Even though many people agree Star Wars Episode II: Attack of the Clones is the worst Star Wars movie, it’s one of the most consequential. The latest episode of Star Wars: The Bad Batch dug deep into that film, with characters and revelations that will get even the most casual Star Wars fans speculating.
The ninth episode of Star Wars: The Bad Batch was called “Bounty Lost,” which kind of spoils what happens at the end of the episode. Cad Bane loses Omega. But to whom and why? Well, that’s where things get interesting.
Though most of the episode didn’t centre on the Bad Batch, the show is called “The Bad Batch,” so that’s where things started. The group is reeling from losing Omega to the bounty hunter and want to track him down, but they’re being hunted by former chum, Crosshair. He’s in hot pursuit, looking badass as hell in his bandages, but just as he knocks out their rear deflector shields, the Batch finally get away. That battle is far from over.
Meanwhile, Omega is trapped on Cad Bane’s ship. As she tries to manipulate his droid Todo 360 (voiced by Seth Green), Bane tells the Kaminoans that he was successful in securing the asset. The leader, Lama Su, senses that Nala Se is sympathetic to Omega and won’t do what needs to be done, so Su sends Taun We to retrieve Omega from Bane. Taun We was on The Clone Wars but first appeared in Attack of the Clones and was one of the most prominent Kaminoans in that film. So she’s pretty recognisable, but apparently also malleable. Lama Su explains that when they get Omega and extract her DNA, they’re going to terminate her. Nala Se is not pleased.
The reason why the Kaminoans want Omega back, and are willing to kill her, was then revealed. Turns out Omega is a direct genetic clone of Jango Fett. While all the Clones are clones of Jango, most of them were modified to be obedient and age quicker. All of them, but one. We know him as Boba Fett, a direct genetic clone who ages normally. The Kaminoans, however, called him Alpha and apparently made a second similar clone, which they named Omega. That basically means Omega is the twin sibling of Boba Fett, an exact copy of Jango Fett, and the only available source the Kaminoans have to Jango’s direct, valuable DNA. It’s a massive revelation, but its implications had to take a back seat, at least for a moment.
Cad Bane’s ship lands at the rendezvous with Taun We, but Omega is able to outsmart Todo, escape, and contact the Bad Batch. Before they can get a lock on her, Bane recaptures her, only to hear some mysterious blaster fire. We know it can’t be the Bad Batch. No, it’s Fennic Shand (Ming Na Wen), there to collect Omega, who has killed Taun We and taken the credits she was bringing to Cad Bade. (I’m not sure I’m ready to let Taun We go, so after writing this, I may go put on some Sarah McLachlan and have myself a good cry: “I will remember you…”)
Fennic proposes Bane give her Omega in exchange for the credits, which seems like an ideal plan for Bane. Why would he want to keep Omega? Wasn’t he just doing this for the credits? So when Todo steals the credits from Fennic, kickstarting a battle between the two, I was a little confused as to why these to bounty hunters couldn’t have come to a mutual understanding. Things got clearer, though, when Todo dropped the credits into the abyss of the planet they’re on and now, Omega is the only collateral Bane has.
A battle ensues — one Cad Bane swears Fennic isn’t quiet experienced enough for (a nice wink to him being a grizzled old veteran bounty hunter and she a new kid on the block). But, eventually Fennic is able to knock Bane unconscious with a detonator and go after Omega. Omega is in some kind of weird laboratory with what looks like bacta tanks filled with some kind of beings. It’s very season two of The Mandalorian, Palapatine’s clone of Snoke kind of stuff. And while we don’t find out exactly what these beings are or what they’re doing (though our guess is they’re Kaminoans), it’s a reminder to Omega she does not want to become some kind of experiment. At least not anymore. And Fennic says she can help with that, but after Fennic betrayed Omega a few episodes back, obviously Omega doesn’t trust her.
Omega escapes again, this time heading for a series of flight pods that’ll get her out of the situation. Cad Bane is once again awake though and battling Fennic while Todo is trying to stop Omega. In a genius move, Omega jumps on Todo and rides him down to the platform with the flight pods and is able to shoot away. Meanwhile, Fennic and Bane fight to another standstill, almost as if Fennic was doing that just to keep Bane away from Omega; later, we find out that’s exactly what she was doing. She was hired by Nala Se to keep Omega away from Taun We and, thereby, Lama Su. Fennic Shand did her job.
Meanwhile the Bad Batch have finally arrived and intercepted Omega’s pod. She’s shaken up and confused as to why she’s causing such a fuss, which is when they explain her origins to her. Omega thinks the bounty hunters will keep coming and coming until she’s been captured. But Hunter tells her not to worry. He promises she’ll never go back to Kamino.
It’s funny that one of the most exciting episodes of The Bad Batch yet had almost no Bad Batch in it. That’s because seeing two bounty hunters in an epic battle is just so damned entertaining. Not to mention that bombshell revelation of Omega’s true origins. On the other hand, something seems to be brewing here. Don’t forget that Fennic Shand was saved by Boba Fett in The Mandalorian and became his trusted associate, all the way through the end of the second season — and now we’ve seen her interact with and be sympathetic to his identical twin sibling. Does Fennic have some deep seeded allegiance to the Fetts? Is it possible Star Wars: The Bad Batch is just an elaborate Book of Boba Fett prequel?
We hope not, but admittedly the tantalising possibilities of Fennic’s devotion to the siblings and a potential reunion seem ripe for exploration over the next few weeks.