndullas, watching a clone make a choice that isn’t strategic, rather standing up for something he believes in. While he misses out on Howzer’s excellent speech, where a handful of his men also show their inhibitor chip doesn’t rule them, he does see him be arrested, though someone else who does need to hear it hears the speech instead: Crosshair. Hunter doesn’t need to hear it because the Howzer’s act was enough, showing him how standing up for something bigger might not always seem like the smart play, but it’s the right thing to do and helps separate them from those just following orders because they can. Plus, Howzer’s insistence he might be able to reach some of his men will probably sit in Hunter’s mind too, the specter of Crosshair always looming large over the Batch and their new lifestyle. Hopefully this means Hunter will be ready to make a choice soon regarding how the team will proceed and who they’ll work with/for, as I can’t imagine he’ll stay neutral much longer after absorbing Howzer’s choice.
While Hunter didn’t need to hear the speech from Howzer, Crosshair definitely did and I’ll be curious if it’s made any difference to him going forward. The episode ends with Crosshair coming to Rampart and asking for authorization to hunt down his former Batch-mates, so it would seem watching and listening to Howzer made him even more a fanatic, but the look on his face before the episode fades to black suggests otherwise. The subtleties the animation team can play across character faces has been exceptional all season but this was another showcase, as Crosshair’s face, after noticing Rampart and his escort are out of view, doesn’t quite look like one a man ready to kill his brothers would have, instead there seems to be doubt creeping in and I hope Howzer had something to do with it. We’ll see if the Batch can be fully reunited or not soon, as the season ends in 4 weeks, but if I had to guess, I don’t suspect Crosshair will come back to the team regardless what happens, with him likely making the ultimate sacrifice, overcoming the implants just long enough to help his brothers survive to fight another day. I actually hope this won’t be the case, but it’s hard to imagine him being back with the Batch after everything.
Here are a few other things:
- I remarked it felt weird for Chopper not to have a kill last episode, after his body count on Rebels, but this week KING CHOPPER returned in full, taking out another droid and knocking out some clonetroopers, blasting about on his single rocket. Welcome back, you grumpy, deadly bucket of bolts.
- Very stray thought, but it kind of hit me while writing this review: if Cid and the Bad Batch never met, who would’ve she hired for the jobs she’s given them all season? Or was it only because of their work she started getting more jobs? I don’t think we’ll ever know the answer, but it’s a bit weird she’s only ever working with them now and they just happened to fall into her lap.
- I don’t know who put the escape from the capital part of the plan together, but really, marching out the front door was the first choice? You wouldn’t need Crosshair around for someone to figure that out.
- Last week I had some feelings on the Batch’s character development, but really, it’s Rampart that has had even less, just another Imperial who’s evil for evil’s sake, it seems. I’m not holding out much hope he’ll get any expansion before the season is over, nor am I confident we’ll get to explore any more time with the special forces troops trained by Crosshair (they get some lines here but nothing beyond troop chatter), but in two weeks there as an episode titled “War Mantle,” the name of the initiative with these troopers, so hopefully it proves me wrong.
The Bad Batch’s “Rescue on Ryloth” builds on the foundations of last week’s excellent episode and dives into some compelling character-led moments, from Omega and Hera’s connection to Howzer’s decision, and sets up engaging threads for what’s to come in the final few weeks of the season.
+ Omega and Hera
+ Howzer’s big moment
+ Hunter and Crosshair’s reactions
– Better by saying Eleni finally, but still falls short
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 | 1.6 Decommissioned | 1.7 Battle Scars | 1.8 Reunion | 1.9 Bounty Lost | 1.10 Common Ground | 1.11 Devil’s Deal