Summary
“Rescue on Ryloth” caps off a fun storyline with some cameoing fan-favorites without forgetting about character.
This recap of Star Wars: The Bad Batch season 1, episode 12, “Rescue on Ryloth”, contains spoilers.
Last week, The Bad Batch introduced a young version of fan-favorite rebel Twi’lek Hera Syndulla, and then put her and her father, Cham, in quite the predicament. Since we know that both of them have a role to play in the Star Wars canon beyond this point, The Bad Batch episode 12, fittingly titled “Rescue on Ryloth”, feels like it’s operating at a disadvantage, suspense-wise. But there’s still plenty to play for in this latest episode.
Cham, Eleni, and Gobi Glie are all still Imperial captives when we pick things up, but Hera is nowhere to be seen, much to Admiral Rampart’s displeasure. Crosshair and his squad have been tasked with finding her, but it turns out she isn’t too far away — she’s actually surveilling this very conversation from afar, and Chopper is mere yards away. She figures they need to send out a transmission, which is probably an understatement, and there’s no surprise who that transmission is being delivered to — Clone Force 99, and Omega specifically.
Despite some initial reticence, Omega is able to talk the Bad Batch into answering the distress call. They arrive at Cham’s old command outpost, where Hera lays out who her father is, and asks them to retrieve her family from the Capitol. A preliminary look-see gives Clone Force 99 the chance to see that Crosshair is present, then runs them afoul of a probe droid who transmits their presence to the Empire. The rescue hasn’t even started yet, and it’s already going wrong, which leads Hunter to state that the mission isn’t worth the risk.
But things aren’t going swimmingly for the Empire, either. Rampart is trying to round up Syndulla sympathizers and track down Hera, but as Howzer explains to him, continuing to round up peaceful citizens is going to cause an uprising. And Crosshair is clearly driven by revenge more than pragmatism. It’s pragmatism and strategy that are necessary for this scenario, which is what Omega lays out to Hera. If she can come up with a genuine plan for the rescue, then Hunter might be more inclined to go through with it.
The plan is to attack the Imperial refinery to divert forces from the Capitol and swipe Cham and Eleni in the chaos. Hunter likes it — he even sends Hera and Omega to back up Chopper on their own, putting trust in the kid for the first time. Things go wrong pretty much immediately. Chopper can’t disable the cannons and gets caught, so Hera and Omega have to take the console offline themselves by jacking an Imperial shuttle. Hera wants to be a pilot, after all, and she gets her chance here in The Bad Batch season 1, episode 12, destroying the cannons so that Wrecker can do some damage (the ship’s console bleeping to cover up his swearing got a chuckle from me.)
Unfortunately, Crosshair figures out that the refinery attack is just a distraction. Troopers form a blockade outside the Capitol and he takes up an overwatch position, waiting in ambush for Hunter and Echo to emerge with Cham, Eleni, and Gobi. Howzer, though, tips them off to the ambush, so they’re able to secure alternate transport. In the meantime, Howzer talks down his squad, convincing them to throw down their weapons and refuse to rise up against the people they swore to protect. Crosshair orders them all arrested.
But the mission is a success. The entire Syndulla family makes it out and plans to organize against the Empire. And Crosshair doesn’t take this well. “Rescue on Ryloth” ends with him asking Rampart for permission to hunt Clone Force 99 down. And the permission is granted.
What did you think of Star Wars: The Bad Batch season 1, episode 12? Let us know in the comments.
