WARNING: This article contains spoilers from Star Wars: The Bad Batch season 2 episode 2 review “Ruins of War”
The second episode of Star Wars: The Bad Batch returns Star Wars animation back to its roots in many ways. Not only are we still in the eerie world of Serenno, but this episode comments on the nature of war’s impact on everyone while maintaining action throughout. The previous left Echo, Tech, and Omega falling from the sky as Hunter and Wrecker sneak through the ruins of Serenno chased by the almost robotic Captain Wilco. We also had a surprise appearance of Hector Elizondo as Romar Adell and a reminder that Omega is still a kid.
From the very beginning, we see that The Bad Batch is in rough shape. Not only are they separated, but Tech is badly injured. The group is also unwilling to use deadly force against their fellow clones which leads to a limited number of options for escape. As Tech, Echo, and Omega search for ways to escape the suspicious group encounters Romar Adell, a native from Sereno who reveals that Dooku even robbed his own people to try and keep power. This depravity and the ruins of the city are heavily contrasted with the basic levels of kindness shown by both the squad and Romar.
It is truly wonderful to see small acts of kindness, like giving someone a gift or helping them repair something can become life-saving. While the Bad Batch is obviously weary of those from Serenno they still provide some levels of assistance to Romar even as they are being hunted. This basic kindness is the essence of what the Jedi taught and is one of the lessons that we really want to learn from Star Wars.
Beyond the moral lessons we learn however we get to see a few new faces including Captain Wilco. While he retains clone armor and his shoulder pauldron it is now completely black (not unlike a stormtrooper) and his armor has been stripped of color. Wilco does make an interesting contrast to Captain Howzer who was also loyal to the Empire but retained a higher level of individuality. Whatever we thought of him however he did seem committed to doing his duty to its utmost efficiency and proved to be loyal to the empire.
As seen in other recent Star Wars projects such as Andor, the empire is even eviler than we initially expected and when Vice Admiral Rampart kills Wilco in cold blood we are reminded that the clones were only tools in the Empire’s mind. While the rest of the episode was fast-paced and kept me on the edge of my seat, this ending propelled this episode to one of the most stunning out of all Star Wars. We knew the empire was evil, but even with those such as Pong Krell as examples of evil Vice Admiral Rampart’s emotionless response was chilling.
If an episode of Star Wars can be both chilling and heart-warming at the same time, I think that alone would speak to the quality of story-telling being done. While we not have agreed with Wilco’s loyalties, Star Wars fans spent an entire series learning that each clone was worthy of basic respect, regardless of their origins. With the empire turning on its loyal soldiers so quickly, and the empire’s expansion it seems like the Bad Batch is on a collision course. But this collision course isn’t just with the empire, but their brothers as both Commander Cody and Crosshair are sure to track them down sooner rather than later.
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