Bad Batch S2 Episode 12 Was One Of The GREATEST Episodes In Animated Star Wars History

This season is slowly becoming a classic. The Bad Batch S2 Episode 12 was one of the best episodes released in all of Star Wars Animated history, ensuring that this show has merit to stand on its own.

I’m so happy the season has matured the way it has these last 6 or so episodes.

From starting out with some of the most stale and generic content one could have imagined to now producing bangers week after week, it’s crazy how the Bad Batch is slowly becoming one of my favorite Star Wars shows since the Disney acquisition of Lucasfilm. I get that most people already really enjoyed the first season and the beginning to this one, but I could never get on board with the hype and enjoyment.

The characters just weren’t growing, the side missions were boring, the Empire was a meandering, toothless force, and most of the side characters (Cid, Phee, the Pod Racing characters, etc.) were becoming borderline unwatchable. And, with how the season started, I thought the Bad Batch Season 2 was going to end up being like the first: a boring, repetitive, cliche cash grab that Disney cranked out in its content sludge of the Star Wars IP.

Thankfully, the second half of the season has blown all of my doubts away with how compelling the episodes were written.

Characters were finally given motivation and characterization as Echo and Commander Cody’s conscience got the better of them, Tech has started becoming more outgoing and empathetic, Omega has become more cynical and cautious, and Crosshair has begun harboring serious doubts about the Empire, while the locations and plots the Bad Batch experienced were also vastly improved.

The Clone-Kamino conspiracy arc, fighting off baby Zillo beasts and uncovering a dark cloning experiment, and surviving a desolate desert world have all been supremely more interesting and compelling narratives and locations to watch than some irrelevant pod racing arc or a meaningless treasure hunt.

I don’t know how Dave Filoni and his writing team have done it, but they have performed a miracle in turning around the Bad Batch midway through the season (which is very strange considering all of the episodes should have been written at the same time months ago). Nonetheless, this latest episode was the best to date.

Focusing solely on Crosshair, the episode narrowed in on what it means to be a clone versus a loyal soldier of the Empire as the episode made it painfully clear the days of the clones were just about over.

From a group of clones complaining about their living conditions and future life after getting forced into retirement on Coruscant to the horrible conditions the clones left on Barton-4 were forced to live under guarding “valuable cargo” (which wasn’t really the case, but more on that later), Crosshair really got a taste of what life for his “reg” brothers was coming to due to them staying “good soldiers following orders”.

Moreover, the utter disdain and hatred Lieutenant Nolan, the commanding Imperial officer in the episode, had towards Crosshair and the rest of the clones just reinforced the sad message: the clones were unwelcomed, unwanted outcasts in the very galaxy they (unwittingly through the chips) forged.

It’s great to see the Bad Batch finally show how awful and ruthless Palpatine’s Empire truly was towards everyone in the galaxy, even its own soldiers and soldiers. Such characterization makes Crosshair’s choice of staying loyal over deserting with the Bad Batch or Commander Cody that much more tragic, which Crosshair showed in the final moments of the episode.

However, before I get to that, I gave to say that Commander Mayday may be one of the best clones ever created.

Mayday, an experienced combat veteran of the Clone Wars and leader of the Barton-4 cargo base, was a near perfect foil for Crosshair as he was everything the Bad Batch member wasn’t (before the end of the episode): honorable, sympathetic, noble, selfless, and compassionate.

While in charge, Mayday buried all of his fallen brothers (from both local raids and hypothermia), kept their helmets in remembrance of their service, showed an unwavering loyalty and bond to his brothers, and even went out of his way to save Crosshair from certain death by disarming a landmine Crosshair stepped on after the later said he would not do the same for him.

So, it was nice to see Crosshair finally open up to one of the “regs” and quickly befriend Mayday.

But, that friendship didn’t last too long as after being sent out to retrieve stolen cases of the “valuable cargo”, which just ended up being fresh stormtrooper uniforms the Barton-4 clones could have used to prevent their deaths, an avalanche mortally wounded Mayday when he risked his life to save Crosshair…again.

Yet, instead of enacting his crass comments about leaving behind “dead weight” earlier in the episode, Crosshair displayed the heroics he once showcased in the Clone Wars to drag Mayday all the way back to the base, even though he nearly froze to death in doing so.

Again, this episode added even more characterization and depth to the characters as Crosshair finally broke out of his “good soldiers follow orders” mentality and did the “right thing”, even if it nearly cost him his life.

Nevertheless, once Crosshair reached the base with the dying Mayday, what do you think happened next (for those who haven’t seen the episode)? Lieutenant Nolan simply laughed in Crosshair’s face when the clone begged him to save Mayday’s life, who ended up dying moments later, and was about to walk away before Crosshair completed his first stage of redemption and shot the officer.

Yeah, it really wasn’t the smartest move as he was immediately arrest by the stormtroopers picking up their armor and then transported to the secret experiment lab we saw a few episodes ago, but this kind of character growth is what separates disappointing shows from great ones. Crosshair needs to rejoin the Bad Batch to complete his redemption, but this is a good start.

This episode proved once again that the second half of the Bad Batch Season 2 might be the best Star Wars content we get all year, which is why I’m giving this episode a perfect 10/10.

It was that amazing.

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