WARNING: The following contains spoilers for Star Wars: The Bad Batch Season 1, Episode 3, “Replacements,” which is streaming on Disney+.
“Replacements” is an appropriate title for Star Wars: The Bad Batch‘s third episode. Over the course of the story, Omega goes from being an unanticipated tagalong to a welcomed member of Clone Force 99, helping to fill the hole left by Crosshair. As for the latter, he too gains a new “family” after becoming the commander of his own squad of soldiers, in the process taking an even darker turn than he did in the series’ premiere. At the same time, Crosshair is clearly having trouble forgetting his former comrades, especially when he and his current troops take up residence in Clone Force 99’s old quarters on Kamino.
Besides splitting its attention between Clone Force 99 and Crosshair, “Replacements” is also focused on the Galactic Empire’s continuing efforts to succeed the Republic and convince its citizens to follow them. So far, that hasn’t been much of a challenge; as one of the members of Crosshair’s new unit points out, the Empire has fed him, paid him and given him a roof over his head, which is more than the Republic ever did. However, as the episode makes clear, the fledgling totalitarian organization is perfectly willing to go to brutal extremes to get the results it desires, in the process creating the very Rebellion that will one day destroy it.
The episode starts off with Clone Force 99 crash-landing on a moon when their power supply is blown, which then leads to Hunter and Omega tracking down an Ordo Moon Dragon — a creature drawn to raw energy — that’s taken off with their ship’s only working capacitor. It’s a storyline with shades of The Empire Strikes Back‘s asteroid scene, particularly when Tech and Echo put on breathing masks to walk around on the moon’s surface and replace their ship’s damaged equipment, only to find mysterious scratch marks on their ship’s hull. “Well those weren’t there when we landed,” Tech says, pointing out the obvious.
Omega, who’s still determined to prove her worth as a member of Clone Force 99, insists on accompanying Hunter when the clones then spot the Ordo Moon Dragon taking off with their remaining capacitor. In that regard, she continues to resemble Ahsoka Tano from the early seasons of Star Wars: The Clone Wars, serving as a youthful foil to the seasoned veterans around her. Lest we forget, it took a while for fans to warm up to Ahsoka, so it’s little surprise that some see Omega as an annoying kid sidekick. (To be clear, she’s not.)
Thanks to Hunter’s tracking skills, which mostly amount to him looking at piles of moon dirt and squinting (hey, whatever works), he and Omega find the Ordo Moon Dragon’s hiding hole, only for Hunter to wind up incapacitated after his breathing mask is knocked off during a scuffle with the creature. Luckily, Omega is able to follow the Dragon into its home and, rather than shooting it with Hunter’s blaster, realizes the critter is more interested in her flashlight, which she (more or less) exchanges for the capacitor. It’s yet another moment that suggests Omega is either Force-sensitive or might just have powers she’s not yet aware of. At the least, her ability to read the Dragon’s intentions recalls Ezra Bridger’s talent for communicating with animals on Star Wars Rebels.
Omega’s humane solution to saving the day — something she’s rewarded for when Wrecker makes her a room on their ship — is effectively juxtaposed with Crosshair’s chilling methods for completing his own mission. As a test to see if Kamino’s clone troopers can be sufficiently replaced with conscripted soldiers, Grand Moff Tarkin orders Crosshair to take a group of highly skilled enlisted recruits or Elite Squad Troopers (future Death Troopers?) to Onderon and eliminate Saw Gerrera’s insurgents, in turn completing the task Clone Force 99 refused to carry out. In a disturbing display of his loyalty to the Empire, Crosshair shoots one of his Troopers (the same one who talked back earlier) point-blank when he refuses to execute Saw’s followers, even after they admit to knowing nothing and were simply promised transportation off-world. “Good soldiers follow orders,” he says, establishing his menacing catchline.
Crosshair’s ruthless actions are exactly what the Empire wants, of course, particularly Tarkin and Vice Admiral Rampart. The latter made a brief cameo in The Bad Batch Episode 2, “Cut and Run,” when his informed Saleucami’s residents (via hologram) of the Empire’s new chain codes and invited them to exchange their old currency for Imperial credits, promising to usher in an era of peace and prosperity in the wake of the Clone Wars. In reality, though, Rampart’s top priority right now is Project War Mantle, an operation to fill out the ranks of the Imperial Army with conscripted soldiers and replace the Republic’s clone troopers. That’s also the name of one of the mysterious Imperial projects Jyn Erso uncovered while searching for the Death Star’s plans at the Citadel Tower on Scarif in the climax to Rogue One: A Star Wars Story, which makes for a nice bit of continuity. Rampart’s actions even land him a promotion to Admiral so, uh, good job evil Empire guy.
On that note — is there any hope left for Crosshair? Thanks to Tech and Omega, the rest of Clone Force 99 are made aware their former companion’s still-functioning inhibitor chip was largely responsible for his betrayal, robbing him of much — if not all — of his free will. And again, much like Hunter blames himself for not saving Crosshair (“We don’t leave our own behind,” he tells Omega), the latter shows flickers of awareness when he’s back in his former bunker on Kamino, despite all the brainwashing he’s been subjected to. (He really is the show’s Winter Soldier.) With Kamino’s Prime Minister Lama Su and chief scientist Nala Se conducting experiments to create a “superior clone,” in lieu of the continued degradation of Jango Fett’s original genetic material, it seems the stage is slowly, but surely being set for Crosshair and the other clones to play a more active role in taking on the Empire. Bring on the clone rebellion!
Created by Dave Filoni, Star Wars: The Bad Batch stars Dee Bradley Baker, Andrew Kishino and Ming-Na Wen. New episodes premiere Fridays on Disney+.
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