Summary
“Decommissioned”, thanks to its links to other parts of the universe, is the most intriguing episode of The Bad Batch yet.
This recap of Star Wars: The Bad Batch season 1, episode 6, “Decommissioned”, contains spoilers.
It quickly turns out in “Decommissioned” that, after last week’s episode, Clone Force 99 are still hanging around with Cid on Ord Mantell, teaching Omega how to fire a cool-looking bow and arrow and taking on odd jobs, the latest of which is to break into a decommissioning facility on Corellia — of Solo fame — in order to pilfer intel from a Separatist tactical droid. The Bad Batch isn’t sure about this arrangement but as Cid puts it, the mutual back-scratching will benefit both of them, at least as long as they remain wanted.
Tech and Echo give Omega a quick primer on the value of tactical droids — their intel gleaned from years of successful battles might hold the key to how to defeat the clones now that they’re in the Empire’s employ, which is another fun time period detail that the show is increasingly excelling in. The decommissioning facility is guarded by police droids, but the team is able to sneak inside of the grim industrial plant full of crisscrossing gantries, burbling magma pools, and droids missing one or several limbs being dragged around on hooks and conveyors. They quickly discover that the lone tactical droid is already in pieces but has an intact head, though they also witness one of the workers make off with it.
That worker is Rafa, sister of Trace, both of whom were introduced in the final season of The Clone Wars. She’s able to disarm Omega, who gets the drop on her, but the scuffle results in the other workers detecting a security breach and shutting the facility down. Rafa, Trace, and Clone Force 99 are all trapped inside with the police droids who respond to the alarm. The ensuing action sequence is well designed, exciting, visually impressive, full of fun character moments and close shaves — all the usual high points. But the most interesting thing about it is when Wrecker ends up bumping his head on the wall and starts intoning the same, “Good soldiers… follow orders” mantra as Crosshair did. Can the Bad Batch become susceptible to Order 66 just by jostling their brains around? That doesn’t bode well. Wrecker is able to pick himself up and dust himself off, but that surely won’t be the end of the matter, and it gives Hunter’s later, “We’re different,” line a bit more foreboding. Are they, really?
Everyone is able to escape from the facility thanks to the tactical droid’s head — Tech is able to copy the data and then use the head to reactivate the decommissioned battle droids to fight off the police units. Hunter then hands over the data to Trace, since she’ll use it for the right reasons, whereas he didn’t even know who he would be handing it over to. But The Bad Batch season 1, episode 6 immediately suggests his trust might have been misplaced in a coda during which Trace explains to the hologram of whoever she’s working for that she now knows where to find a squad of rogue clones. Who are they talking to? Rex? Theories in the comments!
Oh, and it was nice to see R7 again!
