The Bad Batch recap: Episode 6 ‘Decommissioned’ ending explained

Warning! Spoilers ahead for The Bad Batch episode 6, “Decommissioned”

Star Wars: The Bad Batch seems to be hitting its stride as both a continuation of major plot points set at the end of The Clone Wars and a standalone series with breakout characters who still connect to the larger story arc. Each week promises character cameos and grand revelations that illustrate the devastating effects the newly-formed Empire is having on the galaxy. At the same time, The Bad Batch has a bit of cheesy buddy comedy, family drama and epic space hijinks that set it apart from the other Jedi- and Sith-led Star Wars stories.

In episode 6, titled “Decommissioned,” we see the clone troopers of the Bad Batch and their adopted daughter Omega slowly begin to embrace their new lives as deserters-turned-mercenaries. The aforementioned space hijinks ensue in a big way, bringing back some recognizable faces from The Clone Wars and ending on a cliffhanger that sets up high expectations for the overarching story of the season.

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The Bad Batch episode 6, “Decommissioned,” ending explained

By the end of the episode, the Bad Batch “did the right thing” and gave up coveted data gleaned from a decommissioned tactical droid circa the Clone Wars instead of bringing it back to their new boss, Cid. The people they give it to are Rafa and Trace Martez, sisters who had a four-episode arc alongside Ahsoka Tano in season 7 of The Clone Wars. This, after Hunter and co. fought them and squads of police droids while trying to nab the tactical droid from an incinerator on Corellia.

Why were Rafa and Trace after the same tactical droid on Corellia? And why did Hunter give up the data rod of intel instead of taking it back to Cid, who promised a sizeable paycheck for their efforts?

It all started back on Ord Mantell, picking up where the last episode left off following the Bad Batch’s retrieval of a stolen juvenile rancor that belongs to Jabba the Hutt. On that mission, Omega acquired a Zygerrian-made electric crossbow, which she’s now learning to use with instructions from Echo. Omega isn’t exactly naturally skilled with the weapon, and Cid blames it on her “weak noodle arms.”

Breaking their practice session, Cid offers them their next job: Steal a decommissioned Separatist Tactical Droid from a facility on Corellia. Hunter reminds Cid his crew isn’t sure about working for her yet, but she doesn’t take no for an answer. She reminds him that she’s the best option they have, what with the Empire looking for them. On the way to the planet, Tech and Echo explain why Tactical Droids are so valuable — the more they fought clone troopers, the more they learned, and their stored intel has surged in value.

Because of that value, it comes as no surprise that the facility on Corellia is heavily guarded by police droids. The clones then have to climb a steep ladder to break into the facility, affirming Wrecker’s fear of heights. Inside, they see conveyor belts full of droid parts heading for the incinerator and Echo and Tech discover just one Tactical Droid is in the system. Though they find the droid already in pieces, its head is still intact and ripe for picking. Unfortunately, the Bad Batch isn’t the only group after the droid.

The other people after the droid head are Trace and Rafa, whose arc in The Clone Wars with Ahsoka wasn’t exactly a fan favorite. However, their story showed how and why average citizens had to live in the gray areas between the Separatist and Republic causes in order to survive. It was one of the first valuable lessons Ahsoka learned about the larger galaxy after leaving the Jedi Order.

The two groups don’t start out on a friendly note, as the Martez sisters and the Bad Batch play hot potato with the Tactical Droid head while trying to fend off police droids firing at them. Oh, and Echo short circuits the systems, so the facility goes into lockdown mode. That means the two parties have to work together to get out of the facility alive and with the droid head.

That also means Wrecker (who has been doing Crosshair’s job of the lookout, much to his dismay) has to jump across a pit of molten metal to get to the main control panel. Despite his fears, Wrecker makes it over to the control panel, but bangs his head in the process, activating his worse headache yet. Wrecker has been having on-and-off headaches for the last few episodes, prompting worries about his inhibitor chip turning him into an unwitting homicidal clone. Wrecker doubles over in pain and starts to utter “good soldiers…” while hearing Crosshair say “good soldiers follow orders” in his head.

Luckily, as Echo and Tech try to reach him, Wrecker shakes off the pain and voices and recovers — for now. While that was happening, Trace goes to escape the facility with the droid head before realizing Omega is stuck under some metal parts on a conveyor belt. As Omega desperately calls for Hunter’s help, Trace helps the little girl clone out of the furnace with a scrap droid leg.

The two groups still have to escape the facility, so they quickly work together and devise a plan to configure the Tactical Droid Head and command all the other decommissioned battle droids to attack the police droids. With Tech and Trace’s prowess, the plan works, and dozens of Separatist battle droids come back to life to fight another time. But this time, they aren’t firing at clones.

“Never thought I’d see the battle droids helping us,” Echo says.

The Bad Batch and Martez sisters get the opening to flee the facility, and Omega learns how to properly use her bow just in time. But while running for their getaway ship, a police droid blasts the Tactical Droid head, destroying the bounty they came for.

On the ship, Trace explains that their contact needed the intel in the droid “to fight back against the Empire.” The sisters say their contact is trying to help and make things better in the galaxy, and question why the clones aren’t fighting for the Empire.

Before the groups depart, Hunter gives Rafa the data rod Tech used to configure the Tactical Droid head in their escape from the facility. He managed to copy the droid’s data before it was destroyed. Rafa asks him why they’re giving up the intel.

“You’re using it for the right reasons,” he says. “Things were clearer when we were just soldiers.”

Inside Rafa and Trace’s ship, the sisters command R7-A7 to pull up their contact via holo. Clone Wars fans will remember R7 as Ahsoka’s astromech droid. We don’t see a full picture of who the sisters’ contact is, but Rafa tells the person they had help obtaining the intel from “a squad of rogue clones.”

“And we know where to find them,” she says. “Thought you might want to know.”

Who are the Martez sisters working with? Could it be Ahsoka again? Or maybe Captain Rex or Saw Gerrera? We may not know until next week or later in the series, but it’s clear that person is gathering vital information to fight the Empire.

The Bad Batch episode 6 is available to stream now. The next episode drops Friday, June 11, on Disney+. Catch up on all things related to The Bad Batch and Star Wars at Dork Side of the Force!