The Bad Batch The Bad Batch 1.11 - Devil's Deal - Discussion Thread (Spoilers Allowed)

It wouldn't have had the same impact though, the entire Bad Batch premise of being on the run came from Crosshair seeing Hunter let the padawan escape.

 

I have actually considered if this show would be better watched out of order and more chaotically like with early seasons of TCW. Like what if the show had premiered with "Cornered"? What order do you imagine the episodes going in?

It was important Caleb got away and for most of the Bad Batch to not be affected by Order 66 directly. If Regs had hypothetically killed Caleb or any other Padawan that would have ruined the tension between Hunter and Crosshair which ends up putting the former on the run with the rest of the squad. That tension came from letting Caleb and later civilians go instead of following the will of the new Empire. It was because of that conflict Tarkin identified Crosshair's loyalty and decided to use him against the rest of the Batchers.

If Crosshair had killed any Padawan in the show in front of the rest of the Bad Batch that would have had immediate results and not a story. Inhibitor chip or not I personally think Hunter is going to go full-on blood knight on Crosshair and any unlucky Imperials around him when he either realizes or catches him murdering civilians. The conversation between Hunter and Omega during "Replacements" foreshadows that eventually, Hunter will have to decide between saving Crosshair and saving his victims but it's going to be a rash decision.

 

Edit: I misread.

Thet would have effected Crosshair and Hunter’s relationship

I hadn’t considered that. I assume it was chronological because of Crosshair’s haircut and wound. And now that I think about it I don’t think the bad batch went to sell guns to Gobi before the first scene in Common Ground.

 

That was one of the best episodes. Loved seeing Hera and Chopper again

 

I could see the weapons delivery happening in the time skip between "Decommissioned" and "Battle Scars" where apparently 10 missions happen off-screen. Maybe toward the end of that. "Battle Scars" and the next four episodes including "Common Ground" are back-to-back events. That would allow time for the riots to start on Ryloth. That is if Crosshair had not taken his helmet off. So gross...

 

It isn't.

 

I gave this one a 10

hope we get more episodes with Hera and Chopper

 

Is too

 

Hera looks so much like her mom. So cute. She also interacts with Ezra the way her mother interacted with her, too. My hope is that she (the mom) does not die in any of these episodes. Find another way to raise the stakes.

I love the POV shift of this episode so much it makes me want the creators to take the show's title less literally. Meaning: "Bad Batch" can apply to Clone Force 99, who will still have the majority of episodes dedicated to them--- but, can also serve as a descriptor for other deviant clones in this current era (i.e., Howzer, Rex, etc.). This could allow for more episodes with different and diverse POVs. Just a thought.

 

In case anyone else finds it interesting to read the old discussions, here are the original threads for:

TCW 119 Storm Over Ryloth
TCW 120 Innocents of Ryloth
TCW 121 Liberty on Ryloth​

TCW 303 Supply Lines​

 

Also, Supply Lines which is the first part of the arc chronologically and underrated. We'd probably just chat about these episodes in The Clone Wars general thread. Great time to re-watch them. Damn I thought Saleucami looked better but that has nothing on Ryloth.

Given Ima-gun Di sacrificed himself. The work Anakin, Ahsoka, Obi-Wan, and Mace put in to freeing Ryloth from CIS occupation. I'd like to get perspectives from Cham, Eleni(?), and Gobi on the Jedi purge.

 

I decided on an 8 for this one. Hera's a delight, Howzer's a nice addition, and I like Rampart's bookend lines about playing one's part.

I also rewatched Homecoming and Hera's Heroes. What I initially felt might be inconsistencies in the former could just be rationalized as scars from the family conflict, and this Friday's episode may add to that picture. The latter definitely has more weight now, and if we're about to see Eleni's demise...

Speaking of potential inconsistencies, the trivia gallery refers to Hera as a teen in this episode, and the asset name on the concept art for her is "twilekHeraSyndulla14AvA". But based on Wookieepedia's info, Hera would be ten in Bad Batch.

 

Yep this is what I am hoping too and I wonder if the shift in this episode might be an indication this is where it will go, especially with the Kaminoan war likely coming. I wonder if this episode was actually intended not only to bridge The Clone Wars-Bad Batch-Rebels but also to introduce a future member of the batch with Howser.

 

People have already proven to you that it isn't. Strange that you never responded to those posts.

 

10 missions happened off-screen? Is it stated in one of the episodes and I missed it?

Hera's mum dying is a must. I like her character, but the Empire killing her would definitely add to both Cham's and Hera's character motivations why they dedicated 25 years of their lives fighting the Empire.

 

"...And twenty cartons of Mantell Mix?" Hunter was flabbergasted at the expense report.

In all seriousness, if Wrecker and Omega get Mantell Mix after every successful mission and there are 20 cartons they owe Cid for (21 as of "Battle Scars") then they have been on 10 missions off-screen between "Decommissioned" and "Battle Scars" which hints at a small-time skip since these could happen consecutively over a week. Hopefully it was longer.

Wrecker and Omega probably went and got more candied space popcorn after running the weapons to Gobi. All the more reason why steep tragedy like Hera's mom dying may have to happen, yeah foremost to push Cham and Hera into dedicating their lives to fight the Empire. They'll probably still be the standout stars in this arc. But also because the Bad Batch is probably going to get dragged into Ryloth's conflict with the Empire. It may take the sky falling on Ryloth for them to realize the Mercenary thing isn't where they belong and get them joining an early rebellion. Freaking Rafa and Trace of all people were right.

 

I think your right on the money with that one!

It makes a lot of sense story wise, have the bad batch build a rebellion 'strike team' if you will. Maybe in next season we see them training a regular cast of people who are new to the rebellion, taking them on new missions. Maybe they team up with a Jedi every now and again to do something particularly difficult. Just like the clone wars there would still be the main cast, (In clone wars it was Anakin, Obi-wan and Ahsoka, in The bad batch its the crew as it stands now), but they could really deep dive into stories that are much less connected to the main cast of characters. An example of this from TCW would be the D-Squad arc.

I think the bad batch could transition pretty easily into an anthology type show, and while I really like the bad batch, the scope of the universe's story at this period of time is too big to be told from the perspective of a single group. Something I would really like to see is how Bail Organa sets up the rebellion, how he juggles his loyalties to the rebellion and his family (maybe even get a peak at how Leia is settling in to being a princess). He doesn't need to be a recurring character to be clear, but an episode or two telling that story would be really nice.

 

People have made some well thought out posts but some of its a little flimsy. It still could have been any padawan that Hunter let go so Crosshair can go full imperial. You could have had an arc about Crosshair and the Elite Clone troopers hunting down the padawan.

 

I was thinking this, it would be kind of cool if the clones were the ones that got the rebellion going initially with training, etc, similar to what Rex, Ahsoka, Anakin and Obi-Wan did for Onderon.

 

That's an idea actually. With TCW I always felt like it was Anakin's story. The portholes we looked through in its anthology style lead back to him even distantly. He was the pillar. The Bad Batch could serve as the pillar for a story about an early rebellion training or gathering members to form an early cell that could survive the show without them. I keep saying the last unexplored thing with the clones is their legacy. It is just Order 66, or will The Bad Batch create a better legacy for the clones? Where Omega will carry those values and say what they really wanted and what they were really like many, many years later.

Now for the unpopular opinion. We undoubtedly will see a fugitive Jedi working with the Batchers at some point. In "The Bad Batch" arc I commented how CF99 individually each represent a different Jedi power. Almost like they were engineered as replacements. That's even true of Omega though Echo is obviously an odd man out. They are capable of individually teaming up with regular people going on super dangerous missions and filling that role.

This show may never be a true anthology like TCW. But, that's okay, they can stick a member of the Bad Batch or Omega with another group of characters getting focus to shift the point of view. I think that's what's going to happen in the next episode they just won't be splitting up yet. The trick is splitting The Bad Batch up. Once they get allies whether it's joining a cell or training a strike team its easier to do that. As of now, The Bad Batch only has one little shuttle, unlike Team Ghost who had both the Ghost and the Phantom. And of course, Anakin, Ahsoka, and Obi-wan had the Republic fleet.

I think adding characters and becoming part of an early rebellion whether they start it or become a strike team that grows under someone like Bail is the springboard for getting wider focus, a bigger scope, and shifting points of view. I hope it's the former and The Bad Batch becomes a name for an early Rebellion or a battle cry.

I probably shouldn't let my expectations for this week get away from me since I've gotten ahead of myself thinking this next one will be a game-changer.

 

I gave this an 8/10.

I did like seeing Hera as a youth and her beginnings to what we know her as. She was very compelling. The action was great as well. That chase scene was unbelievable! The thing that prevented me from giving it a higher number was the lack of TBB. They were on screen for what...all of 5 minutes? I just wish we could've gotten more of them.

 

10 I think this was probably the best episode by far, awesome to see more stuff like TCW as it's best. Hera's mum is probably going to bite the dust, same with Howzer probably. I wonder of Howzer is a clone who simply never received order 66. Maybe they were not jedi on Ryloth at the time. So it would explain why his personality seems normal. Other imperial clones are acting cold after order 66. Seems that activating the inhibitor chip causes them to lose their personalities.

That is something in ROTS I always theorized before TCW and chip explanation ever came up. Cody acts so weird after order 66. He was so playful with Obi-Wan then he becomes so rude after killing him.

I also used to theorize there is some sort of brain washing to explain order 66 before all those episodes. Not to brag but I'm often pretty good to foresee their plotlines lol

 

Being a cameo in your own dedicated series, that's a new concept.
Young Hera and Chopper were well done, I wasn't bothered by the accent. Her relationship with her parents was the best part.
It's also interesting how Howzer seemed to have maintained his personality despite not having removed his chip as far as we know. Defective chip?
I also didn't think Orn Free Taa died since Rampart specifically mentioned it was an "attempted assassination".