The story of runaway clones that deserted after Order 66 continues. The Bad Batch Season 2 has aired on 4th January with first two episodes, titled “Spoils of War” and “Ruins of War”.
To Dooku’s Homeworld
The first season ended with the Bad Batch going underground. Season 2, even though after a time jump, opens with them still being off the Empire’s radar and working for Sid, their Trandoshan employer. A special mission takes them to Serenno, homeworld of the late Count Dooku. Their task is to recover even a fraction of the Count’s war chest before the Empire does.
The mission predictably does not go as smoothly as planned. The plot of the first two episodes is simple and plunges straightforward into classic action. It does not differ from dozens of similar episodes in TBB or Rebels. Go somewhere, get something that could pay off all the main characters’ expenses, coupled with some internal drama or dilemmas.
Just Another Mission
In this case, the dilemma is about Hunter who is against the clones risking exposure even for a potentially high score. On the other side there is Omega who feels like she has been a burden for the clones and owes them the chance to be free of all obligations, which the vast amount of money could secure.
Clearly the character drama and the location are more important than the plot which, as mentioned above, is something we have seen a hundred times. The fact that the episodes take place on Serenno seem mostly like an excuse to show Dooku’s homeworld (with young Dooku’s recent appearance in Tales of the Jedi one may even suspect its reappearance in other media sooner or later).
Revisiting Dooku’s audience chamber, an iconic location from The Clone Wars, is a nice but perhaps somewhat cheap nostalgic “easter egg”: it does not really matter that the mission takes place on Serenno, the clones could just as well be robbing a random bank anywhere else. Dooku’s former presence does not in any way impact the story or the atmosphere.
Foreshadowing The Future?
Probably the most important parts of the episode center on two supporting characters: a local old man in hiding and a local clone commander. The latter represents the ambiguity of clones working for the Empire: he is essentially a “good, honest soldier”, only on the wrong side, and his honesty does not really serve him well under the Empire.
Sidenote – it is also remarkable that our protagonists use stun shots when fighting against other clones. It is another way to show how they feel about going against their own brothers.
The local civilian presents the biggest plot device in terms of character development. He makes both Omega and Tech see that their view of life has been somewhat narrow. This may be a foreshadowing of one of this season’s main themes. The clones will have to figure out what do they do with their lives and how do they actually wish to live them.
If they can. The opening episodes bring up a not-too-unexpected question: are the Bad Batch going to be once again exposed? Or will those who learned about their survival try to deal with them in person? Only time will tell.
