Desperate times call for desperate measures, and in the concluding phase of the final season of Bad Batch, the titular team of renegade Clone Troopers find themselves in a similar situation. As seen in the previous episode, the covert Clone operative had managed to learn about the batch’s location in the fishing village of Pabu by stealing Phee Genoa’s travel logs. By bringing reinforcements from Tantiss, the operative ensured he burned down all escape routes the batch might have opted for and continued forcing the residents of the village to give Omega up. At the end, unwilling to let others suffer for her, Omega decided to surrender herself, asking Crosshair to use this opportunity to track her so they could learn the location of Tantiss, which would allow the batch to rescue not only her but all the captive Clones.
However, the task is easier said than done, as the location of Tantiss is one of the Empire’s most well-guarded secrets, given the importance of Project Necromancer for Emperor Palpatine. The team needs to find their way to Tantiss as soon as possible, which prompts them to take risks, which could eventually result in troublesome situations in the near future.
Spoilers Ahead
Why Did The Batch Agree To Free Rampart?
As the episode begins, the covert operative brings Omega to Tantiss, and she is greeted by the dastardly Imperial scientist in charge of Project Necromancer, Royce Hemlock, who takes her to the current project overseer, Emerie Carr. Hemlock commands her to re-verify Omega’s M-count compatibility by testing her once again, and she leaves. Emerie and Omega are the only female clones to exist; therefore, in a sense, they are sisters. Naturally, Emerie, who was concerned about Omega’s well-being, is relieved to see her safe, and Omega tries to appeal to her senses, pleading with her to turn her back on the Empire, but to no avail.
Imperial forces are seen to be gradually retreating from Pabu, but the communications are still jammed, which means the team still can’t ask for outside help. As Hunter starts pondering about locating Tantiss, Crosshair shares an unlikely solution to the problem, suggesting taking the help of former Imperial admiral Edmon Rampart, who had previously sent Nala Se to Tantiss and is currently serving his prison time on the planet Erebus. It’s the classic case of the Empire using its subjects as scapegoats to hide its involvement in dastardly schemes, as under their instruction, Rampart had orchestrated the destruction of Tipoca City, and when the situation got out of hand, the admiral was blamed for everything. Hunter and Wrecker are surprised as to why Crosshair didn’t share this information sooner, and he states that his experience as a captive and the experimented Clone had left him with a fear of returning to Tantiss. However, Crosshair warns them about the unreliable nature of Rampart, but they have no other option to turn to at the moment than to free and seek help from Rampart. The team still lacks a mode of transport, another problem that resolves itself with relative ease as Phee Genoa appears, stating that she had arrived and hidden her ship before Imperial forces attacked Pabu. After learning everything, Phee offers her help to take the team to Erebus and to extract them as well when the time is right.
Did the team finally learn about the location of Tantiss?
Phee drops the team near the Imperial prison base in Tantiss, and from a nearby data bank, Crosshair is able to pinpoint the current location of Rampart, who is among the captives who are being taken to the prison from their daily mining duties. Hunter remarks that their best shot at rescuing him is to intercept the turbo truck carrying the captives; it goes without saying that it’s a risky maneuver.
Following the plan, the Clone brothers are easily able to take over the transport vehicle, and by jamming the communications to delay any response from Imperial forces, they release the rest of the prisoners. However, soon the prison warden learns about the hijack and sends forces to take care of the situation. Rampart is curious as to why the batch is suddenly interested in rescuing him, learns that they want to know the location of Tantiss, and tries to make a deal stating he will do so if they free him from the captive life by taking him off Erebus. After a direct confrontation between two turbo trucks, where the Batch’s one emerges unscathed, and dodging a number of chasing stormtroopers, the Batch find themselves in trouble while driving through narrow crevices of the mountainside. During all this, Rampart tries funny business by trying to get a hold of a blaster, but gets stunned by Crosshair deservingly. In the nick of time, Phee comes to the rescue and extracts Batch and Rampart out of Erebus before things turn bad.
Later, Rampart reveals that the location of Tantiss remains unknown as no one knows its coordinates—it’s a part of the Empire’s plan regarding the planet. However, he might have a way or two to bypass that, which can allow the batch to locate and reach it. Crosshair warns Rampart of consequences lest he forgets his end of the deal, replying that Rampart tries to assuage the situation by stating that he is on their side. During the final moments of the episode, Hemlock checks on Emerie’s tests and learns that Omega’s M-count level is indeed compatible enough to ensure the success of Project Necromancer, and he takes her to the other test subjects, the captive, abducted Force-sensitive kids held inside the vault. The episode comes to an end, and we wonder whether a cunning individual like Rampart can indeed be trusted in the long run, given how cruel and vile he has proven himself to be time and time again. The batch might have asked for help from Echo and Rex as well, but for reasons still not known, they haven’t communicated with them since getting out of Pabu. With three episodes remaining, hopefully we will see them assisting the batch in infiltrating Tantiss, as freeing the captive Clones is one of their primary concerns as well.
