The Bad Batch season 2 episode 11 parallel you may have missed

In the closing moments of the finale to the first season of Star Wars: The Bad Batch, audiences were treated to a look at where Nala Se was taken, to a mountain on a remote planet. This was later confirmed as Mount Tantiss, a location that’s important in Star Wars Legends.

Nala Se’s entrance here is notable. While she has left Kamino before (she seen on a medical station early in Star Wars: The Clone Wars) it’s unlikely that she’s been away from the planet for very long, so she would be used to the Kaminoan climate. She also thinks that Lama Su has just been shot by Vice Admiral Rampart, and has been forcefully removed from her own home by her own creations.

When she arrived at Mount Tantiss, she’s greeted by an unknown female scientist who creepily expresses praise for her, and is dragged into this unknown facility. Nala Se looks terrified, and frankly, who can blame her.

Episode 11 of The Bad Batch season two returns to that location, revealing that the former Kaminoan Prime Minster Lama Su is actually still alive, and is brought to Mount Tantiss to motivate Nala Se, who refuses to co-operate. He isn’t as frightened as she is, coming out of the shuttle with more confidence. He has just dealt with the Imperials on Coruscant, he isn’t afraid of the climate change.

New character Doctor Hemlock tries to get Lama Su to help him by confidently taking charge of the situation, like the scientist before him, but Su isn’t as easily frightened. He skilfully points out that Hemlock is just as much as prisoner of Mount Tantiss as he is. If Hemlock doesn’t achieve his goals then he will be punished. This line immediately shifts some power to Su, as Hemlock needs him now. It immediately shows Su as a clever politician, bending the situation to his advantage.

This immediately puts him on a more equal footing with Hemlock, where Nala Se just resigned to her fate. Lama Su quickly makes a play for his freedom, knowing he has value to the Empire, again showing his skill as a politician.

While the two scenes are about the arrival of two Kaminoans to Mount Tantiss, the second cleverly inverts the power dynamics of those involved. The first scene showed a frightened Kaminoan, scared of her future, the second shows a Kaminoan willing to seize his. Hopefully all of the characters reappear in a future episode.