The Bad Batch recap: Episode 10 “Common Ground” ending explained

Clone Force 99 gets another lesson in galactic politics and knowing who the real enemy is in The Bad Batch episode 10, titled “Common Ground.”

The group also learns not to underestimate the courage and resiliency of fellow mutated clone Omega, even after her traumatic ordeal on Bora Vio and narrow escape from bounty hunter Cad Bane.

Catch up with a recap of The Bad Batch episode 9, “Bounty Lost”

The episode ends with Omega and Hunter sitting down at Cid’s on Ord Mantell to play a game of holochess with the bet being if Omega wins, she no longer has to sit out on any missions. The Bad Batch had just returned from a mission to rescue a senator from the Empire, and Hunter deemed Omega not yet ready to get back into the action.

The Bad Batch episode 10 “Common Ground” ending explained

Notably, the episode shows what is happening to the Separatist planets following the transition of the Republic to the Empire. It opens on Raxus, an Outer Rim Planet, as Imperial Captain Bragg speaks before a wary crowd in the capital city. She introduces Senator Avi Singh, who reluctantly begins to justify Imperial occupation to his constituents. When he stops, switching his stance to calling the occupation “unjust,” he dragged away from armed troopers. In the crowd below, armed troopers and walking tanks move in to quell the crowd.

Back on Ord Mantell, the Bad Batch get their next mission from Cid: to rescue Avi Singh from Raxus. Being former Republic troopers, Clone Force 99 isn’t thrilled about working for and rescuing a Separatist senator. But, Cid reminds them they have a debt to pay to her for her hospitality.

Likewise, Hunter doesn’t want to bring Omega to a planet swarming with Imperials. He tells the others she needs a break and orders her to remain with Cid on Ord Mantell. Not surprisingly, Omega is upset by being left behind, telling Cid it’s unfair that she couldn’t go on the mission and arguing that she’s not helpless.

“I told tall, dark and broody I’d keep you safe,” Cid tells her, referencing Hunter.

When the Bad Batch land on Raxus, they learn their “client” is the senator’s droid, GS-8. Working with a droid AND on a mission to help a Separatist senator has the group a bit grumpy. But through a series of sly maneuvers, Tech tapping into the senator’s home’s security system (his signature move) and stunning a bunch of white-armored troopers and the Imperial captain, the Bad Batch manages to free Senator Singh.

In a brief but touching moment, Hunter forgets that Omega is not with them on the mission as he and Tech work to stun troopers guarding Singh.

And, it wouldn’t be a proper Bad Batch mission without some well-placed explosives and the commandeering of an armored walker. There’s never a quiet escape with this group, so after fighting off multiple other armored tanks and Wrecker throwing stunned troopers out the door of their own walker, the Bad Batch is led to a dead-end by Senator Singh. When Tech questions the senator’s directions, Singh says, “you’ll have to learn to trust me.”

At the dead-end, luckily, is a hidden passageway that will lead them safely out of the city. When they make it back to the ship, the senator stops and questions his decision to leave his planet while his people are suffering.

“I cannot abandon my people, I must help them,” Singh says.

His droid GS-8 replies, “You will, senator, but not if you’re in Imperial custody.”

Echo, who’s been the most vocal with his displeasure about working with a Separatist, agrees with the droid: “She’s right; live to fight another day.”

When they get back to Ord Mantell, they walk into Cid’s and see a crowd of people cheering at the players at the holochess table. One person shouts, “no one can stop this kid!”

It turns out, while her dads were gone, Omega showed off her strategy skills at the holochess table – giving her something to do that also contributed to the Bad Batch’s overall mission of paying their debts. Cid tells Hunter she’s a natural and that Omega made enough money to pay back their debt.

Hunter, still a little grumpy, reminds Omega he told her to keep a low profile.

“I wanted to be useful, even if I couldn’t go on the mission,” she says.

“How about we put those strategy skills to the test?” Hunter says, pulling up a chair to face Omega in holochess. The episode ends before their game is over, but it’s probably safe to assume Omega won’t be sitting out any more missions in the near future.

The Bad Batch episode 10 is now available to stream. Episode 11 drops next Friday, July 9, on Disney+.