S01.E15: Return to Kamino

[paulvdb]

Quote

The Bad Batch find themselves in unexpected territory in this thrilling finale. Part 1 of 2.

Premiere date: August 6, 2021

[paigow]

On Screen Title: Return To Kamino

Crosshair must be lying about removing his chip. 

There must be another secret underwater pod The Batch can use

[Fool to cry]

RIP Tipoca City.

 

[SnoGirl]

I think Crosshair thinks his chip has been removed. Although it would be interesting if it was really already removed.

Seeing Kamino empty and abandoned was really sad. The Kaminoans just gone without any sort of fight. Snuffed out by the Empire.

Omega is older then the Batch! She’s the big sister. No wonder she’s so attached to them.

I’m guessing we’re going to see more of the underground tunnels next week. Although I can’t imagine how they’re going to get out of the destroyed buildings submerged in water.

[MissLucas]

Well, that was quite something. I guess Crosshair's chip got destroyed when he was getting injured on Bracca. Hunter seems to think the same as he studied the scars. Makes sense that that did not immediately turn him against the Empire. There must have been a nasty stew of emotions bubbling inside him - among them resentment against his brothers for leaving him behind and resentment against his inept new 'brothers'. Both probably getting into a nice internal tug-of-war. Rationalizing that he and his brothers are not defective but superior to both the Regs and the TK Troopers and therefore valuable to the Empire whilst still holding on to the belief he could convince his brothers to see the light and rejoin was how he coped.

This leaves the Bad Batch now with a nice conundrum. I guess they thought that removing his chip would solve all problems, instead they will need a very good shrink. Which I don't see happening - my money's on a mix of Cid's tough love (if you want to call it that) and Omega's emotional intelligence.

Speaking of which - it was a nice touch that Echo noticed Omega's emotional distress in the tube. Another nice character beat was Tech noticing Crosshair's gizmos and silently communicating with Wrecker.

The animation was again top-notch. The destruction of Kamino was a sight to behold.

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Omega is older then the Batch! She’s the big sister. No wonder she’s so attached to them.

Wow, I missed that among all my shrinking of Crosshair! 

Edited August 6, 2021 by MissLucas

[Cthulhudrew]

13 hours ago, SnoGirl said:

Omega is older then the Batch! She’s the big sister. No wonder she’s so attached to them.

Until you mentioned it, I thought I must have misheard, because I couldn't believe that no one else in the show commented on it. Kind of interesting that she physically appears younger than them; did they artificially age Batch 99, or has Omega's physical maturity been stunted?

[paulvdb]

All clone troopers have accelerated aging. It was mentioned in the movies that Jango asked for his son Boba to be a clone without the accelerated aging. And I guess Omega is another clone without the accelerated aging.

[MissLucas]

I'm trying to get the math right here (always a dangerous venture). Clones age twice the rate of 'natural' humans, they are battle-ready within 10 years. The Clone Wars lasted three years - so the Bad Batch is roughly 13 years old? If Omega who has no accelerated aging was around during their creation and capable of remembering its details shouldn't she be older? Even if we assume there was some genetic tweaking* done to her too (she shows an immense amount of technical understanding for a kid) shouldn't she be a tad older? Closer to being a teenager than she looks?

*Omega is supposed to be genetically enhanced yet at the same time she's still supposed to provide the closest copy to the original clone DNA? I'm not sure how's that supposed to work but then biology is as strange a land to me as math.

[paigow]

The chip was in the brain. Blowing off a piece of skull is not sufficient to remove it. Crosshair is lying.

[MissLucas]

Of course he could be lying but I find that boring. Surely the team will not take him for his word and scan him, if the chip's still there they know how to remove it. Piece of cake. Unless the enhancement of the chip makes the removal harder. 

From a writer's viewpoint the scenario I described above is the one that provides most drama and the possibility for redemption. The question is just when he got rid of the chip. If he had the chip removed before Bracca (and how exactly?) then that turns him into an unmitigated asshole and killer. And he did not just suffer burns there, he was also slammed against a bulkhead, the impact forceful enough for him to lose his helmet.  

 

[Morrigan2575]

Wow. That was intense. Can't wait for next week. 

I'm not sure Crosshairs is lying about the chip. He might think it's gone but, I don't think it is. Also they did some major enhancement to the chip at the end of the first episode, right? 

I wonder if the damage is already done and, now it's either too late or he's got to go through deprogramming?

I'm still confused about how the chips work. They turned the clones on the Jedi but, they're not mindless drones, they still have free will, it seems. 

[MissLucas]

Yes, Tarkin ordered Crosshair's chip to be enhanced. The real issue that nobody ever really addressed though is why Crosshair's chip was working properly (so to speak) while the rest of the team remained unaffected - at least for a while until Wrecker started to get Order 66 migraines. It's possible that the genetic mutations of Tech and Hunter made them immune, Wrecker's just delayed the activation and Crosshair's mutation did not affect it at all. (At this point Occam's razor is getting blunt.) We only got a good explanation for Echo. And then there's Cut who also remained unaffected. There are plenty of theories around for each of these questions individually but somehow not one that covers all in a satisfying manner.

[tennisgurl]

Things just keep getting more intense, especially after a batch (heh) of enjoyable filler episodes, shit is really going down. Crosshairs chip was removed already…probably, maybe, and things have managed to get even more messy. Also, the animations been extra amazing the last few episodes, it’s always been good but they’ve stepped it up even more now. 

[andromeda331]

Great episode. I think that Crosshair thinks his chip is gone. Tarkin did have it enhanced. But if he did remove it then Crosshair made the decisions on his own. Which doesn't make any sense. But Crosshair still thinks that he is important to the Empire when he clearly isn't. It was a great scene among the Bad Batch and Crosshairs. I love that driod I hope he joins the Bad Batch. 

Omega's reveal being older then the Bad Batch was a surprise. She's older then them but younger then them and with more powers. I really do like learning more about how they were created. I liked that they mentioned 99. I still worry about the clones and little Bobas sent off planet and what that means. 

RIP Tipoca City. It was sad to see it destroyed by the Empire. I can't wait to see what happens next.

[paulvdb]

On 8/6/2021 at 11:11 AM, paigow said:

On Screen Title: Return To Kamino

And I see that they've also changed it to that title in the episode overview so I've edited the topic title.

[benteen]

Great episode.  Very exciting with some great developments.  Hard to believe this is the end of Kamino.