More than a year after the first season,Star Wars: The Bad Batchreturns forSeason 2. The show brings back the chaotic team of enhanced clones as they attempt to navigate the Empire’s new galaxy. Plot-wise,The Bad Batchis a direct sequel toStar Wars: The Clone Wars, with many characters, including the titular team, migrating from one show to the other. And likeThe Clone Wars, The Bad Batchexplores heavy topics which are rare in animation. The show focuses on more than the typicalStar Warsthemes of good verse evil and found family, though those are present. In the first season,The Bad Batchinvestigates the power of choices, individual identity, and the importance of trust. The second season promises to be no different. With just two episodes, Season 2 establishes its own deep subjects, including the dangers of rushing to judgment and the differences in people’s perspectives.
Their newest and more dangerous mission forces Hunter, Tech, Echo, Wrecker (Dee Bradley Baker), and Omega (Michelle Ang) to arrive on Serenno. This outer-rim planet is most recognizable in Star Wars lore for its former leader Count Dooku. The bad batch aims to find and steal valuables Dooku collected in a war chest in hopes of making enough money to stay out of theEmpire’s reachin the future. But the mission goes sideways, and Omega, Tech, and Echo get trapped on an Imperial ship. A last-minute ejection in a shipping container leaves them stranded in the Serennian forest with troopers hunting them and slowed down by Tech’s broken leg. The three run into Romar (Héctor Elizondo), a Serennian native, who reluctantly brings them to his shelter. Both see each other as the enemy. Romar watched clones invade his home, and two of his guests wear the same armor.
Meanwhile, Tech and Echo see a Separatist, their enemy in the Clone Wars. As they wait together in the shelter, they slowly warm up to each other. Romar gives Omega a kaleidoscope toy, encouraging her to have fun. Tech notices Romar trying to restore an old data core that contains Serennian culture, art, music, and history. Tech referees to it as a Separatist archive, but Romar corrects him, saying it is Serennian, not Separatist. Romar gently reminds Tech that his planet existed long before the war, to which Tech responds that he hadn’t thought about it in that way, remembering the planet for the events of the Clone Wars and the actions of its leader. Tech offers to help fix the data core, and Romar is happy to let him try.
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Serenno’s History
While Dooku is the most notable tie to Serenno, his existence isn’t the only thing known about the planet. With the importance of Dooku, Serenno appears inThe Clone Wars, but only as it relates to the Count. But other Star Wars content gives fans fragments of the history to which Romar refers. According to legend, Serenno was under Sith control, but the Great Houses united to free the planet without the help of the Jedi. More recently, Serennians had to endure Count Gora, Dooku’s father, who hated Jedi so much that he abandoned his force-sensitive son in a forest. Gora was hated by the Serennian people for his industrial methods of laying off human workers to replace them with droids. The citizens protested Gora, but things only worsened when his son, Ramil, took over.
Ramil allowed pirates to raid the planet without taking action against them. He intended to turn the people against the Republic, but the Serennians formed a resistance led by Ramil’s sister, Jenza. Dooku defeated his brother, leaving the Jedi Order and proclaiming himself the Count of Serenno. Dooku formed the Confederacy of Independent Systems, an alliance for those wanting to secede from the Republic, but the group was more commonly known as Separatists. And so the Clone Wars began. According to Romar, Dooku stole from Serennians to fund his war. And by the end of the Clone Wars, the Empire orbitally bombarded the planet, leaving the ruins seen inThe Bad Batch.Romar claims there are other survivors, but none appeared in the show. The information given about Serenno leaves out much of the planet’s history and culture, but Romar longs to see the planet recover.
Tech’s Realization
Talking to Romar allows Tech to realize that not everyone on Separatist planets is his enemy. Romar tells of the ways Dooku mistreated and stole from his own people. The more he learns, the more Tech realizes how harshly he judged the innocent man. Seeing the war from Romar’s perspective is entirely different. While Tech served in the Republic’s army, Romar was a bystander on a Separatist planet. He watched Dooku destroy Serenno, not the damage the war caused in the wider galaxy. The concept of citizens of a Separatist planet being victims of the war is not one Tech had previously considered, but he realizes the truth. By allowing Tech to see this,The Bad Batchexplores the complexities of war. It’s not a matter of light verse dark but a nuanced view of the good people who were not in the Republic.
The Clone Wars Explored This Concept First
Tech’s realization is not the first time Star Wars has addressed this topic. In the third season ofThe Clone Wars,Ahsoka Tano(Ashley Eckstein) has a similar lesson when she visits Onderon with Padmé Amidala (Catherine Taber) on a peace mission with Separatist senator Mina Bonteri (Kath Soucie). The first episode in the plot arc is even called “Heroes on Both Sides.” As Ahsoka meets Separatist people for the first time, not on a battlefield, she learns that they aren’t so different from her after all. She develops a friendship with Senator Bonteri’s son, Lux (Jason Spisak), forcing her to see the reality that not everyone on Separatist planets (or even people who are Separatists) is evil. Tech’s lesson inThe Bad BatchSeason 2 mirrors Ahsoka’s in this plotline. By, once again, bringing up this particular topic,The Bad Batchtakes up another mantle fromThe Clone Wars. Tech’s realization is a beautiful continuation of the theme that significantly changes Star Wars as a whole. Focusing on the gray morality in the world is not a common path to take, but it makes the franchise better.
Why Are the Themes Important?
Addressing the complex nature of war is perfect for the show as it deals directly with the fallout from the Clone Wars, and focusing on the difficult subject allows for a thought-provoking subplot amidst the action. AsThe Bad Batchcontinues, the show will have many more opportunities to explore the themes of differing perspectives, the dangers of quick judgments, and likely many other difficult topics. The show has given every indication that it will take advantage of these moments, and that’s a good thing. LikeThe Clone Wars, the best thingThe Bad Batchcan do is explore complex subjects without talking down to the audience. Despite being animated, the show doesn’t need to target solely children, and these sorts of themes are the perfect way to make it enjoyable for a wider audience.
