Warning: This article contains spoilers from episodes 7 and 8 of Star Wars: The Bad Batch.
Many familiar faces are featured in the Imperial Senate during episodes 7 and 8 of The Bad Batch season 2, from Senator Bail Organa and Senator Riyo Chuchi to Emperor Palpatine himself. One familiar face that fans may not have expected is Senator Tynnra Pamlo.
Senator Pamlo was introduced in Rogue One: A Star Wars Story. She is a member of the Rebel Alliance’s High Command who is present when Jyn Erso shares what she learned about the Death Star and shares what was said in her father’s message about how to destroy the Imperial superweapon.
The senator is one of the many Rebel Alliance members in this scene who does not support Jyn’s insistence on fighting the Empire directly by stealing the Death Star plans. Pamlo’s most memorable lines are “If the Empire has this kind of power, what chance do we have?” and saying to Jyn “You’re asking us to invade an Imperial installation based on nothing but hope,” which leads to Jyn echoing Cassian Andor’s earlier line of “Rebellions are built on hope.”
Senator Pamlo has now made her debut in Star Wars animation in The Bad Batch and is voiced by Sharon Duncan-Brewster, who also played her in Rogue One. The Bad Batch shows that long before the days of a unified Rebel Alliance, Senator Pamlo is already fighting the many injustices and corruption of the Empire.
She openly speaks out against the Defense Recruitment Bill that Vice Admiral Rampart is pushing and tries to encourage the Imperial Senate to focus on matters that are more important and less costly than creating a new military, especially now that the Clone Wars have ended. Seeing her united with Bail Organa on tabling the Defense Recruitment Bill makes sense considering their future in the Rebel Alliance.
At this point, they are still trying to uphold democracy and are trying to prevent the Empire from becoming a police state. The events in these episodes show that fighting this way is futile as Emperor Palpatine and his allies will always rig the game and twist the truth, which is why the senators have to ultimately fight through the Rebel Alliance instead.
Tynnra Pamlo from Rogue One in The Bad Batch pic.twitter.com/DNCQG7Le7x
— Star Wars Only (@StarWars0nly) February 8, 2023
Many characters from Star Wars animation have been making the jump to live-action recently, such as Bo-Katan Kryze and Ahsoka Tano making their live-action debuts in The Mandalorian, and Sabine Wren confirmed to appear in Ahsoka later this year. It is exciting to see the jump in the opposite direction as well, with live-action characters debuting in animation. This is not the first time The Bad Batch has done this as Fennec Shand was in season 1 of the animated series after being introduced in The Mandalorian.
Senator Pamlo was a perfect character to bring into animation in these episodes as someone in the Imperial Senate who would be morally opposed to the Defense Recruitment Bill. It is fascinating to see her during the early days of the Empire and to see her journey toward being part of the Rebel Alliance within the larger narrative surrounding the clones in The Bad Batch.
Sharon Duncan-Brewster returning to voice Senator Pamlo in The Bad Batch also makes it more likely that she could return to play the character in live-action again, now in Andor season 2. This can show her involvement in the Rebel Alliance prior to Rogue One and after The Bad Batch.
Even if she doesn’t appear in Andor season 2, it was thrilling to see her play a small but important role in the stellar new episodes of The Bad Batch.