The Bad Batch season 2 episode 8 recap: The Emperor’s shadow
By Meg Dowell
WARNING: The following contains SPOILERS for The Bad Batch Season 2, Episode 7: “Truth and Consequences.”
Clone Force 99 is on their ship awaiting another mission from Cid when an incoming call reconnects them with none other than Captain Rex.
Rex has a mission for them instead: He needs them on Coruscant. Their task is to recover something important, but it’s going to be dangerous.
While the Dad Batch follows Rex on the data retrieval mission, Omega accompanies Chuchi as the senator tries to rally support against Rampart’s efforts. They meet with Halle Burtoni, the former senator of Kamino.
The former senator agrees to testify against Rampart … if there’s actual evidence of what the vice admiral has done.
They’re working on it — the Batch, that is. They sneak onto Rampart’s ship, though there are troopers everywhere and their chances of getting caught escalate every second they remain on the bridge.
They have to power on the ship in order to extract the data they need, which alerts everyone in the area to their presence. Because they’re going up against their brothers, Rex and the Batch keep their weapons set to stun as they blast their way through reinforcements to the exit.
They use an escape pod to get away and hastily deliver the data to Omega, who quickly gets it into Bail Organa’s hands just in time. Chuchi plays video evidence of Kamino’s destruction — at the command of Rampart himself — and there’s no way the admiral can further deny what he’s done.
That’s when everything goes terribly wrong.
Palpatine chooses that moment to drop in on the Senate meeting, and he’s as terrifying as ever. He has Rampart arrested, but uses the opportunity to propose his own initiative: It’s time to phase out the clones and begin the Stormtrooper Program.
The Batch and Rex feel defeated — Palpatine seems to have somehow known what would happen the whole time despite their best efforts. The future of the clones is more uncertain now than ever. But there must be something they can do about it.
Echo announces he’s parting ways with Clone Force 99 — for now — to go with Rex and help his fellow clones.
Season 2 is halfway over now, and things are being turned upside down. Where we see the Batch next is truly a mystery.
New episodes of The Bad Batch drop Wednesdays exclusively on Disney+.
Star Wars: The Bad Batch season 2 episode 7 review : “The Clone Conspiracy”. dark. Next
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