This article contains spoilers for Star Wars: The Bad Batch’s Season 2 ending, particularly The Bad Batch Season 2 Episode 15, “The Summit”, and The Bad Batch Season 2 Episode 16, “Plan 99”.
The Bad Batch hasn’t exactly set the Star Wars world alight this season, which has often felt aimless. There has been a feeling all throughout that perhaps Disney doesn’t know quite what to do with these characters, or how best to capitalize on the potential of the setting.
Don’t get me wrong, when the show’s good, it’s good. But all too often it’s fine, which isn’t good enough.
The two-part finale, combining Episode 15, “The Summit”, and Episode 16, “Plan 99”, into one hour-long string of payoffs for various ongoing character arcs and subplots, suggests that I was probably jumping the gun in writing The Bad Batch off.
The action kicks off following Clone Force 99 discovering in Episode 14 that their turncoat former compatriot Crosshair was being held by the Empire’s secret Advanced Science Division, a deeply ethically troubling program fronted by Doctor Hemlock, who it turns out is named after a toxic plant for a reason.
The plan is (relatively) simple. Hemlock is due to attend an Imperial meeting of minds on Governor Tarkin’s homeworld of Eriadu, so the Bad Batch reckon they can just infiltrate the summit and follow him back to his base of operations. However, the summit – which features Orson Krennic in a brief cameo – is also the target of extremist revolutionary Saw Gerrera, who plans to blow the whole thing (and everyone present) to smithereens.
This is a recipe for two episodes’ worth of disaster.
Star Wars: The Bad Batch Season 2 Ending Explained
Is Tech dead?
Among the major casualties of this finale is Tech, who falls to his presumed doom while the Bad Batch tries to escape the detonating facility (all the Imperial stooges survive, only further reiterating Saw’s generally useless approach.)
I was surprised that the show committed to this and I suspect in the long run it might not since Star Wars is one of those franchises where only an on-screen death really counts. Plus, it’s stated pretty openly that the Empire – and Hemlock specifically – have plans for the clones. There’s a very good chance that Tech remains alive and a prisoner of the Advanced Science Division, like Crosshair, especially since Hemlock has his goggles at the end.
Why did Cid betray the team?
After escaping Eriadu, the team heads back to Ord Mantell, which isn’t ideal since they’re not on great terms with Cid. All throughout this season that relationship has been fracturing, and it reaches a breaking point here.
Cid has always been depicted as self-serving. She cares about profit above all, but she also cares about people doing what she says. She was resentful of the Bad Batch for taking jobs that weren’t provided by her, threatened them openly with exposure when they didn’t do what she said and risked their lives several times for her schemes.
In the Season 2 finale, Cid sells the team out to the Empire. You can assume that part of the motivation is revenge for their parting ways with her earlier in the season. Another reason is precisely what she explained to Wrecker: They’ve brought too much Imperial heat down on her operations. Plus, Hemlock was offering a pretty penny for information about Clone Force 99 and, specifically, Omega.
You’ll recall that Omega is particularly important because Nala Se is especially fond of her, and Hemlock wants to use that relationship to coerce Nala Se into working with him and the Empire on his cloning plans. He wants all of the remaining clones taken to his facility on Mount Tantiss for grim research purposes, and what’s ultimately where Omega is taken after Hunter, Echo, and Wrecker are unable to rescue her.
How is Emerie Omega’s sister?
There is one final surprise waiting for us on Mount Tantiss. (Crosshair is still there, but that’s not really a surprise, even though it’s a detail worth mentioning.)
When Omega arrives, Hemlock sends her away and orders Emerie to tend to her so that he can blackmail Nala Se. But Emerie tells Omega that she’s her sister.
How is this possible? Well, it seems like the Kaminoans created a female clone from Jango Fett before they created Omega herself. Emerie obviously ingratiated herself within the Empire and particularly its Advanced Science Division, but since we’ve already seen her attempt to help Crosshair and have now seen her reveal herself to Omega, the implication could be that she’s working to bring the program down from the inside.
Either way, Emerie is a clone like Omega and the rest of Clone Force 99.
You can stream The Bad Batch Season 2 Episode 15, “The Summit”, and The Bad Batch Season 2 Episode 16, “Plan 99” exclusively on Disney+. What did you think of The Bad Batch Season 2’s ending? Let us know in the comments.
