First introduced in the final season of The Clone Wars, The Bad Batch have returned for a second season in their own titular show, and Star Wars fans are delighted to see more of the “defective” clones of Clone Force 99 and their misadventures in The Bad Batch as the Empire rises from the ashes of the Republic. As in the first season, we find The Batch (all brilliantly voiced by Bradley Dee Baker) and Omega (Michelle Ang) are still pulling mercenary work for Cid (Rhea Perlman), trying to find a way out of the Empire’s tight fist.
Yet, as desperate and lethal as The Bad Batch are, the show noticeably is holding them back, toning down excessively on tone and maturity in the aftermath war-torn galaxy. The Batch and other characters don’t use all means at their disposal; even the Empire that is hunting them down had become less evil and simply just menacing. The Bad Batch deals with heavy topics like the genocide of entire races, common ground with enemies, and betrayal between brothers yet paves over them as if the audience can’t handle such things. The Bad Batch should be able to deal with the stakes as they are, being the direct successor to The Clone Wars, in both terms of story and action.
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The Batch Are Holding Themselves Back
Lucasfilm Animation
The biggest and most noticeable concern is how these enhanced and lethal warriors themselves fight. The Batch used deadly blaster bolts throughout The Clone Wars but rarely in The Bad Batch, almost exclusively using non-lethal stun rounds against enemies who are not so concerned about taking them alive and using every possible means to kill them.
Other characters are held back as well, such as the Twi’lek rebels led by Cham Syndulla (Robin Atkin Downes), who all fought in the brutal Clone War as well, using any means necessary in their fight for freedom. When Admiral Rampart (Noshir Dalal) sentences Cham’s daughter Hera and other rebels to death, he leads a rescue attempt, yet uses stun rounds against an enemy trying to kill him and his daughter. It makes no sense for a rebel like Cham to hold himself back in such dire circumstances with such high stakes, and the story feels restricted and less real. As the direct sequel and successor of The Clone Wars, a show which dealt with very heavy topics and mature themes that spoke to adults yet were still accessible to younger audiences, this kind of restraint doesn’t feel right in The Bad Batch and limits the show’s potential.
Maturity and Consequences Fits In The Show’s Tone
Disney+
We’ve seen The Batch use lethal bolts against their enemies as they fight for their lives. They are also not fighting for their own lives but for Omega’s as well, as both the Empire and the Kamainoans have sent clone troopers, bounty hunters, and even their own clone brother Crosshair to bring their “property” back for termination. The stakes are high and personal, and The Bad Batch has no reason to hold back, especially given the show’s tone.
The Empire is still cruel and conniving, and in an effort to frame Cham’s rebels as terrorists and keep the Twi’leks in line, Rampart orders Crosshair to blast Orn Free Taa, striking the Twi’lek Senator in the head with a deadly blaster bolt, usually a good indicator of instant death in the Star Wars universe. Yet in the next episode, Rampart informs the Twi’leks that Taa is simply injured and in recovery. For such a dastardly and successful scheme that should have big consequences, nothing happens. The Empire, which obviously isn’t holding back, is still held back by the show, making the Empire and Crosshair, the antagonists who are enslaving and wiping out entire races, less of the villains they’re supposed to be.
Yet The Batch Have Reasons For Holding Back
As we see in both seasons, The Batch have their reasons for holding back from the fight and terrors of war. The most obvious is Omega, their young clone sister, who all The Batch agree shouldn’t have to grow up fighting a war like they were forced to. This leads to some contention in The Batch, as they don’t want Omega to fight, some like Echo still want to fight themselves.
There’s good cause for The Batch using stun rounds so often, as they’re usually fighting other clones like themselves. These clones, even though they’re on opposite sides now, are their “brothers,” and they fought side-by-side for years during the Clone War. First using blaster bolts against their brethren, The Batch switched to mostly stun rounds after learning of the organic inhibitor chips in the brain of every clone, which caused them to betray the Jedi and the Republic. The Batch don’t use lethal bolts because they sympathize too much with their bothers, especially after a few of them like Wrecker had to fight against the inhibitor chip as well.
Yet this doesn’t explain the show’s general restriction on the characters, especially the Empire. The Batch themselves though may switch tactics, as we’ve seen clone troopers beginning to be phased out by the Empire for human stormtroopers, and The Batch probably won’t feel too sympathetic to those who volunteer to aid the Empire’s evil and use deadlier means. And as we’ve seen Emperor Palpatine himself coming into play soon, the Empire won’t hold back either.
