Full Series The Bad Batch 3.02 - Paths Unknown - Discussion Thread (Spoilers Allowed)

The opening of this episode establishes that Hunter and Wrecker are still a formidable squad on their own. One of my biggest complaints with the show has been Hunter. In TCW in my opinion Hunter was introduced as a realist in stark contrast to Rex. He had to be shown Echo was alive, he couldn't believe it as Rex could. Likewise, he's never believed they can take on the Empire which is why he took his squad and Omega into hiding. But then he freaking stagnated into this guy who would let Omega and everyone else walk all over him. Finally, that guy is history. Hunter is wreckless enough to take on the damn Pikes to get information and desperate enough to get the info from The Syndicate. We see plenty of that "I'll just punch them harder" attitude against the tentacle monsters. There is no more hesitation. Yet he's still nice enough to help the young clones and transport them someplace safe. That is perhaps Omega rubbing off,

Meanwhile, Wrecker is more subdued and surprisingly trying to be the voice of reason when Hunter says he wants to do something unhinged. Wrecker is scared to death of losing anyone else. He remains arguably the best-developed next to Crosshair and has matured over the series. I'm sure this takes place somewhere in the time skip where we see Omega grow a little taller with her ponytail growing out. Unfortunately, this could easily go to a dangerous extreme if they don't wait for Rex and Echo. It would be easy for Rex to flat-out use them. Though I'm sure it would go just as badly with a whole army of deserted clones. If Rex has any inkling on what's going on at Tantiss I'm sure he's going to be eager to attempt to rescue whoever he can and blow the place up.

Interesting to see the effects of Hemlock's experimentation on a planet. Not the furth time we've seen this.

I think this episode is fantastic. It's not filler at all but establishes where Wrecker and Hunter follow the traumatic end to season 2.

 

It would be a very neat High Republic connection if the plant bioweapon was the Empire's attempt at making their own Drengir (one notable feature they have in common is that severed body parts can become separate creatures).

And Isa Durand has an interesting design, even if it conflicts with what has previously been established about female Devaronians. It'll be interesting to see how they reconcile this design with what has been previously depicted (such as the horns actually being part of the crown and previously belonging to a different creature, some female Devaronians file their horns, green-skinned Devaronians are different subspecies from the red-skinned ones, etc).

 

I give this 8/10. Really good solid episode. Good to see the Bad Batch back.

 

https://www.starwars.com/series/the-bad-batch/paths-unknown-episode-guide

 

I'm going to echo and say I liked it, but it wasn't as good as the first episode. I liked seeing the Devaronian court at the beginning. And having Daniel Logan be in it is fun.
The way the episode built tension during the monster/horror bit was good. Imma agree that the monsters weren’t the most original ones, but OTOH, Star Wars has never blown me away with its original monster designs.

Overall good one-off. Better than most other monster episodes.

 

I think with how dark the last episode was this one was a nice change of pace with a lot of action I quite liked it!

 

Reminds of the Kraken from Pirates of the Caribbean.

 

The rancor and sarlacc are two of the best and most original monster designs in sci-fi (though the latter is clearly inspired by the sandworms of Dune, only stationary for budgetary reasons). They need to try harder to meet that level of iconic design.

Or, you know, the sarlacc from Return of the Jedi.

 

It’s sarlacc mixed with something

 

Sarlacc/ rathtar.

 

I don't find the rancor to be particularly original, it's essentially a large troll from Norse mythology. But you have a point with the sarlacc. That's a cross between a sandworm from Herbert's Dune (as you say), a giant antlion larva ("doodlebug"), and the image of a, uh, vajayjay dentata.

 

The rancor doesn’t look like any troll I’ve ever seen in the few depictions we have of trolls from Norse culture.

 

Nah, sarlacc had an awesome beak.

 

I don’t officially recognize the beak.

 

I gave this a 10/10.

I really enjoyed this episode. At first I forgot Tech died at the beginning. I really liked the planet and the vines were a nice touch to the world. I was surprised to see younger clones. For a second I thought Hunter and Wrecker were going to be abandoned. I It does look like they're on the right track though. I really am excited to see where this season goes though.

 

Rating this one first because it's the easiest. 7/10

I like the Durand connection/payoff, though part of me would've liked it to amount to more. It could be interesting to see the family again within the season (going off the trailer, perhaps in connection to the bounty hunter involvement). The abrupt and somewhat coldly-businesslike entrance for Hunter and Wrecker is a nice cue for their approach to the search. Similarly, I like the visual reminders of Tech and Omega on the Marauder.

There's a bit of extra eeriness to the abandoned lab given the Hemlock connection, like a specter of the man himself. The central vine monster seems representative of the Empire as a whole (and on a lighter note, the escape reminds me of something another clone did decades later).

I like that at least a few of the young clones survived, and though it's good that they'll have more paths now, there's a sadness in the could-have-beens they touch on. I like the question of opportunity vs. loyalty between Stak and Mox. And even as they're about to potentially steal the Marauder, I like that they have an air of respect while looking around on board.

 

Seeing the Devaronian court was really cool. A bit disappointed we didn't see a traditional Devaronian female with Isa but horns could easly be explained as atavism.

 

Atavism is a perfectly fine explanation. Or maybe Isa's horns are decorative?

 

Or they’re transsexual.

 

Depends on what to consider "traditional".

 

Yeah, there’s no reason to hold strictly to traditional binary gender-coded stuff. For aliens or for humans.

Not least as the female Devaronian above just looks like…a different species altogether. And like a badly conceived elf/ fraggle hybrid.

 

The Devonian’s look much more like tieflings now minus the tale.

 

Great stuff. Been enjoying the show and I look forward to seeing what's next.

Ian McDiarmid is still killing it as Sidious Palpatine. It's comparable to how Patrick Stewart killed, if you will, his 2022 performance as Charles Xavier despite being over eighty. McDiarmid is almost eighty and age won't hold him back. It's interesting how this talented Shakespearean actor/director is able to portray a purely evil character but with nuance in the character's speech and manipulations. That's the thing. Sidious is a very human individual. He just represents all the worst aspects of humanity.

Also, I like the Emperor's design in this better than in Tales of the Jedi. I felt that the new design was just too good in that. It kind of overshadowed how he appears in TCW itself, which I thought was great. Whether it's an Ian McDiarmid or Ian Abercrombie performance, both are great as Sidious Palpatine. I thought that Tim Curry was a better Sidious than Palpatine per se, though he was really good at performing Palpatine's performance to Yoda when he pretended not to know about Sifo-Dyas.

As for the characters in BB not knowing that Palpatine is a Force-wielder, I think that Sidious usually picked and chose when he wanted to use his powers. For example, he kept guards around him for appearances in new canon, but if memory serves, he deflected lasers and slaughtered several Rebels at one point. Overall, though, I do like how new canon Palpatine is portrayed in the shows more than the novels and comics. Those tend to diminish his frightening power down to about the same level as Cade Skywalker. Cade had massive power in the Force, but it's down to a more reasonable level compared to Luke and even his own father. Palpatine seems to be on the same level as Cade in the new canon. On the one hand, I understand that, as other characters like Dooku are also depowered in the new canon compared to their original versions. Plus, the original Sidious was basically an Eldrich abomination in human form, particularly after his post-Endor resurrection. I mostly like Palpatine in the new material for how he interacts with Vader in the comics and how he is presented in the shows. I don't like how he is obsessed with the Jedi after Order 66 and how he genuinely wants Vader to be powerful enough to overthrow him. It makes sense that he would feel that way about Luke in ROTJ and the post-Endor EU because he would enjoy that challenge. But with Vader, it doesn't make much sense, since he viewed Vader as a failure more often than not. Interestingly enough, he seems to have viewed Maul and Dooku as better Sith apprentices than Vader because Vader never succeeded in eradicating that tiny bit of light inside of himself. In contrast, Sidious was very successful in eradicating that tiny bit of light inside of himself. But that's why most people are fond of the pre-TROS Palpatine in the films and in the EU. He's a powerful tyrant who manipulates people to death, literally and figuratively.

 

Well this one perhaps just one level below Episodes 1 and 3 of this season, but that doesn't mean it wasn't great.

The Devaronians looked fantastic and left me longing for more lore on them. The looked fantastic, both male and female specimens.

Contrary to many, I actually almost always enjoy the episodes with monsters. This is most certainly true when it comes to The Mandalorian. "The Passenger" is one of my favorite episodes in that show. So naturally, I enjoyed this one very very much. At first I was a little underwhelmed by the cliche menacing and dangerous vines, but then when the headless chickens with mouths appeared (what I presume is an infant stage of the huge monster that we saw at the end), I was all for it.

The only thing I kinda missed in this episode, is more initiative and action from Hunter and Wrecker. I understand why the first three episodes have focused heavily on Omega and the side arc with the MIDICHLORIANS, but I would still like to see a little more from the surviving members of TBB. There's still plenty of time of course in the next 12 episodes to see them go out with a bang (or somehow survive through all of this).

 

Clearly the M-count arc is more than just a side arc, which is why it’s getting such a focus. Also, why are you afraid to write The Bad Batch? TBB is lame. Man up!