The first two episodes of Star Wars: The Bad Batch gave viewers some high stakes moments, with everyone’s favorite clones in a heap of trouble. Episode 3 takes a step away from Clone Force 99 and allows viewers to catch up with Crosshair, who abandoned the team after Order 66 to stick with the Empire.
Warning: Spoilers ahead for Star Wars: The Bad Batch season 2 episode 3.
The episode starts off on Dessex, where the Galactic Empire arrives and tells the Governor that she is being removed from her position. She puts her foot down and tells them that her planet is not in the Imperial district and they need to leave peacefully. When they refuse, she pulls a gun on them and troops surround them. She lets them know that she has a message for the Empire, and the officer that was sent to relieve her of her duty gulps, clearly a bit nervous.
Catching Up With Crosshair
Back at Imperial headquarters, Crosshair sits down with some other troopers for lunch, but they look at him sideways and leave. He is then called to the Vice Admiral’s office where he is told that he has been medically cleared for active duty after having spent 32 rotations stranded on Kamino after the big fight with Clone Force 99.
When questioned about why he stood by and waited, and ultimately returned to the Empire, he states that it is because he is a soldier of the Empire. This pleases the Vice Admiral, who tells him that his loyalty is commendable. They have a mission for him, on Dessex. His orders are to save the newly appointed Imperial Governor who was taken hostage, as the planet is demanding to be independent from the Empire.
Crosshair is being sent in to negotiate, even though it is all a ruse. The hopes are that the Dessex insurgents will let their guard down so that they can be handled, as the Vice Admiral states that the Empire does not negotiate. While Crosshair is upset that he will not be commanding the mission, he, of course, does what he is told.
Enter Commander Cody
As he waits for his transportation to Dessex, Crosshair is met by Commander Cody, who says that a lot has changed. Cody says that he heard Crosshair was cleared for duty and requested him to be a part of the mission.
He then questions Crosshair about the rest of Force 99, and says that there are rumors they went rogue after Order 66. Cody adds that he was not surprised to hear this, and that more and more clones are now questioning the order, and some are deserting, such as Rex.
During the briefing, Crosshair and the rest of the team learn that there are battle droids on Dessex that must have been reprogrammed.
A Fight For Dessex
On Dessex, viewers see that the Imperial Governor is being held captive by these droids. The Governor comes in to talk with him and she explains that Dooku was right. The Imperial Officer notes that the Republic lost that war, and that the Empire will not negotiate and they will lose Dessex as well.
When the Imperial shuttle arrives, the Dessex government shoots it down as soon as they are notified that they will not negotiate. Droids inspect it and say there were no survivors, but they were wrong. Crosshair is there with the rest of the troopers, although some are injured. Without a ship, they must head to the city on foot.
What follows are some great action sequences, where the troopers must take out all of the droids in order to get to the Imperial Officer. This fight goes on for almost 15 minutes, delivering some awesome fights that viewers will love to see. Crosshair and Cody end up needing to work together quite a bit, and it is nice to see the two fan favorites and some character development for them both.
A Test Of True Loyalty
When they make it to the Imperial Governor, the Dessex Governor grabs him and has a gun to his head. She tells them that they must declare Dessex an independent system. Once that is acknowledged, she will hand over the Imperial Officer and his troops. She claims that while, yes, they attacked the Empire’s ships, it is because they were defending themselves from a hostage situation, and that they are the only threat to her people.
Commander Cody takes off his helmet, lays down his gun, and tells her that negotiation is an option. He tells her that too many have already died, and they have both lived through a war — there is no need to start another one. He does not want anymore bloodshed.
She lets the Imperial Officer go, who promptly orders Cody to kill the Governor. He waivers, saying that he promised a peaceful interaction. It is at this moment that Cody is clearly struggling with the thought of killing her, but before he can make up his mind, Crosshair shoots and kills her.
The Imperial Governor tells them to put her body in the square, warning others to not test the Empire.
Back at the barracks, Crosshair is once again called into the Vice Admiral’s office. He is told that he is being entrusted with another mission. When told that his commanding officer will be someone new, Crosshair asks why not Cody, assuming that he doesn’t want to work with him anymore. It turns out that after Dessex, Commander Cody has gone AWOL.
Overall Thoughts
Star Wars: The Bad Batch season 2 episode 3 doesn’t give fans any time with Clone Force 99, instead they catch up with Crosshair and learn what he has been up to since Kamino. His loyalty to the Empire is once again tested.
We also get to see fan-favorite Commander Cody go AWOL, leaving the Empire behind, after he witnesses just how ruthless they are.
The time period when The Bad Batch takes place is an interesting one, with the Empire trying to find its footing. While we don’t get to see Wrecker, Omega, Hunter, and Tech, taking a deeper look at Crosshair has proved exciting, and we are glad we didn’t have to wait too long into the season to see what he is up to.
Rating: 9/10 SPECS
New episodes of Star Wars: The Bad Batch drop every Thursday on Disney+.
This article was produced and syndicated by Wealth of Geeks.
Tessa Smith owns MamasGeeky.com and is a Rotten Tomatoes Tomatometer-approved Film and TV Critic and a huge geek. Tessa has been in the Entertainment writing business for almost ten years and is a member of several Critics associations including the Critics Choice Association and the Greater Western New York Film Critics Association. She grew up watching movies, playing video games, and reading comic books — and still loves all of those things. She proudly lets her geek flag fly and spreads the word that there is nothing wrong with being a geek.