Several days ago, ahead of Star Wars: The Bad Batch episode 8, titled the Reunion, the titles of episodes 10 through 14 were released. I made a short video at the time listing them, but now that episode 8 has dropped, I’ve released a video detailing what the events of The Reunion mean for those titles. I’ve posted the video at the bottom of this post. Both this blog and video are full of spoilers, and potential spoilers, so if you have not watched episode 8, I advise you do so.
Episode 8 — The Reunion
In which Cad Bane returns and abducts Omega!
This episode will set the tone for the rest of the season. We saw the return of Crosshair who is hunting down the Bad Batch at the request of Vice Admiral Rampart. He finds the Bad Batch on Bracca, the scavenging planet and does not hesitate to attack his brothers in accordance with his chip’s and the Empire’s directive.
Omega makes Crosshair aware that a chip is manipulating him. It does not stop his attack on Hunter and the crew, and he directs his proto-Death Troopers to attack Omega directly, but it’ll be interesting to see if he does anything with that information.
But in the meantime, he becomes damaged and burned by an engine’s incinerating heat in a scene that calls to mind Anakin’s lava incident, no doubt intentional on the writers’ part. In Star Wars, this symbolizes losing one’s humanity, but one can of course regain that humanity as both Anakin Skywalker and Ben Solo do.
But the Bad Batch’s woes don’t end there.
Omega is abducted by the Duros bounty hunter, Cad Bane. It is a riveting, magnetic scene that calls to mind every sphaghetti Western you’ve ever seen, the score, and Bane’s charismatic drawl (he even calls Omega “little lady”) and a shoot-out that doesn’t work out so well for Omega’s surrogate father/big brother figure, Hunter.
Just as importantly, we also see Vice Admiral Rampart putting pressure on the Kaminoans, specifically Lama Su to apprise him of all goings-on with the planet and it’s cloning operations. Uh-oh. It looks like an Imperial takeover is eminent.
Lama Su discusses with Nala Se, their use of bounty hunters to retrieve Omega. And as I’ve been theorizing in my previous posts, Nala Se is absolutely concerned for Omega. You can see the worry written on her face.
She seemed particularly concerned that Lama Su hired an even better bounty hunter (with experience in kidnapping) than the previous one, Fennec Shand. I think she is worried that either Omega could be accidentally killed by Cad Bane, or she is worried that Omega’s life is at risk by returning to Kamino at all).
More and more, I see that Nala Se was indeed acting the role of “helpful aide” in the 709 fairytale type. She is acting in Omega’s interests.
More than that, I think Nala Se is the mother figure, and positive feminine role to Omega. This represents development to Nala Se’s character than we have seen previously. She has gone from the emotionally distant scientist to carrying deeply for one of her charges, perhaps her own creation, enough to dress Omega like herself, gifting her with the jewelry of women of her culture.
What Cad Bane and Omega’s Abduction Means for the Story
Unfortunately, we don’t know the name of the episode 9 but I think it is very likely we’ll see Omega’s return to Kamino.
We do, however, have names for episodes 10 through 14 and Omega’s abduction can now contextualize those episode titles and what they will be about. Of course, anything can happen but here are my thoughts on what we may see.
Episode 10 COMMON GROUND
I think the common ground here will most likely be between the Kaminoans and the Bad Batch. Neither group wants to see Omega hurt for their own reasons and Nala Se in particular seems to love Omega as they do. Lama Su, for his part, may not share any affection for Omega, but he sees her as a means to an end and I think he will come to understand that either his contingency plan won’t work as he thinks it will. The Empire holds the cards, not Lama Su, and if Omega is truly desirable to someone in the Empire, then the Kaminoans will lose their facilities.
Lama Su’s bargaining chip is destined to be taken from him. I think things are going to come to a head with the Empire and Kamino, whether. it plays out in its entirety in season one, or continues to season 2 as the Kaminoan Uprising. With that in mind, it’s also possible that the Common Ground refers to all the clones sharing common ground, no matter what their jobs or current situations against the Empire that sees them as refuse
And from what we’ve seen in the Mandalorian, season 1, this is most likely what happens. Dr. Pershing is a Kaminoan scientist, but not Kaminoan. This was already an early sign that humans took control of the facilities, and furthermore, that those humans had worked for the Empire. The Bad Batch will tell the story of how this happened. I think most all the clones on Kamino will die.
Episode 11 DEVIL’S DEAL
When I first read this title, my thoughts had been about a deal with Crosshair if he comes around to his Bad Batch brother’s attempts to bring him back, but I think this may actually refer to Fennec Shand’s return and that we find she is working with Boba Fett. This will show a relationship between them that goes far back. More importantly, I think we’ll see the unused Clone Wars episode idea of Boba Fett killing Cad Bane be repurposed for the Bad Batch series whether in this episode or the next. The “devil” in this case would be Fennec, as the Bad Batch has met her before, and may wish to work with her and Boba Fett to get Omega back.
Episode 12 RESCUE ON RYLOTH
If Cad Bane isn’t killed in the last episode he may get killed in episode 12, Rescue on Ryloth. At any rate, Omega will be rescued in this episode, assuming it’s not done earlier and this story represents a separate rescue mission altogether. But I think Omega will absolutely see the Bad Batch again. Why Ryloth? I don’t know. Perhaps Omega is abducted by Cad Bane or the Empire and transferred to Ryloth. Perhaps Nala Se helps Omega escape again, and Ryloth is where she flees to. Mythically, and in keeping with the Heroine’s Journey, I think in one of these three episodes, Omega will reconnect with the Feminine in reconnecting with her mother figure. Again, we will know Omega’s secret likely by 9, but if it’s later than this could be it. This will end the main Cad Bane and Omega story arc.
Episode 13 INFESTED
This is the only episode that’s a mystery to me. My mind wanders over to Alien references, but maybe this is a standalone episode hiding another character cameo. That’s it really! If it ties into the rest of the arc, I’m at a loss as to what it means, but it could just be a standalone story that leads into the next episode which is the season finale as by this point the arc of Omega’s abduction should be concluded.
Episode 14 WAR MANTLE
Very self explanatory. This will focus on the new villain Vice Admiral Rampart and the incorporation of recruits over the use of clones. We’ve already seen chain codes implemented, and recruitment centers appear everywhere. I think Rampart will order the death of all clones by this point assuming he does not do so by episode 10.
In conclusion, we will likely see the death of Cad Bane and Omega being rescued, as well as the reveal of Omega’s specialness. I suspect it will be Force Sensitivity at this point, but it may very well be something different and equally as interesting!