Full Series The Bad Batch 3.09 - The Harbinger - Discussion Thread (Spoilers Allowed)

Prepare yourselves for the arrival

 

In this episode, the Batch meets a person who does nothing but bingewatch the TV show Har.

 

A bit meta for my tastes

 

Probs the giant squid episode seen in some promos, especially with Kiners tweets showing a Cthulhu poster

 

Yea, but in the same trailer if you zoom in you get Omega and some other women who I am pretty sure is Ventress swimming in the ocean away from the creature thing

 

I expect this is the episode we finally get Ventress!

 

Wow. The last thing I expected was to learn that "harbinger" was an auto-correct fail for Harbor Master. Who knew tugboats were so interesting?

 

TOO SOON!

 

Return of Assajj Ventress getting hinted. By showrunners.

 

Hope so. Let's get right into the good stuff!

 

Ventress and a giant monster. Best Bad Batch ever.

 

Maybe an animation version of Ventress taking down a sea monster from Dark Disciple.

 

Aardman?

 

I hope so. I think they need to introduce her soon. Not a lot of time left

 

The entire episode could have ended in 30 seconds if Ventress had one of these.

But yeah, when it comes to Ventress, it is as I expected. They did not explain anything, and her behavior is questionable, as is her use of the Force (choking Wrecker). This does not mesh well with Dark Disciple at all. And that last line about "having a few lives left" is so on the nose, full of itself and so egregious — it's not nearly as funny and smart as they think it was. Resurrecting dead characters has become a problem at this point. Could have been any other Jedi in her place. Like I said months ago.

 

I like how Ventress shows up doesn’t confirm weather Omega is force sensitive or not and leaves.

also @anakinfansince1983 you’ll be happy. They only cheekily refer to Dark Disciples. No mention of Vos or anything else from the book.

 

So did they de-canonize Dark Disciple? Wouldn't be the first time for something released during the Disney era, right? I think the Kanan Marvel comic became non-canon.

 

At this point the show is spinning its wheels a bit. The episode was nice enough and seeing Ventress again and her interaction with the Bad Batch was fun. But the plot progress has slowed to zero and another giant monster was as expected as it was boring.

The fact that Dark Disciple was basically ignored is also as expected but it's just to be expected now and it doesn't really upset me anymore. Since Ventress was established as a bounty hunter in Clone Wars, it makes sense that she is the force user the Batch connect with. It also nicely continues the theme of the Batch working with former separatists and coming to terms with the pointlessness of the Clone Wars. The Kanan comic from way back when also had some good stuff on this, with Kanan himself. I therefore actually think that the inclusion of Ventress is narratively more interesting , than just having some random Jedi survivor.

I do hope the show will stop spinning its wheels soon. All the pieces they are laying out in these quieter episodes will probably come to fruition in the end but there aren't many episodes left and they better start ramping up the tension again sometime soon. I do wonder whether we'll see Ventress again this season and whether she'll feature in Omegas eventual fate. Might be an intriguing possibility.

I'll give this a 7/10 again, it was fun but nothing special.

 

The Kanan comic is non-canon, yes. The first episode in season 1 retconned it.

 

Quinlan Vos also used to work in the Underworld and has bounty hunter connections... Literally nothing warranted Ventress being here. Just a blatant backdoor pilot and key jangling. Vos would make more sense, would be much more interesting, and would not require ruining a good story and resurrecting the dead, again. I actually hated this episode.

And how did she even get her curved lightsaber back? Barriss took them in TCW S5. No one gave them back to her. She made a new one in Dark Disciple. But they gave that hilt to Maul in TCW S7 for some reason. So much for "honoring" the story.

 

That is true but Vos wouldn't continue the theme of working with former enemies and questioning the purpose of the Clone Wars. That is a unique angle that Ventress offers over any Jedi. I can understand why you're not a fan of this decision but it is not without justification. And honestly if this is a backdoor pilot for something else, I'd gladly watch it. I don't think it is though.

 

Thoughts while watching:

Sigh... filler episode?

Oh. Ventress!

"That's the real question." -- No it's not. The real question is: Why aren't you dead, V?

"So I'm a Jedi?!" -- Big mouth you got there, kid.

Good explanation. The Force does not equal "Jedi."

Gasp! She said it! She said the m-word!

Omega's being trained in the ways of the Force by a Nightsister Sith? Yikes.

Wax on, Omega-san! (Crane stance by the sea at sunset, scaling a cliff to a twisted tree...)

"Not happening." -- Less talk, more trigger, Crosshair! (It's only a kids' show. It's only a kids' show. It's only... )

Ventress doing the Skoll staring out at the sea thing. Must be a non-Jedi, non-Sith thing.

Ugh. Batcher's pink eye is off-putting...

"Time for your final test." -- Wow. These Force training courses keep getting shorter and shorter!

Don't do it, Omega! You're gonna call up a Sando Aqua Monster!

"Argh. I don't even know why I'm here! We're wasting our time!" -- It's like poetry -- it rhymes!

She's closing her fist! Are the glow fish going to end up belly up on the surface? Hahaha!

"Why'd they go?" -- There's always a bigger fish!

Summon the kraken!

Crosshair and Ventress 'ship? Mwahahaha!

Don't worry 'bout that low m-count, O! If Sabine can do it, you can too!

"They can try, but I've got a few lives left." -- Read all about it in the new comic book series "Ventress" coming to your favorite retailer in May!

Not bad for a filler episode. Some entertaining moments, if nothing else.