The lone wolf and cub trope has gotten a resurgence in popularity in mainstream media after the release of the much-loved video game The Last of Us, and between The Mandalorian and Logan, the trope has found a prominent place in most franchise-based ventures. The fourth episode of the final season of Bad Batch tries emulating the trope with Omega and Crosshair, as the duo try to find a way to reunite with their Clone family.
Through the previous three episodes, Omega’s life as a captive on Mount Tantiss was highlighted, and it was revealed that, under the orders of Emperor Sheev Palpatine, Imperial scientist Royce Hemlock was trying to clone him as he initiated Project Necromancer. A successful M-count transfer was needed in order to create force-sensitive clones and to find suitable donor blood samples for every clone trooper being tested by Emerie Karr and Nala Se. Kaminoan scientist Nala Se had a maternal bond with Omega, and she had actively tried to keep her away from this by disposing of her blood samples. However, upon failing to do that once, Nala Se asked Omega to flee. Taking her new Lurca Hound friend, Batcher, and a captive Clone Force 99 member, Crosshair, with him, Omega finally escapes from Tantiss. Emerie Karr learns about Omega’s blood matching the required M-count transfer, and as she informs him of her finding, Hemlock vows to search across the galaxy to bring Omega back. On the other hand, the desperate members of the Bad Batch, Hunter and Wrecker, sweep across the galaxy to find Omega and, while doing so, help three unfortunate young clones find a new meaning of life.
Spoilers Ahead
Where Did Crosshair And Omega Crash Land?
While fleeing from Hemlock’s forces, the shuttle Omega and Crosshair managed to steal from the Storm troopers had received heavy damage, and as a result, hyperspace flight started becoming increasingly unstable. The duo are forced to crash land on an unnamed, mountainous planet, and the shuttle finally gives way. By the time they can get it up and running again, Imperial forces will catch up to them. Scanning the nearby vicinity, Crosshair locates a spaceport in the nearby town, from which they can take a shuttle to get as far away from the Imperial forces as possible. Omega asks Crosshair to establish communication with Hunter and the rest of the Bad Batch, but gets discouraged knowing the Imperial fleet can track long-range communications.
On the other hand, at Mount Tantiss, Hemlock confronts a captive Nala Se and questions her about her deliberately hiding the unique nature of Omega’s blood. Nala Se still tries to protect her former apprentice by misguiding Hemlock, stating the results to be falsely positive. But this time, the despot isn’t going to fall for her words and plans to run tests on Omega to verify once she gets captured.
How Did The Duo Leave The Planet?
Crosshair takes notice of the fact that the news of their escape from Tantiss hasn’t reached this part of the galaxy yet. Still, the duo remain cautious, and taking the disguise of commoners, Crosshair, Omega, and Batcher reach the spaceport reception. Crosshair expresses his wish to blast their way through any opposition, but pacifist Omega protests and opts for a more non-violent approach. Lacking the chain code necessary to board a transporter shuttle, Omega tries to bribe the reception attendant, who wants thirty thousand credits in exchange for letting the three of them go.
As the duo ponders how to get the hefty sum quickly, seeing a bar nearby, Omega plans to gamble her way through the problem. As planned, Omega starts dealing cards with a local gambler and starts winning consecutive rounds. All of a sudden, an Imperial general, the overseer of the town, escorted by a bunch of Storm troopers, appears and gets intrigued by Omega’s winning streak. Sensing danger, the renegade clones try to leave, and right at that moment, the general stops Omega, sharing his wish to gamble with her. Omega has to comply to protect her cover, and once again she manages to make a fool of her opponent, raking in major cash. In between rounds, the general gets distracted by the presence of Batcher and orders him to be taken outside.
Did Omega And Crosshair Finally Reunite With Her Clone Brothers?
Getting beaten fair and square, the general admits defeat and lets the duo leave—but not before showing off his shrewdness by levying a fine for gambling—even though he himself was a participant as well. Anyway, still having enough credits to bribe the attendant, the duo prepares to go to the spaceport, but shockingly discovers Batcher to be missing. Omega starts getting anxious about her four-legged friend, and in exchange for credits, a local boy shares the disheartening update about Batcher being taken by the general. Omega prepares to head towards the cargo dock to rescue Batcher, but Crosshair wants to leave the planet while they still have the chance. Omega reminds Crosshair that if it weren’t for the hound, the two of them would still be rotting in the prison cells of Tantiss. In times of peril, she isn’t willing to abandon her friend, and she advises Crosshair to proceed without her.
Needless to say, Omega’s kindness wins over the war-torn clone veteran, and he joins her in the cargo bay infiltration. At the spot, along with Batcher, a huge number of animals are seen being held captive by the Imperial forces, probably waiting to be transported to get experimented upon. However, the general was anticipating their arrival, as he reveals that the update from Tantiss has already reached him, and he knows the true identity of the clones. Demanding the credits Omega has won and the complete surrender of the duo, the general and the Storm troopers corner them. With no other way out, Omega asks Crosshair to try his way of dealing with things—basically, to blast their way out of this mess. The expert marksman starts taking out Storm troopers in quick succession, creating a big enough distraction to let Omega free not only Batcher but all of the captive animals. The ensuing stampede scatters Imperial forces, and Batcher is reunited with his friends. Omega and Crosshair, and the Lurca Hound leave the planet by stealing a cargo shuttle. The general meets a fitting end as a giant tentacled creature pulls him inside and presumably kills him. Later, Hemlock arrives with his troops and learns about the duo’s escapade.
Flying through hyperspace, Omega sends a coded transmission to Hunter and Wrecker and reaches a remote rendezvous location. At long last, Omega reunites with her clone brothers, and the moment is marked by a strong emotional overtone. However, as the episode comes to a close, the joyous faces of Hunter and Wrecker turn a bit stern after learning that the one who helped Omega escape and assisted her through the journey is none other than Crosshair, their long-dead clone brother, who had chosen the side of the Empire time and time again. This is an even more emotionally charged moment, as there are tons of unspoken feelings of lost love among these brothers. However, even though the Bad Batch might feel unsure about Crosshair’s intentions after so many conflicting altercations through the years, the jaded clone has gone through a lot. Between losing people he cared for and drowning himself in self-loathing for the actions that came to bite him back, Crosshair has continuously tried to make amends for his past. The upcoming episodes will be interesting, as the focus will be on exploring the dynamics between these batch members.
