Star Wars: The Bad Batch Episode 10 Ending Explained
The episode count for "Star Wars: The Bad Batch" is officially in the double digits, and what a season it has been up to this point. We've seen Crosshair (Dee Bradley Baker) defect to the Empire, franchise favorites like Captain Rex (Baker) and Fennec Shand (Ming-Na Wen) reemerge, and the titular team of genetically altered clone troopers face down and overcome some major obstacles. Thankfully, things have begun to cool down after the last two stress-inducing weeks, with Episode 10, "Common Ground," acting as a return to form for the show.
Episode 9, "Bounty Lost," saw Omega (Michelle Ang) make a daring escape from the clutches of the ruthless bounty hunter Cad Bane (Corey Burton) and his Kaminoan employers. She reunites with her fellow Bad Batchers, returning to Cid's (Rhea Perlman) parlor on Ord Mantell to recover and prepare for their next assignment — hoping to pay off as much of their outstanding debt to her as they can. However, this won't be business as usual, seeing as their task this time around tests their collective moral compass in an outstanding way.
Here's how the 10th episode of "The Bad Batch" played out, what its events mean for the wider "Star Wars" universe, and how Clone Force 99 has evolved.
Separatists in the age of the Empire
Instead of opening on the Bad Batch themselves, "Common Ground" takes viewers to the now-Imperial occupied planet of Raxus. There, Captain Bragg (Shelby Young) is attempting to calm its distressed citizens by explaining that the presence of the Empire is a good thing and no cause for alarm. To further sell this point, she coerces Senator Avi Singh (Alexander Siddig) into echoing this sentiment, but he refuses to become an Imperial puppet and instead speaks out against the new regime. The empire imprisons him moments later.
This scene merely exists to set up the rest of the episode, but it also has a lot to say about the state of the galaxy at this juncture. What became of the Separatist leaders once the clone war ended isn't often mentioned in "Star Wars" media. The most we've received is Anakin Skywalker's (Hayden Christiansen) slaughter of the main Separatist figureheads on Mustafar toward the tail end of 2005's "Revenge of the Sith." This scene wasn't very extensive, nor was it that informative when it came to the fate of the other Separatists.
The plight of Raxus and its leader is a welcome look into how power in the "Star Wars" universe has shifted now that the Empire is in full control, while simultaneously putting the pieces in place for an entertaining episode.
An explosive rescue mission
With Senator Singh in custody, his personal droid, GS-8 (Sian Clifford) contacts Cid about rescuing him before the Empire can harm him. This leads to the Bad Batch — just arriving back at the parlor after a day at the shops — to receive an offer for the job, but they nearly decline it. Seeing as they served under the Republic during the clone war, they were not too keen on the idea of sticking their necks out for a Separatist. Once reminded of their debt, however, they change their tune.
The team arrives on Raxus and meets up with GS-8, not hiding their disinterest in working with a droid. Thankfully, their alliance doesn't have to be permanent, and they are able to keep it together long enough to get Senator Singh freed and make a mad dash to the Havoc Marauder. As one would imagine, plenty of action, big explosions and gunshots occur, resulting in a handful of crashed Imperial AT-TE walkers and, surely, thousands of credits in property damage.
Clone Force 99 manages to get Singh and GS-8 back to Cid's in one piece, hopefully learning that now that the clone war is over, its no longer a matter of the Republic versus the Separatists. This involves everyone versus the Empire.
Omega sits one out, or does she?
The squad responsible for rescuing Senator Singh and GS-8 consists of Hunter, Wrecker, Tech, and Echo (all voiced by Dee Bradley Baker). No, Omega doesn't join the team this week because Hunter wants her to lay low at Cid's after being captured and nearly killed multiple times last week. Feeling good and certain that she's a helpful — not helpless — part of the team too, the young clone protests to no avail. She at least finds a way to make herself useful from the confines of the parlor.
As previous "Bad Batch" episodes have touched on to varying degrees, there's more to Omega than meets the eye. She's a keen empath, a quick learner, and is also apparently an expert strategist, especially at board games. From the moment she makes it known that she has a gift for winning at Dejarik, Cid starts taking bets from patrons seeking to beat her, but all are woefully unsuccessful. By the time the Bad Batch returns, she's amassed a crowd of people around her, all willing to shell out credits that would inevitably end up in her and Cid's pockets.
There's no denying that Omega is a valuable member of the Bad Batch, and whether she's in the field or at the Dejarik table, she's always seeking to prove herself one way or another.
A clean slate
As noted previously, Omega makes a nice chunk of change dominating the Dejarik table at Cid's. In fact, she earns enough to pay off the Bad Batch's debt, even if she has to break Hunter's order of maintaining a low profile for the time being. Nevertheless, he's proud of her for keeping herself busy while they were gone and going out of her way to help out the team. Essentially, she frees all of them from working for Cid, meaning their slate is clear and their future once again in their own hands.
The logical question to ask is this: Where will Clone Force 99 go from here? Well, they could always continue performing mercenary work for Cid, putting more credits in their pockets and using their strengths as soldiers. However, their debt stacks up pretty quickly, so they might want to get out of the game while they're ahead and explore their options. Perhaps they'll reunite with Captain Rex and hide out with him for a spell, or maybe even get involved in whatever business is keeping him occupied these days.
The truth is, with their financial woes sorted, the Batch Bad have free reign to do as they please, so long as they don't draw the gaze of the bounty hunters on their tail or end up in Imperial-occupied spaces. Where exactly their story will go from here is a question that only Lucasfilm, Disney, and the next six weeks can answer.