The Bad Batch’s giant mech is an important reminder for Star Wars fans

Warning: This article contains spoilers from season 2, episode 5 of The Bad Batch. 

A common criticism about Star Wars is that the galaxy feels too small. This criticism is often brought up when discussing Tatooine. Despite being described in A New Hope as a planet that is the farthest thing from the bright center to the universe, Tatooine has become one of the most important locations in many Star Wars stories since its introduction, including in Return of the Jedi, the prequel trilogy, The Mandalorian, The Book of Boba Fett, and Obi-Wan Kenobi.

The galaxy feeling too small was also a common criticism  in season 1 of The Bad Batch as Omega and Clone Force 99 seemed to frequently run into familiar characters from The Clone Wars or Star Wars Rebels.

The Bad Batch’s adventures in season 2, episode 5 “Entombed” is an important reminder of how vast the galaxy and its history are and that despite feeling small at times, there is still a great deal about it that is still a mystery and may forever remain a mystery.

This reminder comes in the form of the giant mech that Wanda Sykes’ character Phee Genoa unintentionally activates when she removes the Heart of the Mountain. The ruins of Skara Nal that she and the Bad Batch have been navigating to find the treasure transforms into a giant mech that is mobile and razes the planet with destructive energy blast. It is only able to be stopped by returning the Heart of the Mountain from where Phee extracted it.

“Entombed” does not explain the origins of the mech or what it is. There are some clues sprinkled throughout the episode, from Phee saying that the legend of Skara Nal traces back to the ancients and is older than the Jedi, to Tech saying that the minerals in the stone slabs predate the Republic. Some fans even think the mech may have been created by the Zeffo from Jedi: Fallen Order.

Regardless of the answers, the mech is an important reminder that that there are still plenty of mysteries and unknown forces throughout the galaxy, things that even brilliant characters like Tech and well-traveled treasure hunters like Phee do not know about or may never fully understand.

It is both terrifying and thrilling to think about why these mech monsters were created and whether there are more of them out there. Based on the desolate wasteland in the episode, it appears that the mech has razed the entire planet, and it continues to do so once it is reactivated.

This means that before the Republic and the Jedi even existed and many thousands of years before before the first Death Star was created, there were already superweapons that could decimate a planet. This feels like a compelling story on its own. Regardless of whether or not that the story is ever told, it is fascinating to get a glimpse into the progress of galactic technology and weaponry from thousands of years ago.

Just because familiar characters show up sometimes and just because some Star Wars stories go back to Tatooine does not mean that the galaxy is small and finite. The galaxy is full of infinite possibilities, history, and mysteries.

Star Wars: The Bad Batch is streaming on Disney+.